Make painting fun with simple design techniques.
Choosing the right color paint is essential to achieving the look and feel you want for the rooms in your home, but so are painting styles and techniques. Incorporate eye-catching, unusual or extraordinary painting design concepts to liven up a room, make it appear larger, or accentuate furniture pieces and layout. Get creative and personalize your living space with simple, but impressive, painting techniques for your home's interior.
Accent Walls
An accent wall is a wall in a room that is painted a different color than the other walls in this space. Sometimes called a feature wall, a wall painted in a different color can liven up a room, complement d cor or tie a color scheme together. Determining which wall in a room to paint as an accent wall is important to avoid an odd or random look. Walls that have a natural focal point, such as a window, fireplace or elaborate bed headboard, are a good accent wall choice, as are walls that are oddly shaped or angled at the ceiling. Choosing the right color for your accent wall is also an important decision. Try going a few shades darker, brighter or lighter than the color the rest of the walls are painted to add depth and dimension to a room. If your walls are light blue, for example, try painting your accent wall in a deep, royal or navy blue color. Contrasting colors that are found on opposite ends of the color wheel add a bold, exciting look to a room. If you have pale green walls, for example, try painting an accent wall in hot pink, purple or orange to make a room pop. Another good idea for choosing an accent wall color is to look at the color of your pillows, throw blankets or other colored d cor pieces, and incorporate that color in your accent wall to tie a room's color scheme together.
Striped Patterns
Striped patterns work well as an accent wall or in smaller rooms, such as a bathroom or hallway. Making striped designs is easy to do with two colors of paint and painting tape. Place strips of tape onto walls and paint between them in one color, then remove the tape, apply new strips to dried paint edges, and paint the unpainted portions of the wall in a different color. For a bold, exciting look, paint narrow stripes in alternating light and bright hues. For a more subtle design, place strips of tape in wider sections to create fewer stripes, use paint colors that are close together on the color wheel -- such as green and blue -- and stick to even shades and tones. You can also place a single strip of tape every couple of feet on an unpainted wall, apply one paint color over the entire area, and simply remove the tape strips once the paint has dried to create thin white stripes to break up a large, solid-colored wall.
Two-Tone Walls
Two-toned walls create a neat look in bedrooms and kitchens, and are an easy design to achieve. Simply place a strip of tape horizontally along each wall and paint each half in a different color. Light colors work best on the top halves of walls, since darker colors can make a room appear smaller and the eye naturally gravitates toward the ceiling of a room. For a less structured look, divide the two sections of walls unevenly, placing tape two thirds of the way down the wall instead of centered.
Using Light Colors
Painting the walls of a room in your home with a light color does more than brighten up interior space. Cream colors, neutral tones and shades of light, icy blue paint create an optical illusion, making the eye perceive space as being larger and roomier than it actually is. If you're feeling confined in a small living space, or are looking to attract buyers if your home is up for sale, try painting a small room in one of these light shades. These colors maximize and reflect natural light, giving an open, airy and larger feel to small spaces that appear cramped or confined.
