What are the Most Popular Interior Colors?

When the time comes to paint the inside of your home, we know how important it is to you that you end up with a color scheme and a paint job that you’ll be able to enjoy for years to come. However, when it comes to picking out paint colors it can be overwhelming because there are just so many different colors and variations of the same color. In order to make it a little easier for you, we put together a little bit of information about some of the most popular interior colors currently. When choosing colors you may want a paint to do a certain thing like make a smaller space look larger or make a room feel more peaceful and calm. You can do this by choosing the right colors.

Popular Colors

A Few of the Colors That Help Make a Room Feel Larger

If you are looking for a colors that will help make a smaller room feel bigger, you’re going to want to go with colors that are neutral and light. These are colors that work well in small areas. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t include bolder colors that you may really like, especially if you are trying to make your room look a tad bigger. You can always use softer tones when it comes to your accessories and the furniture that you put in the room. This way you can balance out a bolder color with more neutral ones so that the room doesn’t become overwhelming. Below you’ll find a few suggestions of some of the more popular colors that many are going with to spruce up their homes inside.

“Swirling Smoke”

“Swirling Smoke” is a wonderfully subtle color that will go great with a lot of darker tones you might happen to like because it’s one of those colors that has a soft hint of gray which can give any room a very calming feel to it.

“Cloud White”

“Cloud White” is a bright white and is a great choice for rooms that have very high ceilings especially rooms with vaulted ceilings. It also can help a much smaller room look bigger. It’s a great color that you can put together with light blues and different shades of gray. It’s also an ideal color for satin or eggshell sheens.

“Hale Navy”

Presently “Hale Navy”, tends to be at the top when it comes to popularity with a lot of consumers. The reason for its popularity is because it has a really crisp look to it and is refreshing. It’s a color that has the ability to help make any kind of space look cheery and bright.

“Skylight”

“Skylight” is a wonderful gray-bluish color that’s light, fresh, clean and extremely cheery. It’s a color that is a cool tone that helps a room feel like a fresh breezy afternoon.

It’s a great color that is quite versatile and can easily be accented with deeper tones. Some deeper tones can really accent the look of freshness of this color.

Designer Tip – If you are painting a small room that has tight corners, it’s always a good idea to consider painting both the trim and the walls the same color. This is especially true for rooms that don’t have much natural lighting. When you do this it can help rooms that have low walls. By painting the trim the same color of paint is going to help the ceiling look higher.

“Coastal Fog”

“Coastal Fog”  is a great color for those who are looking for a beach or ocean feel because of its green-gray tone. On top of giving you an ocean feel it also gives a room a feel of calmness. This is a wonderful color if the room you are painting has a lot of windows as well as doors. This color works best when you paint the walls and the trim the same. You can accent with accessories and/or furniture.

“Navy Masterpiece”

If you love deep tones, you’ll love “Navy Masterpiece” because it’s a wonderful deep dark tone of paint that can range anywhere from a deep gray-blue to a deep rich blue. If you are trying to make a room look and feel very cozy this would be the ideal color to use. If the room you are painting is a large room you may want to get a lighter color to paint the trim with. Now, if it’s a smaller room you’ll want to paint the walls and trim with this color, especially if you have a low ceiling.

“Colonial Aqua” and “Geyser”

Both of these colors are very natural hues that are gray-blue to gray-green. They are listed together because they work great together in one room, especially if you want the room to have a very bright, light, and cheerful feel to it. These are wonderful colors if you want a room to have an ocean feel to it.

“Stonehenge Griege”

This color is one that gives a really nice earthy and warm feel to any room. It’s a color that’s not too dark and it’s not too light. It has a nice tan tone to it with just a tiny hint of gray to it. It’s the kind of color that can turn any room that was somewhat cold and uninviting into a very inviting, cozy, and warm room, that anyone will feel comfortable in. It also helps a small room feel a little bit bigger.

“Chelsea Gray”

 This is another warm tone that is a somewhat dark gray color that can work very well when you paint the trim white. This color works well in any size room. It’s also a great color that helps give just about any room a really comfortable and inviting feel. It really works well in rooms like dens, studies, or libraries.

“Orange Blossom”

 Whenever you pick a shade of orange you’re making a bold move and some may shy away from it. But “Orange Blossom” will change your mind on it. This color can be bold and vibrant but it also can give a room a very warm and cozy feel. It’s often used for bedrooms because it can give a room a very romantic feel as well. This is not an ordinary orange color, instead “Orange Blossom” is a more sophisticated and elegant tone

Different Kinds of Interior Paint Sheens

We understand that you want to be proud of their homes, especially when it comes to painting the interior of your homes. This is something you see and live with every single day and you want to feel good when you walk into a particular room. However, there’s a lot to know and a lot to do prior to painting. One important thing is picking out a paint sheen, not just a color. One big mistake many people make is picking out the wrong sheen for the room they’re painting. This article helps you understand the different kinds of interior paint sheens.

A lot of people just don’t understand what the difference is in the different interior paint sheens are and what type of rooms need to what kind of sheen. We hope that we can help you with this so that when you go out to buy your paint you’ll be able to find just the right sheen that is going to give your rooms the best finish possible. It can be very disappointing after you finish a project and it just doesn’t look right. Not only can it be disappointing but it could be costly if you end up deciding to repaint it.

A Good Rule of Thumb

A basic rule to always remember is this, the higher the sheen that a paint has the more of a shine your interior paint job is going to have. It also means that the more shine that your interior paint has the more durable the paint is going to be. So, this also can help you decide what type of room needs a particular sheen.

For example, a flat interior paint isn’t going to have any shine at all as compared to a paint that’s considered high-gloss is going to be all shine. Then there are types of paint that come between the flat and high-gloss which are satin, semi-gloss, and eggshell. Every one of these different paints will have their own different decorating purposes.

Interior Painting

Different Paint Sheens for Your Home

The chart below is to help give you an overview of the different paint sheens and what rooms they best work in. We hope that this will help you easily see which paints you might need to use in order to get the best paint job for your needs and the look you want.

KITCHEN

Requirements:

Room needs paint that’s durable and can take a lot of abuse. High traffic area.

Recommendations:

High-gloss or semi-gloss.

FAMILY/LIVINGROOM

Requirements:

Can handle high traffic and it should be an easy paint to clean off.

Recommendation:

Satin finish.

DINING ROOM

Requirements:

Need for smooth and clean looking walls and is an area of low traffic.

Recommendations:

Eggshell finish.

BEDROOM

Requirements:

Often a room with a need for high color but has very low traffic.

Recommendation:

Flat or matt finish.

BATHROOM

Requirements:

Room with high traffic, needs to hold up to high humidity, must be easy to clean.

Recommendation:

Semi-gloss.

High-Gloss Paint

This type of paint has the highest shine and it’s the most durable of all the interior paint choices. When it comes to a high shine, it also means that it reflects the most light as well. When it comes to its durability think about a kitchen appliance and how durable the paint is on them.

High-gloss paint is the ideal paint for rooms that get a lot of traffic and abuse from lots of sticky fingers and other grimy and dirty things that might attach itself to the walls. This kind of paint is great for kitchens, but also good for any kind of cabinets that are used often along with door frames throughout your home. All of these areas are touched often and need to be be cleaned easily. You just need to make sure you do good prep work prior and when you paint make sure to do so very carefully because the shine of this paint will show off any mistakes or bad brush strokes.

Semi-Gloss Paint

This is a great choice for rooms that have somewhat high traffic as well as have a lot of humidity or moisture such as your bathroom or your laundry room. These are rooms that need a hardy paint job as well as being relatively easy to clean and semi-gloss can do both. Semi-gloss can also be used for trim work.

Satin Paint

Rooms that have been painted with a satin paint often give off a really soft or velvety look which can give off a soothing feel. Like high-gloss and semi-gloss, satin is also a paint that can be used in rooms with somewhat high traffic because it’s quite easy to keep clean. The only drawback to satin is that it does easily reveal any flaws in the walls or the paint job itself, so you need to be careful when using it.

Satin is a popular sheen to use in living/family rooms as well as kid’s bedrooms since it can be easily wiped down.

Eggshell Paint

 This sheen probably falls between satin and flat when it comes to its durability and the sheen. This paints finish has a tiny bit of luster to it, sort of like that of an egg and that’s why it’s called eggshell.

Eggshell is a good paint to use on walls that might have imperfections because it hides them well. However, the durability isn’t as tough so it does better in rooms with lower traffic where there won’t be as much abuse, like a den or a study.

Matt or Flat Paint

 This kind of paint is the all-time best friend to walls that have things to hide. If you have walls with imperfections you’re going to want to consider using a matt or flat finish. This is because this kind of paint actually soaks up the light instead of reflecting, so it’s easier to hide imperfections. It also gives you the most coverage which means it saves you both time and money.

Flat or matt paint should be used in rooms that have low traffic such as adult bedrooms because this is one of the hardest paints to clean off. It’s definitely not one you’d use for a kids bedroom.

No matter which type of paint sheen you decide on, always remember to do all the right prep work that needs to be done first because that’s the only way any paint is going to look good. The last thing you want is to be unhappy with the work you’ve done and then decide you need to do it all over again.

Preparing Your Home for Exterior Painting

It’s understandable that it can be super exciting when it comes to doing improvements to your home, especially on the outside since that’s what everyone sees. However, it’s also important to note that doing something like this on your own can be a lot of hard work and it can be very frustrating if you don’t do it properly. In order for you to enjoy the labors of your hard work, we’re here to help you achieve that by giving you some pointers on how to paint your home successfully. At Seabrook Painting Charleston we want you to know that the most important thing you can do is prepare your home before painting it.

Exterior Painting

Before you rush down to your local paint store or hardware store and buy a bunch of paint brushes, rollers, and paint there are some important things you’ll need to do before you do this so that you can maximize your success and to minimize any frustration.

There’s a lot more to painting the exterior of your home than just picking out your color scheme and getting all the supplies. In fact, most of the hard work is doing the prep work that needs to be done to get your home ready for the paint. The prep work is going to be what helps give your home a great new look.

Wash Your Home Before You Paint

One of the most important things you need to do prior to painting the exterior of your home is to wash the home from top to bottom and all over. You’ll need to have a power washer to do the job and if you don’t have one of your own, you can rent one for a relatively inexpensive price. It’s really not a very good idea to try and wash the house by hand because it will take up too much time and effort and can be quite frustrating. With a power washer all you’ll need is just plain water and the pressure combined with the water should be enough for most of your home to remove the dirt. The only reason why you might need to add a cleaner would be if you ran into some mold or some other kind of stain that’s tough to remove with water alone.

Do Some Scraping and Then Let House Dry

After your house has completely dried you are going to want to make an inspection of your home and see if there are any sections of old paint that are peeling after you power washed it. If you find spots then you just need to take a standard paint scraper and remove the peeling paint with it. You may have to put a little effort into this but it is something that needs to be done before you can put any fresh paint on your home. Make sure that you let your home dry for at least 24 hours before you do any kind of scraping.

Make Sure to Apply Caulk Where Needed

After you’ve done your scraping you should next examine your home to see if there are any seams with cracks between any clapboards or along any vertical junctions. You will want to take some caulk and fill these gaps in before you do any painting. Take the caulk and fill in the cracks to overflowing and then wipe the excess off with a damp rag or towel. Just make sure that you don’t caulk any areas between structures that might be used for any ventilation.

Check for Needed Repairs – Then You Can Think About Your Paint Colors

After you’ve done all of the above it’s important to take one more walk around your home and examine it closely to see if there are any kind of repairs that you might need to take care of. If they are something you can fix, then you can do so, however, if it’s something that looks too hard for your own skills then you might want to hire a carpenter or a handyman to do the work for you. Once the repairs are done, now you can pick out your color scheme and go out and gather up all the materials you’ll need.

Put Primer on Your Home Before Painting 

Before you start painting your home make sure that you put a coat of primer on first. The best kind of primer for outside painting would be an exterior grade oil-based one. These are important because a primer will create a moisture and air tight barrier between your house and the paint itself.  If you come across any rough areas on your home you might want to either use a palm sander or just hand sand down the rough spots before applying the primer.

Final Step – Trim all Plants and Trees Near House

 The final step before painting is to make sure that you protect the landscaping that’s close to your home. You should consider trimming any trees or bushes that might be rubbing up against the home. This will give you more room to paint and the branches won’t brush up against the wet paint.

No matter what kind of improvement you do to your home is important and that’s why we want you to be as successful as possible. If you follow these prep steps for exterior painting you will not only saved yourself a lot of money and frustration but you will end up with a beautiful looking home you can enjoy for years to come.

Important Tips for Hiring a Commercial Painter

If you happen to be considering giving your office or commercial building a face lift, you’re probably not going to want to do it yourself for many different reasons. The two most important ones would be the concern for how it will look and the time and effort it takes. You want the finished product to look professional because no doubt that it’s important to you what you customers or clients think about your place of business.

This all means that it’s important that you find yourself a commercial painter that has a good reputation and understands what you need and want. Here are a few pointers that should make it easier for you to find a commercial painter that can get your project done, and done correctly.

Commercial Painting Charleston SC

Make Sure to Shop Around

It’s really important that you take time out of your busy schedule so that you can find just the right painting contractor for what you need done. There are three distinct ways in which you can find yourself a commercial painter. One common way is to go down to your local paint and/or hardware store. Both of these types of businesses deal with commercial painters all the time, so they really should know a lot about local contractors and they should be able to give you several reliable choices to choose from.

Another good way is to go online and do some research of your own. There are plenty of websites out there where you can find out a lot about different commercial painters including ratings by customers who have used them for their own business.

Finally, ask your family, friends or even other business owners who they have used in the past and would highly recommend. One of the best ways to learn anything about a company is still through word of mouth.

Once you have a minimum of three companies then you can start comparing all of them against one another and use the process of elimination based on your personal requirements.

Make Sure to Validate Their Insurance and Licensing

When it comes to contractors of any kind the requirements are going to differ from state to state. Many states may require that all commercial painters are insured and are also licensed. So, if you don’t know if that’s the case in your state it’s important that you find this out. Then, if it is required in your state, make sure that whomever you’re looking at that they have all the required licenses and insurance. A real plus is if the contractor that you’re looking at would be if they also belong to a national or even a local trade association because this often means that they back their work and this can help make your decision making easier.

Make Sure to Interview Them in Person

Once you have your list narrowed down to just two or three commercial painters it’s important that you set up a time when the two of you can talk in person. Talking with them via emails or on the phone are only good to a point. However, when you sit down and talk to someone in person can even tell you more about them. When you ask them certain questions that are important to you and watching how they reply, the way they look, whether they hesitate or answer right away can help a lot to determine whether they mean what they’re saying or not. Body language can tell you a lot about a person.

It’s important that you ask the right questions as well. Consider asking questions similar to the following:

  • What kind of paint would you use for my project?
  • How many coats of paint will you be applying?
  • How would you deal with any accidental paint spills?
  • What kind of PPE (personal protection equipment) do you use?
  • Do you sub-contract your workers or do they work for you on a hourly basis?

If they appear to hesitate in answering any of these questions, you might want to move onto someone else instead.

Actually Check The References They Give You

 Anyone can hand you an impressive list of references. However, they’re really worthless to you if you don’t actually call and check on the references they give you. Anyone can offer you a long list of “followers” but that doesn’t mean anything if these people don’t back them up.

It’s Not Weird to be Somewhat Paranoid

 There really is absolutely nothing wrong to come off looking like you might be a little paranoid. After all, this is your office or business and it’s your customers and clients that you’re trying to impress. It’s also your money you’re spending, so feel free to be wary of those you interview. So, when discussing a possible contract make sure to include the following:

  • Make sure that you have them include all of the preparation and cleanup arrangements that need to be done.
  • Have them indicate which surfaces and trims they’ll be painting as well as the different colors.
  • It’s really important to but both the start/stop times and the dates of the project.
  • Available warranties.
  • How much the final cost will be.
  • What payment method you agree on.

Finally – Don’t Be Afraid to Go With Your “Gut Feelings”

 There never is anything wrong with making your decision based on your “gut feelings”. Too often than not, that “gut feeling” is right. Never be afraid to go with it, it shouldn’t be any different when choosing a painter.

Most importantly, this is your office or commercial property and you have a right to expect the job to be flawless and professional.

How Do You Prepare Your House for Interior Painting?

At Seabrook Painting, we realize just how important it is for homeowners to want to make sure their home looks its best both outside and inside. It’s also important that when you decide to paint the inside of your home that you take the proper steps and time to get your home ready for painting.

Interior Painting

Importance of Proper Preparation for Interior Painting

 It’s extremely important that before you start the job of painting the interior of your home that you take all of the right steps to get the walls and the rooms and items in the rooms are all protected and ready to be painted. You should consider going through each and every room that you plan to paint and notate any areas that might be a problem so that you are prepared for them prior to painting. By taking a few extra minutes to inspect the area you plan on painting is going to save you time, frustration and maybe even money.

Make Sure Your Furniture is Protected

 More often than not, too many people often forget about their furniture that’s in the room they plan on painting and this can be a costly mistake. It’s really important to remember that if the room you want to paint is totally empty, you’re going to want to make sure that you find something to cover up any furniture that remains in your room. One thing you can use is painter’s plastic to cover all of your furniture with. When you cover your furniture you could be saving yourself money because you will avoid the possibility of ruining your furniture by having to replace it.

It’s also important to note that if you have items on counters or dressers for example that you either remove the items or at least move them to the middle of the counters or dressers so that the items are not near the walls you’ll be painting.

Remove the Wall Plates

 After you’ve taken care of all of your furniture and moving the furniture away from the walls, you’ll be able to get to all of your wall plates. Once you have located all the wall plates it’s a good idea if you remove all of them so that you don’t get paint on them which can end up making it difficult to remove them at a later date and could cause damage to your paint job. You’ll want to remove return and vent covers as well as outlet plates.

Why Is This Important?

 Even though you can go ahead and leave these coverings on your walls, what happens when you do, is you can end up with a look that seems really ragged as well as extremely unprofessional looking and this is the last thing you want for your hard work.

Make Sure Floors are Covered

 Another important thing you should remember to do is to cover your floors. This is yet another common thing that a lot of people forget to do. You especially want to make sure that you cover carpeted floors, the last thing you want is have a paint spill on your carpet and then end up having to replace your carpet. The best thing to use for covering your floors would be canvas drop cloths. If you are painting only your walls, make sure to cover the floors at least as far out as three feet from the walls. However, if you’re also painting your ceilings then you should cover the entire floor with this canvas. The canvas drop cloths are much easier to use than plastic coverings because they are easy to spread out and the paint is absorbed.

Using Ladders and Scaffolds

 If you are painting any wall that goes over a foot above you, you should always consider using a stepladder. If you’re painting a ceiling or any extremely tall walls you’ll need to use a taller ladder and maybe even scaffolding if we’re talking about vaulted ceilings for example.

Wall Repairs

 There’s no doubt you’re going to have some wall patching to do prior to painting. It’s important that if you do, make sure that your floors are already covered up. You really don’t want to have to deal with cleaning up any globs of the compound that might fall on to your floor, and you especially don’t want this stuff getting on your carpets. When you do start patching any areas on your walls, make sure that put it on smoothly, and hand sand it down so that it’s nice and smooth so that you can’t tell it’s a patch once you paint it.

Wash Off Surfaces

 This step is really important. Before you begin any painting make sure that you wash of all foreign substances that might be on your walls. If you skip this important step you’ll quickly see that your paint is going to have a problem with adhering to the walls properly. Not only that, over time the paint may start to peel off and this will mean you’ll just have to repaint a lot sooner than had you followed this step.

This particular step isn’t really all that hard to do. For instance, if you need to clean off sawdust, dust, or pet hair, all you need to use is a soft microfiber cloth. For things that are tackier such as grease you’ll need to use a solution of dish soap and water plus a little “elbow grease” to get the job done. But it will be worth it in the end.

Prepare the Trim

 What’s known as the transition line, the space between the wall and your trim, can actually be a little bit tricky when it comes to making it perfect. This is why we recommend that you use what most pros use, and that’s painters tape. When you run the tape along the trim you’re going to have a nice perfect and smooth line between your trim and wall once you pull the tape off.

Before actually trimming the entire area with the tape we suggest that you pick a practice area and practice taping the trim until you feel relatively comfortable in doing it. After you feel like you’re ready to tape all the trim, you are just about ready to start your painting.

Finally – Make a Test Sample

 After you’ve done everything mentioned above you’re just about ready to get started. The final step is to find an area that’s not normally seen, like an area covered by a piece of furniture. Remove the paint can lid and make sure it’s mixed well, if not mix it with a paint stick and then to make sure it’s the color you really want, put a little on a brush and then paint the small patch of wall to see it’s the right color that you expected. If it checks out, you are ready to paint.