Nine times out of ten we are bound to make some sort of goof – however minor when it comes to a paint job. Here at ChicTip, aside from promoting chic and stylish living, we want to make your life easier. To that end, we’re presenting you with a few of the most common painting mistakes and a couple of solutions to keep you from sweating the small stuff!
1.) Paint Chips or Swatches
On the surface they seem totally harmless – but would you pick a car you’ve only seen through a keyhole? No. You’d want to see, smell, and drive the car before you decided to take it off the lot. The same applies to painting a room – don’t be afraid to buy a can of paint and apply a large swatch to the wall in question. Give it time, look at it under different light at different times of day. The waiting will be pay off in a beautiful way.
2.) Too Many Colors!
We applaud anyone who is doing their darndest not to play it safe with color, to explore and play – that’s what design is all about! However, too many colors and you could end up with a room that seems frantic and frazzled instead of cool and collected. An easy way to maintain the funky look you’re going for without the hassle of painting a rainbow? Start with a palate of no more than two shades. Stick with complimentary colors and you’ll get a unique look that will illicit more “oohs” and less “aahs!”.
3.) Trend Disasters
“We call this the Gucci Room. Because we painted it with Gucci stripes.” Ouch. Don’t let this happen to you. Trends are trends for a reason – they come, and they go. While it may be alright to indulge in the latest pair of ankle boots, a room is going to be with you a lot longer. So rather than fixating on what they’re doing in all the magazine, try to aim for a room that suits what’s in it: you, your friends and family, and your furnishings! Aim to personalize, and the odds of going out of style are a lot less.
4.) Buying Paint
Sometimes in the feverish excitement of buying paint for a new project, we impulse buy the first thing we see. Think of it as a wedding dress, you want to buy each one you try because the whole experience is so exciting. Luckily, we’re stopped from that insanity by bridesmaids and mothers who take us by the hand and remind us to keep our options open. They’re right, and sooner or later you’ve found, “The One.” With paint, keep your options open. If you’ve found something you think you love, wait to purchase until the next day. If you go back and STILL love it – you probably do.
5.) Ouch! Too Bright!
This falls under the category of being bold and misguided. Say yes to color, always say yes to color, and passionately! But if you live in a postage stamp of an apartment and want to paint it yellow, avoid neon and go for something more subdued like buttercup. It isn’t about the colors intensity, it’s about its richness and believe me, the effect will be even better if people don’t have to cover their eyes to enter your home.
Here are some good examples of good use of color..
For More Design Tips
Posted by Keren Fathi-Poor at 13 March, 2009
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