Painting order

Ceilings and cornices.
Woodwork through to last but one coat.
Walls.
Final coat on woodwork.

Careful planning of the painting sequence can minimise the amount of cutting in needed, and will make the job easier.

If you are painting an entire room, follow this sequence.

Start with the ceiling.

Any splashes on the work below can be wiped off and the mark will also get painted over later.

Don't worry about cutting in the ceiling edges too neatly as the walls will be cut back in later.

If there is a cornice,

paint this in next, carefully cutting in at the edge of the ceiling. Obviously, if they are both the same colour, that will not be necessary.

Next, get all your woodwork done,

but only as far as the last but one coat. Again, don't worry too much about your cutting in accuracy at this stage.

Now, paint the walls,

cutting in accurately at the ceiling or cornice edge. Cut in reasonably cleanly at the woodwork edges as the final coat on this will not have much opacity and may therefore not cover inaccuracies.

Final coat to wood work

Give the woodwork a light sand (assuming it's dry) and dust down thoroughly.

Apply the topcoat to the woodwork and allow everything to dry thoroughly before clearing up.