Painting your home can be one of the most fun parts of renovating. It can refresh your surroundings and set the tone for the design scheme of the home. However, with thousands of colours to choose from, creating colour schemes, and selecting sheens, can also be extremely daunting and overwhelming for certain individuals.
Our guide to painting will provide helpful tips to homeowners who are considering painting their home!
Tip #1 – Select Timeless Colours
- Have fun with your colours but make sure they will make you feel relaxed and at ease in your home.
- Your home is a sanctuary and should feel as such.
- Bright colours, even for kid’s rooms, may feel like a good idea now but you’ll get tired of them pretty quickly.
- Consider painting an accent wall to add a bright pop of colour rather than an entire room in the bright colour.
- Consider fun and tasteful paint accents throughout the home such as within kid’s closets, ceilings, or for certain interior doors.
- Painting a home will add resale value, so keep this in mind as potential buyers may see loud colours as extra work and costs associated with your property.
- Consider working with a designer to develop a colour scheme if you are overwhelmed with the colour selection process.
Tip #2 – Don’t Forget The Details
- Don’t forget to include trim, doors, and stairs as part of the painting scope.
- Refreshing these elements with a coat of paint will make the home feel brand new.
Tip #3 – Sheen is Very Important
- Consider a standard sheen for walls such as eggshell or satin, which are easy to maintain and touch up.
- Go up one or two sheen levels (more glossy) for trim and doors as these elements are touched more often and get more wear and tear.
- Matte finishes for walls will scuff easier and require more maintenance so consider staying away from this type of finish if you have kids and pets. Harsh cleaners can also damage a matte sheen on a wall, so be mindful of the products you are using.
- The sheen for darker paint colours is more noticeable, so consider a lower sheen level if you don’t want the finish to look glossy.
Tip #4 – Quality of Paint Plays a Factor
- Try not to cheap out on the quality of paint to cut costs.
- You will pay for this in the long run and won’t be as happy with the result.
- Cheaper quality paints don’t have as nice of a finish, and you may end up having to apply several more coats resulting in more expenses.
- A higher quality paint finish will do you good in the future.
Tip #5 – Lighting Plays a Role
- Always select paint colours in the space rather than at a store or showroom.
- Paint colours will look very different in your home than they look in the lighting of a store.
- Consider how much natural and artificial light each room has and how the colours change during different times of the day.
- Don’t be afraid to paint swatches on the walls of your home to see what the final colour will look like before solidifying your selections.
Tip #6 – Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff!
- If you are having second thoughts about certain colours, try to live with them and see if they grow on you.
- Priming and painting over any shade is not difficult and this is a fix that can happen at any time.
- Remember, paint doesn’t have to be permanent! Don’t be afraid to change the colour scheme of your room and paint the walls again in the future!
