Your responsibility versus the decorator's responsibility
The easiest way to prepare for a decorating project is to separate personal belongings from professional protection. You are best placed to move valuables, fragile objects and sentimental items. The decorator is best placed to decide how to protect the floor, furniture that remains, working surfaces and access routes.
Useful for the homeowner to do
- Remove ornaments and fragile belongings.
- Move valuables and paperwork.
- Agree large-furniture arrangements.
- Secure pets and plan household access.
- Confirm colours and key decisions.
- Provide keys/alarm information where needed.
Normally the decorator's job
- Protect floors appropriately.
- Protect agreed furniture left in the room.
- Mask and protect adjacent surfaces.
- Manage normal preparation dust and debris.
- Keep tools/materials safe.
- Leave agreed access routes usable where practical.
Remove small belongings, valuables and fragile objects
Pictures, ornaments, lamps, small electronics, jewellery, paperwork and fragile items are best moved out of the working area. Empty shelves if the shelf or wall behind it needs decorating. If something is sentimental or irreplaceable, do not leave the decision to somebody else.
You do not need to spend days boxing the entire house. Focus on the actual working area and the route the decorators will use.
What should happen to beds, wardrobes and sofas?
There is no universal rule. Large furniture can sometimes stay in the room if there is enough working space. It may be moved to the centre and fully protected, moved to another room or removed entirely if the space is tight.
The important part is agreeing it before day one. Discovering that a large wardrobe blocks the only workable route at 8am creates avoidable delay.
Curtains, blinds, televisions and wall fittings
If curtain poles, blinds, shelves, TVs or wall-mounted furniture obstruct a surface being decorated, decide in advance who is removing them. Some fittings are simple; others are heavy, fragile, wired or specialist.
A decorator should not casually dismantle an expensive television installation or unusual blind system just because it happens to be on the wall. Where removal is outside the decorating scope, it should be clear before the start date.
Pets, children, working from home and household access
Wet paint, open doors, tools, ladders and sanding equipment do not mix well with curious pets. Plan a safe place for animals during the working day. If you work from home, have young children, carers, school runs or regular deliveries, mention the practical routine during the survey.
Most of these issues are easy to work around when they are known in advance. Good project planning is usually a collection of small decisions rather than one dramatic rule.
Keys, alarms, parking and utilities
For vacant, second-home or holiday properties, agree keys, key safes, alarm instructions and lock-up arrangements. Make sure electricity and water are available where the work needs them. If parking is restricted or a permit is needed, tell the decorator before the van arrives.
If you will be away during the work, the separate guide to having a holiday home decorated remotely covers access, updates, variations and handover in more depth.
How should professional decorators protect floors, furniture and the rest of your home?
Protection should be matched to the property rather than treated as one dust sheet for every situation. Carpets, timber floors, tile, stone and recently finished surfaces can need different coverings. Furniture should be moved or protected according to the room. Nearby surfaces and the access route should also be considered where tools and materials will pass through them.
Carpets and hard floors
Carpet coverings need to stay safely in place and resist normal decorating mess. Hard floors may need a different approach depending on their finish. Some delicate surfaces can be damaged by unsuitable adhesive or trapped moisture, so the most aggressive covering is not automatically the best one.
Furniture left in the room
Furniture that remains should be far enough from the working surface to allow safe access and protected from dust, paint and equipment. In a tight room, leaving too much furniture behind can make good protection impossible.
Dust control and access routes
Preparation can create more mess than painting. Sensible sanding methods and extraction can reduce dust significantly, but promising a magically dust-free building is unrealistic. Doors, local extraction and working zones can be managed to reduce spread.
The route into the room matters too. If ladders, tools and paint are moving through a hallway, protection and regular cleaning may be needed beyond the room threshold.
What should the house look like at the end of each day?
A room can obviously remain a work area while the project is in progress, but tools and materials should be left safely, rubbish controlled and agreed living routes kept usable where practical.
There is a difference between unavoidable disruption and unnecessary disorder. A decorator working in an occupied home should understand that the property still needs to function when the working day ends.
Final checklist before the first morning
- Small valuables and fragile items removed.
- Large furniture plan agreed.
- Wall fittings/removals agreed.
- Pets and household access planned.
- Keys, alarms and parking sorted.
- Colours and major decisions confirmed.
- Any delicate floors/surfaces specifically flagged.
- You understand what the decorator is responsible for protecting.
You should not need to guess how to prepare your home.
The decorator should tell you what needs moving and what can stay. The aim is to make the first morning straightforward, not hand the homeowner a huge pre-project job.
The exact protection method depends on the property, surface and scope. Particularly delicate or newly finished floors and specialist fittings should be discussed during the survey.
