When choosing a paint color for your home, you want to find one that reflects your style and personality and blends well with the rest of your home’s atmosphere. Whether updating an existing paint color to refresh your space or picking a new color for your new home, there are many factors to consider. Full-time jobs, extracurricular activities, and family obligations are just a few of the many things that can get in the way of completing a home project of any kind. Add in the fact that most people live in their space when suddenly it becomes a rather inconvenient work zone – the paint smells, the furniture moves – and you’ve got a perfect storm of procrastination. At times, it’s hard even to imagine where to start.
Starting Line
When beginning a painting project, start by consulting a professional. Professional painters know all of the tips and tricks and can help to find the inspiration you’re looking for when making color changes in your home, as well as taking the sometimes insurmountable task off the work of your hands.
“Something to think about when choosing a wall color is looking around the room to things that won’t change – like the hardwood flooring, the furniture, countertops, and the cabinets,” says Phelon Doyle, Service Consultant for Impact Painters. “If you aren’t changing any of those aspects, choose a color that will complement those colors so everything ties together.”
When choosing a paint color, be sure to bring the color card home from the paint store. Big box stores will have industrial lighting, not at all like the lighting in most homes. Most of the time, even paint stores will have “cool lighting.” Cool lighting is very bright, whereas most lighting in homes tends to be warmer, making the color card look very different than when in the store. Doyle recommends bringing home a few shades to compare in the light of the room you’ll be painting.
The paint finish, or sheen, also matters. Sheen refers to how much light is reflected off/from the painted surface. The higher the sheen, the glossier the surface appears.
“A majority of the time, walls are satin or eggshell, but walls in bathrooms are normally semi-gloss, which is easier to clean,” Doyles explains. “Trim – frames, baseboards, and doors – are also normally semi-gloss due to them getting dirty more easily, and ceilings normally are matte or satin.”
Doyle also recommends avoiding a higher sheen in rooms with lots of windows because it will create a lot of reflection.
Oh So Trendy
If you’re looking to keep up with the trends, consider an accent wall. An accent wall is a bolder or more interesting color on only one wall in a room that highlights or complements the primary wall color in the space.
Accent walls are a way to add a point of interest without overpowering the space with a high-impact color. Accent walls can also make a room appear bigger.
“If you have a small space, go with an accent wall,” Doyle explains. “It will give the illusion of a longer, bigger space.”
Moving On
When making changes to your home to prepare it for sale, choosing the right paint colors can be difficult. It isn’t easy to know what colors will draw in potential buyers. Neutrals and whites are recommended to make the space seem open and clean, but it can be difficult to choose the right one.
“The best way to choose your neutral is to ask a local paint store representative and see what their trending colors are right now,” Doyle shares. “They always know what the people like and what colors make homes sell better.”
Do it Yourself?
There are many benefits to choosing a professional painting company. When taking on a painting project, timeliness and quality are the two most significant benefits of hiring a professional.
“When a homeowner paints their house, they lose so much time painting when they could be enjoying their favorite hobbies,” Doyle explains. “Professionals get it done in a timely manner so the homeowners don’t have to live in a construction zone for a while if they were to paint themselves.”
Professionals paint every day, as opposed to homeowners who might only paint once every couple of years. A homeowner may overlook a misplaced smudge here or a thin spot of paint there and settle with the work because they have run out of steam or patience. A professional painter isn’t done with their work until their client is one hundred percent happy with how it looks.
“A big benefit to going with Impact Painters is that we don’t subcontract any of our work,” Doyle says. “All of our painters were hired by us and go through a training process, so we know all of our employees and have great trust in them.”
Of course, some homeowners enjoy doing the work themselves and take pride in making their space their own. One tip that Doyle suggests is to start with painting the trim in a room. Using a method called “cutting in” – saturating the brush with paint and using a steady hand to get close to where the wall and ceiling meet and the edges of trim and wall sockets – you essentially create a border around the larger painting areas of your project.
“Taping off the trim and ceilings can be the most tedious part of painting,” Doyle says, “You will find cutting in is much faster and you don’t have to worry about getting the tape all over your hands.”
Whether you hire someone or tackle the project on your own, it is always a good idea to visit your local paint professionals and ask questions before getting started. You may find yourself wanting to leave brushes in someone else’s hands.
Impact Painters
ImpactPaintersMaine.com
by Sara Caron | photography by Jennifer Grace
Sara is a “County” transplant enjoying life on the Androscoggin River. Most
days she can’t be found, hiding away in the woods or mountains, enjoying the quiet peacefulness of the outdoors. A musician and actress, she enjoys the many diverse cultural opportunities offered in the LA area. -- She writes, she runs, pats all the dogs, loves beer, and plays the ukulele... badly.