10 tips to avoid the mistakes (or oversights) people make before they even start painting. These are brought to you by a former master painter who has seen it all, and as an apprentice made all the following mistakes - once or twice!

Don't leave paint spots all over your best furniture.

The replacement cost of spotty leather couches is a lot more than the added value of a coat of paint on your ceiling and walls. To avoid wrecking a room that you are trying to make look prettier, you should remove all furniture from the room before you start work.

If removal is impossible, pile the furniture up in the middle of the room and cover it all with plastic sheeting. Use masking tape to make sure the plastic doesn't slide off when you aren't looking. This usually happens when you have a loaded paint roller spinning. And don't stack your chairs so high you can't even paint the ceiling.

Don't paint around pictures and wall clocks

Before you do any work, even before removing furniture, take all pictures and wall ornaments and books and CDs and Playstations out the room and box them up somewhere safe. Who wants to get claustrophobic dancing around stuff that shouldn't be in the way?

If you try and cut corners and paint round the picture, not only will it take you longer than necessary, but your spotless frame will end up with paint on it. Added to that, the next person who removes it will see a dark or different colored patch AND a ridge tracing the outline of the picture. Not a great legacy.

Don't paint over nails and picture hooks

Before you start painting, don't stop at removing pictures. Remove the picture hooks and nails too - carefully. Don't forget this small detail. I can assure you there is nothing fun having to pick the fluff out of drying paint after your roller sleeve has been torn to shreds on old picture hooks.

Don't walk paint all over the carpet.

Another important precaution before painting is to lay PLASTIC dust sheets on the floor and stick them to the carpet or flooring with masking tape. Then lay cotton sheets on top of that. This will make sure you don't stamp paint drops through the cotton sheet onto the floor. It will also ensure you walk around carefully. If you run, you will skid, go head over heels and probably end up with paint flowing off your face and onto the floor - but at least the plastic will save the carpet from ruin.

Don't leave painted footprints all over the house

Following on from the above point, please lay a folded cotton sheet outside the door to the room you are painting, and when you go out the room, bend over and take your shoes off. Unless you have a pair of artistically soled shoes, any random paint print patterns will detract from the appeal of your stair carpet or beautiful slate kitchen floor.

Don't get paint on your clothes or in your hair

You have prepared the room, now it is time to make sure you are in good shape. Don't believe a word about non-drip paint. It is like a magnet to expensive items. Jeans and dress shirts can be as expensive to replace as spotty armchairs, and who wants paint in their fancy haircut? The easiest way to keep clean is to wear coveralls and a cap. If you are worried about getting too hot, go commando. You are at home, if you can't do it there, where can you?

With regard to the cap, don't wear a woolen hat, because if you think you are so clumsy you need a hat, you are bound to brush the hat against the ceiling or walls, and leave it covered in fibers, just after you painted it.

Don't paint the dog or cat

What did your pet ever do to deserve being striped or patched in off-white? Ban it from the work area and threaten it with grounding if you see it anywhere close. To be doubly sure of avoiding any animal footprints around the house, buy them coveralls and plastic boottees. It won't be fun for them, but you will have a laugh watching them try to walk.

Don't paint the glass in your windows

There is nothing more satisfying than well-painted windows. A straight paint line overlapping about 2mm onto the glass, , sharp corners, and no paint spots in sight. To achieve this, either practice for 7 years doing it freehand, or cheat with masking tape.

I don't recommend removing the glass first, because if you are that bad at painting, you are the sort of person who will put their hand through the glass and splatter paint everywhere. And paint is a bigger bitch to remove than paint.

Don't paint the car

If you intend painting outside, make sure your cars are a long way from the house. Don't just park them around the other side from where you are working - the wind is not your friend when it is laden with paint particles.

Don't believe the saying, If you can piss you can paint.

How many people say they can paint, and when the job is finished you wonder what they did to make a shabby room look worse? Straight lines, smooth finishes and a completely finished job are not easy to achieve. If you are paying a professional make sure it is a great job, if not, and you pay them, you just added to the downward plunge in work standards.

Let me know if this was of use and if you want me to point out ways to avoid mistakes when you actually start painting in earnest.