Paint Your World

Reinvent your home with fresh coats of paint all around. And don't stop at just one color - create contrast or complement your existing décor with a flick of your wrist

By Chuck Ross
CTW Features

The right shade of paint can make a room come alive. Image courtesy Stock.xchng

I sing the praises of paint. Cave-dwelling ancestor who first mashed berry and root to match that season's new shade of mauve, I bow to you! As a homeowner drawn to residences with "potential," I have long understood paint's transformative powers.

During those times when I've felt the wind whistling through the gaps around 90-year-old windows and waited in vain for hot water to flow from clogged, galvanized-steel shower pipes, I've turned to paint to regain a semblance of control. Rolling on that first broad stroke of color never fails to invest me with a new spirit of confidence and capability. (Okay, there was that debacle with "raspberry sorbet," but it was easily made right with a quick trip back to the paint store).

"Interior painting is the No. 1 do-it-yourself job," says Debbie Zimmer, resident paint expert at the Rohm & Haas Paint Quality Institute, Spring House, Penn. "Paint can absolutely transform a living space. It can make the space appear larger or smaller, it can warm a room up and completely change the feeling a homeowner gets."

For example, she notes, warm yellows and reds in a north-facing room can help remove some of winter's cold bite. Similarly, cool blues and greens can help create a relaxing respite in south-facing rooms in the summer. But the sheer range of options paint offers can be overwhelming. Today, when just selecting a shade of white can require Solomon-like powers of decision, consumers also have any number of packaged faux-treatment kits from which to choose. Experts suggest putting some thought into an overall decorating strategy before hitting the color chips is the best way to narrow your options to a more manageable level.

"I think the most important thing is to not think about the color first," says Barbara Richardson, director of color marketing at Cleveland-based ICI Paints, whose brands include Glidden. "Start out by problem solving. What are you aiming for? Do you want the room to be fun and vibrant or relaxing? Then ask yourself what are the other constraints in the room?"

Once you've pared down your choices, bringing home a quart of one or more candidates to paint your own test swatches is a well-established process for helping your final decision making. However, Richardson suggests using a couple of poster boards instead of your wall when testing colors in your room. You can move the boards around your room, place them perpendicular to each other on inside corners and rest them above baseboard or next to other trim, to be truly sure the color is right for your room and furnishings.

Today, many homeowners aren't stopping with just one color. In addition to the common strategy of using white to highlight floor or ceiling trim, some are picking complementary or contrasting shades to add some extra visual punch.

Richardson recommends a color wheel, available at most craft stores, as the first resource for someone considering a two-color design. This tool can help you determine what color pairing is best for your space, whether it matches different shades of the same basic hue (a "monochromatic approach,") or brings together shades from opposite sides of the wheel in a "complementary" alternative.

"Most of the time, it's best to use color schemes that suit what you want to accomplish in that space," Richardson says. "Let's say it's a den, and you want it to be calm - use a monochromatic approach." She suggests a complementary scheme for an active kitchen. Just about any complementary combo will play warm colors off cool ones, creating a lively, engaging environment.

Of course, your choices don't end with color selection. Your favorite hue, or something close to it, may well be available at a range of price points, and it may be tempting to save a few dollars on a less-expensive version. Understand, though, that cheaper paint may result in more work in the end, because lower-quality ingredients can affect coverage and durability.

"In a can of paint, you truly get what you pay for," Zimmer says. "A quality paint is going to give you better application properties and it's going to give you a smooth, even finish. By paying a few more dollars, you're going to get a better paint"

Paint is composed of four basic ingredients, Zimmer says, including binders, additives, a carrier (either water or solvent) and pigment. Binders - the best being 100-percent acrylic - have the biggest impact on durability, she says. Additives can include things like "mildewcide," which retards mildew growth both in the can and on the wall, and rheology modifiers, which help paint flow evenly when brushed or rolled.

Regardless of ingredient quality, however, Zimmer suggests that claims of single-coat coverage may not hold true for every homeowner's project. Such assertions assume walls are well primed with a color that won't compete with the top coat's hue. Painting beige over deep red, for example, may well require a second trip around the room with brush and roller. And the hard-to-blend nature of some pigments, such as those used to create yellows and reds, makes covering walls adequately with a single coat especially difficult, she says.

But don't be put off by the need to make one more round. The second coat generally goes on more quickly than the first application, and the difference in the finished product will more than compensate for the added labor. Even with a single-coat product, a second coat brings added depth for a professional appearance that will help you look past your own leaky windows and prehistoric plumbing.

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