Best Advice For A Young Decorator

Updated Jan 11, 2025 | Posted Mar 7, 2019 | Business, Life of a Decorator | 1 comment

We asked members of  The Decorators Forum UK the best advice they could give for a young decorator. This is what they came back with…

The best advice I could give to any young decorator is to always try to impress. That means looking clean and tidy, grafting and having an eye for details. In a few years you can start your own decorating business, but first you must learn your craft.

Richard Fry

Professional Painter and Decorator

Get an accountant, keep that accountant, make him or her your friend for Life! Keep on top of your paperwork and you won’t put yourself under as much pressure.

Dave Lock

Professional Painter and Decorator

Don’t get a partner! You’re better off working on your own.

Mickey Fallis

Professional Painter and Decorator

Top tip for youngsters in the trade; pay attention to the advice given from your elders and peers! Always try and learn new things, tips and tricks will get you far. There’s nothing more useful than the knowledge of someone who’s been in the game for years! This has helped me out as I’m one of the younger decs on here, but I’m still always trying to learn more stuff every day.

Jay Price

Professional Painter and Decorator

Always where a mask for sanding and get knee pads.

Ryan Gibb Decor

Professional Painter and Decorator

Use PPE no matter what anyone else is doing. Always read the labels on the product you’re using, especially warning labels

Robin Stanex

Professional Painter and Decorator

Look after yourself

Robin Stanex

Professional Painter and Decorator

Best advice is to learn by watching other people’s mistakes rather than making your own. It makes life much easier

Bill Lowes

Professional Painter and Decorator

Always keep your work area clean

Michael Martin Stanley

Professional Painter and Decorator

Be respectful to those teaching you. Remember you never stop learning in this trade. Always wear knee pads and face masks when necessary. Be the best tradesmen you can be, because the more you learn the more you will get out of the trade.

 

Best Advice for a Young Decorator

David Anderson

Professional Painter and Decorator

Always safety first for you and people around you. If you’re not comfortable with anything, tell them

Mark Kay

Professional Painter and Decorator

Respect people’s houses like they’re your own

Robert Farrell

Professional Painter and Decorator

Always keep a dust brush, scraper & some scratch on you 👍🏻

Harry Clarke

Professional Painter and Decorator

Always keep a rag in your pocket

James Hunter

Professional Painter and Decorator

Don’t put a rag in your pocket that has been soaked in white spirit

Joe Elwick

Professional Painter and Decorator

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

Bryan Dennett

Professional Painter and Decorator

Chris Hayes poor preparation makes for poor performance

Chris Hayes

Professional Painter and Decorator

Don’t overload your brush before cutting in and always lay it off for a better finish

Phillip Whitehead

Professional Painter and Decorator

Knee pads…. Wear knee pads!

Simon Young

Professional Painter and Decorator

Every time your boss has something to say, listen no matter how bored you are. Everything he tells you will come in handy at some point in your career… He or she is not old and boring, they are older and more knowledgeable. That’s my est advice for a young decorator

Joe Elwick

Professional Painter and Decorator

Best advice for a new person starting out would be, never stop learning!! Take in as much as you can, for all trades, not just your own. It will help you out no end in the real world

Neil Smallshaw

Professional Painter and Decorator

Don’t take stupid risks with ladders!

Gerry Willis

Professional Painter and Decorator

let’s face it, certain aspects of Painting & Decorating can be mind numbing at times.

My advice would be to get them to divide the jobs down into smaller sections. That way they will feel like they’re achieving something and making progress. They will see light at the end of the tunnel and won’t get fed up so quickly.

Richard Irons - Best Advice for a Young Decorator

Professional Painter and Decorator

My advice is be ready on time and turn up and don’t sit down on the job the knowledge will follow

Stuart Tweedale

Professional Painter and Decorator

Strain your paint. No point being dustless if your paint has bits in it

Andy Foster

Professional Painter and Decorator

Paul Oakes Don’t put snails in your boss’s chips and gravy, good times ☺️

 

Best Advice for a Young Decorator

Paul Oakes

Professional Painter and Decorator

Keep off the phone!!

Bill White

Professional Painter and Decorator

Once you’ve grasped the set up. always try to be a step ahead of your boss. don’t always wait to be told, use your initiative and do it if you know it needs doing.

Richard Irons

Professional Painter and Decorator

Leave your personal pride at home, go to work and do what you’re told. You’re not going to get given good work at first, but don’t think just because you’ve done college that you’ve “made it”. You’re not too good to do the sh*t work. Earn the respect of your peers by doing any job well and take pride in that. Each step up you make, keep taking pride in each job and want to do better. You’ll soon notice that people around you are noticing your good work and attitude.

Or sod it all that off, go to a council and become rough as heck like me 🤣

Lee Brown

Professional Painter and Decorator

listen to what your gaffer says or you’ll be covered in black gloss

Gary Currington

Professional Painter and Decorator

Make sure when quoting for a job you write every single detail down. There is always something they try and get away with. f possible, make sure paint colours and talked about as well, just in case for extra coats etc.

John Playford

Professional Painter and Decorator

When at the decorating centre don’t ask for a sky hook 🤣

James Thorpe

Professional Painter and Decorator

Remember to put your brain back in at the end of the day

Thomas Jennings

Professional Painter and Decorator

Don’t have your colleagues or gaffer coming to your door to get you up in the morning. Be ready for pickup on time and in good form.

Stuart Gillanders

Professional Painter and Decorator

If they ask you to go to the shop for a long stand, don’t! t’s a trap! I was there for 2 days!!!

 

Best Advice for a Young Decorator

Matthew Moore

Professional Painter and Decorator

Be credible be accountable and don’t be jealous in decorating

 

‘He’s so busy he doesn’t need to advertise at all, no sign writing, no website.’

Well darn isn’t he a lucky man? But why does this wind me up? Am I jealous? No, I’m busy too. But do I advertise? Well yes, I’ve got a little advert in the village magazine. I think it brings me 1 or 2 customers a year. I also have a sign written van, a website, social media pages. But is that advertising? Well for me it’s about building brand standards and reputation. But how should you, as a customer view it?

I’m pretty kitted out with online presence in comparison but why am I made to feel like this is a bad thing?

Have you ever tried to look up a business on Facebook and discover they’re not there. ‘Do they even exist?’ You ask yourself. ‘Did I get the name wrong? What do you mean they’re not on there?’

Pretty much all the biggest names in business are on Facebook. They almost all certainly have a website. But it’s not just for advertising. You can ascertain many things from these tools. First and foremost, if the level of work is akin to what you require, but they also provide a certain level of credibility that john down the road in his white van charging day rate cash, will not have.

If he can’t show you his work online. What else is he hiding? Does he have insurance? Do you know how or where to contact him if your job went wrong, and he stopped answering his phone? Do you know his full name?

Accountability is everything. A company with an online presence, brings about a peace of mind that is invaluable.

Can you review John’s work? Are the reviews of his work policed on his terms or can you rate him without fear of vindication.

If you can’t, others can’t, and you’ll never know if he’s been trouble in the past.

There is obviously a lot to be said for word of mouth. In fact a bitter tale between two tongues could destroy a business in an instant. That’s why you could view having an online presence as more admirable. Knowing a few choice words from a complete stranger, a disgruntled customer or a jealous competitor could destroy your reputation at any minute is something any business owner will not take lightly. I’d like that risk to be recognised and held in high regard alongside John ‘who doesn’t advertise’.

While I am in awe of one’s ability to exist in business without an online presence, I do not hold said person above my standards. In fact, I cannot see those standards at all. In the building industry, faulty wiring or a bad gas installation for example, could be the end of your home and your family altogether. How much credibility would you give ‘John who doesn’t advertise’ then? Also, have you ever asked for recommendations for a restaurant in your local area and someone has suggested a place you don’t like, or is unsuitable. Well remember that everyone has different tastes, varying standards and quite often a different budget. So be warned, next time someone recommends a trades person on the premise that ‘he’s so good he doesn’t need to advertise’. Ask yourself, if that’s really a good thing. No offence John.

Harriet Stone

Professional Painter and Decorator

Updated Jan 11, 2025 | Posted Mar 7, 2019 | 1 comment

About the Author

About the Author

Mike Cupit has been in the decorating industry since 2002 and has mostly worked as a Trade Decorator in the domestic sector (peoples’ homes). Self-proclaimed “product geek”, Mike has a passion for paint and decorating tools. Mike now spends most of his time testing paint products and tools, comparing them to similar products on the market, and blogging about the industry in general.

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1 Comment

  1. Kevin Oxby

    Get use to Radio 2 especially as tea break is at 1030 in time for the music quiz

    Reply

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