House painting should be creative. Go off the wall with colours and patterns when painting your home this season, and don’t be afraid to try different surfaces either. Whether it’s on walls, floors, ceilings or even furniture, paint can be an easy and inexpensive do-it-yourself option for homeowners looking to make a splash in their living spaces. Keep it simple and classy or experiment with bold hues and prints to add life to any room in your home.
Whatever your style, these six house painting ideas are sure to give you a lot to think about when planning your next major design facelift or minor décor touch up.
House Painting Idea #1: Set The Ceiling
For design inspiration in your home, sometimes all you need to do is look up. The ceiling in your room may just hold the key to a successful painting face lift.
For larger, open spaces, you may have the luxury of experimenting with ceiling paint that is the same colour as the walls. This will give your space a uniformed and often cozy feel, but may be too constricting for small, narrow rooms.
Another option is to choose a complementary shade to the hue already on your walls. This can add dimension and highlight interesting angles and details in the architecture, such as crown moulding or a waffled ceiling. The ceiling colour can be darker than your walls, such as a powder blue room with white trim and a slate grey ceiling. Alternatively, it could be lighter, such as a green wall and a creamy gold ceiling.
Painting your ceiling also offers an opportunity to be a little daring. Experiment with patterns such as stripes, as well as bold colours, such as a bright purple bedroom ceiling with cream walls.
Whether you’re looking to make a statement or to simply add a fresh dynamic to your space, the ceiling may just be the perfect blank canvas for your creative calling.
House Painting Idea #2: Paint Your Floors
While you’re looking all around your room, take a moment to peek down at your feet, too. The floors of your space could be the difference between a disjointed, incomplete space and a thoughtful, finished look.
Not only is painting your floors a less expensive alternative to replacing them entirely, but a fresh coat of colour can help hide imperfections such as cracks and dents. Whether you’re dealing with wood, concrete or even certain types of tile, use paint to liven up your space with a fresh splash of colour. Or, try fun patterns on this surface, such as symmetrical stripes or more intricate designs such as stenciled flowers.
Keep it simple or take a walk on the wild side with all this house painting opportunity has to offer.
House Painting Idea #3: Accent Wall
Giving your space a colour overhaul may not require you to paint the entire room. Save yourself the time and money by choosing one wall as an accent, and focusing your attention on that surface. Accent walls often stand out for being a different colour from the rest of the room, but still tie the space together by complementing surrounding hues. Consider a white living room with one wall painted a deep, rich red. Or have fun with design by creating an accent wall in your bedroom that has vertically painted stripes.
Whether you’re playing with colours or patterns, accent walls are a great way to unleash the experimental – if not adventurous – side of your personality, and can be bold without being offensive or overpowering. And, because the design is contained to one surface, they are easy to change whenever you feel the need to shake things up.
House Painting Idea #4: Fabric First
For colour and design inspiration, visit a home décor store and pick out a new cushion or throw blanket that speaks to you. Or, you may already have a painting or lampshade at home that you’ve always admired for its hue. Whatever accent piece you choose, lift the colours – and even the design – and transfer it to your walls. Maybe you have mint green pillows on your couch that you can pick up with a similar shade of wall paint. Or visit a paint store to match the pale yellow from the sunflower print hanging above your fireplace.
If you’re still having difficulties picking the right colour, go shopping for window hangings and pick a fabric that suits your fancy. Then, choose complementary paint colours for your walls to highlight the tint in your new curtains.
Drawing from your surroundings for painting influence will help give you a vision for your space that you may not have come by otherwise.
House Painting Idea #5: Fun with Furniture
If rolling cans of paint on your walls is too large a task – or if you’re happy with the colour but still feel like something is missing in your space – look to your furniture for change. It may be that painting your dated and dark coffee table an antique white transforms your entire living room, without you ever needing to touch the walls with a brush. Take a good look at the pieces in each room and consider how they are adding – or possibly taking away – from the overall feel of the space. It may mean giving your bedside table a splash of colour to match the duvet on your bed, or painting your dining room chairs a softer colour to lighten up your dining area. For an antique look, use a hand or electric sander to distress the paint after it has dried.
And transforming furniture doesn’t have to include all the fuss of stripping, sanding and priming before getting to the fun part of painting. Look for paints that adhere to all surfaces and don’t require all that extra prep work.
House Painting Idea #6: Stencils
For fun pattern and design ideas, look no further than paint stencils. These reusable materials are a great do-it-yourself option for homeowners looking to add detail to their space.
And they don’t have to be limited to your walls either. Stencil your ceiling, floor or furniture to add interest and a definite wow-factor to any room. Choose a pattern for a wallpaper effect, or paint on a singular image, such as a tree or flower.
And, because everything is done with paint, it’s easy to roll over and change up with a different stencil if you ever want to try something new.
For the best house painting outcome, consider every surface in your room before bringing out your brushes and rollers. While walls are a go-to stop for colour change, you may find there are other areas in your space that could use improvement first – and there lies the house painting opportunity! Touching them up with paint is not only effective esthetically, but your wallet will also be left a little fatter at the end of the day.
About The Author:
Troy Thompson is the Principal Business Development Manager for 4 firms including North Shore Home Services, AcroTech Cleaning Systems, CityWide Gutters and Edgemont Exteriors. He focuses on residential & multi-family construction, renovation and exterior maintenance throughout various areas of the Lower Mainland. He also enjoys beautiful house painting projects. You can follow him on Google+.
