Glamorous and Artful Home

Indoor paint colors can transform your room on a budget. You can totally change the way your space feels and looks with just a little paint. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. You can also make your room feel closed in, claustrophobic or too dark if you choose the wrong paint color. Here are a few tips for picking the right indoor paint colors for your home.

Think about the purpose of the room before you choose a paint color. Warm colors are yellow, orange, red and some shades of browns. Cool colors are purple, blue and green. Warm colors are welcoming and inviting. They work well in kitchens and dining rooms; some paint experts even think that these colors will help make you hungry. Cool colors are calming and relaxing so they are perfect for bedrooms. You can even use cool colors to create a spa like feeling in the master bedroom.

Change the way you think about color. Your room might just feel a little blah or boring. The natural reaction to this is to go in the exact opposite direction with a really daring color. This doesn’t always work out the best. Instead, try layering different colors. You can make a perfectly interesting room that is still relaxing from various tones of white, brown and taupe. This will help you ease your way into the color palette but also ensures that you have a totally livable space. In these cases where you go for a more neutral room try and bring in different patterns and textures. You could apply a grasscloth paper to the walls or paint stripes on one wall to create a focal point.

You might be scared to put together a home interior color palette for the first time. You might think that’s only for decorators. However, this ensures that you have a cohesive design. Sometimes it helps to think about color in terms other than decorating and then translate it back into home decor. Walk around your house and pick out your favorite five items, these don’t have to be items for decorating. You could find a few of your favorite clothing pieces, jewelry or even food items. There will probably be similar colors and lines between all of these things. Then you can just pull a few colors out of your inspiration fabric and have a complete palette pretty easily.

Indoor paint colors can be inviting and welcoming. It’s also a perfect way to give your child or teen that theme room they’ve been wanting. When their tastes change all you have to do is repaint.

Learn more about indoor paint colors. Stop by Sara Gilmore’s articles where you can find out all about bathroom paint colors.

Paint of course impacts a room simply through its color, but if you want to add some dimension, texture and depth to the look of your walls you can achieve that by using faux painting techniques such as color washing, rag rolling and sponging. With each of these techniques, a base coat of paint in a solid color is applied and then a glaze or wash it applied over it. Glazes are durable oil-based treatments and washes are made by simply adding water to ordinary latex paint that make the color more transparent; the more water that is added, the more transparent the finish. When working with washes, be aware that they tend to dry quickly; oil based glazes give you more time to work in your effects before they dry.

Preparing the Walls
Before you start painting, prepare your walls by washing them with soap or a small amount of bleach in water. If there are any nail holes or cracks in the wall, patch and sand them and wipe away any dust residue after the patching compound has dried and been sanded. Once the walls are ready, apply latex primer and let it dry thoroughly.

If you are inexperienced in the technique you wish to use, it’s wise to practice first on a scrap wall board or poster board until you perfect your method for achieving the look and color you desire.

Color Washing
Color washing creates a beautifully subtle, soft cloud-like effect on walls that works with many decorating styles; it has the added benefit helping to hide any imperfections on the wall’s surface. Start by painting the walls with your base color and let it dry. Depending on the effect you desire, your glaze may be in a contrasting or a complementary color. Apply the glaze in a swirling or criss-cross fashion and then use a damp rag to dab the wet glaze and soften the paint lines and edges.

Rag Rolling
Rag rolling is used to create a very crinkled or textured pattern that resembles parchment, velvet or silk; the dark and light layers created with this technique add the illusion of depth to the walls. Again, your first step is to apply the base coat of paint and let it dry. To create a rag rolling effect, there are one of two methods used: Ragging on and ragging off. To rag on, gather a damp rag in your hand and then dip it into the glaze or wash and lightly blot it onto the wall. To rag off, use a roller to apply the glaze coat and immediately dab it off with a damp rag to remove some the glaze so that the base coat will show through.

Sponge Painting
A natural sea sponge is used in this technique to create a porous, mottled look on the walls that can be varied depending on the type and size of sponge that is used. Use two or more colors making sure that one layer is completely dry before sponging on the next layer. Apply the base coat with a roller, let dry and use the sponge to pat the glaze or wash onto the wall. Don’t overload the sponge with paint or you’ll end up with a blotchy blemished effect. Another method for sponge painting is similar to ragging off: Apply the glaze with a roller or brush and remove some before it dries by dabbing with the sponge.

Working for years as a design consultant Angela Glancy has just joined American Artisan Art where she plans to incorporate her decorating aesthetic for contemporary metal wall art and artisan metal wall art.

One of the things you need to know is that every painter starts off as a guy trying to make a buck, we all started out there. Almost all painters start out with the best intentions, it just boils down to their level of experience. As a professional painter, I can tell you some stories. In my early years I made some pretty big messes. I, like most guys thought I could paint. I took on some jobs and found out that there was a lot I didn’t know. Luckily before I got into too much trouble I got a job working for a painting company on the North Side of Chicago. I was very fortunate to learn the painting business from a real professional, Steve Walsh. Steve taught me the ins and outs and helped me develop my craft. What I’m trying to say is yes anyone can paint but very few can or want to paint professionally. If you’re going to pay someone to paint your home you want a professional.

Having over 15 years in the painting industry I can tell you how to spot the contractors that are no good. The first type of guy to look out for is the side business guy- once he gets a signed contract he is nowhere to be found. This is the guy who may or may not have a full time job, aside from his side job painting business. Over the years painters move around and get to know each other, so I’ve worked with all types. This type generally has a gambling or drinking problem that forces him to get out and make extra money. These guys will pick up day labors, college kids and the town drunk, stick them in your house and call them painters. After you sign the contract and most importantly hand over that check for 50% of the job, he does not care about you anymore. By the way never give 50% down if its a big job give only enough to cover material or insist to pay upon completion this may just send this type away.

The next type of guy is the handy man painter. This guy is usually not much handier than the average home owner. He may or may not have a little professional experience. The handyman painter will try to get you to pay him by the hour, this is a big mistake for you! Almost every time you will end up paying more, if you pay by the hour. The only time it’s acceptable in the painting industry to charge by the hour is for wall paper removal and maybe for extras the customer ads on during a painting project. Don’t get me wrong a lot of these painters are honest and will do the best they can for you but remember most of the time they are not much cheaper than a real painter, and a lot of the time you will pay more in the long run.

There are a couple more important warning signs to look out for when choosing a paint contractor. Number one is any contractor that comes to your home and does not pull out a tape measure and take measurements. These guys are just pulling a price out of the air. As painting contractors all we have to sell is our time and the only way to get an accurate count of man hours is by using a mathematical formula. One must get the exact square footage measurement of all areas that are to be coated in order to come up with a fair and profitable quote. Another thing to look out for is anyone pushing Home Depot or Lowe’s paint (Beher or Valspar brands) these paints are garbage, they don’t hold up any professional knows that. Any painter who is in the business can open an account at a quality paint store like Benjamin Moore. Benjamin Moore’s mid grade paint is actually better than Beher or Valspar and with a contractor’s discount it’s cheaper.

Tackling an exterior paint job needs a great deal of planning and close study of weather conditions for an end result that will be both attractive and long lasting. The worst conditions are extreme heat and cold. The weather could be the deciding factor that can make or break the outcome of your exterior paint job. It goes without saying that it is vital to check the local weather forecast as part of your pre-painting preparation for an exterior paint session. The ideal conditions for such a venture are a day with mild temperatures, low humidity and little or no wind.

Elements such as the sun, rain, snow and wind all take a toll on the exterior facade of a house leading to considerable wear and tear. Exposure to UV rays cause exterior paint to fade, chalk and lose its original glow. Also, temperature variation results in expansion and contraction of the surface resulting in cracking of paint.

Surface preparation

For professional results, it is essential to prepare the exterior surface beforehand by thoroughly cleaning the surfaces preferably with a bleach solution or a pressure washer to remove dirt, mold and mildew. Proper preparation also includes scraping as much old paint as possible and repairing chips, cracks, splinters, etc. Let the surface dry out completely. Using an appropriate primer is equally important.

After painting, the surface should have enough time to dry out before the evening dew sets in. If the surface paint has not thoroughly dried out, the paint tends to fade fast, resulting in loss of gloss and appearance. Hence painting should ideally begin early in the day to be concluded early enough. The general practice is to paint the exteriors in the shade since exposure to the sun and wind can cause paint to dry rapidly leading to an uneven texture with marks and blisters.

Better formulated weather-resistant paints

Till recently, painting in cold weather was a very uncertain proposition, with painters postponing their exterior painting jobs until spring. The north side of the home is especially vulnerable since it gets the least sunshine. Now with specially formulated paints and primers and with cold-weather coating systems made especially to withstand temperatures as low as 35°F readily available, painting contractors can have an extended painting season. Thus it becomes easier to meet deadlines, without having to experience any fall in revenues.

Modern paints are formulated to withstand extreme weather conditions. Most exterior latex paints are fast drying and more resilient although they require some time to settle in before getting rained on or exposed to a high degree of sunlight. Acrylic-based paints are more resistant to sunlight and fading. Oil paints need longer time to cure than acrylics but spread more smoothly, allowing paint contractors a greater degree of work flexibility.

Exterior house paint must be strong enough to withstand the most extreme conditions that nature bestows. The best possible exterior house painting results are dependent not just on good surface preparation, the best quality paints and equipment but also on ideal weather conditions.

A full service painting company in the Greater Bay Area, Custom Painting Inc is experienced in all facets of house painting from exteriors to interiors as well as maintenance jobs. Our high quality service for demanding circumstances in colder temperatures guarantees that the paint will not peel, chip, or chalk for at least one year. While we work on the exteriors, you can live in your home without any interruptions to your daily schedule. All of our work is covered with a 5 year guarantee on the workmanship and product. We use the highest quality Kelly-Moore Paints™. A free computer generated color consultation is included with every paint job.

Talk to a color professional at Custom Painting today at 800-944-0646 for all your exterior home painting needs.