How Painting a Room Can Completely Change its Look

Using paint in different ways is like waving a magic wand. You can completely change the look and ambiance of any room simply by using our tried and tested concepts and techniques as discussed below.

Mood Enhancers

The use of different colours can have a direct effect on any person entering a room, as well as the room itself. This is why hospital’s walls are sometimes painted green, and boudoirs of certain establishments of ill repute, red. Green is a calm, healing colour and red is of course, passionate and energizing.

cooling blue room colour

With this in mind, you need to consider what the room that you are going to paint, will be used for. Is it for your Kitchen, and a nice cheerful orange or yellow will inspire creativity and the desire to eat? or how about a cool blue bedroom wall to calm your overactive teenager down? Using different intensities and shades of the colour you choose will also add interest and atmosphere to the feeling the room creates in you.

Room Size and Perception

By your clever use of colour, you can make your whole room look different. Using lighter colours at the back of a room, and darker colours at the entrance you can make a room seem far larger than it is. This is because lighter colours draw things away from your eyes, and make them recede into the background, and of course, warmer and darker colours have the opposite effect. They bring things much closer to you.

depth in a room with paint

If a room is very large and lacks a bit of cosiness, then you can play on the eye by painting the furthest points from the entrance darker and keep your lighter colours closer to the doorway. Another way to make a room feel more cosy is to paint the ceiling a darker colour than the rest of the room. This brings it down, closer to the eyes, and makes you feel warmer

By painting stripes on your walls, you can also change the shape of your room. Painting stripes that are vertical will pull your eyes up and create extra height, making you feel like the room is larger. Horizontal stripes, will in turn pull the whole area in and make the room look smaller. The size of the stripes that you paint will also change the intensity of the result that you are looking for. Big stripes will equal big results, and pinstripes are subtle.

stripes on a wall

If you want your small room to look larger, you can also trick the eye by making sure your walls are a different colour to your ceiling. Then paint your ceiling white and bring it down over the painted wall an extra 15cm. This makes the ceiling seem larger and higher than it is, and this, of course, results in a bigger-looking room.

Creating interest and Disguising

Amp up the volume of a boring room by painting a feature wall a strong and different colour to the other 3 walls. Or if you do not want something that obvious, then draw the eye to your ceiling, or a fireplace, bay window, or nook by using different concentrations of a colour that you have already used in the room.

Using paint this way is especially useful if you have a very special feature that you want to highlight, like a pressed ceiling, or decorative trim, door, or mantel. If you have archways the inside width can be painted a different colour, adding extra interest.

hide a flaw with paint

In the same way as using paint to attract the eye, you can also use it to hide various ugly things, like pipes, vents, beams, wires, and boxes. Do this by painting the undesirable item the same colour as the surrounding wall. This will help blend the item in instead of having it stick out like a sore thumb.

If your house is very small, consider painting all the walls the same light colour so that the flow of your eyes from room to room gives the feeling of expansion. Then in each small room do the same thing by painting the walls, trim and ceiling all one light colour. Make sure your floor is a light colour as well. White and light paint is reflective and makes light bounce around adding a feeling of airiness and space to your interior.

lots of light adds space

Have you had success in painting your room with different colours to create optical illusions? We would love to see what you have done – share with us on Facebook.

Contact us today for a free consultation and we will be happy to advise and quote you on all your painting projects and revamp needs.