Create visual allure with textured paint

Local paint manufacturers have also gone out of their way to integrate technology into their business in order to make the process of selection much easier for their clients by coming up with things like the colour visualisers.

To make recently painted rooms more user-friendly, manufactures have also come up with fragrant paint whose smell lasts up to a month making it possible to have your house repainted while you are still living in it.

Apart from conventional paints, manufacturers have introduced several textured finishes that create more visual allure to a room. These have become especially popular in the last two decades with Crown Paints, Classic Mouldings and Basco Paints supplying the market.

Exposure

Basco Paints, for instance, now offers over 30 different textured paint finishes for both interiors and exteriors. Their Managing Director, Kamlesh Shah, says the popularity has been due to the exposure of the Kenyan consumer to the latest global trends.

“Since their introduction in 1999, we have seen a continued interest in the textured finishes by a large variety of our clientele,” he said.

Daphine Okonji, chief executive of Elle Interior Designers says the growing interest in texturized paints has been more popular with home owners than in commercial buildings.

“Textured finishes are deemed to be playful so you will mostly find them in homes, some hotel lobbies as well as restaurants rather than in a formal office space,” she explained.

Shah says this is because homeowners use textured walls as a fashion statement to depict style, taste and emotion to their visitors.

Intended design

An advantage of having textured paint is that it helps hide the blemishes that your wall might have making it look like part of the intended design. You could also use the paint to create contrast in a room instead of having to put tiles on the wall.

Though rare, textured finishes can be found in some commercial buildings and offices as well as shopping malls.

“Receptions and other common areas are virtually essential places for the iconic finishes because they differentiate personality and give a pleasing ambience to both visitors and occupants,” he said.

In choosing these finishes for your office, Ms Okonji advises that you consider the tastes and preferences of the clientele that you are trying to appeal to while at the same time paying attention to the company’s brand colours so that they complement each other.

“Interior textured paints are softer to the eye and even if they are patterned, they are not as rough as the exterior finishes which are designed to withstand different weather conditions,” Ms Okonji said.

Unlike conventional paints that can easily be applied through a Do It Yourself (DIY) project on a boring afternoon, textured paints are a bit more complex to apply on the walls and require a trained steady hand to get the exact finish you see at a showroom.

Even though most of the textured paints in the market come pre-mixed, it is important to have a professional painter do the job for you.

The cost depends on the exact textured finish you want to achieve - be it patterns, flowers or a cracked wall appearance, though on average, they can cost double the price of conventional paints.

There are those with a subdued feeling of roughness, such that even though they appear rough to the eye, the wall is actually smooth to the touch.

Other paints also provide the walls with a feel of artwork with different shades achieved using the sponging technique.

“Because of the cost, most people prefer to use textured finishes only on the focal area of a room so that it takes the attention of everyone who enters,” she says adding that there are simpler textured finishes that do not cost too much.

In homes, these paints are likely to feature in the living room, lounge or dining room and can be used to provide an intimate as well as elegant appeal to the room depending on the homeowner’s preference.

“If you live in a home with several people, you need to consider their likes and dislikes while choosing the textured finish as well as the other colours of the room to make them blend with the furniture and decor,” she says.

You need to consider how many people use the room constantly to determine the kind of finish to use. Having very young children might mean using paint that is less rough to the touch.

“Most of the textured paints are washable and can be cleaned if they get dirty while others can last up to 15,” she advises.

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