Painting a room is an easy way to completely transform the look of your home, but it’s also a task that many of us struggle to complete.
According to research by Taubmans, 44 of people believe they lack the necessary skills to complete a painting task, and 39 of people aren’t able to choose a paint colour.
That’s why Taubmans and Shaynna Blaze have launched PaintIn8, an 8-week online program aimed at teaching DIYers everything they need to know to paint a room, from choosing their personal style to hands-on painting techniques.
The idea of PaintIn8 is to set a date 8 weeks from now to complete your painting project, dividing the process into a series of small tasks to make it more achievable.
Handyman was invited to attend the launch of PaintIn8, and sent me along to be part of the process. I was instructed to bring a photo of a space in my home that I want to make over, plus inspiration for the look I want to create.
The small home office in our apartment has stark white walls, a low ceiling, unattractive vents and harsh fluorescent lighting. As it’s the smallest room in the house and the one where the least amount of time is spent, it’s been last on the list for a revamp.
The first step in the painting process is to choose a style, and this is where many people get stuck. Don’t fret, because you can get inspired from just about anywhere. Flip through magazines, browse shop fronts, or go online to websites like Pinterest where you can easily browse and compile different images and ideas.
Our home office has to fulfil a number of functions. It needs to have a large work surface, plus smart storage to keep the place uncluttered and tidy. The rest of the open-plan apartment is light and airy, but the windowless study feels a bit like a cave. We decided to embrace that and make it the man-cave of the house.
I’ve made a desk from a red cedar slab that sits on top of two dark grey compact metal filing cabinets creating a large work surface. The room will eventually have a wall-mounted timber cabinet above the desk, as well as discreet storage on the opposite wall, were unsightly computer equipment including the printer and router would be stored.
After trawling through countless home offices and workspaces on Pinterest, I’ve found one that I really love. The dark sea-green walls work very well with the timber desk to create a moody atmosphere perfect for a man-cave. And although it’s a bigger, more open room, I think I could pull off a similar look in my tiny study.
As I started planning the room to get the look I wanted, the image of it started to form in my mind. Features like dramatic lighting, vintage maps and prints, timber textures and a retro brown leather office chair could work great together in an otherwise awkward space.
At the PaintIn8 event, I created my mood board to help find my style and choose the right paint colours. After chopping up colour swatches and happily slapping around sample paints, I had an idea of what I wanted, and importantly, I could see how different colours work together. I would highly recommend creating a physical mood board using a large piece of stiff cardboard, a scrapbook, or even by pinning images and swatches to the wall in the room itself.
I was initially worried that such a dark colour would make the room feel even smaller, but Shaynna suggested painting the ceiling in the same colour and using warm lighting to actually make the room feel bigger. I never would have thought of this myself, so if you’re not sure about your room, ask friends, family or anyone with a bit of a design eye for their opinion.
My first attempt at a mood board. It’s a big help when it comes to comparing and selecting colours.
It took a final flip through the Taubmans Colour Galaxy before selecting three colours that I thought would work well. It’s important to look at colour swatches in the room you’ll be painting to see how the colours will look in your light conditions. Tahitian Treat, Dark Eyes and Bright Jade were the colours I shortlisted. Dark Eyes surprised me, as I was convinced I’d be sticking to the green spectrum and not venturing into blues.
The great thing about paint is it’s not permanent, so you can paint over it if you don’t like the colour. That also means you can use sample pots to actually apply the colours you like on the wall to see what they’ll look like.
I’ll be trialling each of these colours in the room to see how they look in the space, then narrowing down the selection and getting to work!
Check back here next week to see the next steps in the painting process. In the meantime, go to http://www.paintin8.com.au/ and sign up to get all the tips and advice you need to get the job done.
Daniel Butkovich
Handyman Magazine