Rita Notes: Choosing paint colours
In the first of her new series offering interior-decoration advice, House & Garden columist Rita Konig looks at how to choose paint colours and achieve the perfect finish
You can get in a real muddle when choosing paint colours. I have been in so many rooms with the walls covered in 1,001 shades of the same colour and a confused friend or client standing in the middle of it.
'First of all, too much choice is a burden, so resist the temptation to come home with endless sample pots.'
First of all, too much choice is a burden, so resist the temptation to come home with endless sample pots. Secondly, camouflaging the wall is no good at all and my advice would be to avoid doing it altogether. The trouble with testing colours on the wall is that they react to one another and to the existing colour of the wall itself. Whites go green, browns look pink and greys turn lavender.
Instead, paint a square of thick card or ask your builders to cut up a spare piece of wood. This is a far superior way to choose colours for several reasons: you can look at them in the room without the confusion of other colours, put them next to the colours you want to combine them with - those for skirting boards, window frames and the neighbouring rooms - and see how they work. You can also take them out with you to see them with fabrics and carpets.
'Once the colour is going up, keep your nerve.'
Once the colour is going up, keep your nerve; it is easy to panic when it doesn't look how you expected - it seldom does. Changing course is rarely a better option. There's a knock-on effect to opting for a new colour mid flight: the skirting paint doesn't go or the colour in the next room looks sludgy.
Colours often look quite different from the colour chart. They mostly look stronger because they are on all four walls, but after a few days you get used to it. It is good to remember that almost everything is up for scrutiny on a building site in a way that it never is again. Once there are curtains, pictures on the walls, sofas, furniture, people and all the associated clobber, the walls no longer hold centre stage. I am not saying that no one ever got a colour wrong, but it doesn't happen as often as the panic.
'I like paint to be applied by brush.'
I like paint to be applied by brush. Matt emulsion applied with a roller is the quickest, easiest and therefore cheapest way to get the paint up. But, it has drawbacks. Rollers leave an orange-peel effect, some less than others, but they all do to greater or lesser degrees. For some inexplicable reason, builders often lie to you about using them, saying they haven't when they have, because when they do a brush finish they like to roll the paint on first - they think you can't see the orange peel through the brush strokes.
Most people use matt emulsion on the walls, but it scuffs very easily and it should be avoided on staircases - vacuum cleaners, suitcases and smudgy fingers are all enemies of matt emulsion. I prefer oil-based eggshell on the walls. Your builder will advise you against it, particularly if you haven't re-plastered the walls - due
to the slight sheen, you will see any bumps - but once you have pictures up, you will hardly notice them. For a matt finish, Mylands does an alkyd matt that you can use on woodwork; Papers and Paints uses Mylands bases to mix their colours, too, giving you more choice. Whites and greys are the hardest to choose. I go to Paint Library for its Architectural Colours range, each graded I-V, making life easier.
Lastly, it's good to keep a paint schedule detailing the paint colours you're using, with each room listed and columns with the surfaces - floors, walls, skirting, cornice, ceiling, doors - and then the brand, colour and finish running in a line by each. Update if colours change and file it safely. If you need to repaint, you will be very grateful for your list.
Going Grey
For a good, clean grey, I use 'Lead' from Paint Library, graded I-V, or 'Pure Grey' from Papers and Paints, graded 1-12. Simplifying your choice, with each you can use several grades of the same grey for the walls, woodwork and ceiling; 'Lead I' or 'Pure Grey 1' can be used as white.
Like this? Then you'll love In neutral: how to choose the perfect off-white paint
Written by admin
