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Choosing the Right Paint for your Room |
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You've found the perfect house, now it's time to make it yours!
The first step to personalizing any room is adding color to the walls. But choosing the right color can be challenging. Unfortunately, there's no exact science to it, mainly because everyone's home has different architecture, lighting and style, but, hopefully these ideas will help you find the perfect paint for your perfect room in your perfect house!
The first thing to consider is shade. The abundance of natural light, artificial light, flooring colors, furniture colors and personal taste will all effect the outcome of painted surfaces in a room. Search your room and determine what your key inspiration item is. What piece of furniture or art best defines your style and should be built upon? Using that key inspiration item as a starting point, find paint chips that most closely match, blend or compliment it.
Paint samples are free, so don't be afraid to grab several. Take them home and lay them against the walls, furniture, fabrics and decorations that are in the room. Do they compliment? Is the window shade turning your perfect green a bit putrid? Is the skylight making your yellow too lemon?
The big trick here is to not rush. If none of the colors work, go back to the hardware store and try again. The worst possible mistake you can make is to choose a color as a last resort and then have to live in lemon or putrid green for the next several years.
Once you've found a color that you like, buy the smallest quantity you can. A pint is an economical size and, if it doesn't work for the room, you may find use for it on an old piece of furniture somewhere down the road. Take your pint of paint and test it in the room to be painted. Yes, actually take out a paintbrush and apply the paint to the walls. Do not be afraid! Your painter will be able to cover up the test area with another coat of your chosen paint or with a careful application of some primer.
When testing the color, start with white walls because any other contrast will give you a false impression of the color you are testing. If the walls are not white, go ahead and apply a coat of primer, which is naturally white and can be used later. Let the paint dry! Most paint looks very different wet than it does dry. Once it's done, step back and take a look.
If you're not completely pleased or you're just not drawn to the color, try something different. Repeat the process until you are 100% happy. It's your room!
Sometimes the hardest decision is choosing a trim color for your room. As a general rule, you want to keep it simple and the uniform throughout your home. Let's assume you have different colors on the walls in your home, whether the difference is subtle or dramatic. To unify the room, paint the trim and the ceilings the same color.
For example: Your master bedroom may be painted a pale blue, your daughter's room pink, the study has a suede-like faux finish, the main living areas are painted warm camel-beige and the kitchen is red. You would now paint all of the trim in your home, white or a custom blend of very soft beige. Though the effect is subtle, it keeps all of the rooms flowing into one other.
Or, if all your walls are neutral or light, such as taupe, beige, cream, ivory, or pale yellow (a good choice for a home that is trying to sell), have the paint store mix a blend of your color choice cut with white for your moldings, doors and ceilings. A common formula for this is one part color to three parts white. Remember to always test a sample before turning the project over to your painting professional. You'll save yourself time and money if you get it right the first time.
While we've discussed painting your ceilings here, it's not necessary. Though, if your ceilings are pure white and you are worried about having them painted, consider painting all your trim pure white, as well. Personal preference plays a larger role in this decision than decorating right or wrong. If budget and personal preference leads you to using a color on the ceiling, use the above formula. Using dark or contrast colors can give a wonderful look, but must be carefully considered and tested. Your painting professional can give you advice on color contrasting for trim and ceilings, as well.
Now that you've found the perfect color for your walls and your trim, it's time to find a painting professional to finish the job. Anyone who has tried to paint their own home before knows it's time-consuming, it's messy and you rarely get the results you hoped for. Professional painters have tools and know-how that get the job done and to specification. So spare yourself the headache of taping, rolling, brushing and touching up for hours, if not days, and leave it up to the professionals.
Finally, don't forget to consider faux painting methods and murals. Some rooms, like a bathroom or a children's room can really pop with the application of an artistic finish or a rambling scene from a fairy tale book. Find Quality Contractors can help you find painting professionals in your area skilled in these types of designer wall finishes.
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