4 Decorating Tips: Painting and Interior Spaces

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4 Decorating Tips: Painting and Interior Spaces

Emily Gojko · Dec 23, 2009

There is nothing better to brighten up and renew any living space than a fresh coat of paint. Here are some great decorating ideas for painting your living space that are sure to make you feel at home all over again.

1. Do Not Skip the Primer

Not all paint jobs are alike. There is such a thing as a bad paint job. A lot of the time a paint job goes wrong because the painter was too lazy or didn’t think to use primer. You might be groaning here because using primer will make your paint job take longer. That is actually a misconception, presuming you want the paint color on the walls to actually look like the paint color you chose in the store. A primer coat should be applied prior to the first coat of paint, and should be allowed to dry before that first coat is applied as well. Primer will keep the original wall color from bleeding through and mixing with your new paint color. This way, instead of having to apply 2 to 3 coats of paint to even out the room, you may be able to get away with one coat on top of the primer. So, you really aren’t wasting your time, and the color will come out much better.

2. Small Spaces Look Bigger Brighter

If you have a small apartment or you are painting a small room, a brighter paint color will make the space appear bigger. Yellows, pale greens, off whites and baby blues are all great choices to brighten and enlarge a small space. Try to stay away from plain white paint unless you are planning to dress your walls up with wall decorations. Otherwise plain white is boring. These other, brighter colors can stand on their own, and you will have little need to put up a lot of wall art.

3. Create an Accent Wall to Creat a Focal Point

Accent walls are great to create a focal point in any room. An accent wall is when one wall in the room is painted a different color from the rest of the room. Accent walls are immediately eye catching, so you want to make sure that any artwork or wall decorations placed there are worth looking at. Just as the accent wall should be planned, the artwork decorating it should be planned as well. It is also important to remember when painting an accent wall to not veer too far from the color of the rest of the walls. Stay within 2 shades lighter or darker from the paint color of the rest of the room. Too drastic a color change will make the accent wall seem out of place and odd.

4. Do Not Forget About the Trim

The trim and moldings should not be painted the same color as your wall color. There is special paint made for trim and moldings, but you can also select your own paint. It is advisable to keep the trim white or off white. Not painting the trim is like not icing cupcakes. It has to be done.

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Emily Gojko: I am a writer, marketer, and manager with a strong background in real estate development and management. I am also a native New Yorker with an obsession for home design shows, so I have personal and professional experience making the most of small spaces, and dealing with good and bad living situations.

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