Whether you are an artist or not, you already know that color in itself can greatly affect things. Whether it is vibrant colors as in my logo, beautiful warm, earthy tones, or something monochromatic – the very colors say something. It creates a mood, an ambience, a feeling.
Whether you have the advantage of having a decorator, or are doing things on your own, the easiest and cheapest way to decorate is with paint. Think about it – everything in your life has a color. Your car, your clothes, your furniture, your bedding … everything! So, everything can be colored and painted. That includes your walls, your ceilings, your floors, your cabinets, your furniture, your appliances, your accessories and your fabrics. And I have to say, I have personally painted every one of these things!
The great thing about painting is that it can be changed. What mood or theme you created last year can be easily and quickly changed this year by just changing your colors with paint.
Paint, to me, is the easiest and cheapest form of decorating. You can paint a wall solid in one color, with a contrasting color on the opposite or adjoining wall. You can outline designs with tape on the wall and paint that wall with different colors. You can create stencils, reliefs and paint over them for a design. Painting a wall, floor, ceiling or anything else, does not have to be solid. Think outside the box. Let your creativity and imagination take over. If you have any doubts, get the various color chips from the paint store and spread them out – move, manipulate and work it so you can see how the colors work against each other. Get small sample paint cans of the colors and test them out. And, if that is even too daring, get colored pencils and color pieces of paper.
I once temporarily lived in a vintage quad. It had some good “bones” but was so vintage and outdated that I cringed just looking at it. Although the most of the house had beautiful hardwood floors, white walls and thick molding, the kitchen was in bad shape. I looked at this kitchen and thought it needs a lot of work and I was up for the task. Naturally, since it wasn’t m own place, I didn’t want to spend the money updating it. However, I used the cheapest decorating tool I knew of to make vast, major changes. Paint!
I had no preconceived idea of what I was going to do. All I know is that I needed to make some changes. One of the worse things in this kitchen was the refrigerator. It was clean inside, worked well, it was older than dirt and colored Coppertone. Now for all of you of a young age, you won’t even know what I am talking about. Coppertone was a brownish bronze color very popular at one time. I knew that since I was starting with a dark base, I wouldn’t get a good result with a light color. Adding a primer to this kind of an appliance with a color on top of it would be just too much and not finish well. For reasons beyond me, I didn’t want to make it the typical black that one would expect. So, I went to Home Depot to see what colors were available in spray paint. I didn’t even look at “appliance” paint. I went for the typical acrylic spray paint. I looked at the limited colors available and decided which ones would work for my cabinet and which one would work for my refrigerator. Since the entire kitchen was going to be redone, I started out spraying the refrigerator right in the middle of the room. I used a Christmas green. Not a color anyone would expect to use. However, I wanted something different. The trick I learned was to spray paint in even strokes going slightly lower than the last stroke. That brought out an even, consistent shine with no areas of light, dark and shiny. It worked out perfectly and I was rather pleased with the results.
Another project in the kitchen that definitely needed attention was the flooring. It was old vinyl linoleum that was gold in color with some intricate designs. That wasn’t going to work for me. Since I didn’t want to go through the expense of laying a new floor in a kitchen that wasn’t mine, I decided to see if I could paint it. I had no idea when I started that project if the end result would last. For all I knew, in two days, my hard efforts would scrape off. I lightly sanded the linoleum and put down two coats of a white primer. I then sectioned out my design and painted it onto the floor. Once that was done, I put four coats of polyurethane to protect the design. I marveled at the results and was even happier when it withstood walking, cooking and washing for the entire time I was there. Again, just the simplest of tools (paint) and a lot of imagination, I created my own personal design and got rid of that dreadful floor.
I have had the advantage of being gifted as an artist. As such, I have an innate sense of design and color, as told many times over the years by my art instructors. Although I can see a color, walk out of the room and recreate that color in another room, I have never studied the theory of color. Thus, I personally do not get into “warm colors,” “cool colors,” etc. I haven’t had to. However, many of you will struggle over your sense of color and which colors work best with each other. It is for that reason that I include some basic information to help you and the end of this article.
Just remember, paint is cheap, can easily be changed, and will create a total different look for you. Whether it is solid colors, or faux finishes with the look of marble or stone, paint is magical. Enjoy!
Pat MistrettaCopyright 2009
LoftsInAtlanta.com
1*A Color Wheel - shows the interrelationships of the 12 basic colors. Color schemes based on the wheel - even in lighter or darker values - maintain color balance.
A color wheel helps you see the relationships between colors. Red, yellow and blue are primary colors. Orange, green, and violet are considered secondary colors: each is created by combining two primary colors. Tertiary colors are a mixture of a primary and a secondary color.
Harmonious color schemes can be diagramed on the color wheel. Choosing colors that are opposite each other - blue and orange, for example - are complementary colors and good decorating partners. For three-color harmony, use colors equidistant from each other on the wheel (triad scheme), or pick a base color and the two colors on either side of its complement (split complementary scheme).
1* http://easy-house-painting-tips.com
