Exterior Painting Extremes

You've had a look at all the examples of elegant exterior work Courtney & Wise have done for various individuals and businesses.

No? Scroll down. We'll wait for you. Seen it now? Good. Moving along.

What about something really unusual and innovative? What about, maybe, lime green and avocado green with orange and white polka dot steps?

The house in the picture above was not painted by Courtney & Wise. We just saw it on our travels, and it caught the eye. It must have taken lots of planning and lots of careful painting, and we could tell that it was professionally done.

Before you do something like this, think of a few things:

• What's the character of your neighborhood? Will a house painted in a very eccentric style be attractive when seen with its neighboring houses on the street, or will it clash? Will your neighbors enjoy it, or feel that you're bringing down the property values? If you have no neighbors and your house will stand visually on its own, you have more flexibility.
• How will you feel about the house in a few years? Sometimes a really kicky, fun look is just what you want -- for a little while. Maybe you really enjoyed the red marabou jacket you wore to the office party, but you probably didn't wear it every day. It, and the other really kicky fun looks in your wardrobe, probably didn't stay on your wear-everywhere list for very long. It's the same with very unusual paint treatments for a house. You may tire of it before you need to repaint.
• Do you want the attention? We stood out in the street and took a picture of this house, and we probably aren't the only ones who've done that. The owners are sure to hear the same thing wherever they go: "Oh! You're the ones with the green and orange house!" If they revel in that attention, that's fine. Will you?

If you're considering an extreme paint job, talk first with your professional painting and decorating firm. They may be able to suggest a compromise. Bright colors, as you've seen in the examples below, can look great on the outside of a house. But you may be better off with something elegant and special rather than something eccentric.

Painting Your Ceilings: Stippling

We've had a question about stippling ceilings.

Painting ceilings can be challenging at any time, so we're going to talk a bit about that as well as about stippling.

Stipple is a decorative brush technique, creating a pattern on the surface. It's usually applied onto a (hard) enamel coating system with a polyurethane or clear vanish as a finish, and mainly used to decorate furniture and cupboards. It's unusual for a ceiling, but sometimes you want an unusual look.

Before you attempt this, you'll need to prepare your room well. You must have drop cloths if you're going to paint the ceiling, and you'd be wise to empty the room. Cover all the window moldings and other surfaces that might be splattered with paint drips.

Clean the ceiling thoroughly, and paint it with primer.

You may run into trouble here if you have vermiculite ceilings. These sprayed "concrete" coloured and rough textured ceilings were very popular in 70's apartments and commercial buildings. The vermiculite acts as a sound barrier, hence their use in multi storey apartments. Frankly, they're ugly and it's impossible to remove the vermiculite. You can spray paint the vermiculite to get rid of the "concrete" colour and smooth out some of the texture, but this is advisable advisable only when the apartment is empty as the spray goes everywhere.

If you have a flat painted ceiling already, then get up on a ladder with a paintbrush and paint carefully around the ceiling where it meets the wall. Now you can use a roller with an extension handle to do the rest of the ceiling. If there's any texture at all to your ceiling, then you should choose a thick roller to be sure to get the paint as even as possible.

What colour should you choose? Most painters and decorators would pick white paint for a ceiling, but you can also go with a tint of the same colour as your walls. Go a bit lighter to make the ceiling appear higher and the room larger.

Let the base coat dry thoroughly.

Now use a stipple brush and a thick paint, stand directly under the area to be stippled, and pounce the brush sharply to achieve a stippled effect.

Work in small areas, and expect to go over each repeatedly to get the full effect. You may want to mix a texture powder into the paint.

If the very thought of doing this yourself is discouraging, think about bringing in a professional painting and decorating company like Courtney & Wise. There are times when having a pro do the job for you is wise, and special finishes can be one of those cases.

Bright Exterior Painting

You don't always have to go with neutrals for exterior painting. This bright cottage tricked out in saturated colours won Courtney & Wise an award.

Painting a Swimming Pool Area

A pool is a dramatic feature on its own, but there's nothing wrong with using a variety of colours and textures to give it a worthy setting.

Painting a Porch

Medium grey and white paint give a fresh and pretty look to this porch with bay window, and draw the eye up to the sunroom on the second floor.

Painting an Entryway

Here we wanted a dramatic effect to set the mood for an entryway. The black and white, along with the dark red of the flooring, have an elemental quality that can't help but impress.

Not really about painting or decorating...

Doodle for Google, a contest for Australian kids, is underway.

While this isn't exactly about decorating, you never know where your inspiration will come from!

Wallpaper Plans

Wallpaper sets the mood and tone of a room even more surely than paint.

How can you choose a paper you'll be happy with? Loving the paper in the sample book may not equal being completely happy with it when it gets onto your walls.

Large floral designs give a cheery feel to a room, and can be romantic, too. But they do set a feminine tone. Mix them up with toile or plaid fabrics to keep them from screaming "boudoir," or match them with associated fabric prints for a lush look. After all, sometimes you want that boudoir effect.

Small geometrics can be just about the same in feeling as solid colors. From a distance, as for example when you have a small geometric print in a dining room visible from the living room, they can look solid and yet also give some interest close up.

Large geometrics can be dramatic, or overwhelming. Use them with solid materials in colours pulled from the design.

Stripes require skill to apply precisely, but they mix well with other patterns and can give effects from fun to luxe, depending on the colours and textures chosen.

As always, be sure to choose the best quality materials for the best results.

Painting Workspaces

Painting your home is a very personal choice; painting your workspace may not be.

The colours you use will need to be chosen for the image your company wants to project -- but they also have to be colours that many people can work in. While red, orange, and yellow can energise and encourage people, a calmer cool palette may be better to reduce stress and keep people calm and focused.

A brilliant purple and green workspace says, "We're a fun group!" but can get on people's nerves over time.

A deep, rich green gives an elegant, costly effect which can be just right for a boardroom or waiting area, but it may be too staid for a creative workspace.

• If you have a small office, consider painting one wall in a vibrant colour and let the others be white or pale beige to keep from getting a closed-in feeling.
• If your workspace has industrial elements like pipes and vents, call less attention to them by painting the whole space in a light colour.
• If you're lucky enough to have special architectural details, highlight them with a contrasting colour. Keep it neutral by pairing dove gray with white or pale butter yellow with cream.
• If you have an open-plan workspace, walk through and check the sight-lines to be sure that the colours in each space work with all the other spaces visible at the same time.
• Consider white ceilings, no matter what colour you choose for walls, to maintain a large and airy feeling.

In a workspace, a painted floor can be a great alternative to carpet. A painted floor is easy to clean, if it's finished properly, and less likely to hold odors from smoke or chemicals used in the workplace.

Painting Bathrooms

Bathrooms are fun to paint -- but more difficult than you'd think.

The smallest room is the one where you can really be creative or dramatic, using colours and effects that might be too much in a room you spend more time in. Espresso brown, pink, or faux finish effects are all fair game in the bathroom.

You use such small quantities of paint compared with a great room or exterior painting job that you don't even have to look at the price.

That doesn't always mean you want to do it yourself. The bathroom has dozens of little nooks and crannies, and you can't remove all the fixtures. It's also essential to plan for the special character of a bathroom, with its changes in temperature and humidity.

With proper planning, and professional help if you need it, your bath can be an oasis.

Painting Cabinets

Replacing cabinets can be very big expense. The nature of the kitchen environment -- all that cooking going on -- is rough on painted surfaces, so cabinets can need repainting while they're structurally quite sound.

Painting cabinets can be a money-saving choice, whether you choose a professional painting and decorating service or do it yourself.

Choose a safe, nontoxic paint. Go with a matte finish to keep it looking cleaner longer, and a washable paint so you can keep it clean.

Remove all the doors. Mask all the surrounding surfaces so they don't get painted.

Prepare the surfaces throughly. Remember, if the surfaces are grimy, the paint will stick to the grime, not to the wood. So get those surfaces really clean and remove the old paint. Sand the surfaces down well. Remove all the hardware and set it aside.

Apply the fresh coat of paint and put the doors into a clean, dust-free area to dry.

Once they're completely dry, re-hang the doors and put the hardware back -- or spring for some new hardware for a fresher look.

You have a new-looking kitchen for a fraction of the price of replacing cabinets!

Non-Toxic Paint

Annie Bond has written about nontoxic paint. It's a good, thorough article.

We say, use Dulux paint, and keep the nippers and dogs out of the way while you work!