Residential Painting Services Ideas and Techniques

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Choosing Interior Paint Colors

Changing the color of your interior walls is an excellent way to increase the resale value and appeal of your home. It is a cost-effective way to add style, personality, and warmth to any room. In fact, it is so cost-effective, that some choose to paint their walls quite frequently in order to change the mood of a room, paint a room according to the season, or just to express their personalities.

So what colors should you use to repaint your walls? Well, that is completely a matter of taste, but there are a few things to remember that may make it a little easier for you to choose the perfect colors for your taste.

Psychological Effects of Colors

It is important to remember that colors have a relatively strong psychological impact on us. It is common knowledge that lighter colors, such as white and yellow, tend to make a room appear brighter and larger, while darker colors can make a room seem smaller. There are also warm colors, like red, orange, and yellow which are inviting. Green, blue, and purple are some examples of cool colors, which tend to be relaxing and soothing. Light blue is commonly thought of as the most calming color, which is why you may see schools, daycares, detention centers, etc. utilizing it in their paint schemes.

Utilizing Colors

When choosing a paint color for the inside of your home, take your furniture, floors, etc. into consideration. The goal is o choose colors that compliment the colors of your furniture, appliances, floors, accessories, and other established colors within your home. The use of contrasting colors can also be utilized to your advantage. You can use colors that contrast large pieces of furniture, artwork, etc. to emphasize these objects.

Paint color can also be used to draw attention to architectural features, such as arches, trim, doorways, and any other unique aspects of your home that you may want to incorporate more fully. Furthermore, well-chosen color combinations can also cover up or hide certain design flaws or unattractive aspects of your home’s design.

Tools to Help You Choose

There are several options available to help you choose what colors you want for your walls. Every paint store supplies paint color samples. Remember that the color may not appear the same on the little card as it will on a twenty-foot wall. Normally, the samples appear slightly darker, while the color will seem brighter on a large surface. There are several computer programs that let you preview what your color combinations will look like in a model of your home.

Probably the best method of coming to a solid conclusion as to what colors you would like to use on your walls, is to ask a professional. Professional painting contractors have much useful knowledge and experience including, not only color choices, but what type of paint is best, type of application, and other information useful to your unique situation. What better source of advice?

Mr. Oliver is a marketing agent for Dramatic Changes. The interior painting specialists works in and around the Richmond Virginia metro area. For more information on interior painting contractor in Richmond Virginia [http://www.dramaticchanges.net] please visit their website.

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How to Tell What Style Your House Is

Pocahontas was chatting with her friend Captain John Smith, comparing her reed-covered hut with his sturdy log home. “Hey John,” she asked, “What style is your house?”

“I’m not sure,” Smith answered, “I think it’s a Colonial.”

Most American homes contain some elements of Architectural style; some are “pure” examples of style, but most have bits and pieces of different styles. The job of identifying a home’s style is a little easier if you know a bit of history and look at a few key features including massing, roof shape, window size and placement, and detailing.

Colonial Homes

Most American Colonists were English, so most Colonial homes are derived from English styles. The earliest were based on old medieval homes, easily identified by simple massing, a few small windows, and massive chimneys. The New England saltbox with its lower back roofline is a common adaptation of the medieval style; Dutch Colonials have similar massing but are distinguished by their distinctive gambrel roof style.

Interest in English Colonial architecture grew tremendously with the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia in the early 20th century. A great many suburban homes of the 1930s and 1940s are based on the Colonial Williamsburg model and that influence continues today.

Georgian Colonial style is very common and has many variations. The best-known Georgian homes are of red brick, although wood siding is also common. Georgian homes are simply massed; usually have a centered front door; double-hung windows; and a gabled or hipped roof. Georgians range in decoration from the very plain to the very elaborate.

Revival and Eclectic Styles

Home designers and builders have been influenced by styles from earlier times throughout American history. In the 19th Century, many homes were based on classical models.

Greek Revival homes have very simple forms, often just a single rectangular block. Taking cues from Greek temples, builders added a front porch with massive columns, and a very heavy cornice line at the roof.

Italianate styled homes emphasize the vertical and are almost always very elaborately decorated. The cornice line at the roof of an Italianate is notable for wide overhangs and large scrollwork brackets, and the windows are often crowned with ornately carved headers.

Colonial Revivals aren’t copies of original Colonials; rather they’re liberal interpretations of all shapes and sizes, using Colonial details and elements for inspiration. The Colonial Revival style was extremely popular during the early 20th Century and almost always has a front porch, a detailed cornice line, double hung windows, and symmetrical massing. Many new homes that don’t fit into other stylistic categories might be best classified as Colonial Revivals.

Tudor is a very free-form style. Typically they’re very asymmetrical with very steeply pitched roofs. A wide variety of material is seen on the outside, although the best-known examples include some “half-timbering” – areas of stucco or brick broken up with wood timbers. The entry of a Tudor home is often modest but heavy, and windows are broken up with many small panes. Tudor style was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s and is seeing a comeback today.

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Victorian Homes

“Victorian” refers to a group of styles popular in America during the late 19th century that was made possible in part by the invention of new framing techniques.

Queen Anne is the most common Victorian style and is characterized by an irregular shape, a steeply pitched roof, elaborately carved details, and large porch. Queen Annes are known for their multi-hued color schemes and complex siding and trim details.

Shingle style is uniquely American in origin, and was one of the first styles to be embraced by society Architects of the late 1800s. Shingle style homes are often similar in massing to the Queen Anne style, but as the name suggests, used wood shingle siding as exterior cladding. Shingle style homes make a point of avoiding elaborate exterior detailing and trim.

Early 20th Century

In the first half of the 20th century American Architects began developing new home styles instead of relying on classical and European models for inspiration.

Among the more notable American styles is Prairie, popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright but practiced in various forms throughout the country. Prairie homes are typically long and low with deep roof overhangs; windows are often grouped together. Porches are common and usually supported by massive columns. The Prairie style wasn’t in fashion long but strongly influenced hundreds of thousand of “ranch” homes across the country.

Craftsman style began in California and quickly became the preferred style for small homes across the country until about 1930. Small Craftsman homes are usually called Bungalows and are characterized by low-pitched gabled roofs with wide overhangs. Details such as beams and brackets are very common. A Craftsman home has a “hand-crafted” look that continues throughout the interior.

Late 20th Century

After a period of little interest in “styled” homes, good design is making a comeback. Some older styles are popular again including Georgian Colonial and Craftsman, and a few new styles have been developed that are fashionable in many parts of the country.

Classifying a late 20th Century home can be difficult as they’re often a mix of elements from different styles. But most homes have at least one strong feature that puts closer to one style than another. Find that dominant feature and you’ll be on the right track to naming the style.

Richard L. Taylor, AIA is a published author and recognized expert in Residential Architecture. He is President of Richard Taylor Architects, a 5-person firm in Historic Dublin, Ohio that specializes in custom and luxury home design, and remodeling and room addition projects of all sizes. Sense Of Place | Residential Architects

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Exterior Paint Colors – How To Choose?

“Dupioni”; “Faux bois”; “Intaglio”; “Pulmonaria”… Rare tropical diseases? European politicians? Expensive appetizers?

Nope, they’re paint colors! If you’re thinking of painting the outside of your house you might be wondering whatever happened to red, green, and blue!

Paint Paralysis

The dizzying array of color choices and their associated names are enough to give a homeowner a case of Chromophobia – the fear of colors. How do you decide what color(s) to use when there are so many options?

At $40 a gallon or more for quality exterior latex, you can’t afford to make a mistake. And if you don’t like the colors, your neighbors probably won’t either; colors have public impact – you’re not the only one who has to live with them. But a little research and planning can help you get started with the confidence that the final paint job is one that you – and your neighbors – will be pleased with.

Field, Trim, and Accent

An existing house isn’t a blank canvas – after all, you’re not changing the color of the roof, the brick or stone, and maybe not even the windows (if they’re vinyl or aluminum clad). Roofs and masonry walls are large areas of unbroken color and natural starting points for creating a palette.

An exterior paint scheme should be made up of at least three colors: the field – large areas such as walls or roofs; the trim – corner boards, window trim, fascias, rakes, etc.; and accent – specific elements including doors, shutters, and other architectural features.

Field colors make up the majority of what you’ll see on the house and will lead you to the choice of trim and accent. Are you trying to make your house look a little more prominent on the street? A lighter field color will make it look larger; a darker color will visually shrink it. “Unattractive” elements – gutters, downspouts, etc., should also be painted the field color to help them “disappear” into the background.

But it’s the trim color that can make or break the scheme. Painting the trim the same color as the field can work in some cases, but it can also give the house an “unfinished” or “wedding cake” look. Darker trim – especially around the windows – can cause a “frame” effect, where the windows look like pictures hung on a wall. Keeping the trim lighter than the field is almost always a safe bet.

The accent color is where the excitement is. Once you’ve chosen an attractive combination of field and trim, make it “pop” with an eye-catching accent color. It’s a tool to give life to an otherwise muted color scheme and draws attention to the important features of the house. The front door, shutters, and the windows frames (not the trim) are good places for accent colors. Windows painted with accent and trim colors together can be the most interesting part of the composition.

Choosing a Paint Scheme

The two most important considerations in choosing a color scheme are the architecture of the house and the neighborhood context.

Historic architectural styles, for example, look best in their original color schemes, although these can vary quite a bit. Original Colonial and Colonial Revival homes were often quite colorful on the inside, but less so on the exterior. Often they were painted in a single color for the field and trim, with a second color for an accent. Combined with prominent red brick chimneys and a brick or stone base, the effect is a three-color scheme.

Victorian homes – often referred to as “painted ladies” – sometimes showed off six or more colors of trim and accent. Making that look good today takes the services of a color specialist and a lot of time. But a similar effect can be had with as little as three colors if they’re well placed on the house.

The Craftsman style of the early 20th Century sported a darker, earthier color scheme using deep browns, greens, and reds. The current popularity of the style is making more homeowners consider richer color schemes for their homes.

Take cues from the other houses in your area – a house should have its own personality and style, but houses don’t look good in “party dress” all the time.

Final Coat

Whether you’re comfortable with choosing colors or not, you have several resources that can make the decision much easier. Many paint manufacturers have produced pre-selected color palettes arranged by architectural style or color range that specify compatible field, trim, and accent colors. They’re available at paint and building supply stores and most are very well done.

Many paint companies have online paint selection programs that suggest proper color combinations – some even allow you to preview colors on photographs of real houses, or on a digital photo of your own home. Sherwin-Williams.com and Lowes.com both have excellent online tools.

Plan ahead, be bold in your color choices, and use paint company resources. But don’t ask for red, green, or blue in the paint store – they won’t know what you’re talking about!

Richard L. Taylor, AIA is a published author and recognized expert in Residential Architecture. He is President of Richard Taylor Architects, a 5-person firm in Historic Dublin, Ohio. Residential Architect – Luxury Home Plans

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Interior Painting – Beyond Neutral

One of the most important questions proposed when deciding to finally follow through with interior painting is: what can you live or work with each day, for days on end. When determining the answer to this conundrum, we must consider which rooms we are ready to paint. Bedrooms need to be relaxing so we can achieve the elusive good night’s rest as often as possible.

Common living spaces require a livelier feel so we can socialize and be creative. However, waiting rooms and lounges, in office spaces, need to reflect soothing sophistication so that patients and clients feel welcomed while simultaneously put at ease. Meanwhile, similar to home living spaces, offices and conference rooms should inspire the ideas and the dialogue necessary to collaboratively meet organization objectives.

We want to somehow please everyone…all of the time. But there are colors beyond beige, taupe, cream, and eggshell. They won’t break the bank, offend or annoy because there is so much you can do with paint: mix and mute colors, stripes, sponge or stencil patterns, and faux finishes to name a few. And your local painting professionals are trained in the components of paint for different room purposes, how to achieve variety in tone and shade, as well as the most eco-friendly options for your family, or growing environmental concerns.

Interior paint consists of the solvent, the pigment, the additives and the binder. Similar to any artists’ paint, the solvent (oil or water) keeps the paint in a fluid state until it is ready for use. Solvents and pigments are the easy part. The most influential aspects of interior painting are the additives and binders that give it its texture and finished appearance.

Binders are compounds such as epoxies or chlorinated rubber that allow all of the parts of the paint to stay together as one substance, for longer periods of time, on any wall or painted surface. For those of us searching for a “greener” option, the interior painting professional will actually focus more on the tint of the paint during the selection process. In eco-friendly paint, this is where a lot of VOC gases can be greatly diminish if not completely avoided from release over time.

The paints commonly used for interior painting differ only by the room in which they are used. It is widely known that the humidity and rapid temperature changes of a kitchen or bathroom would benefit from a chlorinated rubber binder or smooth, easy to clean surface. Oil-based paints dry smooth with a gloss finish so that you can wipe water or scrub a sauce that got away from you. Doorways, floorboards, and crown moldings typically benefit from a gloss or high gloss finish as well, for easy cleaning and a little more pop to their boarder/outlining effects.

Now wall and ceiling paint for any other room is up to your particular needs: Is it for sprucing up a bedroom or remodeling an office? A flat paint finish would be ideal because you can have the chalky matted finish with the durability and because it adheres the best for concealment of nail holes or dry wall imperfections. Remember that interior painting can be an opportunity to explore the decorative options available to bring about the desired ambiance of your interior space, without playing to a single bland note.

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