Help with Parlor Floor Interior Paint
My parlor floor is fairly dark so I’m thinking of painting it white to brighten it up (something like the picture). Any tips on how to get this look? Decor will be a combination of modern and classic, not ultra modern so I don’t want it to look stark. Also, any idea what a painter…
My parlor floor is fairly dark so I’m thinking of painting it white to brighten it up (something like the picture). Any tips on how to get this look? Decor will be a combination of modern and classic, not ultra modern so I don’t want it to look stark. Also, any idea what a painter would charge? Not a ton of prep work or moldings. Thanks!
Perhaps this is more of a dissection than the OP wanted, but I think the question of whether to try to “warm up” and brighten a cold light room or go with the flow and use dark (or light) cool colors depends on whether you will be using much artificial light. My living room, for example, needs lights on even in the middle of the day, so it is usually getting warm light from the lamps so a very warm but not dark yellow on the walls works. I have another north-facing room with more windows and light, and used a pinky-off-white on the walls (BW Antique White) since sometimes I use the room without electric lights. I wish I’d chosen more color though, even using the same tone. The same color looks nice in the bright hallway but is too subtle for the darker room.
For creams and whites that mix well, I’ve had good luck with Benjamin’s Moore’s Linen White for the cream wall and Decorator’s White for the trim. The former is truly a cream but will read as “yellow” next to the white. The whole thing is a bit on the bland and uncertain side and hence good for rentals, but it matches absolutely everything. The cream/yellow is kind of a dusky receding color that also goes well with rust, gray, plum, and sand tones — and pretty much everything else. (I am not partial to these colors but had this combo in a rental and it worked perfectly with everything we owned.)
I’ve also used Atrium White, which is an off white with the merest hint of a pale pinky tone.
Tile white is, you guessed it, that off white-gray tone you find in 1930s “white” tile.
You may already be planning to do this, but make sure to get sample sized cans of the paints you are considering and put a patch on the wall in different lighting areas, and near the trim. Look at it during the day and at night with your lighting. That will really help you decide what you like.
In Park Slope, Tarzian has tiny bottle of a lot of colors and can mix really small cans of the other colors, but I would go to Leopoldi’s for the actual full cans. I’ve had trouble with the mixing (among other things) at Tarzian.
thanks everyone. very helpful.
The room colors combination’s will give that type of look you can also make your room like that by applying perfect colors combination in your room and don’t forget to decorate your room with furniture in your room. It will helps to give good looking the more designing tips and trick are available at http://blogs.hire-a-contractor-now.com/category/interior-design/.
also notice in your photo that the walls in the windowed room are not white at all–that’s like a brownstoner background beige. A perfect neutral.
I second (or third) the advice NOT to go white or too pale on walls in a darker room. Painting the trim a nice crisp white will brighten the room a lot. And if the room is naturally dark, I think it’s best not to fight that completely.
try reading or checking out the book “color” by donald kauffman, this is his advice also… I’ve painted 4 apartments on his advice (now on number 5) and get raves from everyone about the paint jobs I’ve done.
an interior decorator friend of mine turned me onto that book years ago, was the best $40 I’ve spent on home improvement, ever.
by coincidence we are painting our parlor floor right now, which also faces east west. In our west/front room I used a pale gray-green very similar to your posted pic and our trim is a cool white semi gloss (latex). This looks fantastic so far.
I put up the color (which I thought was a warm gray) realized it was actually a pale green, and thought, oh shit, it’s green, I’m going to have to paint over this… but we went ahead and did the trim, and now I adore the wall color, even though it was unintentional. Green can be a great color because it’s almost neutral but with a bit more personality.
p.s. oil paint sucks to clean (no rinsing in the sink) and has a very strong smell, so think carefully if you make that choice. I’ve heard it lasts really well, but I’ve found high enamel (semi or high gloss) latex wears very well.
We did our entire parlor floor (kitchen, LR) in Benjamin Moore Montgomery White. Not white at all, but a very buttery yellow. A long time ago, I located a webpage which called this a “historic color” for brownstones. Very warm. We did the trim in Ben Moore’s Atrium white. semi-gloss. Lots of compliments on it so far.
Good luck.
I agree with Minard that Cloud White is a nice color for trim. Painters charge upwards of 25 bucks an hour. Good ones anyway. A good one will be able to skim coat walls to have a perfect finish. (Skim coating should be done with a mixture of joint compound and plaster of paris.)