What about painting the interior of your home?  Inspiration for the right color can come from several places.  You could use a favorite piece of art, a chair or even a pillow.  Consider one of the colors that you wear that gets you the most compliments.  Most likely it’s one of your favorite colors, so you will be happy seeing it on your walls every day.  When selecting a paint color for your interior, you really must consider the flooring, the countertops in the kitchen, and the stain on the cabinetry.  And don’t forget your furnishings.  There are many more elements to be considered when selecting a paint color for the interior of your home, so hiring a professional painting contractor that has a color consultant on staff is essential.

Your house may be your canvas, so don’t forget to draw from the surrounding elements for color inspiration and selection.

There are a few questions you need to consider before choosing a brush:

1. What type of paint are you applying?

• When painting with oil-based paint, use a natural bristle brush; synthetic brushes are not recommended for oil-based paint.
• When painting with water-based or latex paint, use a high quality nylon, polyester or synthetic brush, natural brushes will soak up water and go limp in water-based paint.

2. What type of surface are you painting?

Are you painting a small surface? Trim? Corners? Flat surfaces? Textured surfaces?

• Angle tipped brushes are used most often, and are recommended for small surfaces, cutting-in, and tight corners.
• Flat tipped brushes are good for broad, flat surfaces or heavily textured surfaces. These brushes are rarely used, except for decks, cabinets or other odd jobs.

Here are a couple more things to keep in mind when choosing a brush:

• A good brush will have flagged (split ends) which allows more paint capacity in the brush, and will leave fewer brush marks.
• A brush should be full and the bristles should generally be longer than the width of the brush; the bristles should also have bend recovery, meaning that the bristles snap back into place if you bend them back and let them go.
• The base (ferrule) should be tightly wrapped and securely attached so that the brush doesn’t “shed”.
• Generally speaking, the best brushes have wood handles. Try to get a brush that is comfortable to hold.

Remember, you get what you pay for. This stands true for almost anything in the painting industry (paint, contractors, brushes, supplies, etc). When you buy a good quality brush and take good care of it, it will serve you well and be worth the investment.

My personal preference is to put subdued color on exteriors, but I often gravitate to rich color.  I’m not a fan of pastels, so I stay away from them, but also for the reason that I don’t believe they look very good on exteriors.  So I had a customer that chose a pastel color for their exterior, and not a color that I thought would look the best on their home.  The problem is that when I tried to direct them to other colors, they kept going back to that same light green.  So I had to take a step back, and let them make their choices.  They were passionate about the color, so who am I to say no?  I know that when the color is up, and the job is finished, they will still be happy and as excited as when they selected the color.  And part of my job is ensuring my customer is happy with the end product.

My color selections have been stretched in recent months.  People want to express themselves with color, not only on the inside of their homes, but the exteriors as well.  The bottom line is that it’s important as a color consultant that the colors complement each other.  Most importantly, I want my customer to be happy and enthusiastic about color selection.  If we can achieve both, then I’ve done my job.

The answer depends entirely on what type of paint you use in the bedroom.

• It is completely safe to sleep in a room the same day it is painted if you use Zero-VOC paint. Zero-VOC paint is virtually odorless and does not emit toxic chemicals that can produce long-term adverse health effects when inhaled.
• If you are using a low-VOC, water-based paint with a “Green Seal” logo of any kind, it is also okay to sleep in the room the same day paint is applied. However, the paint will still smell for 24 hours or more. Typically the smell will lessen in 2-3 days if you keep a window open and/or a fan blowing. If it is a child’s room, you may want to wait 16 -24 hours after painting to let your child sleep in the room.
• Paint that is not eco-friendly or is oil-based may take quite a bit of curing time. Although the paint may dry within 2-8 hours after painting, it could take over 2 weeks for the released toxins to abate. With this type of paint, no one should sleep in a freshly painted room for at least 2 weeks, especially not small children or elderly persons.

In order to play it safe, we recommend using only Zero or Low-VOCpaints for all home interiors. However, almost all paints on the market today are safe for the home because of the strict EPA regulations (especially in California), so you don’t have to be overly concerned.

These prices include thorough wall-preparation, high-quality materials, room protection and expert labor. When you hire Brooks Painting to do your interior painting, you can count on great results.  Why would you want to do it yourself?

How Much Does It Cost to Paint a Small Room? A typical small bedroom, office or loft in the Davis area measures approximately 12×12.  The cost to paint the walls would be about $285, and the ceiling would be an additional $125.

How Much Would It Cost to Paint a Medium-Sized Room? Here in the Sacramento region, many dining rooms, living rooms and bedrooms are around 13×15. This size room would cost about $350 to paint, and the ceiling would be $175.

How Much Does It Cost to Paint a Large Room? The largest room in the house is often the kitchen, family room or master bedroom. For a room about 16×20, the cost to paint would be $475, and the ceiling would add $250.

People often quickly assume that it is cheaper to go the do-it-yourself route when repainting a room. This can be the case, but there are often some hidden cost factors that can make it preferable to hire a professional.  You should consider the following items when making your decision.

• Professional painters already have all the best equipment. When you do it yourself, you will either spend a lot of money on tools that you won’t use much, or you will do the job with improper tools and end up with undesirable results.
• Painting contractors know the techniques and products that will produce lasting results, so that your house will not need to be repainted as often.  This directly equates to how much time it will take.  What will take us a few hours or a day will take a homeowner a day or two.
• The quality of your paint job can increase the value of your home if you are considering selling. A professional house painter will leave you with the clean lines and flawless finish that really impress a buyer.

If you are considering an interior painting project in your Davis home, why not call Brooks Painting for an estimate? Our estimates are free and detailed, and we promise that our friendly estimators will not be pushy or pressure you. There’s nothing to lose! Also, we provide free color consultations once you contract with us.

The correct paint color selection and placement can make a huge difference between an ordinary and extraordinary home.  Color plays on other colors.  Color plays with light, shadows, furnishings, plants.  There are so many details to be considered.  Hiring a color consultant that has the knowledge of how color interplays with the surroundings will make your selection process go much more smoothly.  Taking the stress out of color selection and placement will make the painting process so much more enjoyable.

Painting your home should lift your spirits and enhance your surroundings.  It shouldn’t be a cumbersome process.  Selecting the right person to work with you through that process and that understands the importance of color placement will make the difference between a great experience and a stressful one.

Local Colors & Regional Textures: Some houses and homes are painted in what looks like crazy colors and unique patterns to the outside viewer, but that in fact trace their roots to cultural traditions and styles. These inspirational examples from Mexico, Slovenia and Sydney, Australia show just how outstanding such extremes can look in (and out of) context.

1. Clean it with TSP (trisodium phosphate).  This will clean any dirt off the surface.

2. Prime it.  Apply 1 coat of a qualtiy primer to ensure proper adhesion.

3. Fill nail holes as needed with wood filler and sand smooth.

4. Clean with cloth or vacuum sanding dust off the surface.

5. Caulk the gaps as needed and let the caulk dry.

6. Paint it with 2 coats of your ideal color sheen and enjoy your new look!

If you don’t want to take on this do-it-yourself painting project yourself, please contact us and we happily provide you a free estimate!

Sherwin-Williams’ color forecast for 2012 shows that colors will be inspired by Mother Earth.  Neutrals, reds, blues and greens; all inspired by our surroundings.  Neutrals inspired by pebbles, a field of grain, earthy clay or weathered wood.  Reds inspired by a blossoming flower, or a glowing ember.  Blues inspired by the sky, a lake or the ocean.  And greens inspired by seaweed, algae or moss.  From where ever the inspiration comes, it’s time for change and freshening up your home.  Put some color on your walls, open up the windows, bring in the light and fall in love with your home all over again.

One thing that you don’t have to really decide about is Latex vs Oil.  With all the changes the EPA has made in the paint industry, you can’t really buy oil base paint in California anymore.  And the very limited types you can, only come in quarts, and are very expensive.  Why would you buy oil when there are so many excellent choices in the latex lines?  You shouldn’t!  Latex paint has less odor, is better for the environment, and is easier to use.  Now there are still some oil base primers that you may want to use, but the future is already written.  In the next 5 years we won’t even be able to get those.

What sheen should I use?  Flat, eggshell, stain, semi gloss, or gloss?  Here at Brooks Painting we use eggshell more than any other wall finish.  The reason is that it gives you the most durability with the least sheen.  We use flat for most ceilings, it hides the flaws in the ceilings and doesn’t reflect the light like an eggshell or higher sheen would.  We use semi gloss on trim for the most durability, since homeowners touch the trim more often than other surfaces.

What is low voc or zero voc paint?  Using a low- or no-VOC paint will decrease the odor we like to call “that fresh paint smell”. While the evaporating solvents in a typical paint have not been shown to be harmful in reasonable amounts, it can be more pleasant to work with the low-VOC varieties. There are also fewer compounds that evaporate into the atmosphere.  Most paints today are required to meet the low voc label, and many more are simply making zero voc paint.  Sherwin Williams just recently switched their tints to zero voc, so now their zero voc paint will truly be zero voc.  It is the future of paint, and they are top quality products.

The next question is what brand of paint should I buy?  As a professional painting contractor, Brooks Painting has worked with almost every paint brand over the past 15 years.  Our primary brands that we work with are Sherwin Williams and Kelly Moore.  There are countless other brands out there, and that can be overwhelming and confusing.  One thing I recommend is buy paint from a paint store, not a big box store.  Paint stores specialize in paint only, and are the best resource you can find on products.  They also stand behind their products if something goes wrong.  You wouldn’t buy a car at a grocery store, so don’t buy paint from someone who doesn’t specialize in it.

More Questions? Your paint experts at Brooks Painting will be happy to answer any more questions you have about interior or exterior painting topics. As a painting contractor working in Yolo County, we bring our stellar service to you, so feel free to call us at 530-753-5074.