From YourHome.ca:

Spice up your room inexpensively by painting walls with a new colour. Light walls will play up what's against them.

Do you feel like the walls are closing in on your already limited space? Why not fight the winter blues and expand your space with colour all at the same time?

January can be a great time to update your living room or bedroom and with new shades and combinations for 2009 now available in stores, painting can be an inexpensive way to bring life to your home or apartment.

“Paint is one way to put your personality in your space in inexpensive ways. When I was living on my own for the first time the first thing I did was paint. As long as my landlord said it was OK, I did it and it always made me feel really, really good,” says Sharon Grech, colour and design manager with Benjamin Moore Canada.

And while experts generally say light colours always make a space appear larger, there are ways to use darker shades with success.

“With apartments and small condos people often feel that they can’t do dark colours. They think they have to do white or that it will make it look small, but it’s really about what’s in that space. Pick your colour according to the fixed things in that space, such as the floor, which you can’t easily change. If your floor is really light and your furniture is darker – if you put a white colour on the wall it draws so much attention to what’s against it,” says Grech.

It would seem colour trends might also be following the mood of the economy.

“With insecurity about the economy sometimes people feel better when they have neutral colours,” says Dominique Pepin of the international colour forecaster Color Marketing Group.

Some surprising colour combinations are also emerging, such as peach with fuchsia, mustard with teal blue and electric navy with deep slate. Pepin suggests choosing one wall and repainting it with a punchy colour. Add other colour through accessories, pillows, bedding or throw rugs.

Colour blocking is also emerging as a vibrant way to add interest to a room. This involves taping a pattern on a wall – stripes or rectangles work well – and then painting different colours or shades.

Black is also emerging as a trend colour that previously was only the domain of Goth teenagers. “I’ve been seeing it replacing brown,” says Grech, noting Benjamin Moore has a colour this year called Black Satin. “It used to be a taboo colour – you wouldn’t use it on walls, but it’s more an accent wall colour this year.”

In a room Grech created for Benjamin Moore recently, she did the trim in high gloss and the wall in matte but it was all in black. “It’s a beautiful dining room. We painted the ceiling with a light Gossamer Blue – most people will use black as an accent wall but it can be amazing in a powder room if you have good lighting.”

That said, colour trends are really all over the map. “When we’re talking about trends there are levels of trends. With neutrals – some are infused with other colours but a rich beige can be the right colour for a canvas when you’re in an apartment because you can change your cushions and other decor items,” says Pepin.

“Colour is stronger and more sophisticated with neutrals that are chalky colours – lots of off-whites on their own or paired with a strong colour,” says Shaun Noble, marketing manager with CIL Paints.

Other colours CIL is highlighting for 2009 include opal silk – a shade of green she says is inspired by jade. Other tones such as willow and aloe represent nature with marine blues and Palm Springs Tan, which is a soft wheat colour. And in the purple family a mauve colour has emerged called Rose Stone.

“Violets are very dusty and have a subtle feel that exhibits a sophisticated feel of luxury and refinement,” she says. “So you could pair a strong mauve colour with very pale neutrals and the accents could be off-whites.”

Also, warm neutrals such as Eldorado Tan, from CIL, which could be paired with a chocolate brown – or a mint green. “Neutrals this year are nurturing, naturalistic and balanced,” says Noble. “This combination creates an atmosphere of comfort and security – colours you can wrap yourself in.”

And of course the standard rules apply when it comes to using colour to maximize the feeling of space.

“Painting ceilings white or lighter tones makes ceiling and walls appear higher and conversely, if you want to create a warm space in a powder room, paint the walls and ceiling a dark colour and that creates a feeling of opulence and luxury,” says Noble.

If you’re unsure about taking a risk with a colour, try a tester. It is worth spending $5 on a tester pot, even if you’re just doing an accent wall. Tester pots are available at most paint and do-it-yourself stores, and Benjamin Moore will be offering them for order on its website in February.

And don’t forget the trim and ceiling. It may look OK to the naked eye, but be sure to examine it in good light because once the wall is done the defects in the trim and ceiling will be drawn out. In many cases the trim gets beat up more.

HELPFUL HINTS FOR DECORATING

• A paint job is only as good as its surface, so clean the walls. Wash them down with a damp cloth, check for any nail holes, fix any other dings or notches with spackle and sand down for a smooth surface.

• Get the right equipment: You will need drop sheets, painter’s tape, brushes and rollers, as well as a painting pole, if you are painting a ceiling or high walls so you don’t have to step on a ladder. To paint a stucco ceiling you need a high-pile roller – the fluffier the better.

• Try out your chosen colour on a tester spot and leave for 24 hours so you can see how the colour dries and how the light plays on it at different times.

• Make sure you have enough paint. Paint company websites offer calculators to help you determine how much paint you will need according to your square footage.

• Paint trim and ceiling first and the walls afterwards. It may seem counter-intuitive but when you paint the trim first you can make more mistakes and it’s easier to cut in the wall than the other way around.

• In a small space, paint trim and doors the same colour as your walls. This will make the wall look continuous and the room will appear a lot larger than it is.

• You may only need to do one coat, but 90 per cent of the time you will need to do more than one coat.

• For ceilings, CIL has a product that rolls on pink but dries white and you can see exactly where you painted and won’t miss any spots.

• If painting in a room with a window, start at the window and work with the light source behind you. It also allows you to follow where you have painted.

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