The carpet fitter is coming next week!
The Great Decorating Countdown: Why Order Matters (and Why the Carpet Fitter Is Not Your Project Manager)
If I had a pound for every time I heard the phrase:
“The carpet fitter is coming next Friday – can you squeeze us in before?”
…well, let’s just say I’d probably have enough to retire .
Here’s the thing: decorating is a bit like making a Sunday roast. You wouldn’t put the gravy on before the chicken’s even gone in the oven, would you? (Or maybe you would – but then we need to have another chat entirely.) There’s an order of operations, and when you try to skip steps, you don’t end up with a “quick turnaround” – you end up with a dog’s dinner.
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The Wrong Order (AKA the Panic Shuffle)
Here’s how it usually goes:
1. Book the carpet fitter (they’re only free next week or next decade).
2. Realise the walls still look like a Jackson Pollock tribute act.
3. Ring the decorator with that panicked, hopeful tone:
“Any chance you can do three bedrooms, a hall, stairs, and landing before Friday?”
4. Sigh deeply when the answer is, of course: no.
The carpet fitter is notorious for giving you just two options: tomorrow at 8am or six months from now, maybe. And so suddenly my diary – which has been happily booked in advance with other sensible, forward-planning clients – is expected to bend like an Olympic gymnast. Spoiler: it doesn’t.
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The Right Order (AKA the Stress-Free Route)
1. Do the messy work first. Plastering, sanding, painting – all the jobs that create dust and splashes.
2. Decorating comes next. That means walls and woodwork sorted, neat and tidy.
3. THEN carpets and flooring. Lovely fresh pile, not a single paint speck in sight.
See? Simple. No tears, no frantic phone calls, no nail-biting countdown to Friday.
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Why Pressure Doesn’t Help
When you ask a decorator to rush because another trade is already booked, you don’t magically get a better, faster job. You just risk one of two things happening:
• I say no, and you’re still stuck.
• Or worse, I say yes against my better judgment – and then neither of us is happy with the results.
It’s not that decorators are precious (well, maybe a little). It’s that good work takes planning, time, and, crucially, the right order.
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Final Word
So next time you hear the carpet fitter utter those immortal words – “I can do tomorrow, or in six months” – remember: it’s a trap. Do yourself a favour. Plan ahead, call your decorator before you even think about flooring, and save everyone the unnecessary drama.
Because at the end of the day, you wouldn’t frost a cake before you’ve baked it. And you shouldn’t lay a carpet before the paint’s dry.
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