Paint Misbehaving

Forget washing rollers and folding dropcloths. The toughest part of a paint job is when you step back after the walls are dry to see if you’ve got the right color, because if that peach looks too peach, or the cream looks too yellow, you’re probably going to be pulling out the dropcloths for another go around.

Selecting colors for either an interior or exterior paint job can be difficult, even if you think you know what you’re doing, say experts. The wrong color can make your furniture look out of place, your room look crowded or your house boring. In turn, the right shades can enhance the features of your architecture, making your house look better than you thought it could.

On interior paint jobs, one of the most common mistakes is selecting a color that’s too strong.

“Many times people will see a beautiful pink or blue, and they’ll think their kitchen walls would look wonderful in that color,” says Jim Grant of Dutch Boy Home Decorating Center in Santa Ana. “But colors have a reflective quality to them, and while they might look pretty on a paint chip, the color intensifies when it’s on your four walls.”

Paint chips, those little 1-inch squares that show you what a color looks like when dried, are both a help and a curse.

“They let you narrow down the shades you want. But if you expect the paint on your wall to turn out exactly like the chip, you may be asking too much,” says house painter Ed Duran of Mission Viejo. “The size of the room, the color of your carpeting, your furniture and the paint underneath can affect how that color you choose will turn out.”

An impartial observer, such as a painter or paint dealer, may be able to give you the best advice on how to choose color. “Lots of times I meet people who haven’t had their rooms painted in 10 years, and they only think of repainting them in the same color,” says Duran. “I’ll show them what else they can do, using variations of the same shade or different shades entirely.”

Color can enhance a room by making it seem larger or cozier, say experts. Rooms that appear too big and vacant can be shrunk by using a strong shade. To make a cramped room expand, paint it as light as possible.

The careful painting of details, such as molding, can help enhance a paint job, says Duran.

“On some homes, we’ve painted the walls in a light cream and did the molding around the doors and floors in an enamel that’s just slightly darker,” he says. “The effect is that the room looks a little more finished. It looks detailed, not like you took a paint sprayer and covered anything that didn’t move.”

For a bolder look, paint the moldings a stronger shade to accent the walls, carpeting and furniture, says Duran. “This is a good idea for a room that can’t take a strong color. Paint the walls light and bring color out in the moldings,” he says.

While one has to watch out for interior colors that are too strong, the rule of thumb on exteriors is often the stronger the shade the better, says Grant.

“Many homeowners choose an exterior color that’s too much like an interior color,” he says. “Stronger colors work better because the sun tends to ‘gray’ a paint. Lighter shades just don’t have any subtlety outside.”

However, a shade that’s too strong can backfire, says Grant.

“You might find a cobalt blue that looks great in a paint brochure, but when you do all of your stucco in it, it ends up looking like a beached whale,” he says.

Similar to the advice that you shouldn’t grocery shopping when you’re hungry, it’s probably best not to select house colors after a visit to San Francisco. The beautiful Victorian homes of Nob Hill and Pacific Heights are often painted with splashy colors, not the kind of shades that would work in Anaheim, says Charlie Kaczorowski of Tustin Paint Mart.

“If you have an older home with lots of architectural details, painting it with bright, strong colors in different shades can bring out the detail and make your house interesting,” says Kaczorowski. “But in Southern California, most of our homes are ranch-style tract houses. If you paint your little three-bedroom home pink with blue shutters, you’ll probably lose some friends in the neighborhood.”

Although many homeowners dislike the sameness of tract homes, living in a tract neighborhood has advantages when trying to decide how to paint your house, says Grant.

“If you drive around your neighborhood, you’ll notice that some homes look nicer, not because they have a newer paint job, but because their choice of colors enhances the look of the house,” he says.

In an attempt to be creative with color choices, some people elect to go with three or four exterior colors, as opposed to the usual two for the stucco and trim.

“Unless you have lots of details on the exterior, such as interesting gables or woodwork on your exterior, I usually recommend two colors,” says Duran. “When you start [using] three or more shades, you can create a lot of confusion.”

Before making a trip to the paint store, stand at the curb and try to look at your house objectively. Look for the focal point, where your eyes are led when you look at the paint and architecture. In most cases, you’ll want the focal point of your home to be the entryway. A bad color choice can change that.

“Lots of homes around here have garages that stick out on the property and are close to the street,” says Grant. “A homeowner might choose to paint the stucco white with a green trim, and so when they’re painting trim, they figure that since the garage door is wood, they’ll paint it green as well. The result is that when you look at the house from the street, all you see is the big, green garage door.”

On ranch-style homes with low, sloping roofs, homeowners may want to stay away from darker colors for their stucco, says Grant. “Because of the low roof line, painting the house a dark color can make it look like it’s sinking into the ground,” he says.

Many Orange County homes also have a brick facing to add character, but this may lend to a feeling of smallness, says Duran. “Consider painting the brick the same color as your stucco,” he says. “This can make the house look wider.”

After making a decision about the color, buy a pint or two of paint to test before springing for a couple of gallons, says Grant.

“Since mixed paint isn’t returnable, and paint chips don’t necessarily give you a good idea about your color, paint a 3-foot by 3-foot piece of cardboard in the color you selected and hold it up to the walls,” says Grant. “Look at it at different times of the day to see how it works as the sun goes up and down.”

Duran adds: “Get some impartial opinions and take your time making a decision. If you make a mistake you can always repaint, but you’re better off getting the right color the first time.”