With the COVID19 pandemic currently underway, home renovations such as redoing floors, installing carpets, and taking down walls are large projects that require hiring a team of professionals to complete, which isn’t the best way to contain the spread of germs within your home. As far as home upgrades go, slapping some paint on the walls is a quick and easy way to upgrade the entire look of a room or home. Home maintenance supply stores such as Home Depot and Lowes are deemed essential and currently open, so you can purchase paint with no problems. Check out these useful painting tips if you are looking for a way to give your home a facelift during quarantine!
The best time of year to paint your home really depends on where you live, climate, and humidity. It also depends on what you are painting, whether it be your home’s interior or exterior. Luckily, with ample time at home, now is a great time to add a fresh coat of paint to your home free time wise. Here are a few basic guidelines to remember when picking the best time to paint your home.
Exterior: Avoid painting the exterior of your home when it’s below 50 degrees F. Colder temperatures can cause the paint to loosely adhere, resulting in it rolling off. Also avoid hot humid days, the heat and humidity can cause the paint to dry slowly, and crack when it is dry. Wind can cause issues as well. If it’s windy outside, your paint can get whipped around and land on everything around your house, including cars, plants, and pets. The best weather for painting is a low humidity, sunny, between 65 and 90 degree F day. Spring weather is great for painting the exterior of your home, as long as you pick a dry, windless day.
Interior: Humidity can also affect painting the interior of your home for similar reasons as it does the exterior. It will take longer to dry and may crack. Dehumidifiers can help prevent this when painting inside. You’ll want to leave the room untouched for longer than you think the paint will take to dry, just in case. So, make sure to paint during a time when you have no plans for big events or guests coming over. Considering gatherings of 10+ people are currently prohibited, it’s a great time to paint your interior right now!
Sherwin Williams Color of the Year 2020:
Meet Naval SW 2244, Sherwin Williams pick for color of the year 2020.
Blue is usually a top color choice for interior designers as it is one of the most calming colors- but this deep, rich hue is both bold and calming. People will notice this dark, striking color when used as a pop of design in any room. It also pairs great with most color schemes, and can even be considered ‘a new neutral.’ If you’re looking to elevate your space, Naval is a great paint choice for an accent wall.
The Behr 2020 paint color of the year is a calming, restorative, and meadow-inspired yellow-green called “Back to Nature.”
The color was chosen to help people feel closer to the serenity of nature within their home’s walls. Behr is sold exclusively at Home Depot, so if you want to bring the wilderness into your home, just make a quick trip to your nearest location to get started painting!
Paint a Door Frame
If painting even an accent wall seems like too much work, try painting a door frame. This is a smaller-scale way to add major design appeal to any room in your home, that almost anyone can do in as little as an hour. The bolder the paint choice, the better. With such a small pop of paint and color, you’re going to want it to have a major impact, so don’t be afraid of those dark or striking shades you’d typically avoid. Notice how the hot pink draws the eye in the photo to the left, but isn’t too much because it’s only on a small area of the room.
Paint Just the Trim
Painting just the trim of your home can add an interesting look, and doesn’t take special paint brands or a lengthy painting supplies list. All you need is a little focus and decent brush control. Apply painter’s tape to the edges of the walls and the floor, leaving only molding and trim exposed. You’ll also want to protect floors with a plastic paint guard. Use the tip of your brush to cut in toward the middle on the top and bottom of the molding. Then, with long brushstrokes, cover the space inbetween. Most designers choose a bright white to make molding and trim pop, but color can sometimes be used for a more bold look.
Paint Window Shutters and/or the Front Door
Painting the entire exterior of a home can be expensive and time consuming, however you can really up your home’s curb appeal by painting your window shutters and front door. This can be done by yourself, quickly, and without too much paint. Dark colors tend to look best as they make a more striking and visible difference, in contrast to the rest of the home.
Sources: RealSimple.com
