First measure the size of the room that needs to be painted (LxWxH) to determine how much paint you’ll need. For indoor paintwork, you can choose between acrylic paint and alkyd paint. Alkyd paint is more frequently used by professional painters. It achieves a more beautiful result than acrylic paint, but it can only be thinned with turpentine, increasing its environmental impact and intensifying the paint smell. It’s all up to you!

Paint comes in all sorts of colours and in various sheens: high-gloss, silk gloss and matt. Depending on the type, you’ll need to apply two layers of paint to achieve full coverage. Tip: poke a few holes in the lid of the paint can and pour the paint into the paint tray through the holes. This makes it easier to pour a small amount of paint.

For covering and transparent enamels, stains and acrylic paints, a short-pile mohair roller is best. A paintbrush is generally used for corners and narrow sections. To prevent bristles from coming loose from the brush and sticking to the walls, make sure you buy good-quality mohair paintbrushes. Start with painting the windows and the doors, working from the top down as much as possible.

If you need to stop painting for a short period, you can simply leave the brush or roller in the paint tray or put them in water. After you finish painting, clean the brush and roller thoroughly by rubbing any excess paint off against metal mesh and then rinsing them off with a special brush cleaner. If you have any paint left, don’t put it in the normal bin; leftover paint needs to go into the chemical waste bin at the waste collection centre. After the painting tools have been cleaned, they can both be sealed in airtight bags; optionally, you could hang the brush with the bristles pointing downward. All paint containers must be closed completely; make sure they’re airtight.