The realty company gave me the key code to the house and have agreed to let me start painting the interior of the house before we move in, and will pay for 1/2 the cost of the paint. I took a bunch of "before" pictures when we went by the house today. Tomorrow we go look at paint and make final selections. When I get the opportunity, I'll post the pics we took tonight. I can't post them now, because I don't have a card reader here at home. I'll try to go to work early tomorrow so I can post them.
Now, here's a question for all my faithful readers:
I'm leaning toward natural tones, like beiges, cremes, sage, brown, etc. Jamie and I have a debate going right now on whether we should paint each room in different colors that complement each other(which looks really lovely but can get expensive), or if we should paint the whole house all the same wall and trim colors, then paint two walls in each room an accent color (which all happen to complement each other and look really lovely, but winds up being less expensive). So tell me your thoughts. What do you think we should do?
Stinkbumps the Wonder Boy: The rants, ravings and ramblings of a lunatic, overachieving single mom.
9 comments:
I have no opinion on colors. Not my speciality.
However, I have inhaled more paint fumes than is healthy from all of the walls I have painted.
Use a primer. There is no other piece of advice I can give that will save you more time and money. By starting with a good coat of primer, the colors will look sharper and will require less coats.
If the walls are in bad shape (i.e. they smoked in the house, scary substances stuck to the wall, etc.) I recommend Killz brand primer. I just saw 5 gallon buckets of it on sale at Home Depot.
Ok, one more piece of advice. If you are going to paint the ceilings (which it is amazing how much it helps a room when you do), buy a paint designed specifically for ceilings. Even more specifically, one of the paints that looks pink while you are painting but turns the right color after it dries. It is really easy to miss areas on the ceiling and since this paint looks pink while you are painting, it is easy to spot areas you missed.
I hesitate to assert an opinion about what you should or shouldn't do, but I can tell you that we did the accent wall thing and that worked out pretty well for us.
Congratulations on your new place! Good luck with the moving in. :)
I agree with hesitating to tell you what you should do. I have always have every room in the house a different color (mostly because I just can't pick one) and I love that. I love how every room seems to have a different "mood" when you do that. But... I totally get the paint cost thing, too. It can get really high to juggle all those paint colors, so... I don't know.
Definately buy ceiling paint (like Roy said) though. In addition to the pink thing, it's much, much less drippy and since you are going to be standing under it, less drippy=good.
I'm still working on painting my house, but I can tell you what we did:
1) For CJ's room, we couldn't decide between two colors, so we used them both. Painted two walls in each color, but at right angles, not across from each other. It came out very nicely and was a nice compliment.
2) Our kitchen, dining area, foyer, and living room are one huge open space with lots of angles. We chose three colors and highlighted the space, and used the white that was already there. We kept the trim and doors white. But we used a pale yellow on walls that got a lot of sunlight, a gold color on walls that got some, and a butterscotch color on the walls with cabinets and windows to draw attention to the brightness. We use furniture, area rugs, and pillows for accent colors to tie together areas or delineate them as needed. Since our walls were textured, I actually "painted" using plastic grocery bags--dip the bag, rub it on the wall, repeat till wall is done. It used less paint and added a tinted plaster look to the textured wall.
Overall, I'm a big fan of integrated color. Go for different colors in each room, but go with colors that can work with each other so that what might be an accent in one room can work as the main color in a second room, and a trim color in a third. And don't be afraid of white. When paired with strong colors, you can create a striking visual.
Last piece of advice--if you decide to go with one main color, go for the 5gal bucket, not multiple 1 gal buckets. It will be much cheaper. Much.
Thanks, Becca! Since we're doing the whole house, I'm considering buying one of those sprayer thingies that 1) use less paint, 2) make it go faster, and 3) make less mess.
Anyone have any opinions on sprayers vs. rollers vs. brushes?
I prefer brushes. Greater control, and I just like using them. I have a harder time controlling rollers and getting the right pressure.
If you're going to use a sprayer, see if you can find one at ThriftTown, Goodwill, etc. They can be pricey, and chances are you won't reuse it. You might see if you have a neighbor who will let you borrow one, or find a place to rent one. Some UHaul stores rent tools, or Home Depot could direct you.
The coolest tool is a flat trimmer--it's a soft pad meant for edge work, corners, etc. But it moves smoothly and can cover a lot of ground if you find one big enough. Like a brush and roller in one.
I also don't like sprayers. In my experience you will spend more money and time using a sprayer than you would by using a roller.
I like rollers because of the more even consistency than brushes.
Becca is right that a trimmer is very important.
We also rent and the house we live in is lovely. All the rooms EXCEPT for the nursery are the same color. A nice beige with white trim. We have hardwood throughout so we don't have to worry about carpet colors matching the walls. The nursery is a light lime green with white trim. When we moved here, we asked if we could paint the house and have the cost of paint taken off the deposit. The owner agreed.
We are getting ready to move to a three bedroom place too, upgrade from a two since we have two children now. The house we are hoping to move to has beige walls with white trim throughout, except for the kitchen and guest bath. The kitchen is a nice shade of green with white cabinets and the bathroom is a cobalt blue with white fixtures. So, needless to say, the nice thing about beige and neutrals is they can go with everything and when you move, you don't have to paint over what you've done.
Hope this novel made some since.
Congratulations on the new place!
Yes, congratulations! Don't have much time to comment now, and wish I could read about the rooms, but:
house looks adorable
bathroom looks clean
what, Lydia? You're moving?
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