'Major painting mistake almost ruined my walls so now I follow golden rule'

Once you've been living in your home for a while, it's only natural to feel that things have begun to look a bit tired. This is particularly true of things like your walls, which may need a new coat of paint, or flooring that might need to be replaced if it's begun to look scratched and worn.

However, undertaking such a task can be a huge investment of both your time and money. If you don't have the time to do it yourself, you can hire decorators to do it for you, but that can cost a fortune, depending on what you need done.

Doing it yourself, however, can take up a lot of your time - especially if you can only do little bits at a time after work. What's more, it's still not cheap, as you'll have to buy the paint and other equipment yourself.

Then there's the risk of you making a mistake with the expensive paint you've bought and effectively throwing that money away, as you have to start again. One woman almost made this error when painting her house with "really expensive paint", as she said she made a series of mistakes that could have cost her a fortune to fix.

The woman, Kathleen, shared a video on Instagram in which she shared the mistakes she made and how she fixed them so that you can paint with confidence without making the same errors.

Kathleen began by showing a clip of herself painting her walls a pale pink colour, and accompanied the footage with a voiceover that explained everything she was doing wrong.

She claimed she wasn't loading her roller with enough paint, and that, combined with her "short, jerky motions" and "way too much pressure," meant that when you looked at the walls from the side, they "looked terrible".

This look is known as "flashing". It's a term used to describe uneven patches of sheen, gloss, or colour depth on a painted surface. It occurs because of differences in paint application, such as using varying amounts of pressure, going over some areas more times than others, or using a different tool to touch up an area that needs more paint.

Kathleen was able to save her walls with another coat of paint, but said she "wished she knew" the correct way to paint before she started. She told viewers to use "way more paint" than they think they might need, and to not be "afraid" of loading up the roller.

She also recommended using a larger roller and painting in "long, fluid motions" that cover the entire wall rather than short motions and painting small patches at a time.

She said: "This has totally changed the experience, it's like night and day. I'm so happy I learnt from my mistakes so that I can share these tips with you."

In the caption of her video, she also imparted some more wisdom, as she said you should "always keep a wet edge" - meaning you shouldn't stop painting a wall until it's finished. This is because if you stop halfway and allow the paint to dry, you will have a clear line down your wall after you've finished the other half.

She also said: "Don't immediately overlap the last roll. Give yourself a little space to get some of the paint off before going back to feather the last roll. This way you don't have a sloppy wet edge where you began."

Commenters on her post were thankful for her advice. Many said they were planning on painting parts of their own home soon and were happy to have stumbled across her video before making those same mistakes themselves.

One person said: "Thanks for teaching people how to not make the same mistake!"

Another added: "Oh my god, I never knew this had a name! Now I can fix my ceiling."

A third wrote: "As a professional painter, thank you! Watching DIYs being done with no extension pole and rolling in multiple directions with not enough paint hurts to see. Good job, mate!"