painting Archives - Rushton & Co - High Quality Decorators in Leeds

How To Save Damaged Coving (On A Budget)

Posted on 21st January 20199th October 2019 by Toby

Setting the scene

Imagine the beautifully ornate coving in your home has taken a knock. Maybe it’s simply part of the process of aging; or maybe, as was the case with this Georgian house we recently worked on, some kind young upstart has stolen the lead from your roof, and the seepage has left your coving looking like a set of crushed molars.

Not to mention leaving the paint below worn-down to resemble a world map.

It seems reasonable to assume you’d not be best pleased!

The dilemma

So of course, you want it fixed pronto. Easy. But what if, like this family in Harrogate, you can’t really afford to have the whole wall repainted?

The Solution

Well, one solution would be to give up. Tell yourself beaten up walls give a room ‘charm’ or ‘character’. But that’s not the kind of solution we go for! Instead, we worked around the family’s budget. First thing’s first, we repaired the coving with surgical precision.

So far so easy. But then we had this budget problem to contend with. So first, we got rid of all the faking paint and plaster, then treated the problem areas with a stain block. Then we simply matched the new print we were using to the old, so that a full paint job wasn’t necessary. Turns out, a little bit of thinking and attention to detail can save you time and money. Oh, and leave your walls looking good as new too!

The pay-off

The best part of painting and decorating is helping make people’s houses feel like home again, and we left this family with a room that was back to how it ought to be. They said they were impressed by how efficient the services was and how friendly we are. And we left knowing we’d helped fix something that should never have been broken.

A year of decorating tips from Rushton & Co.

Posted on 21st December 20175th July 2018 by Louise Nelhams

As another successful year of decorating your homes draws to a close, it’s time to take a look back at the articles we’ve posted this year. Our goal with our decorating blog is to give you the confidence to take on some of the jobs we think the average DIY or interior design enthusiast can tackle – with our professional advice and decorating tips, of course!

January: Filling and sanding walls ready for painting and wallpaper – We began 2017 by giving you the lowdown on getting a professional finish to your walls in preparation for painting or wallpapering.

February: Everything you need to know about decorator’s varnish – decorator’s varnish is one of the pro’s favourite tricks, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use it too! Learn more here.

March: Sprucing your home up this spring – exterior decorating projects – Make your home look and feel like a new house with these simple but effective exterior spring decorating projects.

April: Spring interior DIY projects – when you’ve finished making the exterior of your house look fantastic, these top tips will make sure that the interior looks fantastic too.

May: Painting a ceiling like a pro – if you shy away from painting your ceilings this is the post for you. Our painting tips will demystify this tricky decorating job.

June: Decorating tips – turning your stairs into a feature – this is one of our favourite ways of transforming your home, and it doesn’t have to be difficult!

July: Repairing a concrete window sill – this may seem like a tough task for a DIYer, but we think you can have a go at all but the most complicated rebuilds if you follow our advice.

August: Interior design inspired by autumn – using the seasons to give you creative ideas for your interior design is a great idea… especially if you’re struggling for inspiration.

September: Our guide to wallpaper for every budget – if you’re thinking about redecorating your home our guide to the best wallpaper available at every price point is exactly what you need.

October: Tips for painting fresh plaster – wait for that plaster to dry or you’ll regret it! Here are our top post-plastering decorating tips.

November: Where to buy your decorating supplies – Ever wondered where the pros buy their supplies? Well, wonder no longer – here are our top picks…

Thanks to all of our customers and blog readers for a brilliant year. We look forward to 2018 where we’ll continue to provide a service with a smile and lots more decorating tips to help you go it alone if you prefer!

Decorating tips – turning your stairs into a feature

Posted on 25th June 20175th July 2018 by Louise Nelhams

When it comes to designing and decorating your home, it’s natural to want to focus on making each room reflect your character. That doesn’t, however, mean that you should neglect the connecting areas of your house e.g. the hallways, corridors and stairs. In fact, with a little bit of creative thinking, you can turn your stairs into a stunning feature in their own right. Here are some decorating tips to inspire you…

Stripped back to the wood

The trend in interior design is very much towards wood – either stripped and varnished or painted. This gives you lots of scope to be innovative with your stairs, such as:

Mixing dark with light – A deep and rich varnish like dark oak for the stairs works great if you use clear varnish for the risers. This style breaks up the stairs and makes them stand out without looking too showy.
Using paint instead of varnish – There’s nothing worse than spending time and money stripping your floorboards back to the wood to find that they’re in poor condition or look ugly. Wood paint will allow you to play around with the dark/light idea while also covering up all the sins of the natural wood.
Mixing it up – Don’t be afraid to try mixing it up and painting the stairs lighter than the risers! This works well if the staircase doesn’t get much natural light as it tends to lift the area.
Painting or varnishing runners – Runners have come in and out of fashion over the years, but we still like to see the creative use of them on a set of stairs. Paint the outer edges the same colour as your skirting boards and either varnish the centre or paint them a visually interesting colour. Consider adding a narrow stripe on either side in the same colour as the centre section for added interest.

More runners

Don’t discount more traditional carpeted runners – they’re fantastic in high traffic areas and will protect your stairs if the wood is old and worn. You can be creative by using nailed down rugs or off-cuts of carpet instead of dedicated runners.

Best of both worlds

Another option that works well, especially if you have noisy stairs, is to paint or varnish the risers and carpet the stairs. The combinations are endless, but make sure that you deal with the risers first so that you don’t drip on your new carpet.

Going the extra mile

LED lights have opened up a whole new world of interior design possibilities, but we bet that you’ve never considered them for your stairs! Try attaching strips of LEDs underneath the overhang of each stair to light up the risers – this works particularly well if you paint or stencil the risers with interesting features, but can look really classy with a simple black and white stair theme too.

As you can see, it’s possible to make your stairway a real feature and talking point with some basic DIY skills, but if you’re not sure what would work in your house give us a call! We’re always happy to offer some advice and personalised decorating tips, or we can just pop round and give you a quote.

Painting a ceiling like a pro

Posted on 25th May 20175th July 2018 by Louise Nelhams

Summoning up the enthusiasm to do a little home decorating is usually pretty easy, but when it comes to painting a ceiling, most people either call in a professional decorator, or just completely ignore it! If this sounds familiar, don’t worry because our guide on painting a ceiling like a pro will demystify the process and, hopefully, leave your hair paint free too!

Tools for painting a ceiling

As with every DIY job, it’s essential to be prepared and have the right gear. Fortunately, you can paint a ceiling without investing in expensive specialist equipment – although there are a couple of things that’ll make this task easier. Let’s take a look at what you need:

A decent roller set
A paint bucket
Easi-fill filler and filling knife
A good quality 2” brush
An extension pole (or old broom handle)
Lots of dust sheets!
Maybe a sanding pole
Sugar soap and sponges
Step ladders

When it comes to buying paint for the ceiling, it pays to spend a little more and get specialised ceiling paint because it’s designed to be almost splatter-free – something your hair will thank you for! We also recommend using good quality stain block paint if there are any water leak patches on the ceiling.

Preparation

Before you start make sure everything is covered with good quality dust sheets because it’s much harder to contain the mess from a ceiling paint job than almost anywhere else. Use Easi-fill to deal with any holes – it’s so easy to use, dries quickly and sands effortlessly.

If the ceiling is flat painted, a quick rub over with 100 grit drywall sandpaper will help to cut through years of dirt and neglect – after all, who washes their ceiling? Follow that with a wash down with sugar soap and water and you’re ready to go.

Painting

As previously mentioned, you’ll need to go over any areas of water damage with a stain-blocking primer first. A couple of coats should do it, but some stubborn stains may need more.

The devil is always in the details, so take the time to cut in – time spent here will make or break your finish so give it your best attention. Using a quality brush and a paint bucket means that you can focus on the job in hand – you only need a little bit of paint at any one time, and a paint bucket helps prevent major spillage accidents.

After cutting in you can get down to the fun part: using the roller! Investing in the best quality lambswool roller will help keep the splatters to a minimum and ensure a really good coverage in the least possible time – that’s the combination a pro looks for. Work the ceiling in small areas, around 5’ square, first rolling one way and then back across the area at 90° to the first coat. Try to keep one edge wet for the next section to avoid overlapping marks, and feather the paint out on the areas you’re not painting next.

Textured ceilings

With a previously painted textured ceiling, it’s quite tough to get the same level of finish, but if you work slightly slower you should be able to get a good coverage. Be careful not to overwork the paint because you risk pulling the old layers from the ceiling – another job for your high-quality lambswool roller.

As with every DIY and decorating job, if you’re careful and prepare properly there’s very little that can go wrong, but we’re always here for friendly advice or a quote if you’d prefer to let the experts take over. Painting a ceiling isn’t the most fun decorating job, but neglect it and you’ll regret it!