Painting Specialists

Company:	Location:	Contact Info:
MJM Painting Contractors	Edenvale	011 – 453 7964
Royal Coat Africa	Fontainebleau	011- 792 1065
Revamp Rand CC	Blairgowrie	011 – 886 7889
Andrew  Africa Coatings	Randburg	011 – 708 2245

 

Helpful articles on painting your property

 

Choosing the right colours for your property

When it comes to decorating, choosing paint colour can be really challenging. While you may feel that there are so many choices you’re bound to find the right one, you may end up feeling that there are so many choices you don’t know where to start!

Be Patient
It’s great to collect paint chips when planning a room, but hold off making final choices until you’ve developed an overall room scheme. Paint is available in literally an infinite array of colours and is the most versatile element of your room decor, the easiest to change, and the least expensive. Get ideas but make the final decision after rugs, wallpaper, and fabrics are finalized.

Coordinate Decorating Samples
When you go shopping, you’ll need to refer to your fabric, carpet, tile, wallpaper, and trim samples constantly. Be sure to take everything with you wherever you go. No telling where you might see something wonderful.

Really Study the Colours
You’ll find clues about the underlying tones of different shades of a colour on a full sample strip of coordinated colours. Even if you’re not even considering using a darker tone, look at all the colours carefully. Decide if the family of colours is the direction you’re headed with your colour selection.

Tried and True Formula for Colours
If you’re working with a print fabric, you’ll probably be happier if you select the coordinating wall paint colour from the background of the print. Use the deeper or brighter tones for accents throughout the room or adjacent spaces. Learn more tips here about how to choose a colour scheme.

Trim it Out
More often than not, you’ll select a shade of white or off-white for the mouldings, doors, and windows. If you’re feeling brave, consider the palest shade of colour to coordinate with the walls. For a really striking look, try lighter walls and dark tones or bright colour for trim.

Choose the Paint Finish for the Job
Consider which paint finish might be best for your project. Matte or flat finishes hide wall imperfections, but glossier finishes will reflect more light.

Warm or Cool?
Colours are often referred to as “warm” and “cool.” Orange, red, and pink are considered “warm” colours, while blues, greens, and violet are thought to be “cool.” Knowing the theory behind colour can help you select the right tone for the feel you’re trying to achieve.

White is Not Always White
Trying to find the perfect white can be a challenge! Beiges and off-whites have subtle colour, so compare paint chips to your fabrics and flooring to determine if a warmer pinkish or yellow-toned white — or a cooler, bluer white — is best for your room.

Keep Notes as You Shop
It’s a good idea to make a note on the back of the paint colour cards, telling yourself the name of the store where you picked it up, and the paint brand whenever this information isn’t printed there already. Since most home centres and hardware stores carry more than one brand of paint, you may discover the perfect colour, and then find you can’t remember where you got the sample! Then you’ll have to start over. Ugh!

Shed a Little Light
The best way to get a true view of a paint colour is to look at it in many lights. Take the paint chip outside to see it in natural light. Look at in under an incandescent and fluorescent light. Best yet, take the paint chip, fabrics, and accessories to the room in which they’ll live. Check out the colours there.

Measuring Works Magic
Take your room measurements with you to the paint store or home centre. The professional at the store will help you determine the correct quantity of paint to buy for your job. Or you might use your numbers to consult one of the handy online paint estimators to get an idea of how much paint you’ll need for your project. Remember primer and trim paints.

Ask, Ask, Ask!
For helpful paint advice, go both online and to your local paint store. Tell the paint professional about your project and goals for your decorating project. Ask which paint products they recommend, and why. Get information on specialty paints such as low-odour, stain-killing primers, chalkboard paint, washable paint, and many more.

Custom Colour Matching
If you want to achieve a perfect match or find a truly unique colour, your paint store or home centre offers custom colour mixing. This makes it possible to bring in a fabric swatch, painting, or other colour reference, and have a paint colour created to be a perfect match. Visit Home Depot or Lowe’s or call a local hardware store to inquire.

Look Up to the Ceiling
Light colours are usually most pleasing for a ceiling, because ceilings are seen in shadow. If you’d like the ceiling to match the wall colour, buy ceiling paint one or two shades lighter than the wall colour (on its colour chip). Or, dilute your wall colour with white paint in a ratio of 25% colour to 75% white.

Try it on for Size
When you think that you’ve really chosen your perfect colour, buy a pint of paint to do a test patch. This will prove to be excellent insurance for less than $10.00. Paint a 12-48″ square on a board or directly on your wall. Look at it during the day, morning, evening, and night. How does it look with the room’s flooring, wall coverings, and fabric choices? If it isn’t right, get another pint and try again. We like to test three colours at once to save time. You’ll undoubtedly find the right colour.

See the Plane
For the most accurate colour representation, view paint samples vertically (up against the wall) and view carpet samples set flat on the floor. If you do this, you’ll see how the colours will look when they’re applied to your space.

Colour Contamination
Once you’ve gotten your test sample up on the wall, notice whether the colour you’re testing might be adversely affected by other colours in a room. For example, if your room is currently painted pink and your test patch is beige, it is likely that the pink will reflect onto the beige, changing the colour. The same would go for blue or yellow. Or if there are coloured curtains on the windows, their colour will reflect onto your new paint. To get the best idea of how the room will look. place the painted sample up on the wall and place the flooring samples on the floor. Test the colour in a room with the same exposure to sunlight. Find a room that is neutral.

Let It Dry
Wet paint colour often looks different from dry paint. Don’t panic when you first see the paint applied to the wall. Let it dry, then check it with your other samples (fabric, tiles, carpet) to decide if it looks right. Paint can also look out of place in an empty room. Bring in a few room elements (a chair, painting, or window treatment) to see how it all works together.

Always Have White Around
Having some extra white paint, carefully sealed in a container, can never hurt. Use it to lighten some paint that’s too dark. Or use it to dilute your wall colour by 3/4 for use on the ceiling. Just make sure to use the same kind of paint (flat latex for example), mix thoroughly, and make enough of the new colour to finish the project. It will be impossible to mix up more later.

Give It Time
Getting used to a new room colour might take a few days. A new bold colour may seem overwhelming at first. Put some furniture, flooring, and fabric in the room. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised to see that your new colour harmonizes with other room elements.

 

 

5 Common Colour Mistakes

1. Being afraid.
“The world is divided into two groups—the colour courageous and the colour cowardly,” says New York colour marketing consultant Ken Charbonneau. “People who live in colourful interiors have gotten over the fear of making a mistake.” The best way to get over that fear is to always start with a colour you love—from a rug, a painting, a fabric. Then test it on the wall. If it’s too strong, consider asking your paint store to formulate it at “half-strength” to lighten it or to tone it down by adding more gray.

2. Putting too much on the walls.
Be aware of the intensity of the colours in a room. “If you have an Oriental rug with five or six strong colours, don’t paint the walls in equally strong hues. Let the rug be the focal point and the walls a lighter colour,” says Sherwin-Williams’s Sheri Thompson.

3. Putting too little on the walls.
If you think your room is boring, look at it in terms of the 60?30?10 rule that designers employ: Sixty percent of the colour in a space generally comes from the walls; 30 percent from upholstery, floor covering, or window treatments; and 10 percent from accent pieces, accessories, and artwork. Translation: Liven up those white walls.

4. Rushing the process.
The best way to find a colour you can live with is to paint a 4-by-4-foot swatch on the wall and live with it for at least 24 to 48 hours so you can see it in natural and artificial light. Taking the extra time to do the swatch test is worth it to find a colour you’ll love living with for years.

5. Forgetting about primer.
When changing the colour of a wall, primer (white or tinted) is vital to getting the actual colour you picked out. Michael Baillie, paint sales associate at The Home Depot, says, “Priming ensures there will be no interference from the previous wall colour.”
 

Painting tools necessary to get the job done

In addition to top-quality application equipment, you may need some of the tools and materials listed below in order to successfully complete your painting project. If you are like many homeowners, you already own some of these items. Depending on the nature of your painting project, you may consider investing in some of the items below.

• Step ladders and extension ladders
 – to help you reach elevated areas

• Paint scraper
– to remove loose or peeling paint from wood, plaster, and
other surfaces

• Triangular-load scraper
– to remove paint in small or tight areas

• Steel wool
– to remove corrosion from metal surfaces

• Bristle brush
– to clear loose material from masonry

• Wire brush
– to remove efflorescence and loose material from masonry, or to remove loose, flaking paint

• Putty knife
– to scrape away loose paint, or to apply filler

• Broad putty knife
– to fill in and smooth patching compounds in plaster and wallboard

• Glazing compound
– to replace cracked, broken, or missing panes of glass

• Speckling paste
– to fill nail holes and small imperfections in walls

• Long-handled brush
– to clean large exterior surfaces

• Scrub brush
– to remove mildew and dirt

• Sandpaper (various grits)
– to smooth and feather previously painted surfaces, or to roughen glossy surfaces so paint will adhere better

• Sanding block
– to hold sandpaper and help you sand surfaces to an even finish

• Caulking gun
– to apply caulk to cracks in walls, gaps and seams in woodwork, and the junction of different surfaces (e.g., wood siding and stone)

• Tubes of caulk
– same as above (note that all-acrylic and siliconized acrylic caulks are paintable; silicone caulk is not)

• Masking tape
– to protect window panes and trim from paint

• Paint guide
– to protect carpets and walls when painting baseboards and other trim

• Roller tray and grid
– to load rollers with paint

• Brush comb
– to clean paint brushes

• Paint pail
– to mix paint and carry it to the worksite

• Drop cloths
– to protect furniture, floors, and shrubbery from paint