Wednesday 20 February 2008

Paint Her Name On A One-Way Street

I want to paint my bathroom (well, to be honest, I want S to paint the bathroom.)

When I was a kid, my dad wouldn't let us paint our bedrooms. He was a big fan of white walls. It was a major victory when I finally convinced him that I needed a lemon yellow bedroom. Whenever we'd ask to paint our bedrooms dark, rich colours, Dad would say that dark colours require more coats and are impossible to paint over. My mother (also not a fan of dark colours) would say that they make a room seem smaller. Is this true? Or were they just coming up with excuses to not paint out bedrooms navy blue? Things to think about, before committing to a dark colour.

I love colour. I really want to paint the bathroom a deep, brick red. Which presents its own set of problems - mainly, is red out? Will I be dating our bathroom if I paint it red? When we decide to sell, will potential buyers be turned off by our bathroom because it's so 2002? I'm not talking about bright red - I want something like the lovechild of cranberry red and terracotta, if such a colour exists.

Our bathroom is very small and windowless, so my mother's "dark paint makes rooms feel smaller" stance is kind of freaking me out. There's not much wall to be painted; one whole wall is white tiles, there's a large mirror, a white door - possibly enough to break up the potential claustrophobia-inducing paint job.

Really, this whole painting thing is just an excuse for me to put off doing my homework. Realistically, we won't have time to paint until at least June so I should stop obsessing about the many different shades of red.

10 comments:

  1. A great site to visit:

    http://www.sherwin-williams.com/
    do_it_yourself/paint_colors/index.jsp

    and then click on: "Visualize your inspiration with our easy-to-use online tool"

    I think small rooms can handle darker colors--I don't know why this makes sense, but it does. But a large room, painted red? Too much red. Bathroom? Awesome.

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  2. I don't know if it will take several coats of paint, but I do know dark colors do make a room look smaller. I painted my bathroom a dark green - I'm talking dark-forest-can't-see-the-sunlight-for-the-trees green and my bathroom (which is really small to begin with) suddenly was claustrophobic small. I ended up painting the top half of the walls a cream color.
    However, I totally love the idea of dark red. I wanted to do our bedroom in red (no go with the husband). One thing you could think about trying is pick a wall and paint that one red, then paint the other three a cream and paint all the trim along the floor and ceiling black. Hope this helps.

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  3. 1) mom and dad are afraid of colour. witness their entirely beige house.

    2) i think red is awesome. you should totally do it. and you're right - there's not that much wall, so it probably won't be claustrophobic. but if you're really nervous, go buy some red construction paper and tape it up. even if it's not the same shade, it'll give you an idea of how it'll look.

    3) you should then refer to the colour as 'menstrual blood red'.

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  4. I think it'd creep me out to have a red bathroom... just too dark.

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  5. A dark red is a gorgeous colour to paint a room. If I ever buy my own home, I'm definitely painting at least one room red. My parents' kitchen is a deep red, and it's stunningly beautiful. There are oodles of windows, and it's a very open space, so the colour doesn't feel overwhelming.

    I think a bathroom would be perfect for red, although t's calling it "menstrual red" had me in stiches. Hee!

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  6. If it's only one wall...then it's not too much to paint over, right?
    Also, you absolutely need to describe it as menstrual blood red.

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  7. Dark colours definitely make a room look a lot smaller. But it can make them feel cozy too.

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  8. It's not that hard to repaint if you hate it - and changing a room makes your whole place feel more your own.

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  9. And also? You totally need to post more because I love your writing. So, quit having a life and all that already. Put DOWN the soft-art and get on that computer.

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  10. Oooh I love dark red rooms! I also love painting rooms. I might have a wee addiction to the fumes. I can't wait until I have a place of my own to paint the walls!

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