Painting living room is
the starting point for living room remodeling. First,
choose a living room color scheme and choose paint
colors for walls, doors, trims, accessories and
accents. Living room paint colors should be chosen
based on the largest piece of furniture that dominates
the room, the focal point of the room, the size of the
room, the height of its ceiling, the amount of light
that it gets, the uses the room will be put to and
most importantly, the feel you want in your room. Once
the living room paint colors are decided, pay
attention to the living room paint finishes. Paint
finish can also alter the feel of your living room.
Flat or matte paint finish with
no shine is best for walls that have minor surface imperfections.
These days they have good stain resistance too. Eggshell or velvet
finishes with a soft glow are best for living room walls and look
elegant and sophisticated. They are easier to clean too. Satin or
semi-gloss paint finishes are best for doors and trims and
highlighting architectural details. You may also use gloss finish
for door, trims and specialty areas according to your choice. The
sheen of the walls and the smoothness of the texture in semi-gloss
and gloss paints make them easy to clean and scrub. For families
with small children, you may want to use washable wall paints that
are very easy to wipe and clean.
For living room walls, it is best to use latex or water based
paint that dries up quickly and can be washed using soap and water
but it is better to use oil-based alkyd paint for doors and
windows as it penetrated wood better does not stick when the doors
and windows are shut for longer periods of time, especially during
winters. To calculate the amount of paint you will need for you
living room, measure the perimeter of the living room walls by
adding up their widths and the multiply it with the height of wall
from floor to ceiling. Subtract the area of open areas from it
such as doors, windows and archways to known the wall area that
needs to be painted. Some paint types and colors may need more
than one coat so take the number of coats you need to cover the
walls into account too. Usually, a gallon of flat paint color
covers 400 square feet but you may take paint manufacturer's
instructions as your guideline.
The entrance foyer, family room and the living room are heavy
traffic areas and are the first places of your house that is seen
by your guests. Hence, they define the first impression about you
and your personality in your guest's mind. Experiment with colors
and patterns to create a stylish and great looking living room to
make the right statement. Make sure that you maintain the harmony
and visual flow and take into account the rooms visible from your
living room. If you practically live in your living room, you may
prefer to have glazed, marbleized or textured walls as they do not
look dirty or show up finger marks so easily. This can be easily
achieved using faux painting techniques that are so popular as
living room painting ideas these days.
You may want to add height to the living room without breaking the
monochromatic look of the room by using dark color alternating
with lighter shade of the same color or glazed version of the same
paint color to create stripes on the walls. Instead of flat paint
finish, choose pastel colors and it is advisable to use chocolate
brown or very dark colors in satin or semi-gloss finish, so that
they don't look drab and dreary. You may add faux crackle finish
to your living room wall by first painting it with dark color and
then with lighter color. Thus, when the paint crackles, the darker
color from beneath gives an interesting look to the living room
walls. If you are using faux painting techniques, choose the right
kind of paint. Faux dragging technique may not be able to use
latex paint as it dries too quickly. You may also want to add
interesting murals to your living room walls to cheer up the room
a little.
