How to Divide a Room for Painting, Concepts In Color Style

Decide where the boundaries for different paint colors will be before beginning painting.

Large rooms can be overwhelming, especially if the entire space is painted with the same color. Divide the room with different colors of paint on the walls. Breaking up the space is not done in just one way. Divisions between painted areas need to be clear-cut to properly delineate the areas of the room you need. First decide how the room is to be divided, then concentrate on the aesthetics of the boundaries.

Multipurpose Room

For homes with a great room that serves as both the dining and living room, use paint to delineate the boundaries of each section of the room. For instance, paint the dining room area one color and the living room another color. To hide the paint line, place a tall silk plant or indoor tree on the wall where the two colors meet. A faux half column, or other flat trim, installed on top of the paint junction hides the paint border with a more permanent solution.

For more info Contact Matt at Concepts In Color

Architectural Elements

Look at the room and use the natural architectural elements to divide the paint colors. For instance, if you have an alcove or a nook, paint the walls inside that space a different color from the rest of the room. The difference between an alcove and creating your own separate seating area with paint is the added third dimension the alcove has. It is physically set apart from the main room. Use a lighter color of paint for the walls of the alcove to brighten it and make it seem larger, or paint it with darker colors for a more intimate feel. End the alcove paint color at the corner of the wall where it meets the main room. To add a border, you might decorate the paint border with a piece of wood trim from the floor to the ceiling or create a painted stencil border incorporating the paint colors from both the walls of the main room and the alcove.

Corners

Corners of a room are used as the boundaries for different paint colors in rooms with an accent wall. The accent wall is a wall with a contrasting color used to bring attention to a piece of furniture or part of the room. In a bedroom, the accent wall would be behind the bed, and in a living room, it would be behind a fireplace or around a picture window with an especially memorable view. The accent wall color ends at the corners of the wall, where the base room color takes over. Ending a color at the corner makes a neat border. Install a strip of thin molding along the wall corner if you want to hide the color junction.

For more info Contact Matt at Concepts In Color

Thanks Athena Hessong at eHow

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Preparing and Priming Different Exterior Surfaces for Painting

Concepts In Color knows that exterior walls come in many different styles and materials. Preparing and priming each exterior surface properly will help achieve long-term protection for your home and drastically increase the life of any paint job. Here are a few ideas and tips. (For more about Exterior Painting for your home, visit Matt at Concepts In Color about Exterior Painting in West Los Angeles and surrounding areas)

Stucco Surfaces
On stucco areas you want to thoroughly scrape off any loose paint and repair all cracks and holes. To fill gaps around windows and door casings use a caulk to fill the cracks. If you are working with previously painted exterior stucco you want to use a good exterior primer or surface conditioner.
A reaction may occur if the new stucco is not allowed to properly cure. Make sure the curing time is past before applying primer. 30 days is a standard cure time for new stucco before it can be primed and painted.

Wood Siding and Trim
When it comes to priming wood surfaces, you want to scrape off all of the loose and cracking paint. After scraping off the loose paint, sand the exterior area to remove any additional loose paint and create a smoother surface.
If scraping and sanding do not work and more than 25% of the coating is cracked and peeling, you may want to consider stripping.
When you strip, you’ll use chemicals or heat to remove all of the existing coatings down to the substrate. The stripping process can be a very laborious process so you may want to weigh the pros and cons of costs vs. benefits.
An alternative to stripping is to use a penetrating sealer  to glue down the edges of the loose paint then prime that with a thick high building bonder/sealer to fill and bridge the cracks and rough surfaces.

Metal Surfaces
When you are painting iron or steel, the most important thing is good contact between the surface and the coating. Metals rust when air and moisture get under the protective coating.
Rust can be like a cancer. Once rust is in the metal, it is almost impossible to get rid of. Surface preparation is so important on iron or steel. You want to use a good rust inhibitive primer. Rusting metal must be sanded to remove loose rust, and then cleaned. Using a phosphoric acid rust conversion product can ensure that all remaining traces of oxidized iron have been eliminated. Sand to smooth out any roughness and clean then dry thoroughly. Then prime with a rust inhibitive primer.

Masonite Siding
Most Masonite siding is delivered with its face primed with some sort of paint. However, if the paint has peeled or the Masonite has swelled due to water then special preparation is needed.
Pay special attention to the edges of this siding as this is its most vulnerable spot. Remove loose paint on embossed Masonite siding by carefully scraping or using a wire brush. The overlapping edge can be hand sanded with a medium/course sanding sponge. Smooth siding can be carefully sanded with a palm sander or rotating paint sander. The face of embossed, wood grained, siding cannot be sanded. Using oil base primers seem to work the best. Apply two coats of primer to avoid any future problems. (Talk to Matt at Concepts In Color about priming and painting services.)

Cement Board
Cement boards, also known as Hardie boards, are a type of fiber cement siding. Cement board is highly durable, resistant to fire, mold and mildew, and it does not rot.
Cement board does not need to be primed unless it will be exposed routinely to harsh weather conditions. If you do choose to prime your cement board, use an exterior acrylic latex bonding primer. Also, do not paint a cement board unless it has been thoroughly cleaned first, or you will have problems with adhesion.

Before preparing and priming any substrate on older homes, before 1978, check for existence of lead. Homes with lead based primers and/or paints must follow the EPA RRP rules for containment and removal.

Contact Matt at Concepts In Color about Exterior Painting in Los Angeles.

The Best Shades of White to Paint a Room

At Concepts In Color we are dedicated to make your project successful.

Concepts In Color knows that here are as many variations of white as there are colors in the painter’s fan-deck. The best white to paint a room is one that’s derived from one of the room’s other colors. Choosing which white to paint is a simple process if you understand a bit about color schemes and where they start. Shades of colors are made by adding black to the base color; tints are made by adding pure white to a color. This knowledge will help you make the right color choice for your interior painting and avoid the costly mistake of having to re-paint.

Color Scheme

The room’s color scheme is the key. Color schemes commonly start with two colors that are complimentary (those opposite each other on the color wheel). Green and red, brown and orange, blue and peach are common starting places for color schemes. Variations of these main colors produce the schemes used in fabric, and from an inspirational fabric a room’s color scheme emerges. A room’s color scheme may also come from an inspirational painting, a painted plate, or the view outside the picture window. Some professional painting websites, such as ConceptsInColor.com, provide free consultations to help you with your custom color schemes.

Color Value

Base colors can be overpowering in their intensity, so they’re adjusted, often by adding other colors (orange-red for example) to change the value of the base color. Additionally, the base color can be shaded or tinted. The blue and peach starting colors can become sun-glow orange and peacock blue, a very modern color combination.

The Right White

Wall color is chosen from the color scheme. If you’re using a fabric for inspiration, the background color of the fabric is usually a good choice for the wall color. The intensity of the fabric color may be too high, so the wall color may be tinted to produce a softer, “lighter” version of the fabric’s color. As more white is added, the color will appear to be closer to white than to the starting color; but it is, in fact, the starting color — just tinted to a very light value.

Where To Start

At Concepts In Color we can help you with your color choices. Contact Matt for a free consult and help getting started.

More Info: ConceptsInColor.com

Pico Veteran

Concepts In Color’s current project  “Pico Veteran” Exterior painting in West Los Angeles.

Interior and exterior painting is where Concepts In Color has earned a reputation for the best in quality and service. Our staff of full-time professional painters has provided homes and businesses in West Los Angeles with beautiful, long lasting paint jobs, completed on schedule, and done right the first time, every time.