During lockdown in 2020 we realised that it had been almost 10 years since we last painted some of the rooms in our house, including the lounge where of course we spend a lot of our downtime. We decided with lots of time to kill we thought we might as well give it a "lick" of paint.
All we had to do was decide on a colour. Now. Let me backtrack a little. When I first met my husband his home was a rhapsody in beige. Beige carpets, curtains and wallpaper. He's not bold when it comes to interior colour.
Meanwhile I love drama - in my clothes and decor so I was keen for something a little less neutral, even with the current craze for white homes.
Essential stores were open so I took my artistic youngest daughter with me to veto my more extreme choices. I decided I quite like teal so picked up some samples in that range.
I painted a biiiiiiig patch on the wall but had to agree with my husband that it was just too green. Cue another trip to the DIY shop for more samples and a handful of colour swatch cards.
I don't want to think about how much fuel and time I spent going backwards and forwards to the DIY warehouse narrowing the colour wheel down to the final colour sample. Then we went to buy the actual paint and of course they didn't have the finish we wanted. We had to drive to a different branch to collect enough pain to do the job.
It would have been a lot easier and faster to just employ house painting contractors who would have been able to bring samples, advise on colour and finishes and source the materials.
Bringing in professionals should also have prevented us being stuck in a work site while my husband painstakingly painted around us moving furniture from one end of the room to another.
He is a perfectionist and while I love the results of his DIY work I find the laborious and lengthy process to get to the end point immensely frustrating. But to be honest I would paint over dust and cobwebs to get a fast rather than professional result. I can't tell you how many times he has come home to find me (and much of the house) coated in paint after an impulse decision to upscale furniture.
Now the woodwork on the outside of our house could do with repainting but since we are both older and less fit than we were when it was done the first time I think it might be time to call in the experts. One thing we have learned through the pandemic is that life is too short to waste doing jobs you hate if there is any way you can get someone else to do it.
Look for a contractor who offers a guarantee for paintwork - one year is not unreasonable. Check they have insurance to cover any accidental damage. Check references and if possible actually visit the homes of previous clients - don't rely on a phone call or written references.
Whether you want paintwork to refresh your home for you to enjoy or to potentially make your property more attractive to potential buyers, getting a professional job done is really important as smudges, drips and bubbles will detract from the overall finish and drive you mad!