If you’re tired of your gray walls, you’re not alone. Interior designers and house painters are moving away from muted tones and opting for brighter, deeper colors, with pink being the most popular choice.
However, successfully painting your house is not just about choosing the right color, you must also make some key preparations and choose the right type of paint.
Here, Derek Byrne of Fleetwood Paints explains how to properly set up your painting space, as well as giving us an insight into summer’s top color trends.
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type of paint
You need to consider how the room you are painting will be used: will it be full of people coming and going? Will there be children or pets playing there? If so, you will need a washable and durable paint.
The Irish are big fans of soft glitter. It can be cleaned and has a shiny finish.
In recent years, we have seen more people switch to a washable matte finish. These paints are ideal in high traffic areas such as hallways or where children will touch the walls, as many of them can be scrubbed with hot soapy water. However, it is an expensive paint.
There’s also the standard matte paint, which comes with an entry-level price tag. This would be suitable for a master bedroom as the walls will rarely be touched.
Preparation
As for quantity, each can of paint will tell you how much it covers per square meter. I also recommend buying a small sample bottle, firstly to test the color, but secondly to save it. Label it with the room you used it in and then if the paint chips or gets damaged, you can easily refill it.
It is very important to make sure you prepare the space for painting. If there is paint on the wall that is peeling, remove it. If there is damage to the wall, fill it with a quick-drying putty and sand. Remove all furniture if possible and completely cover anything you can’t move.
A new product that is very good is the pre-etched protective film. It is an adhesive tape to which a long sheet of plastic is adhered. For example, with a window, you can run the tape along the top, lower the plastic sheet and it will hang like a curtain. It can also cover televisions, furniture and wall fireplaces.
I also recommend using washi tape, which is made from Japanese rice paper. It adheres very smoothly and firmly to the wall and, unlike many other tapes, does not repel paint, allowing for a smoother finish. Sometimes with traditional masking tape, you can feel a ridge where the paint pushes against it. It’s also great for painting a pattern on a wall. There is a low-adhesion version that comes off the wall very easily.
Color
First, consider the colors in the room that will not change; usually it is the floors and furniture. Unless you plan to replace all of them, you should match the paint to what is already in the room.
For a long time, grays, beiges and magnolias were the best sellers. Now, blush shades are having a moment. Muted reds and pinks are becoming very popular, especially in bedrooms and living rooms.
An on-trend color would be Dorchester Blush, which is a dirty pink color. It looks impressive in woodworking and many people paint their kitchen cabinets with it.
Grays are still popular, but they are changing from light to dark. Deep, dark colors are very trendy – Parisian Ink and Peppercorn are good examples, they look quite dark in the tin but in daylight they can work very well.
Inishbofin is an earthy green that people use in their living rooms and hallways. It’s the opposite of what most people would have done 10 years ago! The Irish are definitely getting braver with their color.
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