LIVING ROOM: From their home... to ours....

This was our challenge; to complete the Living Room in time for Christmas. It took an awful lot of planning, more than anything else physical preparation (by which I mean getting the walls to a decent enough state to paint and paper) and a ton of decorating too....

In September 2010 when we moved into our house the Living Room looked like this:

   

As you can see it didn't take us long to fill the room with random stuff from the move.....and we had a long way to go in just 3 months....

THIS is what we achieved.....

Lessons we have learnt along the way.....

1. Decorating is at least 80% in the preparation and a small percentage in the actual decorating
2. It is definately worth stripping walls, especially old ones, right back and getting them lined professionally. That way when you come to redecorate in 10 years time or so you will have a good basis to work from.
3. Lining paper should go on horizontally and then the cracks should be filled in with polly filla and sanded before painting for the perfect finish. 
4. Wallpapering is a professionals job.
5. Have one inspirational piece for every room you do and base your colour scheme around it.
6. Decorating all the walls, if your on a budget, creates the effect that you have completely decorated a house. You can then go round again once the walls are done and update the floors and re-plaster the ceilings as and when you can afford it.