Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Wayne de Wet is quite simply one of the nation’s finest decorators. He was the Grand Winner of the Dulux Select Decorator of the Year in 2011, and runner-up in 2008. He also hand picked a Team of Dulux Select decorators, and they painted show homes and room sets at the 2011 London Ideal Home Show (Swedish house open plan living) and 2012 (The Santiago Town House and Dulux Design Service room set) – the same team produced great results at London’s Exel Grand Designs Live 2012, decorating multiple room sets, and Kevin McCloud used one to open the show. read more »

Filling ceiling cracks prior to painting is an essential part of the decorating preparation process. The main problem with filling ceiling cracks, is that the cracks often reappear very quickly after they’ve been painted. This can be due to a number of reasons, and diagnosing those reasons can generally help in filling them successfully, and providing a good chance of them not returning in the near future. There is no surefire permanent fix for filling ceiling cracks, but the advice below should help you in deciding on the best option to take. read more »

Wallpaper border frames are an alternative way of adding interest to a wall surface. You can use them to ‘outline’ a wall, or to create panels, or even to ‘frame’ paintings and pictures. The trickiest aspect of making a border frame is mitre joining the pattern in each corner, and you’ll find that some designs will be far more suitable to making this join than others. The following sequence shows how to make a mitre join when creating a wallpaper border frame. read more »

Using sandpaper may seem like a slightly tedious subject for a guide, but I just wanted to share a couple of points that will save you money, and make any sanding you do, much easier, and more effective. I’m basically talking about sanding by hand here, no power tools, no sandpaper wrapped around wooden blocks, no sanding pads, just, very simply, how to make the best use of rolls, or sheets of sandpaper. read more »

Wallpapering around a window is a task that may be achieved in different ways, but the method I am showing here I’ve found to provide by far the best finish. There are no overlaps using this technique, resulting in a seamless finish, and as long as you are methodical in your approach, and trim accurately, it is no more difficult than any other wallpapering technique. read more »