By DEBORAH G. SCANLON
If you are selling your house, just bought a new one, or simply want to snazz up your present living space, consider painting the interior walls. Changing those living room walls to one of the many new colors available can make a huge difference.
Sean Fish of Hatchville said that his wife “spent a lot of time on Pinterest” (an online “bulletin board” of links and photos) searching for inspiration in the months before they closed on their new house. “We had a general idea of the colors we wanted then had to bite the bullet and pick them out late one night after a full day of cleaning and prepping the new house,” Mr. Fish said.
Online resources like Pinterest are a big help. Consumer Reports’ website offers a paint buying guide, noting that “you shouldn’t need a chemistry degree” to buy paint.
The Consumer Reports online website posting, “Nailing the perfect paint color,” tells about paint colors based on OPI, a well-known nail polish with clever names. (I have been known to choose the color of my nail polish based on these punny labels instead of the actual shade).
Clark + Kensington offers the OPI colors exclusively at Ace Hardware, so in Falmouth we have easy access to the paints at Eastman’s Ace Hardware in case these colors speak to you: “Over the Taupe,” “Green-wich Village,” “Jade is the New Black,” “Pink-ing of You.”
If you are inclined to paint in more traditional shades, check out the color charts at The Wood Lumber Company. The colors from Muralo Paint Company were designed in conjunction with the organization, Historic New England, and feature “authentic shades from the 1600s to 1895.” The Historic Colors of America are “selected from hundreds of samples taken from historic buildings and painted objects” from folk carvings to cupboards. Some examples are “Bulfinch blue,” “Yarmouth oyster” and “Sturgis gray.”
Choosing the color is probably the easiest and most fun part. After that, you must deal with cleaning and prepping. “Prepping is key,” Mr. Fish said. “We wiped down the walls and painted the ceilings. We removed fixtures and patched any holes then got to work.”
Greg Souza, hardware manager at Wood Lumber, recommends a cleaner called TSP to get a good cleaning of the walls before spackling and sanding. Blue painter’s tape that the store sells works well and sticks to the surface but doesn’t leave residue.
Priming is the next step. There is an all-in-one primer paint available but Mr. Souza cautioned that it might not cover different textures or paint colors very well.
There are many other products available for prepping the project but Mr. Fish said, “The best tool I bought was an edger that allowed us to get precise lines around door frames and windows with no mess.”
Wood Lumber sells paint that is geared toward kitchens and bathrooms with moisture protection; it is also washable. Mr. Souza pointed out the Zinsser brand makes a paint that protects from mildew, which is a valuable asset on Cape Cod.
When should you call a professional painter? Mr. Souza said to call a pro if you need your stairwell done, or high cathedral ceiling.
“If you can work from a stepladder, that’s probably a do-it-yourselfer. But there is a real danger in painting a stairwell,” he said, that calls for staging and ladders.
Another reason to call in a pro is lead paint, which was not outlawed until 1978 so might be in a lot of homes. Wood Lumber sells lead paint test kits to determine if you have lead paint. If so, Mr. Souza said a certified licensed professional will know how to safely remove it.
Oil-based versus water-based? The Real Simple website states that “nowadays there is no need to use oil-based…modern water-based options, which dry faster, have less odor, offer plenty of gloss and wipeability.” But if you are painting/staining wood, oil-based is often recommended.
Mr. Souza emphasized that it is very important to carefully dispose of rags with oil-based stains. Spontaneous combustion can result if they are put in trash bags and left in the sun or near heat. It has caused a couple of fires each year in Falmouth, he said. The recommended procedure is to take an empty paint can, fill it with water, put the rags in and seal it. (The state Office of Public Safety also suggests adding an oil breakdown detergent to the water.)
In addition to those serious dangers, Mr. Fish said that his wife used oil-based paint to cover some mildewed spots in the bathroom and got it on her face and clothes, not realizing that it wouldn’t wipe off with soap and water!
Mr. Fish said although “We painted the whole first floor of the house in less than a week before moving in, going over after work and painting into the night,” he noted that “We have received many compliments on the colors and a compliment from a professional painter on the quality.”
It is a lot of work, but when the whole procedure is finished, sit back and enjoy the ambiance of your newly renovated space.