Colour library

Keep a record of paint colours, brand names, and places used, as well as a paint sample on wood paint stir sticks hung on a beaded chain. Now you can take your paint library to the shop with you to match colours or choose complementary or contrasting ones.

Moving the walls

Colour can also create optical illusions. For example, light colours reflect light and make the small room seem larger. Warm colours seem to advance and ‘fill’ space, whereas cool colours tend to recede. A white ceiling will seem higher; a dark ceiling will appear lower.

Complementary colours – in this case apple-green and violet – make for a striking decorative effect.

One room, four ways

Same room, same furniture, these four pictures show just how easy it is to create different styles simply by changing the colour.

Residential painting sydney

Choosing Colour in Residential Painting jobs

Painting is one the most efficient ways to refresh the house and increase the value without spending a lot of cash. Choosing the right colour for your residential painting project is crucial for success.

GET ADVENTUROUS

When faced with swatches showing 15 shades of cerulean, it’s easy to take the safe option of beige or cream. But getting adventurous with colour is an easy way to liven up and theme a room; create a feature wall or a background to stand-out artwork. It can enhance the timber tones of bookshelves and cabinetry and is an ideal approach for first homeowners wanting to unify mismatched furniture.

Wheel of colour

While a favourite colour or object often determines the main paint colour for a room, you may wish to consult a colour wheel for a secondary or contrasting colour. The colours that are opposite each other are called complementary colours. These hues will enhance each other in a colour scheme. The hues on each side of a given colour are called related colour and form the basis for a coordinated look.

SIMPLE RULES FOR PAINTING A ROOM

In residential painting job always pick three colours with one for the trim, one for the walls and one for the ceiling. Contrast or keep the same colour in different shades but note that a stark while ceiling against rich walls makes them appear shorter and the room look unfinished.

Keep the trim the same in open rooms for continuity. Choose a colour three shades lighter than the wall.

In residential painting jobs if the ceiling is less than 2,700 mm high, paint it two shades lighter than the walls. If the ceiling is more than 3,000 mm, have it two shades darker.

If you want a long, narrow room to look wider, paint one or both of the short walls a bright or dark colour and the other walls a pale colour. If the room is square and lacks a focal paint such as fireplace or large window, paint one wall a rich accent colour such as maroon.

home painting sydney

Beverly Homes Company

GO FOR ECO PAINTS

Look for products with the Good Environmental Choice tick. It shows that they’ve been independently certified as meeting standards on issues such as air polluting volatile organic compound (VOC) levels, heavy metal content, potentially carcinogenic or ozone depleting substances and recyclable packaging. Be aware that certified paints may no longer meet standards after a tint is added. Consider limewash, milk or plant-based paints that tend to emit fewer fumes but take longer to dry.

BE COLOUR CONSCIOUS 

The choice of colour has an effect on energy usage. A dark room may need more artificial light and increased energy to cool it in summer.

Explore options such as leaving some surfaces natural. Interior and exterior walls in frost-free climates can have clay-based finishes, and porous materials like timber and cork can be finished with natural oils or beeswax.

Plan long-term 

Aside from high-traffic areas with a lot of wear and tear (like hallways,

staircase areas and kids bedrooms), a job well done should last 10 years or more.

It’s best for the environment, your hip pocket and DIY time if you choose quality brushes and paint, prepare the surface well, and avoid diluting paint as it weakens the finish.

A dark room may need more artificial light and increased energy to cool in summer.

STRIP IT GOOD 

Use water based, low-allergy strippers, avoiding those that contain dichloromethane (DCM) as skin exposure or breathing it can irritate lungs and cause headaches, fatigue and irregular heartbeat. If sanding, use a sander with a vacuum attachment.

WATCH THE WEATHER 

Ventilate well when painting indoors, not just during the job but in the weeks after it’s completed. Plan painting to fit in with fine weather forecasts and avoid rainy days if they mean doors and windows can’t be opened.

Wrap brushes or rollers tightly in plastic wrap to keep them moist between coats or when taking a break to avoid having to wash them out.

CLEAN UP GREEN 

Some DIYers say it’s a sustainable choice to wrap brushes in newspaper and dispose of them but the more eco choice is to buy well and reuse.

 Remove excess paint by wiping brushes and rollers onto sheets of newspaper.

 Wash tools in three stages with small amounts of water or solvent. A first rough wash removes most of the paint, a second wash cleans and a rinse removes residue. Remove excess moisture with newspaper or old cloths between stages.

 Leave to dry outside in a spot sheltered from direct sun and rain.

 Dispose of waste plus leftover paint and waste solvent through council or state government collection programs and never pour waste water into the gutter as it ultimately pollutes creeks, rivers, waterways and beaches. Contact your council or state government waste authority for details.

TIP Some councils recycle empty paint tins along with steel food cans but they must be dry, so leave them with the lid off for a few days before putting them in the recycling bin.

A random-orbit sander with a vacuum cleaner attachment is a good choice for safe, scratch-free paint sanding.

Run the roller over the ribbed part of the paint tray and then over sheets of newspaper to remove excess paint. Fold the wet newspaper and dispose of immediately.

Green tradies 

Outsource the eco-friendly way with www.greenpainters. org.au. Similar to the Green Plumbers and EcoSmart Electricians schemes, GreenPainters trains and accredits professionals while offering tips to DIYers.

A Green Painter is trained to reduce VOC emissions by using eco-certified, natural and renewable paint products. They also use environmental management techniques to avoid contaminating stormwater and groundwater.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Tools

There is a huge variety of tools available in DIY stores, and new ones are being introduced all the time. Choosing the right tools can make a job both faster and easier.

TOOLS FOR PREPARATION Sanding tools 

There is a range of products on the market, both hand sanding materials and mechanical devices. For hand sanding there are abrasive papers, sanding pads and sponge sanding blocks, in grades ranging from fine to very coarse. Match the grade of paper to the job at hand. Mechanical devices include orbital, belt and disc sanders. Disc sanders are particularly abrasive, and should be used with care.

Residential painting sydney

painting company

A DECORATING TOOL

A white space should be calming, but be wary of allowing it to become too sterile. Work with different shades of white to build up a layered effect.
Opt for stark contrasts, and try a rich cream on the walls and a clean white on the trim. Or be more subtle with a stony shade below the picture rail and a paler chalk above.
TIP Pick all the whites from either warm or cool families. Mixing them will produce an uncomfortable and amateurish result.
The choice of soft neutrals in this room helps make the white marble of the fireplace stand out.
Different white elements in this room are punctuated with splashes of crimson.
Unifying different styles 
There are hundreds of shades of white. But there is one that springs to mind whenever anyone speaks of white paint. Some call it art gallery white. Some call it stark white or brilliant white. Use it to unify a building with a mishmash of architectural styles. It will also create an all-purpose, neutral background to make a collection of furnishings and decorative bits and pieces sit in an interior of any architectural period. Or draw attention to whatever is on the walls, be it framed artworks or a family photo gallery.

Ageing gracefully 
The ultra-fresh feel of stark white is the antithesis of what some homeowners desire. They prefer to work with whites that look aged and sit comfortably alongside original period features or lovingly selected vintage furnishings. In such cases, look for dirty whites smudged with a bit of grey or brown. This creates an impression of once-clean whites having developed a gentle patina with the passing of the years to complement furnishings.

CONTRASTING TRIMS 
No matter what colour scheme you choose, whether it’s a selection of whites or a combination of pastels or even stronger colours, consider using a crisp, clean white on all the trims. It strengthens the personality of the wall colour.
Use a semi-gloss or full gloss, as these surfaces tend to be handled (and damaged) frequently, and need a hard-wearing, easy to clean finish.

MILK PAINT
Milk paint offers a lovely finish and is environmentally friendly. It gives an aged, mellow, vintage finish to furniture. It’s prepared by mixing milk paint powder with water, then straining through muslin for a smooth, balter-like consistency.
Prepare the piece by scraping off any old paint and sanding. Apply a limeproof undercoat sealer then the pre-prepared milk paint. Protect the finish with beeswax, lime wax or three to five coats of clear sealer.
TIP The natural pigment in milk paint can vary from batch to batch, so have enough for the whole job.
Generous natural light and a palette of cool whites give this already large space a striking sense of airy space.

MATERIAL EFFECTS 
Timber Timber is an important element in a roomscape and plays a significant part in the colour palette. Often the timber of the floorboards is a warm colour, whether it’s a pale blonde Tasmanian oak, a honey coloured pine or a rich red jarrah. Warm whites complement them.

Steel and concrete 
If the interior is dominated by steel and concrete, respect the industrial blue-grey tones of those materials by selecting a cool white tone for the walls.

KEEP IT CLEAN 
Pale walls will show up more fingermarks, smears and smudges than coloured ones, so choose a product that’s easy to clean.
Flat and matt paints are porous, and dirty marks are almost impossible to remove. So choose low sheen or semi-gloss. Some manufacturers make paints with an additive related to Teflon, which they claim makes their products low-maintenance.

DAZZLING EXTERIORS 
White reflects light and deflects heat. Painting the exterior of the house white can create the effect of a cooler interior, but it also creates glare. This can be counteracted with clever landscaping. Introducing mid-height to tall trees and shrubs will help to shade the building and disperse the dazzle.

Stand out on your street 
Objects painted in dark colours often look smaller than they really are. Conversely those painted in bright white generally appear larger. So painting the exterior of a house white will give it a more prominent presence in the street.
White reflects heat so it’s a good choice in any hot climate. but watch out for problems of reflected glare inside.
Painting freshens up the house but it can leave a smell and health issues that linger. House paints are made from renewable, non-renewable and potentially harmful materials that can be bad for the planet and the household. The good news is there are greener options.

Beverly Homes painting company

CHECK THE EXPOSURE

Rooms that face south, south-east or south-west receive little or no sunshine during the day, making them dark and uninviting. You can lend some cheer to such a room by choosing from a palette of warm colours – yellow, red, orange and brown. Likewise, you can make sunny rooms seem cool with blues, greens, greys and lavenders. But beware of those cool colours if you live in a cold climate. Research shows that people feel colder in rooms with cool colours, If you are committed to off-white, choose either a warm or a cool tint of that neutral colour depending on its desired effect.

Colour library
Keep a record of paint colours, brand names, and places used, as well as a paint sample on wood paint stir sticks hung on a beaded chain. Now you can take your paint library to the shop with you to match colours or choose complementary or contrasting ones.
Moving the walls
Colour can also create optical illusions. For example, light colours reflect light and make the small room seem larger. Warm colours seem to advance and ‘fill’ space, whereas cool colours tend to recede. A white ceiling will seem higher; a dark ceiling will appear lower.
Complementary colours – in this case apple-green and violet – make for a striking decorative effect.
One room, four ways
Same room, same furniture, these four pictures show just how easy it is to create different styles simply by changing the colour.

Beverly Homes painting company

home painting sydney