IT'S the time of year when incomplete household jobs stand out on a bright and sunny day.

Wallpaper that is curling at the seams and dulled down at the edges is asking to be stripped and renewed. Then your attention moves to the woodwork that is not whiter than white. Redecoration is the order of the day.

If you decide to embark on the decorating yourself then you will need to assess the job in detail. Start at the top. Are you looking at an old textured and patterned ceiling and wish it could be smooth?

Depending how sound the ceiling is, too many cracks might involve a new plasterboard covering or a plaster skim finish over the top.

The walls, once stripped clean, will need to be filled and prepared. Residue glue on plastered walls can be troublesome if you wish to paint with emulsion. It will require a great deal of washing away with appropriate solutions or plain paper lining walls. But it raises the question, if you are re-papering with plain lining to paint, then why not choose a pre coloured paper?

Wallpaper manufacturers have been working hard to bring interest into our homes. Do not forget you are not limited to buying off the store shelves. With careful planning and a little patience selecting from manufacturers’ sample books the choice is greater and it need only take a few days to obtain an order.

Top grade wallpaper catalogues can solve the problem of choosing fabrics and soft furnishings because they offer the total design package and photographs in them as guidance.

Pricing a DIY project against employing a professional painter and decorator it is worth judging whether you want to select from home at the best price and then have the work expertly done and dusted in days versus being upside down for weeks with lost weekends of your precious time.