Home Decoration

Perfect paint and color can make a great difference to your home décor project. Here are some tips for amateur home decorators and professional interior designers that can help them understand the color basics and make paint selection easier:

• Alkyd or oil-based paints are good for wood painting and does not leave it sticky in winters but latex or water-based paints dry faster, can be cleaned with soapy water and does not turn yellow easily and is thus, better for walls.
• Chosen paint colors may look different in different lights, at daytime and at night. So, you may want to access the look of the room in different lights and according to the function of the room.
• Colors can look darker or lighter over a large area depending on the colors of the surroundings and lighting in the room, so keep that in mind while choosing the right tint or shade of the color.
• Dark and warm shades make rooms look smaller such as red, orange, yellow and even dark shades of navy blue while light and cool colors make the room look larger and more spacious such as light shades of blue, green and even violet. Best colors for small rooms are white and light and pale neutral colors.
• For an open, spacious and airy look in a room with chair rails, paint the portion below the chair rail in a dark shade and the wall above it in a light shade.
• Generally, ceilings are painted in pure white, off white and tinted white colors to make them appear high and make the room look open but if ceilings are high enough, one can use medium to dark colors to make the room look cozier as they tend to make the ceiling advance to the eyes of the viewer.
• Since colors affect the mood, choose relaxing muted colors for bedrooms and stimulating colors for kitchen and dining room.
• Taking furniture, window treatments and accessories of the room into consideration, determine the color scheme of the room.
• To add bold dash of colors to the room, use a darker shade to paint the trims than the walls.
• To add subtle accents to the room, use a lighter shade to paint your trims.
• To calculate the amount of paint you need for a room, multiply the height of the room by its perimeter taking care not to count the doors, windows and archways in the room to calculate its wall space. Then ask the paint stores for the exact amount of paint your will need for the calculated wall space of the room and number of coats you are planning for. Since blue and yellow colors need more coats, you will need more of them, in case you are using them.
• To disguise an unattractive trim or achieve a monochromatic, uniform look, paint your trim in the same color as your walls.
• To soften the look of a bold color on walls, you can try rag rolling, sponging or color washing the walls using a light muted shade.

The sheen or the gloss level of the paint you choose for your room décor has quite an impact on the look of your room. It can be determined according to the function of the room and the aesthetic sense. Let’s discuss the type of seens available in the market, though their names and gloss level can vary with the manufacturer:

• Paints with flat or matte finish have no shine and thus hide little imperfections in the wall. However, they are not so stain-resistant though today paints with matte finish and high stain resistance also available in the markets.
• Eggshell paints or velvet-finish paints have very slight sheen or gloss level, are soft and impart a warm look to the room and are easier to clean too. They are preferable for most bedroom and living room décor themes.
• Paints with satin or semi-gloss finish can be used to highlight architectural details and focal points of the home and also in kitchens and baths as they are easy to clean.
• Very high gloss or sheen paint are quite reflective and should be normally reserved for doors and trims and to create special effects.

Here are some tips on how to choose the optimum sheen level of your paint:

• Higher gloss or sheen level generally means easy cleaning of the room or area.
• These paints are suitable for amateurs as they distract the viewer from any painting imperfections.
• Rooms and areas that need to be washed and cleaned often such as bathrooms and kitchens and where people visit most can use high gloss paints.
• High gloss paints also have most stain resistant finish and are toughest when it comes to wear and tear.
• You can use high sheen paints to highlight the focal point or a bold color scheme of the room such as kids’ room or fantasy room décor.
• For kids, one can use bright high sheen primary colors to make different patterns that look interesting such as polka dots.
• Flat paints or paints with low sheen or gloss level are for professionals as they make the surface appear smoother and more uniform and are non-reflective in nature.
• Flat paints are generally used in newly constructed homes or in areas that are not so frequently used in the homes.
• For a vintage home décor, flat paints can be used to paint a wall near the fireplace to highlight it while warm earthly hues look quite beautiful on pillars or columns in old homes.
• For an interesting dramatic effect, one can also use combination of different paint sheens.
• One can consider a monochromatic room décor in two different sheens for an interesting customized effect such as in stripes, blocks or other geometrical patterns.