So you are in the mood to repaint the interior of your entire house. You have already decided on which colours would go on which walls on which rooms, and you have even picked new tiles and shutters to match. The only thing you have not decided on yet is whether to paint the skirting boards first or last, or how to deal with painting the skirting boards at all.

What is the proper way of painting skirting boards? Here are five tips to bear in mind when you paint your boards.

1.The boards are the last to go. When you repaint an entire room, you always start from the top down to the bottom. Given that principle, you ought to begin your repainting job from the ceiling, to the cornices of the ceiling, to the walls and down to the skirting boards. Thus, in answer to the first question, then yes, the boards are the last thing you should worry about when it comes to repainting an entire room ? unless you are going to put paint on the floor too. In that case, the floor comes last.

2.Clean them. Make sure that your baseboards are clean first before you apply the paintbrush to them. Wipe the dust, dirt and scuffs away from the boards with a simple mixture of soap and water. Be certain that you have all the mouldings on the boards covered, or you will have dirt mixing up with your paint. That would be very unsightly. In case there are dirty spots that are too stubborn to remove, do not despair. Just try a water-and-vinegar solution to clean them, or maybe some bleach would do the work.

3.Protect the floor. If you are not planning on replacing your flooring too, take care not to put paint on them as you work repainting your skirting boards. What you do here is to insert a thin slab of cardboard between the boards and the floor and move the cardboard as you work along your boards. If you do not feel like dragging a piece of cardboard with you whilst you work, you can use newspaper to cover the floor instead. Just make sure that parts of the newspaper are slipped safely in the space between the boards and the wall.

4.Pull the carpets back. Are your floors covered with carpets? Certainly you would not want to have paint all over them as you work on your skirting boards. To protect your carpets, pry them off the floor with a wallpaper knife and pull them back to expose the floor. Then you can insert cardboard or newspaper in the gaps between the boards and the wall and paint to your heart's content.

5.Keep your brush dry. Be gentle with painting your skirting boards. Do not soak your brush all over with paint. Just have enough paint on your brush and use downward strokes.

Painting skirting boards do not have to be a chore, and painting your skirting boards in the proper manner will save a lot of trouble on your end.