1. When the smell of paint is at its strongest, so are the fumes. The smell is not dangerous but the fumes can be so keep the area that is being painted well ventilated. To get rid of the fumes quicker, slice up an onion and place in a saucer with a little water. The onion will absorb the fumes. Replace it every four hours. But don’t smell the onion!

2. If you are using oil based paints, leave your brushes in water overnight. Turps will expand the ferrel, the steel part of the brush between the bristles and handle. This will cause the bristles to fall out and end up in your beautiful masterpiece.

3. It doesn’t matter how paint is applied, provided you start at the bottom with a roller, or the top with a brush. The key to a good paint job is in the laying off. Make sure the entire surface is even.

4. To keep trays clean, cover it with hefty wrap. This will cling to the tray, and when the job is finished, you can remove the hefty wrap and still have a tray that looks like new.

5. To test whether paint is dry, use the back of your hand, not the palm of your hand. The back of your hand is more sensitive, and will not leave horrible finger marks.

6. To test whether the paint on your walls is acrylic or oil based, get a bit of meths on a rag and rub gently. Meths breaks up acrylic, and if there is paint left on your rag it will be acrylic.

7. When trialling colours for your new colour scheme, avoid looking at the existing colour. It is part of our instinct to compare the trial colour to the existing colour even though we want to get rid of the existing colour. The longer you keep comparing the two, the longer you will take to decide on a colour scheme. To make it even easier, white out the wall. White is neutral, so you won't find yourself comparing the trial colour with white.

8. If you want more than one colour for the outside of your house, but can’t decide on the second or third colours, choose the main colour first, (the colour that you definitely want to use) apply it, and then choose the second and third colours.

9. Colour will look different is mass. Colours that may look dark on a colour chart may look lighter when applied in large areas. Lighter colours can seem darker than you imagined in large areas. A very simple method of determining how dark a colour actually is, is to compare it with plain white, however the tone of colour can change depnding on secondary colours used. If you have doubts, a bit of advice may not go astray.

10. Enamel can be painted on top of acrylic but not acrylic on enamel because the enamel surface has no key (gripping surface). However if you want to change the system, sand back the surface to remove any shine, undercoat, and finish with whatever paint you choose.