Housing is currently the hot topic on everyone lips. The Autumn Budget 2017 was pretty focused on it and you only have to step onto twitter to see young people talk about it quite a lot.

Mostly they’re tweeting sarcastic remarks about how they can’t afford a house because apparently they spend too much on avocado on toast, rather than because house prices are out of proportion with wages.

The problems facing our housing market our numerous and complex and this post isn’t really the place to get into it. But I do think there is more to the avocado on toast argument than many young people may think.

Sadly it isn’t as simple as just give up avocado on toast for the rest of your life and you’ll magically have enough money for a house (perhaps you don't even like avocado). To take that from the article is a gross oversimplification.

It’s more about giving up the avocado on toast lifestyle.

Plenty of people will now immediately close my blog and shake their head about ‘baby boomers who don’t understand anything’. Except I’m no boomer, I’m a fellow millennial. But crucially I’m a home owning millennial without the bank of Mum and Dad.  

There is no magical secret to how I managed it. The harsh truth is that if you want to save enough money for a house in this current day and age you have to give up the ‘have it all lifestyle’. 

You know the one I mean. 

The brunch at a fancy café on a Sunday, cocktails on a Thursday night, jetting off on holiday to exotic places, drinking Starbucks on the regular and the constant ‘treat yo’self’ mentality.

We just love to make other people think we spend all of our days casually brunching with friends, buying designer items and always going off on our newest long haul adventure. 

In reality most of us are working the day job and living this life in our spare time and by the time pay day rolls round we’ve convinced ourselves that we deserve a treat just for getting through the week.

If we’re honest a lot of the time, we live this life to look cool for the ‘gram and the rest of the time I think we do it because we think that’s what we *should* be spending our money on.

I recently saw a tweet where someone was saying how happy they were to have reached their saving goal to buy a MacBook Air in three months. I couldn’t believe how many replies the tweet had. Barely a single tweet was congratulating them on their achievement, but instead demanding to know just how did they do it?

If we take it right back to basics there are pretty much four ways to get more money:

• Steal it
• Earn it
• Invest it
• Get given it

Stealing it is hardly an option, if you were able to ask someone to give it to you then you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog post, you probably aren't working with a timescale long enough to think about investing it and like most young people you’re probably struggling to earn more money than you already get.

So if the above is true then we all know the answer is simple really. 

In order to save more money you have to spend less than you earn.

This was exactly the answer the person gave to everyone demanding to know where she magically got the money for a new MacBook Air from. It didn’t just appear in her bank account, she spent less than she earned and saved the rest.

But we don’t like to hear that you have to spend less than you earn. 

Why? Because it’s hard. 

Instead, we like to convince ourselves that there is some magical formula or skill that you have to have in order to save money and for a lot of people it seems to become their excuse as to why they don’t save any money. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware of the issues surrounding stagnant wages and the increasing cost of living. It definitely effects me too. For a lot of us most of our salary just goes on keeping a roof over our head and the bills paid. But I don't think that means you should give up if you really want to own your own home because it can be done if you make it your single minded goal.

In many ways, saving money is rather like losing weight. In order to shed some pounds you have to burn off more calories than you eat. There is no magical diet or exercise regime that can work around this irrefutable fact of physics. 

But that doesn’t stop a multi billion pound industry trying to convince you otherwise. Or thousands of people with endless excuses about their metabolism or being built that way. Aside from rare cases of actual medical conditions, for the vast majority of people, if you eat less food than you burn in a day, over time you will lose weight. 

But just like saving money, people want a cheat method to get to the end goal. Sadly one doesn’t yet exist for either example.

This might not be the truth you want to hear but if you really want to own your own house, you have to close your ears to all the noise. 

You have to stop listening to people who complain to you about how easy it was for your Grandparents to buy a house and how things aren’t fair because none of that will help you.

The world doesn’t function on fair, and if you wait for it to be fair you could be waiting forever until you own your own home. Whether we like it or not buying a house is harder than it used to be so you have to learn to save as effectively as you can in the meantime. 

That means making sacrifices. Depending on how you like to spend your money those sacrifices may have to include avocado on toast. 

1. Know how much you need to borrow

This might sound counter productive, but in order to know how much you need to save for a deposit you first need to know how much money you can borrow for a mortgage. A good place to start is by using an online mortgage calculator which will calculate how much you can borrow. 

Or you can call a mortgage broker and ask them to talk you through what you can afford. 

I used London & Country and found them to be exceptionally helpful. The best part is they don’t charge a fee.

By knowing how much you can borrow you can get a better idea of what your overall house buying budget is. It’s no good thinking you can buy a £400,000 house when the most a mortgage lender will let you borrow is £200,000.

     2. Work out how much you need for a deposit

Now you know how much you can borrow, you can work out what you’ll need for a deposit. So for example, if you know you can borrow £180,000 and you want to buy a £200,000 house you’ll need to save the remainder of £20,000.

This is enough for a 10% deposit. The larger the deposit in relation to the amount you want to borrow (called the Loan to Value Ratio or LVR) the better the mortgage deal you can get. So it pays to save as big a deposit as you can.

There are mortgages available for those with a 5% deposit but these will charge more interest than those available for a 10% deposit. 

3. Add in the extras to get to your overall savings goal

When saving to buy a house, it isn’t just about the deposit. There are other additional costs to think about such as solicitors fees, mortgage fees, surveys, removal costs, stamp duty etc.

Thanks to recent changes in stamp duty you probably won't have to pay this now, but it’s worth checking if you need to budget for it, particularly if you live somewhere pricey like London. There are lots of good online calculators.

Do your research on other home moving costs, but to give you a rough idea we paid £1,300 in solicitors fees, £550 for a HomeBuyers report and £350 in mortgage fees.

Add this amount to your deposit money and that should give you your total savings goal.

     4. Work out what you’re prepared to sacrifice

This is where we come back to avocado on toast. What are you prepared to give up in order to save for a house? As we've already established that money needs to come from somewhere. 

You probably wouldn't be reading this if you had lots of disposable income so some aspects of your lifestyle will need to be reduced.

The easy ones are things like the gym membership you never use but what about the things you rightly reckon that you deserve because you work hard?

Can you give up holidays? Nights out? Quit smoking? Takeaways? Eating out? Shopping?

Do you want your own house more than you want the extras in life? Only you know the answer to that. But if you’re serious about buying your first house in the not too distant future then virtually all unnecessary spending has to stop or it will take you a VERY long time to save up.

If we’re being honest we know we waste chunks of our money on the little things. Magazines, picking up a chocolate bar when we pay for our fuel, buying sandwiches because we’re too lazy to make them.

This article has got lots of excellent advice about the small things we pretty much throw money away on and how giving it up can actually help you buy a house. 

Those little things like buying sandwiches at work can work out at thousands of pounds a year, so you may be able to claw back a fair chunk of money without too much sacrifice in some areas.

     5. Cut your living costs if you possibly can

Everyone’s situation is different so it’s almost impossible to write something that will cover everyone. But for most people their living costs take up a large proportion of their income so any saving you can make here means more money to stash away.

The most painless way to do this is to make sure you’re paying as little as possible for all utilities.

But if you can make savings on keeping a roof over your head you’re likely to make more of a difference. Ideas to consider are:

-Moving in with friends or family who are kind enough to let you pay a reduced rate.

-Sharing a flat or house if you currently live alone.

-Depending on your circumstances taking in a lodger.

-Moving in with your partner.

-Relocating to a cheaper area.

I moved back in with my parents and while I still paid them rent, it gave me the extra cash to save each month.

Obviously not everyone has these options open to them but it is worth taking a think about how you could cut back on what is probably your biggest monthly expenditure. 

     6. Look for extra ways to boost your income

The small extras you can make on the side can really add up over time.

Could you work an extra job in your spare time or do some overtime? Perhaps do some odd jobs for friends and family for a little bit of extra cash? Using cashback sites can also help to boost your income.

Selling some of your old stuff on eBay, Facebook, Gumtree or a good old fashioned car boot sale is worth trying too.

None of these are likely to make you rich. But they might give you enough for a few nice things to help keep you going while you save. 

7. Make your savings plan and stick to it

Once you have trimmed all the unnecessary spending and cut as many costs as you can you will be able to work out how much you can afford to save per month.

Whatever that figure is, you must start to see that savings goal as being non negotiable. You wouldn't accidentally spend your rent money on non essentials and your savings need to become just another outgoing in your mind.

Set up a standing order to transfer the money as soon as you get paid. This is absolutely essential. It's no use trying to be good all month and then saving whatever is left. You will just spend it (trust me, I've tried, it doesn't work).

It is also a good idea to transfer the money to an account that you can't see every time you do your regular banking. Obviously the money needs to be accessible but having it out of sight, out of mind can really help the urge to spend it all on a two week trip to Barbados. 

You can use an online calculator to help you work out how much you either how long it will take you to save the required amount or how much you need to save per month to hit a certain target date.

Use this info to make yourself a progress chart like the ones people use for raising money for charity and tick it off each month when you add more money to your savings. Doing this might sound silly, but it can really help with motivation. When you feel low, take a look at how far you've come.   

      8. The importance of staying disciplined

I recently saw another person tweeting about buying the new Naked Heat palette on the sly, because if their mum found out they would lecture them about how they’re supposed to be saving for a deposit. This person was claiming that one make up palette isn’t going to make any different to the thousands of pounds they need to buy a house.

They’re correct in some ways. £38 probably won’t make much difference providing this splurge is a one off. But if you justify this kind of purchase with this excuse a lot then you will have lots of clothes and make up, but no house to put it in.

It took Jared and I a year to save for our deposit. During that time I bought one new dress (yes that’s right, just ONE) and no new make up. We didn’t go on trips, we didn’t go out, we didn’t go on dates, we didn’t go to the cinema. We stopped all of it and only did them on very special occasions in order to keep us motivated. 

I'm not saying this to make you feel bad for treating yourself, just to remind you that you can do without things and that you always have to ask yourself, do I want this more than I want a house?

If you can afford a treat without compromising your savings plan then by all means go ahead. But ask yourself, if you can regularly afford to treat yourself to expensive things then would that money be better used if it was helping you reach your goal quicker?

Bear in mind that £100 of treating yourself a month adds up to £1,200 a year. Although not a life changing amount of money it would probably make a reasonable difference to your house deposit. 

The more disciplined you are in the short term, the quicker you will reach your goal. 

9. Staying motivated

This may sound like I'm contradicting myself from my previous point but it is important to build in rewards to keep yourself motivated. 

Otherwise it just becomes an endless monotony of working and saving.

I found the best way to do this was to plan fun things for when you reach certain saving targets. This way you encourage yourself to keep going and you look forward to hitting your next goal.

It can also help to set yourself a dedicated part of your budget for 'fun spending' even if the amount is small. We all enjoy the little things and denying yourself everything makes life no fun at all. 

Chances are you will be saving for some time so try to keep a good balance is important. 

There is a world of difference between frittering your money away on consuming things you don't really need (while complaining that you don't have enough to buy a house) and deciding how much is reasonable to spend on fun things without compromising your savings plan. 

10. Get as much help as you can

While it might seem small there is help out there for first time buyers. It won't give you enough to have a deposit overnight but you should take ALL the help you can get. 

There are two main ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) for first time buyers. 

The first is the Help to Buy ISA and the second is the newer Lifetime ISA. 

The government will give you extra money on top of your savings (up to £1,000 a year for the Lifetime ISA at the time of writing) so it is well worth doing.

This is particularly true if you are saving as part of a couple as ISAs are individual products (the clue is in the name) so you can both have one if you are both first time buyers. This means a potential £2,000 a year between you from the government is available. 

There are pros and cons to each different ISA and you should look into which one is right for you. This guide might help you. 

In conclusion, it is 100% possible to buy a house as a young person in the UK in 2018. More and more of my friends are managing this feat (without help from family) so it can be done. It takes time and effort to save but it is worth it in the end when you get the keys to your first house. 

First Time Buyer blog post series

1.  We bought our first house
2. Our house buying story

Interiors - Bedroom wishlist

Now that we have finally moved into our new house I can finally get excited about furnishing and decorating it how we want.

This is my current wish list of items to decorate our bedroom with. We have quite a neutral colour scheme in our bedroom with lots of natural wood and I think these items would go well with what we already have.

Clockwise from top left

1. Set of two copper wire baskets - ASDA - £6.00

2. Bayliss & Harding Prosecco Fizz candle - Tesco - £10.00

3. 230 Thread Count Non Iron Egyptian Cotton Bed Linen - M&S - £2.99 - £59.99

4. Medium Gold & Glass Mirrored Tray - Oliver Bonas - £12.00

5. Ananas Cushion in Cloud - Elizabeth Scarlett - £50.00

6. Saskia Trinket Dish - Oliver Bonas - £9.50 

7. Albus Twisted Table Lamp - John Lewis - £40.00 

8. Coco Chanel Gold Foil Art Print - Etsy - PeachAndGold - £7.27

9. Succulent Planters - Etsy - InGaConcrete - £5.81

10. English Pear & Freesia Home Candle - Jo Malone - £45.00

11. Iona Small Table Lamp in Grey - John Lewis - £40.00 

12. Herringbone Patterned Blanket in Dusky Pink - £34.99 

Now to just save the money to buy it all ;)

Projects for our Garden in 2018

1. Expand our bird feeders

When we first moved into our house in late Autumn we put a bird feeder in the tree in our garden. It has taken a while for the birds to be brave enough to use it but they are now feeding from it regularly.

I'd really like to get some more feeders such as ones for sunflower seeds or fat balls to encourage more birds to visit our garden.

2. Create a mini pond

Our garden is far too small to have a decent size pond but a water source is really important for encouraging wildlife to live in your garden.

I saw this project for creating a mini pond and thought it looked like fun, as well as being small enough for our space.

It also looks super easy, which is always good for gardening novices like myself.

3. Get a bug hotel

As part of providing a home for wildlife in our garden I'd like to get a bug hotel. You can make these yourself but some of the ones you can buy are really cute.

They cost hardly any money either and it would be nice to start adding some character to our garden as it's currently pretty sparse.

4. Get a fruit tree

Our garden already has a large cherry tree (which sadly doesn't seem to fruit) and some crab apple trees but I'd really like to get some sort of potted fruit tree.

Most likely an apple tree.

We don't have space for a whole orchard but one that is compact enough for a pot would be perfect.

5. Train some climbers up our trellis

We have a trellis that separates our oil tank from the rest of the garden and I would love to grow some climbers up it to hide this eyesore from view.

My mum has a honeysuckle growing in her garden that she took as a cutting from our old house.

But the original plant was a cutting from my Grandma's garden and I really like the idea of taking a bit of it with us to our new house (particularly as honeysuckle is quite easy to grow from a cutting).

6. Grow some fruit in our hanging baskets (probably strawberries and cherry tomatoes)

I always enjoy growing tomatoes and I'd like to make the most of the small space in our garden and grow something in hanging baskets.

The added advantage is they would have the heat from the wall of the house and from the fact it faces south. Plus they're right next to our water butt for easy watering. 

7. Attempt to help our lawn recover

We have a small lawn that is currently looking a little bit sad.

My cousin (who owned the house before us) has two small children and they had a trampoline and various toys in the garden. As a result our lawn has a lot of bare patches and it quite sparse and weedy in places.

My parents bought us a lawnmower for Christmas so hopefully come Spring we can fertilise and reseed it. After that we should now be able to mow it regularly.

Fingers crossed with a bit of TLC it will recover a bit. I'm not bothered about it not being a 100% perfect ornamental lawn. It would just be nice if it was a little better.

8. Challenge myself to grow something new

I tend to grow similar things each year and I'd like to branch out this and try to grow something I haven't attempted before. Perhaps runner beans or courgettes. Something simple and that can be grown in a pot.

9. Start a compost heap

Every garden needs one, even if it's just somewhere to get rid of your lawn clippings.

Again, this is another super easy project and hopefully one that will reward me further down the line when I've got ready made compost on hand.

10. Trim our cherry tree

This is something that needs doing fairly soon while the tree is still dormant during the winter but it needs cutting back a bit. Some of the branches are quite low and it's starting to take over the garden. 

11. Get a coldframe

This would help a low with lots of different plants and I've asked my very DIY orientated sister is she could build me one. Hopefully she'll feel the urge to build something new at some point!

12. Get some patio furniture

There's not much point having a garden if you can't enjoy it! We're in need of a table and chairs so we can sit outside and use the space. 

Our budget is tight so I'll probably be on the look out for some second hand items.

13. Host a BBQ

Hopefully by the summer our garden will be a little more welcoming and it would be great to invite some family and friends over for some laid back food and drink!

Decorating tips for beginners

Painting the kitchen with all the surfaces protected

A little disclaimer here. I am by no means a painting and decorating expert. As I've already mentioned in previous posts, Jared and I were total novices when it came to anything DIY. Let alone deciding to redecorate basically the whole house.

But we have learnt a fair bit along the way. So I thought I would share what we now know for anyone else looking to embark on their own decorating venture for the first time. If you have no idea what to do or how to start, then don't worry. Neither did we!

I tried to find a guide for amateurs but could only come across blogs by professional decorators. While they were really handy, they didn't cover some of the really basic level questions that we had. So I thought I would write my own guide to help anyone else out there who needs it.

1. This is not an easy job.

Now as far as DIY goes, painting is definitely one of the easier things and you don't need to have any particular skills but it is worth mentioning that it is hard work. It's also time consuming. It's not as simple as just slapping some paint on the walls and calling it a day. It will take you a fair bit of time to do properly.

The task will be more complicated if you have high ceilings or very textured surfaces to work with. The amount of work involved will also depend on how many rooms you want to repaint. If you think it's too much for you then start small and work up. If it goes horribly wrong (unlikely but it could) you can always call in a professional to help.

Conversely though, don't be put off by the fact it's hard work. Provided you have got a house in good condition and all you want to do is spruce it up a bit you should be able to do it yourself.

Just be realistic about the amount of work involved and how much time you have to commit to it. There's nothing worse than a half bodged DIY job.

Lampshades for each room, plus decorating kit.

2. Think about what you are trying to achieve.

What look are you going for? How is that different to how the house currently looks? Remember that dark, strong colours can overpower a small room and make it feel smaller. But equally painting everything bland, boring colours can make the house feel sterile.

Ask yourself realistically how much work needs doing. Is it just the colour of one wall you want to change or are you redecorating the whole room?

If you are, then consider that unless the ceiling and skirting boards have been painted recently they are likely to suddenly look dingy once the rest of the room is freshly painted. Although it is more effort, it makes the whole room look brand new.

Basically, you need to know the direction you are trying to go in so that the finished result matches with the rest of the decor in the room. It's no good repainting the room only to discover that your new colour looks awful against your sofa.

If you're not sure where to start, try picking the curtains and lampshades you like and then design the room to go with them. Or pick a cushion to be your centre piece and use that to pull inspiration from. 

3. Preparation is key

This is the part of the job that involves the most work. It's takes the most time and its very labour intensive. It is also very frustrating because it feels like you aren't making any difference to how the room looks. But it makes the most difference to the overall quality.

4. Fill in all the holes

First step is to carefully inspect the walls for any holes and fill them with a suitable filler. Professional decorators mix their own filler as this is significantly cheaper if you have a very large amounts of holes to fill. But you can also buy pre-mixed stuff that you take straight from the pot and put onto the wall.

If you're not a pro with only a few rooms to do there probably isn't much point in buying the product to mix yourself as you will only use a tiny amount of it. We used a premixed Ronseal version and had four rooms with loads of holes in all of them. We only used a tiny bit of the pot as you only need a small amount for each hole.

To fill the hole in, remove any screws that are still in the hole and lightly sand any uneven edges around the hole. A good tip for dealing with annoying plastic rawl plugs is to hammer them in so that they become flush with the wall; pulling these out can sometimes make the hole even worse. Also, the filler will have something to stick to when the rawl plug is still in the hole.

Get a small amount of product onto the plastic spatula that comes with the filler and carefully smear it over the hole. Use the edge of the spatula to spread the product evenly so it is flush with the wall by wiping over the product in a diagonal cross shape. This removes the excess product and gives a smooth finish.

Try to use just enough to fill the hole, but not so much that you've covered more wall then you need to. The more filler around the actual hole the more sanding you have to do when it dries and it doesn't look as neat.

Once the filler has dried (takes about two hours) you might find that is has shrunk back inside the wall a little. This often happens if the hole is quite deep. If this is the case add a second layer of filler over the hole so that the filler is flush with the rest of the wall. It is better to do several thinner layers rather than one massive thick one as the finished result looks better.

Once you are happy with the finish and it is completely dry, sand the surface of the filler so that it is level with the rest of the wall. This is particularly important as it helps blend the hole in with the rest of the wall once you've painted over it.

Doing the above won't completely disguise the hole. You will be able to see where it was once it is painted if you look closely, but it will look better than an actual hole in the wall!

There are lots of YouTube videos on this if you need more help.

5. Repair any damage around the windows and doors

As houses expand and contract the edges of doors, window frames and skirting boards can become damaged and look like they are coming away from the wall. As long as the actual frame is still attached and doesn't need replacing you can neaten this by using decorators caulk.

Snip the end of the caulk off with a stanley knife and then flatten the end slightly so that the caulk comes out in a thinner stream. Then carefully pipe a thin layer around the edge of the window sill or wherever needs a slight tidy up. You can get specialist tools to smooth the caulk out but you can also use your finger.

Smooth the caulk out so that you have a neat finish and wait for it to dry. Once it is completely dry you can use this as your edge  for painting to and it will make the overall result a million times neater. Again there are lots of video tutorials if you need them.

6. Sand the walls, ceiling and skirting boards

We have found that it is a lot easier to do this all in one go. Basically you need to sand the whole area you are going to paint. This could well mean the whole room. You can get electric sanders which will make the whole job a lot quicker and easier.

But if you don't have access to one, aren't confident using one or aren't doing a very big area then you can do it by hand. You can use a block of wood to wrap some sand paper round, which works fine but if you are going to sand a fair bit, then spend a few quid on a sanding block. They make the job a lot easier.

We did all four rooms by hand as we don't have an electric sander and used 180/200 grit sandpaper. We found this to be fine enough to not damage the wall, but it still sanded off any imperfections.

Get yourself a step ladder for reaching the ceiling and tops of the walls and get sanding. Make sure you wear a dust mask and goggles as it gets very dusty very quickly. Open all the windows to get as much fresh air in as you can. Work from top to bottom and focus on removing any flaws in the existing paint job as they will show through.

Don't forget the window sills and door frames if you are planning to repaint those.

This step is absolutely necessary as otherwise your job will look scrappy.

Jared washing the ceiling and walls in the kitchen after we finished sanding

7. Wash the walls

Once you have finished sanding, wash the walls, ceiling and skirting boards down to remove any dust that will stoick to the paint. Use a big sponge as it makes it quicker.

Sugar water is fantastic for removing any greasy marks or dirt on the walls. You can also hoover the skirting boards to remove most of the dust that collects here, as it is much quicker!

8. Get the kit for the job

We wasted a fair bit of money on poor quality kit, stupidly assuming that it was all pretty much the same. A bad workman blames his tools, but even an amateur workman can achieve a good paint job with the right ones!

We used this Prodec extending roller pole with the matching roller frame and these 9 inch roller sleeves. They have all performed brilliantly and we quickly threw out our cheap first purchases as they didn't work properly. 

This is a list of stuff we bought. This post is not sponsored by Toolstation but we did find them to be the best source of equipment but at extremely reasonable prices. You don't have to be a professional to buy kit from there either, but many trade people do. If you have one near you, I would highly recommend going there rather than one of the large high street names like B&Q or Wickes for kit.

Equipment list:

Prodec extending roller pole

Prodec 9 inch roller frame

Prodec 9 inch roller sleeves

Brushes for cutting in

9 inch roller trays

Step ladder

Paint stirrers

Paint pots

Paint liners for paint pots

Black plastic bin bags for wrapping kit in

Drop cloths

Plastic wrap for covering furniture and kitchen surfaces

Dust masks

Goggles

Sanding blocks

Sandpaper

Sugar water

Sponges for washing walls

Some extra tips:

- Get proper drop cloths to protect your floors, they work far better than the disposable ones. You can use them again and again.

- Plastic wrap will cover all of your furniture better than dustsheets. It's also very static so it sticks to furniture on its own a lot of the time. It is fantastic for covering the kitchen units, work surfaces, fridge etc.

-If you want to take a break you can wrap your brushes, rollers and roller trays in black plastic bags and seal with sellotape. You can also use clingfilm, but plastic bags will fit a whole roller tray in. Your paint will stay wet and ready to use for a day or two so long as they are well sealed.

-Wash your paint stirrers straight away so you can reuse them for separate colours.

-We didn't bother washing out our rollers once we were ready to paint a different colour and just threw them away as they only cost £2. It was more effort than it was worth.

-Paint pots might seem pointless but it allows you to decant paint from the can for cutting in. This is particularly handy if there is more than one of you working as you both need a supply of paint. Plus they are light enough to hold when you are standing on a ladder.

-In the same vein, you can buy liners for the paint pots that mean you can seal your paint for later use. Plus it means you don't have to keep washing them. They cost hardly anything and make the overall job a lot easier. 

Jared painting the ceiling in the living room

9. Paint the ceiling

Always start at the top of the room and work down. We painted all of our ceiling in Crowns Vinyl Matt in Brilliant White and they look great. It even covered up a seriously dirty corner of the kitchen that we couldn't get to come clean no matter how much we scrubbed it.

Before you roll the ceiling, cut in around the walls and light fittings. By this I mean use a paint brush to paint about a four inch strip around the edge of the ceiling. Also make sure you paint the ceiling paint onto the walls themselves by a couple of inches.

This might seem like pointless work but you cannot get a neat edge using the roller alone. By painting the ceiling colour onto the walls this makes sure that you do not end up with a gap where the ceiling and wall paints meet. As most people paint their ceiling white, when you come to paint your walls you simply paint over the white with the colour of your choice.

Once you have cut in the ceiling you are ready to roll. Make sure you get an extending roller pole and that it extends to a suitable length for you. If you have a tall boyfriend like I do I suggest you get them to paint the ceiling. It is hard work, but the further you have to have the pole extended, the harder it is. A taller person doesn't have to extend the pole as much and therefore it is much less unwieldy to handle.

Paint the ceiling parallel to the natural source of light so that any roller marks are less obvious. If you are right handed, it is easier to roll a room from left to right and vice versa if you are left handed.

Pour a suitable amount of paint into the roller tray and roll it onto the roller. You are aiming to have a fair bit of paint on the roller.

Start your first stroke about a rollers width away from the edge of the wall. Roll the paint out in a straight line and then spread it out in a W motion to either side. Watch some YouTube videos if you are not sure how.

The key to getting an even finish is to make sure you have enough paint on your roller. When the roller is making a harsh sound on the wall, you don't have enough paint.

The spare room with the new paint colour cut in around the doors, walls, skirting boards and radiator.

10. Paint the walls

This is the step that makes the most impact. Again, start by cutting in around the ceiling, skirting boards, light switches, radiators and any plug sockets.

This is the most time consuming part but is essential for a good job. Take your time with cutting in, especially the ceilings and skirting boards because a neat job will make the whole thing look more professional. Use a proper cutting in brush and watch a few YouTube videos so you get the technique. Then the only thing to be done is to just go for it. If you're a bit nervous start with the skirting boards as they are easier and pick a section that won't be seen very often. For example behind a door or where a large piece of furniture goes. Then any mistakes will be less obvious.

Once you have cut in you can roll the walls using the same technique you used for the ceiling. Again, if you are right handed, paint from left to right. You will probably need to do at least two coats to get an even finish and make sure none of it looks patchy.

11. Paint the trim

Once your walls are dry it's time to paint the skirting boards, window sills and door frames. We used Dulux Satinwood for ours as it gives a more modern, flat finish as opposed to gloss. It's also easier to work with and more forgiving. However it isn't as durable as gloss, which is one drawback.

A cutting in brush is fantastic for doing the skirting boards as you can paint virtually the whole thing in one go and the pointed end is great for fiddly bits.

Use painters tape to protect the floor by taping along the edge of the skirting board so you can paint the full length of the skirting board without ruining the carpet. 

We only needed one coat for this and it has made a big difference to how the rooms look. As everything is freshly painted they now look brand new.