21/10/2026
40+ years in the decorating trade. Surely I know everything by now?
Unfortunately not. 😂
One of the strangest things about social media is how perfect everybody else’s working life can look.
Perfect projects. Perfect finishes. Perfect clients. No problems. No callbacks. And apparently everyone’s making a fortune.
Then there’s real life.
After more than 40 years as a painter and decorator, I’ve learnt that no situation is perfect.
Jobs change. Products change. Customers change. Problems appear that nobody expected — and sometimes you simply get something wrong.
I’ve also learnt that experience doesn’t mean doing something the same way because “that’s how I’ve always done it.”
Some of the younger decorators coming through today are exceptionally talented. They’re using new products, equipment and techniques that didn’t exist when I started.
They can learn from my experience.
And I can learn from their ideas.
That’s really the thinking behind a new series I’ve started for CSD Quality Decorators:
🎨 Confessions of a Painter
The first proper episode is:
#001 — Killing the 40-Year Myth
It’s about the difference between the perfect world we often see online and the reality of spending four decades actually doing the job.
I’ve put the full article on the CSD website for anyone who fancies a read. Link below:
👉 https://csdqualitydecorators.co.uk/ -2421-421c-b5b9-a7be2b7af249
I’d be interested to know what other people who’ve been in their industry for a long time think:
Has experience taught you more about knowing the answers — or knowing that you don’t have all of them?
Experience
