THE Biggest Painting Mistake - Don't Let it Happen to You!

Have you been inspired to paint a room or the exterior of your home? Perhaps you want to add some color to your world of white walls. Well, don’t be afraid of color ~ Do it! Adding color to your home is the single best way to make the most dramatic effect, and is also the most affordable!

That said, there’s one big mistake that many homeowners make. As anxious as you might be to dash to your nearest paint store, select a color off the sample swatches, then dive straight into your project, don’t do it. You can save yourself a lot of time, labor and investment by just planning ahead a little. And, if you hire a painting contractor to do the work, this planning could really save you some money!

We probably all know someone who’s spent an entire weekend painting a room, only to discover they don’t like the color! Even if you do take the extra step to look at the color in your room before buying the paint, holding a little 2” x 2” sample up against the wall is not the most effective way to envision it in the entire room. It looks much different when covering an 8’ x 12’ area! Though some paint stores will allow you to check out larger sample cards, it can still be tough to imagine that color completely surrounding you. Some paint companies are now offering 2 oz. sample containers of their most popular colors, but I have not found these to be effective. They will not cover a 2’ x 2’ area, with two coats, as they claim to. Even if that were the case, I still don’t feel that painting an area that small is the best way to envision that color in your room.

So, here is what I suggest. Once you’ve chosen the color you like, purchase a quart-sized can. This will cost you a few extra dollars, but will be well worth the investment. I always recommend that my clients paint as large an area as they can, preferably a whole wall. Find the smallest wall in your room and paint the whole thing ~ floor to ceiling, and be sure to paint two coats. If you don’t have a small section of wall, then perhaps paint from one corner of the room over to a door opening, or from a corner to the edge of a window. The idea is to have a stopping point for your eye as you look at the new color, and to also help you focus more fully on the new color vs. the existing one. If you only paint a very small area, your eye will still see the old color surrounding it, and this will not give you the full effect of the new color. You need to get the idea of how it will look in the entire room! Colors also reflect off of each other, and the existing color, which is covering the whole room, will reflect onto your small sample, thereby altering its appearance.

Once you have painted a nice large sample area, take some time to live with it, and for at least a 24 hour period. If you’ve made a dramatic color change, you may love it initially, but then realize after a few days that you don’t want to live with it long term. Look at your new color during various times of day, at night, and with whatever artificial lighting you have in the room. If the sky is cloudy that day, give yourself the chance to see the color on a sunny day. You may discover that what looked like a beautiful gray-taupe in the evening looks like Clearasil pink-taupe in the morning sunlight!

Check back weekly for more decorating and home improvement tips, and until then remember ...

Everyone deserves a home they love ~ Inside and Out!