How to paint a wall
By Tom Drake | 26th January 2025 | 5 min read
If you take your time and prepare properly, anyone can achieve a professional finish when painting their home. In this guide, we’ll take you through everything you need to know to paint your walls like a pro.
Painting a wall steps
- Fill holes & cracks
- Clean the walls
- Apply masking tape
- Paint the edges
- Paint the rest of the wall
- Apply further coats
Before you start painting, remove any furniture you can and use dust sheets to cover the floors and any remaining furniture. You can also remove shelves and remove your radiator to achieve a better finish.
1. Fill holes & cracks
Before you can start painting your wall, you need to prepare the surface.
First, fill any holes or cracks in the wall using filler and a filling knife. You can then take a piece of fine sandpaper and lightly sand all the walls. This will remove any peeling paint and leave a good texture for the new paint to adhere to.
The preparation method will vary depending on the type of wall you’re painting. For more information, take a look at our guide to preparing walls for painting.
2. Clean the walls
Clean your wall thoroughly with sugar soap to remove any dirt or dust. Always follow the instructions on the product and make sure you wear gloves and goggles.
Use a large sponge to apply the sugar soap and work it into the surface. Next, fill a bucket with clean water and wipe the wall clean.
3. Apply masking tape
When the wall is dry, cover switches, sockets and skirting boards with masking tape. If you're painting the wall a different colour to the ceiling or adjacent walls, run masking tape along the edges to help you achieve a nice, clean finish.
Between coats, remove and reapply the masking tape to prevent the adhesive from removing any paint.
4. Paint the edges
Before you start painting, check your paint to see if you need to apply a primer first.
When painting a wall, you should paint the edges first, known as cutting in. Use a cutting-in brush to carefully apply paint to the edges of the wall. Although masking tape can help, you should still take your time to achieve a neat finish.
5. Paint the rest of the wall
Once you've painted the edges, you can use a roller to paint the rest of the wall.
Add paint to your paint tray, then lightly dip your roller in the paint. Roll the roller against the top half of the tray to ensure the paint is distributed evenly across the roller.
Use your roller to apply paint to the wall using gentle, even pressure in an M or W motion. Aim to apply an even thin coat across the wall and always try to finish the area you're painting completely before moving on to another.
6. Apply further coats
Once you've applied the first coat, make sure you leave sufficient time before applying subsequent coats. If you're not sure how long you need to wait, check the instructions on your paint. Continue to add layers of paint using the same methods as above until the wall has an even, consistent colour. If you don't want to wash your paintbrushes and roller between coats, place them in a sealed plastic bag to keep them from drying out.
When you've finished painting, all that's left to do is remove the masking tape and clear up. Remove the masking tape before the last coat of paint has dried to prevent the paint around the tape flaking or cracking as you remove it.
You should wait for the paint to cure and completely harden before reattaching items to the wall, so check the curing time on your paint.
Can I paint straight onto a wall?
If you’re painting a wall a similar colour and the surface isn’t glossy or stained, you may be able to paint straight onto a wall. However, you'll usually achieve a better finish if you sand and clean the wall first.
How do I use a paint roller properly?
Make sure you load your paint roller evenly and apply the paint with gentle, even pressure. You should aim to paint a thin, even layer using long vertical strokes that are overlapped by 2-3 inches.