PAINTING YOUR WORLD
Expert’s advice on colour choice
Style expert and Washington Post design columnist Elizabeth Mayhew recently answered reader questions about paint selections.
Q I need to repaint my front door. It’s been painted a flat black to match the rest of the trim on the house, but it gets really scratched up. Is there a solution that doesn’t involve me repainting the house trim?
A Would you consider going shiny with your front door? Think of doors you see in Paris and London. The paint, if applied appropriately, will not scratch, and it will be super chic.
Q I live in a 15-year-old house, and at the time we built it, offwhite trim was lovely. Now, it seems dated. How do I marry today’s colour schemes with ivory Duron paint? I can’t repaint all of this trim, bead board, etc. I’d love to paint the walls Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter and also want to paint the maple/caramel kitchen cabinets, but I am stuck.
A I hear you, and I, too, am a Revere Pewter fan. I think you will be fine if you spruce up the walls in more up-to-date hues (like greys). Also, there is no rule against marrying white with ivory — the two colours look beautiful together. In my own bathroom I have ivory-ish tiles, so to give them a lift, I painted the walls in alternating horizontal stripes of ivory and white; it looks chic and modern.
Q On Pinterest, I’m seeing high-gloss white paint for ceilings. I love it, but my painter says no. I suspect he doesn’t want to do it because it requires an imperfection-free surface. Thoughts?
A I agree with your painter. Your ceilings need to be in pristine condition for a high-gloss paint. The same would be true of your walls if you wanted them to have a lacquered finish. The problem with high-gloss paint is that it shows all imperfections. If you have crown moulding, you can paint it a glossy white. That will at least give a pop to your ceiling.
Q We are looking to paint our gender-neutral nursery, which will be furnished with white furniture. The nursery doesn’t get a ton of natural light, so we wanted to pick a warm and light colour. Our son’s room is green, so we were thinking a shade of yellow for the new baby. Any suggestions for a warm yellow that’s not overpowering?
A I would steer you away from yellow. It’s not that I don’t like it, but unless it’s a sunny saturated tone, people don’t look good in it. How about a really pretty shade of light blue? My favourite is Farrow & Ball’s Borrowed Light. It looks amazing with any colour — lavender, red, navy and yellow, too. You don’t need to spring for F&B; you can have it colour-matched at just about any paint store. The amazing thing about the colour is its depth; it has so many nuances and reacts to rooms with natural light and rooms with no natural light. Blues, like greens, are true colours of nature (think sky and grass), so they look good with everything.
Q I have beige walls from 2007 that need updating. The rooms have high ceilings, seven-foot double-hung windows and hardwood floors, with ornate walnut crown moulding, window and door frames, and baseboards. I know that grey is more popular than beige with home buyers, but I wonder how it would look with the walnut trim? I painted the northfacing kitchen a neutral with orange undertones to pick up the Saltillo tile, and it really warmed up the room.
A Your house sounds amazing. I promise you that grey would be perfect. My favourite go-to shade is Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl. It is an almost foolproof colour.
Q I’m remodelling my kitchen, and my designer strongly suggested painting my maple cabinets. The floors are wood, and the kitchen has a 1980s look, so bringing the room up to date is the goal (for resale). Any advice?
A I agree with your designer: Natural wood cabinets are not in these days. I would love to know the colour of your backsplash or any tile in the room to help inform my recommendations. You can never go wrong with white, but grey is very in right now, too. It gives kitchens a pretty Swedish look. One hue I really like is Benjamin Moore’s Coventry Gray. Try a little swatch and see what you think!