BEFORE & DURING. I forgot to take a photos of the window before I painted, but you can just see it in the first photo, BLUE! All the skirting & frames were blue! The wardrobe doors had never been painted so were very dirty & stained and the wall colour that I actually thought was a dirty yellow seemed more beige once I painted over it with my lovely pale yellow. It has brightened the room up so much. The only thing I haven't done is the blue door. In my other daughters room (which is mirror image of this room) all four doors were painted blue!! It was a really big job to cover that blue. And so with this room I decided instead I will swap it for another door in house that will be getting taken out when we renovate. :-)

We have always done diy but never again!!! Exactly true that it is one of the last things to be done in either a reno or new build & of course it does save money. You should be aware that you pretty much need to spend all those lovely savings on take away food/alcohol/sedatives (personal choice) to compensate for the loss of arm & leg function at the end of the endless days work. Neighbours may complain about loud music & swearing or nudie runs to the pool to refresh & start the process all over again. Deny the urge to diy if possible & pay someone but get referrals first!!! Tips to all who "do it yourself" 1. It starts with the preparation & the plasterer must be on his game...that's where a lot of the trouble starts & ends with a bad finish. 2. Buy everything in bulk from tape to brushes to rollers to trays etc. 3. You will always be back at the paint counter for just one more tin to either start again or finish up. 4. Stock up on fast food standbys like pies, sausage rolls, pastries, microwave dinners etc. or have the pizza guy on speed dial. 9. Don't ask the children to do any painting unless you have the patience of a saint & are prepared to go over everything they do "to help" or "feel included" 10. On that subject if you have small children do not even think about diy. 11. Book & pay for a holiday in advance while you still have money to recuperate from what is essentially the worst job ever with even more precious time to spend reinstating furniture, curtains, long lost essential items of comfort & most of all sanity. 12. Say sorry to everyone you ever knew & you didn't know what you were thinking at the time, have excuses at hand like......................................................................................... I/We saved soooo much money!...They said it would be easy...Everyone does there own painting don't they...I thought this colour was more red/yellow/green/blue like the sample pot...I rather like the spatter effect & I think it will be a new trend...Surely you know that "Marsala" is the Pantone 2015 colour orf the year?...Don't buy any paint, I have plenty of left overs and a complete range of sample pots...here they're all yours! ;))))))

Check out this discussion - there are sooooo many options!!! [https://www.houzz.co.nz/discussions/have-you-remodeled-a-fireplace-lets-see-it-dsvw-vd~790201[(https://www.houzz.co.nz/discussions/have-you-remodeled-a-fireplace-lets-see-it-dsvw-vd~790201) Here are our before .....

You have quite a complex internal painting job in front of you. I would use the elements that are going to be retained as a starting point. So if you have stained timber, where you can see the original grain through the stain then use that as a starting point to work with throughout the home. Never paint stained timber as it is then lost forever, but work with it. Dulux alone has about 4800 different colours, so don't limit yourself to the few hundred colour chips that are on display at Bunnings. The Dulux colour consultants are usually good value, and have got access to the full range, but in my experience are more suited to contemporary schemes, and don't have training in heritage schemes. If you want to be authentic to the original art-deco details it may be worthwhile engaging a design consultant who specializes in heritage colour schemes. When I am matching original paint schemes for my clients I use a digital colour analyser that reads the original colour and gives the three closest contemporary equivalents. Many original art deco colour schemes were fairly dramatic with fewer neutrals than are used today. Many older homes have different wall colours in different rooms. The idea of having the same wall colour for every room is really a result of the project home industry as it streamlines the decision making (and painting) process, but doesn't really make a lot of sense when you think about how your rooms have different orientations, different light and different uses. Don't rush the process as your perception of the colours will depend on the lighting, time of day, and the colours of adjacent elements. Don't base your selections on any digital images as they are always inaccurate. Try and source larger samples, or sample pots, before investing in your paint. Finally with your painter be specific and use post-it notes to tell them where you want each colour to be painted. Many painters can't tell the difference between an architrave and cornice, so explanations are sometimes a waste of breath. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls