Dust should clean off newly painted walls quite easily, as long as they are dry, of course, and as long as they aren't super dark.

If you are sure of your colors, I'd do as much painting when there aren't things you have to protect and mask off. I like to do ceilings first. DH was convinced the ceilings should be last, so we did it his way, and I found it much harder than my usual ceilings-first practice.

Dings and scratches are easier to quickly touch-up than all the masking and protecting necessary if everything new and nice is already installed.

We painted in our house as soon as the sheetrock was finished. I kind of wish I'd gone with a slightly different color in the kitchen, but not enough that I want to do all the work to change it. ;-)

You're right to think ahead. Generally it's best to start with ceilings and work downwards to the walls and baseboards. However, with still some repair and lighting work to be done on the ceiling, I would opt to wait until all of that is finished before painting.

Try to paint the walls before the cabinets are installed. That way you'll have clean lines around the edges of the cabinets, and will not have to mask and risk getting paint onto the wood.

Much will depend on the type and finish of paint you're using. If it's anything but eggshell, you should be able to fix patches and dings quite easily and still hide the paint touchups.

And remember that dings are inevitable during renovation. I had to go back and do countless spot fixes after our renovation...the guys left marks and dings throughout the house just moving equipment around. You'll get good at doing invisible repairs.

Several things I learned from my drywall and paint subs...when repairing a ding or knick in the wall, make the spot bigger first for a cleaner repair. You can use the ball part of a hammer or the rounded butt end of a screwdriver handle. Hit the ding to create a cratered depression, then fill with spackle. Sand smooth when dry. This method gives you nearly invisible edges to the fill material.

When smooth and dry, dab primer onto the patch. And when painting, remember less is always better. Dab or roll on with a small roller to approximate the original brush/paint texture. Feather out to get rid of any paint lines, using a very light touch.

Generally lighter colors hide patches better than dark. With a deep color, you may have to repaint the entire wall to hide the repaired areas.

great suggestions. Thanks so much. I guess I'll be painting soon. :)

I work as an Art Consultant and frequently serve as my own technnician, filling small holes is pretty constant task when hanging art. As already suggested I use the technique of making a slightly larger indent (I prefer the rounded end of a screwdriver). Depending on how much texture you original roller had stippling on the touch up paint can be very effective - I agree that less paint is better and unless the area is pretty large I would avoid using a roller.

We painted first using a deep flat colour and one of the reasons we chose the paint (BM Aura) was because one of its' characteristics is that it touches up well. It has been pretty sturdy and any dust has come off no problem with a microfibre cloth. Painting before the cabs was definitely one of the better decisions we made.

Agree to do the ceiling, priming and one coat of paint early, but be prepared to touch up and do a final coat. Contractors are not always the cleanest people in town, particularly the electricians!