As a professional decorator, it’s fair to say I have painted a few bedrooms in my time. If you follow the procedure in order, you’ll generally find the job will run a lot smoother. I wanted to take the time to sit down and write a simple guide to painting a bedroom. I hope you find it useful.

Setting Out Your Room

This may seem obvious but removing all your furniture will always help. The more furniture you can remove, the more space you will have to work. If you can’t remove all your furniture from the bedroom, just remove what you can. Then move the remaining furniture into the centre of the room and cover it with plastic sheeting to protect it from dust and paint. (Plastic sheeting is available from any good trade decorating centre or DIY shop).

Once your furniture is out of the way, bring in all the tools and paint you are going to need and set a “base” in the middle of the room (away from any painted walls). Having all the equipment close by and organised will help the job move along in a speedy manner. Keep your base organised throughout the job.

The Preparation – the Most Important Part of Painting a Bedroom

Any imperfections to the walls and ceiling should be filled using a good quality interior filler. Ideally, you would then sand all the wall and ceiling space, however, if a surface is in good nick, you may only need to sand your filler.

All the woodwork in the bedroom should be sanded. Open cracks should be filled using decorators’ caulk and allowed to fully cure. Take steps to avoid crazing.

Start at the Top

Once your room is laid out and your prep has been completed, it’s time to start painting. I always start on the ceiling as any paint splats ultimately ruin a finished surface underneath the one you’re painting. Use a brush to cut-in around the edge of your ceiling and around any lights. Then roll the larger areas with a good quality roller. Once dry, repeat the process to finish your ceiling, before moving onto your walls.

Once you’ve finished your ceiling and walls, move onto your woodwork. This is the order I complete a bedroom unless I’m spraying. It’s worth noting that a lot of decorators I know now complete the ceilings, followed by the woodwork, which they then tape, before painting the walls. Either of these methods will work well and you will achieve a perfect finish with either.

Choosing a Feature Wall

A feature wall is a focal point in a bedroom, and it is what gives your room its character. You don’t necessarily need a feature wall, but most bedrooms suit them. You may wish to just pick a wall out in another colour of paint, or perhaps wallpaper. Or you could go for something a little bit different such as a paint effect, or Silk Plaster. If you’re struggling to choose a colour, just use a colour wheel to help.

Be creative!! A feature wall is a great way to add personality to a bedroom and give it an edge!

Choosing Your Paint

I’ll just touch on this briefly on this blog about painting a bedroom, and link in some more extensive blogs we have already published on the website.

Ceiling paint –

The trick to choosing a good ceiling paint is to go for something with a very low sheen, and avoid “brilliant white”. This is to avoid issues with roller marks and flashing, especially on light critical areas. The favourite amongst decorators is Tikkurila Anti-Reflex, but Teknos Teknoceiling is another contender. You can read a full comparison blog here.

Wall paint –

For a bedroom, something low sheen is preferrable. A good quality vinyl matt will probably do the job, but a durable matt is even better!! The two products that stand out are Teknos Pro 5 and Tikkurila Optiva 3, however Armstead durable matt is another great paint that is cracking value for money!!

Woodwork paint-

It’s all about water-based satinwoods for me. You could go ultra-premium and buy Benjamin Moore Scuff x, or a cheaper, but still a fantastic product would be WRX Satin. We have a full comparison blog, which you can view here.