Multi-room redecoration.

This is a project we recently completed for a new client in Austhorpe, Leeds. The property was a bungalow, and the project involved fully redecorating the living room and fitting new dado rails, redecorating the main bedroom, renovating and painting the interior doors, and painting some radiators.

To reduce disruption for the client in the small bungalow, the project was completed in stages. We focused on one room at a time, ensuring each was finished before tidying up and moving on to the next.

The Living Room: This room was to be fully wallpapered with vinyl wallpaper. As it had previously experienced damp and had been re-plastered, the areas of new plaster were first sealed in preparation for the wallpaper. Dado rails were fitted using adhesive rather than screws, to avoid compromising the damp-proof membrane.

The glossy silk-painted ceiling was then sealed and given two coats of Tikkurila Super White Matt paint, instantly lifting the room and making it bright and light.

Next, the woodwork was prepped. With plenty of areas requiring filler and sanding to bare wood, we first applied a coat of primer before adding two coats of Tikkurila Everal Aqua 80 gloss. This tough, water-based enamel paint is hardwearing and perfect for high-traffic areas.

Once the paint was dry, the wallpapering was completed using both feature and non-feature matching wallpapers for a cohesive look.

The Bedroom: In this room, the client wanted to keep the existing feature wallpaper but have the ceiling painted, the woodwork refreshed, and the end walls stripped, papered, and painted.

We began by stripping the original wallpaper from the end walls. After that the feature wall was masked off, and the ceiling was sealed and painted with Super White. The woodwork was prepped and painted, and once dry, the end walls were lined with lining paper and painted for a smooth, fresh finish.

Door Renovations: Some of the MDF interior doors in the property had suffered water damage at the bottom, causing them to ‘fan out.’ To resolve this, we sanded the damaged areas back to solid MDF, sealed the surface, and applied filler to rebuild the shape. Once the filler had set, we sanded it flat, applied a fine filler for a smooth finish, and sanded again. After thorough preparation, the doors were sprayed with the same gloss white paint used for the woodwork throughout the property. The results were fantastic, leaving the doors looking as good as new.

• Airless Spray Painting, Brushes, Rollers

• Dustless Sanding - Mirka Sanders & Extractor

• Bare Plaster - Zinsser Gardz Sealer

• Ceilings - Zinsser Gardz Sealer, Tikkurila Super White

• Woodwork & Doors - Tikkurila Everal Aqua Primer

• Woodwork & Doors - Tikkurila Everal Aqua 80 (Gloss)

• Walls - Tikkurila Optiva Colour in Chickpea G311

• Wallpaper Adhesive - Beeline Yellow Top

In smaller properties like this one, the main challenge can often be space. Finding areas to store tools for when you need them can be tricky. Luckily, the client on this job had a spare room with some space we could use to store tools and equipment that needed to be kept close to hand.

Anything we weren’t using at the time was taken in and out of the van as needed. While it can be tricky to work this way, sometimes it’s also the most practical solution and it worked well on this job.

Once complete, the client was ‘over the moon’ with the final results. She was thrilled to return to a living room that she said ‘felt like home again.’ The door renovations were also a highlight. Water-damaged MDF can be tricky to repair and paint, but they turned out even better than we thought they would.

See our instagram @yesdecor_social to our other projects and decorating content (you know you want to!).