My heart sinks at the word ‘redecorate’. It’s more to do with the moving of furniture around, covering everything up and trying to continue a normal life around ladders and wet paint. You might think it's best to do any decorating over the winter months when it’s cooler, but actually, in summer you can open the windows and doors and your paint will dry quicker, plus the fresh air will get rid of any strong odours.

How to do walls

Prep is important, and it’s a good idea to scrape off any loose paint and fill any unwanted holes with filler. You can buy this ready-made, which makes things easier. Next, clean the walls by gently rubbing a mixture of lukewarm water and mild soap in a circular motion, ensuring you remove any dust, cobwebs or greasy patches that might stop the new paint from adhering.

How often?

A repaint is recommended every 3-4 years. The whole house at one time could be a bit daunting but may be essential if you are selling. Maybe some rooms that aren’t used so often could be left alone, while others may be grubby with everyday wear and need sprucing up.

A survey carried out in the UK suggests that how often you redecorate can have a lot to do with your age, and it revealed that those in the 18-24 age bracket would open a tin of paint and roll out the wallpaper every few months if they got the urge (and the money).

Lifestyle changes

A change in lifestyle can often prompt the need to revamp - the obvious one is a room suitable for a new baby, a partner moving in or perhaps a marriage is on the horizon, where the two of you may decide to put your own stamp on your home to mark the beginning of a new chapter in your lives.

A lot of people are ‘remote working’ these days - working from home - and creating a home office might be important for getting a workplace feel, where perhaps video-meeting the boss shouldn’t include your laundry hanging in the background, and should have a more ‘business-like’ look!

Credits: PA;

A lick of paint

Changing the colour of your paint might be the result of an urge to update to a modern look, and it could become a major job if you have to strip wallpaper too, but there are products on the market that can make this a relatively easy job. Choices need to be made - all four walls? An accent wall (where one wall is a different colour or shade to the rest)? Depth of colour? Washable? Glossy or matt? Satin or eggshell?

Tester Pots

A funny thing happened to me a few years ago. The Husband and I had just moved, and every room was painted in ‘magnolia’, a somewhat boring colour popular at the time, and I wanted to put our personal touch on some of the rooms. At my local hardware store (I can’t say the name) I browsed the aisles, and couldn’t make up my mind. Eventually, I picked out about half a dozen colours I liked and decided one of those sampler pots in each colour would be a good idea, so I gathered up my choices and headed off to the till.

What I hadn’t realised was that it was a Wednesday, and the store in question offered a pensioner’s 10% discount on Wednesdays. I had a lot of change in my purse and probably had the right money, and as I was rooting through the change, the sales assistant maybe thought I was a bit hard-up, and asked in a quiet voice: ‘Would you like to take the pensioner’s rate today?’

Oh, what a dilemma – I wasn’t even a pensioner at that point! Should I hotly deny I was ‘of that age’ and come clean and say no, or should I take advantage of the 10%? - I took the discount. I lied again about my age, the first time being when underage and trying to get into the pub!

Author

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan