Give your home a lift with a coat of paint

There is nothing like a fresh coat of paint to revive the vibe of a room. With a stroke of the paintbrush, your old immediately turns to gold.

Paint also adds colour and brings vitality to a room that would otherwise be dull due to the colour of your walls. Days when white, beige or blue were the only colours one considered as best for the walls are long gone.

Now a dash of bright and bold walls is a must in most homes. This has been driven by improvements of decorative elements such as textiles, art and pottery. Just ensure that you do not overdo it and end up with walls so colourful that they induce a headache whenever you enter the room.

“Giving your walls some colour makes a decor statement as well as sets the right mood,” says Dan Musau, managing director at Make-Over Solutions – an interior design company, adding that a room exudes a positive vibe through the colours on the walls as well as the furniture in the room.

He says that painting your walls gives a much better effect unlike a room with bright-coloured furniture but with plain walls.
However, the debate on whether to do it yourself or take up the services of a professional painter is still a dilemma for most home owners.

The issue of cost and time is one that has led many to paint the rooms themselves. But there are other major factors that will make one consider enlisting the services of a professional painter.

“It may be cheaper to do it yourself but one can clearly see the thorough work of a professional compared to one that has been done by an amateur,” says Musau.

A professional will take you through various stages beforehand, starting from colour consultations where they give you a colour chart to choose from all the way to making the final touches and coming up with tips on how to choose colours that blend with each other.

They will also give you expert advice on interior design by selecting colour combinations that go with whatever furniture you have in your home in order to have a coordinated look to match your personal taste.

“Application of paint is a huge task as it involves use of certain types of tools,” says Alfayo Muzembi, the CEO of Orchid Painting Company.

Muzembi says that certain types of paint require certain types of brushes, giving an example of a gloss paint brush and a water-based paint brush which should be different.

“At Orchid, we always send our representative to the site to prep the client as well as make a quotation for the job at hand,” he says, adding, the quotation is based on the preparation to be done on the walls to the materials needed as well as the number of people for the job.

The professional will also outline what quantity of paint to buy as well as the proportions of thinner required. Enlisting the services of a professional will also help the home owner improve other elements in the home through their consultative skills
Although this is a trade that has been there for a while, Muzembi says that it is now attracting interest as many want to master the trade due to demand for professional painters who are conversant with interior design.

A professional painter can propose their preferred choice of colour but their primary goal should be to make the client happy based on the client’s preference and taste.

“Most people go with colours that complement their furniture but we also do colour consultation to avoid having clashing colour schemes in the room after the work is done,” Muzembi says.

They also ensure neatness to avoid paint spills and look into safety measures while working as well as cleaning up after the work is done.

Cost

This is usually in the quotation which outlines all of the work to be done and amount of paint needed for the size of the home. Different companies charge different rates for residential and commercial buildings.

However, it is important to note that a new construction will require more paint as you will need an undercoat and two to three finishing coats than one that simply requires repainting.

“The quotation will also include details of the wall such as if it is damaged and will require prior repairs before the paint work is done,” says Musau.

If you decide to give your home a fresh coat of paint this year, the best place to start would be those home furnishing magazines which will give you ideas of the best colours for the different rooms and colours to avoid. Some people go overboard with the colours, ending up with a riot of colours instead of a blending in that will give you a beautiful yet inexpensive improvement to your home.

Today, many paint companies will do great mixes and give you colours that you would otherwise not get if you just went into a hardware store and bought a tin of paint.