Painted Ceilings

This type of painted ceiling is not practical for the average home or office, but that doesn't mean you have to stick with a plain white ceiling.

Here are some other possibilities:

• A blue ceiling makes you think of the sky. Even the palest blue will bring a breath of fresh air to a room.
• A ceiling a bit lighter than the walls will make your room look more open, as though it has higher ceilings. Think about the palest grey Peplum in the palette below on the ceiling, with walls in Musing and trim of Wild Dove.
• A ceiling a bit darker than the walls will make your room look cozy.Think of Soft Suede walls and a Pumpkin ceiling, with Oriental Spice for moldings and trim.
• Neutral walls and ceilings painted in biscuit shades like Fair Bianca or Sarah's Place, make a good backdrop for wallpaper borders right at ceiling height.

Painting and Decorating: the Intangibles

Painting and decorating is a very tangible product: you can see the difference right away when your home or business is freshly painted.


When you choose a painting and decorating firm, though, you should consider the intangibles. Certainly, you'll want a firm that's certified as Master Painters, certified for Lead Management, fully insured, able to work to Australian Standards, and which meets all OH&S, EPA and legislature requirements.

Ideally, though, your painters should have more than those technical qualifications.

At Courtney & Wise, we believe that good painters should also be good at communication. You should feel confident that your tradesmen will be respectful of you and of one another. Clear communication makes a job go smoothly, and makes it a pleasant experience for you.

Sometimes it's not just the painter and the homeowner. We strive to work cooperatively with designers and other tradesmen as well; you'll never hear that the roofers got in the way of the painters or that it's all the plumber's fault. In fact, our project management keeps your job running right on schedule.

When we work in strata complexes, we assign a resident liaison officer to co-ordinate with residents. Residents appreciate being kept up on the developments, and access issues are simplified by good communication. 

Respect for you and your property are shown by a clean finish, and you can expect that from a good firm of painters and decorators as well. With Courtney & Wise, the only sign that we've been at your property is the beautiful new finish on your walls.

If you're in Sydney, Mosman, or anywhere in the Northern Beaches, contact Courtney & Wise at 9958 1099 to discuss your painting and decorating needs. If you're not in Sydney, keep the intangibles in mind when you choose from among your local firms.

No New Housing in Your Future?

New housing starts are down all over Australia. The ray of light for the construction industry is with commercial construction, not homes, and that trend doesn't seem likely to shift soon. Chances are good that you'll be keeping your old digs for a while.

If you're not finding a new home, your best bet is painting your current place. Exterior house painting has the best return on investment of all home maintenance and remodeling jobs, often increasing your home's selling price by more than you paid. The average return on exterior painting is 90-94%.

Interior painting, with an average return of just over 75%, is not a bad investment either. The number is lower because it includes DIY painting and also because colours are a very personal thing. The number of buyers who'll think, "Ooh, I must get rid of this aubergine wall" has to be taken into account. Still, compared with the 60% return you can expect from a new roof or the negative return from a swimming pool, that 75% is very good.

A good paint job is also likely to make your house more appealing when you sell it, so that it will sell faster and for a better price.

Beyond the numbers, a fresh coat of paint will make your place more appealing to you. That's the most important thing if you're staying put. People who start out painting their home in hopes of selling often find that they love it and want to stay -- and that's a nice feeling.

If you need a Syndey painter, call Courtney & Wise, Master Painters for Sydney and the Northern Beaches since 1954, at 9958 1099.

House Colours

Choosing exterior colours for your home requires consideration of a range of factors:

• Any covenant requirements
• Colours of neighbouring buildings
• Colours in the natural setting
• Colours of any unpainted home elements, such as roofing materials or bricks
• Environmental factors, such as a need for heat control or protection from sun

That's a lot to think about!

In a sense, your home simply needs to fit into the colour scheme of its setting. A harmonious effect is better for buildings than a startling contrast. Take your colour cue from your surroundings, and you won't go wrong.

Feature Walls

A feature wall, also sometimes called a focal wall, is a wall painted or papered differently from the rest of the room. In this example, a white room has one wall in eucalyptus green. Why choose a feature wall?

• Enjoy the contrast.
• Use a colour you love, but which might be too much if used throughout the room.
• Make a splash with a pricey paper without breaking the bank.

How can you create a focal wall that looks intentional and stylish -- not as though you just didn't get round to painting the rest of the room?

First, plan well. You can paint or paper just one wall in a room that's already decorated, but be sure to choose a colour or pattern that works well with the existing decor.

Second, prepare the surfaces well. Getting the surfaces ready is always important, but in this case, you don't want to end up with one wall that looks new and fresh while the others look old. Nor, if you're painting or papering the whole room but using a particularly dramatic colour for a focal wall, do you want the room to look as though the other walls are less important.

Third, paint well. Nothing spoils the grand effect of one ruby red wall in an otherwise grey or biscuit coloured room like a wavery edge between the two colours. Painter's tape, a steady hand, and quick clean up of any smudges will help.

Paint, Preference, and Peace

Colour choices can lead to disagreements that interfere with the pleasure of redecorating. What do you do when you want Honeysuckle Pink and your spouse wants Biscuit? What about the kid who wants black walls when you know how hard it will be to cover that colour when he moves out and you convert that space to a sewing room? How do you keep the peace?

One option is to tone down the colour. If you could be happy with blush instead of a shocking pink, your spouse might be able to accept it. And maybe a soft, pale grey would work as well as black on the teen's walls.

Maybe not. If you really feel strongly about that colour, maybe you could have it full strength, but in a smaller space. Painting the woodwork bright pink or flat black is less of a commitment, but still lets you enjoy the shade. The inside of a closet, the back of a cupboard, or even just a small room like the WC or laundry room might satisfy your desire without overwhelming the people who don't want that look.

If it's a practical objection rather than aesthetic (how many coats will it take to cover that black?), consider wallpaper. Black wallpaper is no harder to remove than white.

Paint vs. Paper: Part II

When your decision is between a plain colour and a pattern, your first thought should be paint for the plain colour and wallpaper for the pattern.

But that's only the first thought. A good scrubbable wallpaper in a solid colour may be a better choice in the kitchen than paint would. A stenciled "wallpaper" may be a better choice in a humid space like a bathroom, where the paper might be steamed off in short order.

A painted wall can also be much less costly than a papered wall. If you have something special in mind and the budget won't quite stretch to a wallpaper, a painted wall can be a better choice.

It can also be the only choice if you have something really special in mind. Portraits of your family? Your kid's favourite cartoon character? A mural depicting all the planets and stars you can see from your window? All become possible with a custom painted wall. But only if you're an artist.

Even with a painted, patterned wall, start with an honest reckoning of your talents. Try painting a bit of canvas or board and be brutally frank with yourself: will your wall look good?

If you're not going to create a stunning piece of artwork for your wall, you might be able to stencil a beautiful design. Stencilling involves a cut shape, and it requires only a steady hand, not a lot of artistic talent. Again, try it out first and see how it goes on a bit of board. Check not only how neatly you can reproduce the design, but how well you can space the repeats, how evenly they butt up against one another, and how straight you can keep the rows.

If you've got the knack, think about the amount of time involved. A stenciled pattern on a wall may require you to paint the same shape hundreds of times, with a great deal of concentration required for even rows and a balanced pattern. You have to do the maths involved in calculating how to get the pattern properly centered on the walls and make it fit correctly at the corners.

Wallpaper can be a lot less trouble.

If you still want a painted pattern on your wall, or a mural, and you've decided that doing it yourself isn't realistic, contact a professional painter. Better yet, a firm of painters and decorators who do both wallpaper and paint. They'll be best able to tell you whether paint or paper will be the perfect choice for what you have in your mind's eye.

Paint vs. Paper: Part I

It's an age-old decorating question: paint or wallpaper?

Start with the easiest part of the decision. Paint and paper both have advantages, and sometimes it makes sense to go with their strengths.

What's great about paint?

• Paint is an economical choice. Nothing freshens up your room so well for so little money as paint.
• Paint is a temporary choice. If you don't like it after all, or when you're ready for a change, you can paint over it with just a bit of prep work. Paper generally has to be removed first. 
• There's an unlimited range of colours for paint. If your stockist doesn't have just what you want, you can have it mixed up to match the colour you have in your mind.

What's great about wallpaper?

• Wallpaper can be washable. You can't give all wallpaper a good scrub, but when that's what you want, you're more likely to find a paper than a paint that meets your needs. This makes wallpaper a good choice for the kitchen and the loo.
• Wallpaper is versatile. Murals aside, when you want a really fancy pattern, wallpaper is a much easier way to accomplish it. You can have anything from whimsical animals for a baby's room to the most elegant designs for a formal space.
• Wallpaper is a fast way to set a tone in your decor. Find a paper you love, and you have the colours, the mood, and perhaps even the theme of your room settled.

Bright for Spring!

Bright colours are big this spring, with orange emerging as a favorite. You can bring sharp citrus shades into your home without overwhelming or overstimulating, as long as you keep a few things in mind.

Very saturated, bright colours are exciting, but they're best in smaller doses. Don't go with all four walls and the ceiling and floor in orange peel orange. A focus wall, trim, or soft furnishings will be better choices. Pair the brightest colours with neutrals or toned-down versions of the hue -- or with its complement, the colour on the opposite side of the colour wheel.

A bright, clear colour in a light texture, such as a lampshade, lightweight curtain, or delicate accent item is exciting and refreshing. Patterns and textures keep the eye moving. Heavier pieces, such as a velvet sofa or a blocky table, may look better in a neutral shade.

Spring 2011 Neutrals

We've gone soft! Silver and taupe shades mix with dusty colours for Spring decorating. The look is soft and dreamy. How can you get a rich, romantic effect with neutrals, rather than a -- well, a neutral look?

Mix them up. Multiples tones and textures make your decor luminous, not noncommittal. We're seeing gleaming gold tone-on-tone stripes, multiple shades of natural linen, and lots of puffy cushions. The play of light on these neutrals gives them depth.

Suede or pearl finishes in paint support this effect.

Add soft colours like rose and green to mixed neutrals with ceramic, paint, or opaque glass. The effect is like pinning a flower onto a simple, neutral hat, or adding coloured beads to a metal chain.

Think about a hazy blue ceiling in a room with walls of grey or biscuit. The look is fresh and romantic without being too daring.

Economy, Housing, and Paint

Australian homeowners represent $3.6 trillion in wealth, the largest number in Australia's economic equation. Our housing market isn't generally volatile, and housing continues to represent a solid value, but buyers and sellers both remain cautious. Not so many people are ready to take a chance on a new home, and those who are selling aren't ready to lower their prices, either.

Result? We'll still be in the same house, most of us, for the rest of this year.

That means it's time to paint. Nothing gives such a good return on your investment as paint: you can expect to get very nearly your entire investment back in a higher price if you decide to sell, something which you cannot count on with remodeling or new appliances.

If you stay, then a fresh coat of paint will give your place a new look and feel for much less than the price of new furnishings or landscaping.

Contact your local Master Painters and discuss your needs. In Sydney and the Northern Beaches, that's Courtney & Wise, your painters and decorators for two generations.