Home Painting Ideas - new paint finishes.

I think you'll find something to your liking here, Deb.

Dry Wall Painting Techniques

Take a look at these websites and let us know which technique you have an interest in learning more about.

Thankee! I shall look after work!

Er - dry wall? What the smeg is a wet wall?

Soggy ;P

painting
Dlowan, you may have already painted your walls by the time I discovered your question post but, if not, I offer the following suggestions:

For your non kitchen and bathroom walls, I recommend you not use a flat paint. Instead, use an eggshell or satin sheen on the walls and ceiling. The sheen is slight and will provide better washability and durability. Use a semi-gloss on all trim for washability and durability.

For walls in kitchens and baths, you can use eggshell or satin on the walls and ceiling. If washability and light reflectiveness is important, then I would use a semi-gloss. Use a a high gloss on the trim.

Experiment with one or two coats of paint if you are covering dark colors with light colors. The second coat will create a darker, more saturated color intensity.

Before you choose a color and paint your rooms, I recommend that you buy the smallest size can of paint possible and paint some 4' x 4' squares of paint colors you are considering around the rooms to be painted. That way you can see the effect of sunlight and artificial light on the colors at different times of the day. Also remember that colors on walls without furnishings will look very different once you have restored your furnishings to the room. So don't be afraid of color.

You mention that your motivation for painting is to hang your art on the walls. Many people are afraid of wall colors behind paintings, but that is not the case. Just use colors that are compatible with your house's design, your furnishings and the general colors of your art. Most paintings will look better hung on a wall of well-chosen color. Just be sure it compliments the art and does not overwhelm it.

Why don't you send us some pictures when you've finished your project?

-----BumbleBeeBoogie

Thanks, BBB - but I was looking for info on the new finishes, not which of the old to use. I have not decided whether to use any colours at all, or just to use a better white than the somewhat greyish one I have - I want it softly luminous. I would not go near gloss - even satin sheen - because the place gets so much light, it could become quite dazzling!

I think I just need to go to some big paint shops, and see what they have. One of the finishes I was interested in turns out to be external.

It's not paint; however, I just did something which had super, super results. Using 8 foot weathered fencing, I had two walls covered; plus, we included a shallow bookcase all the way to the ceiling. Wonderful display area for artwork, pottery and such.

What was the fencing made of - wood? And did you then cover it with bookcase? I be puzzled!

One of the long walls in my living room is wood - real wood panelling from the late 1950's - when I moved in, the wall was painted black. It went nicely with the orange shag carpeting on the stairs, but still ...

I painted the walls a deep forest green, and then rolled 3 coats of high hide white paint over - which left the exposed green lines and knot holes. It looks good but a bit too cottagey for my current mood. The rest of the room was, and is, a rather lovely soft custardy yellow, which works very well with the wood and Williamsburg-type upholstery. It is time for a change. I'm thinking of going to a lilac-suede wall finish. Any thoughts for the panelling? I think I have to continue to acknowledge the real-woodiness of it - removing it is not an option - half the house could come down.

It cannot be stripped and scrubbed, or re-stained, or limed, or whatevered?


I have realised the kind of paint effects I am thinking of are stone-look (which is not just external, after all!), suede, pearlescent and suchlike.

Nope, nope and nope. Close to 50 years of stains and paints on there - and the lines are DEEP - seems to have been routered. The only thing I can do is work with the texture, or cover the wall - but that would cause a problem, as the house is only 1 room wide - the slightest loss of air space is noticeable.

There are some great home design websites with instructions for faux suede etc. I went to the sites for some of the canajun design programs I like to check 'em out.

What lines?

Guess you need to paint the smegger! After stripping a bit, if you are worried about all the room the layers of paint are taking up!

Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode, where he was painting, and worrying that the apartment would disappear gradually as the layers of paint thickened!


I sort of saw that happening in the apartment we stayed in in NYC - it was an old building, repainted many times inside. There were electrical conduits and such on the walls, and plaster and timber mouldings - all becoming blurred and disappearing under layers of paint!

Deb, I think you can buy suede paint. I've seen it on the teevee. They put it on with a brush in kind of a cross-hatch pattern.

panelling like this - but floor to ceiling, and with big, real, knots. The lines in my panelling are about 1/2" wide and over 1/4" deep. They are not subtle.

I was thinking maybe something tone on tone - 3 shades of one colour - 1 for the plaster walls, the other 2 for the panelled wall and staircase. Or 2 shades - the lines in the panelling being the same as the flat wall. Painting the panelling as if it is a flat wall does not look good.

deb, you can buy tubes of tint to highlight your white paint. if you want a subtle hint of blue for example, you add a drop of blue tint, mix well, paint a piece of cardboard, let it dry and keep playing around til you get it right.
if i'm doing white based walls and white trim i try to tint the trim a bit more, not much, just a bit.
a couple of drops of black in a gallon of white paint will hide a mass of sins.

this is one of my idea shows (and sites) http://www.painted-house.com. you can look at the ideas by room or technique.

she has suede paint, so i'm guessing it must be available almost everywhere

dlowan,
It was regular fencing boards...the kind you would buy at most Lowe's or Home Depot in the States. Sawed off the ends to make them square and then alternated the long/short pieces. They are bleached to a greyish black.

Yeppies - I can BUY the paint to do the finishes. I am just wondering if anyone has already tried them?

You know, I am thinking of painting over the horrible melamine boojcases I have in a strong shade - dunno know what - and pearling the insides... and displaying the odd object as well as the books. Means another big book cull, though - sigh...

Beth, I have no ideas whatsoever re your panelling - I don't DO panelling - I think I would still be wanting to give it a limed, or distressed, look, though. But - I am all modern and open and minimalist and eastern in what I like - so, what would I know?

mslowan - i've done them in a distressed look - it's quite nice. but i want something different! i can't go very modern because of the lovely barnboard effect that will always be part of the room (or at least until i win a significantly huge lottery and can re-build that side of the house) - but i want something a bit less cottage-y.

I've done a lot of faux finishes in this house - just not the suede thing. The funniest one I ever did was at a friend's house - it was an idea by a designer that we were implementing - the inspiration was a pair of shoes with studs along the sides. We put carpet tacks into the wall, wherever the colour changed. Designers have interesting ideas.

Indeed....