Painter's Pointers!

Time to start those projects you put off until after the holidays!  Is painting on your list??  It is a great time to tackle interior painting.  Afterall, who wants to paint inside on a beautiful summer day?  Not me!! 

Here are a few Painting Pointers to help you get started!

1.  It is all about the Prep!  Prep work stinks, but it is necessary.  Make sure you are diligent about sanding, taping, testing colors, removing everything from the walls (including light switches and plugs), etc...

2.  Consider the MOOD of your room!  When selecting your paint color make sure you think about what you want the room to FEEL like.  Do you want it bright and cheery?  Restful? Playful?  Sophisticated?  The colors you choose need to coincide with the mood you want.

3.  Consider lighting!  Natural daylight will show the truest color, so if you have a lot of windows in the room you are painting, your wall color will look most accurate to the swatch you picked.  Incandescent lighting will bring out the warm tones in the paint your choose.  Florescent lighting brings out the cool tones in your paint color.  Which brings us back to Tip #1!!  Test your wall color in your room in various places to ensure that the color "appears" the way you desire.

4.  Check out magazines and paint stores if you are unsure of what color combinations you want to use!  The magazines are full of great ideas!!  BUT make sure you are looking at pictures that emmulate your room.  If your room has little natural light and the magazine picture has large floor to ceiling windows, you need to realize that the color combination will look differrent than what appears in the picture.  Also, watch the size of the room you are observing in the magazines.  If it is enormous, it may handle the deeper colors better than a smaller room. Lighter colors make a space look bigger where as darker colors make a space seem smaller. Again, think of the mood you want to create (Tip #2) and then take into consider whether you should be considering lighter or darker colors based on the size of your room.

5.  Learn your color wheel!!  There are temperatures associated with colors - warm vs cool.  Also, the color wheel can indicate what colors are complimentary to each other.  It can also give you ideas of color combinations that you never thought would go together!

6.  Monochromatic is ok!  Go with an all white room or all beige/gray/neutral palette and add pizazz with accessories and furnishings!  Pops of color with throw pillows or ottomans or pictures can make a monochromatic room absolutely amazing! 

7.  When all else fails, call my sister!!  She is the MASTER of picking paint colors and I always double check my picks with her :)  Thanks Beth!!

WHAT'S HOT in 2012??

• Deep grays with fun yellow accents
• Tangerines paired with grays
• Tangerines paired with Turquoise
• Deep Violets paired with taupes
• Coastal Blues paired with Taupes
• 70's Appliance colors!!!  Remember your grandmother Avacado or Gold appliances???  Those colors are coming back in style in 2012!
• Layered Neutrals
• Lime greens with bright pinks

Some of my favorite Benjamin Moore Colors:

Neutrals:

Manchester Tan
Simply White
Hawthorne Yellow
Shaker Beige
Cape May Cobblestone
Revere pewter

Classics:

Hale Navy
Heritage Red
Tudor Brown

Fun & Trendy:

Wythe Blue with Shark Skin
Gypsy Love with Stardust
Fresh Brew with Aplomb

Check out some of my favorite room decor at PINTEREST at http://pinterest.com/willowhouselynn