Summer 2017 Colour Trends

Summer is fast approaching, and that means new trends are starting to make waves in terms of paint colours for your home. If you are going to be doing any painting this summer, you’re probably wondering what colour or colours to go with. Do you pick something bright and vibrant to reflect the pleasant weather the summer months bring with them? Do you go with one of the multiple shades of green that are currently winning the popularity contest? Or maybe you want to be more of a traditionalist and stick with one of this year’s mysterious earth colours or deep jewel tones. To help you decide, here are some of the biggest colour trends for summer 2017.

Bringing Summer Inside

The biggest and most popular colour trend you can expect this summer is the use of shades and hues that complement the warm, sunny weather of the summer months. Your home is likely to be flooded with sunlight over the course of the season, so you’ll want your choice of colour to play well with that. Fresh air, soft breezes, plentiful sunshine, blooming flowers; all of these things can be brought right into your home. Colours such as Florida pink and Persian velvet, will give any room in your home that blossoming summer feel that screams summer beauty, while bright yellows and greens such as lemon freeze and potpourri green work with the sunlight that makes its way into a room and will help turn the interior of your home into a beautiful, sun-filled space.

Going Green

One particular colour that is sure to make waves this summer season is green. What colour comes to mind when you hear the word “summer”? If you answered with the colour green, you’d be in the likely majority. Green conjures up images of sprawling summer fields, tall and leafy trees, and fresh summer salad and watermelon; it’s no surprise that shades of green are already making their mark in freshly painted home interiors as we edge closer to summer. Shades such as courtyard green and olive are giving rooms a vibrant summer feel while at the same time remaining perfectly traditional. Green and all its shades are also going to work wonders to accent your various pieces of furniture. Picture a room with olive green-coloured walls as the backdrop for a beautiful brown leather couch and dark-stained wooden coffee table. Not bad right?

Embracing Earth and Jewel Tones

In somewhat of a contrast to the bright, vibrant colours that help turn your interior into a sun-filled summer sanctuary, many people are choosing to stick to darker earthy colours and deep jewel shades this year. This trend will no doubt trickle right into the summer months, giving you even more options when choosing your summer colours this season. Colours such as charcoal gray, soft aqua, and artful magenta are here to stay this summer and can help make your interiors look great by providing opportunities for layering and helping to accent and showcase other colours in a room’s décor and furniture.

Now that you have an idea of what’s trending for summer 2017, you’re sure to have an easier and more enjoyable time selecting the perfect colours for your next painting project.

The Different Types of Paint to Use in Your Home

When you’re tackling a renovation project often the first thing that you plan is the paint job. If you’re tackling this yourself, it can be confusing to determine which paints will work with which projects, especially considering the variety at your disposal. Here are some great tips to finding the perfect paint for the job at hand.

1. You’ll want to make sure that your walls are in good shape. If this means new walls have been built and you’re facing new drywall, or there have been a number of patched repairs, your first step should be a primer. Choose a good, thick primer that will coat the walls and hide any further imperfections to give you an even, smooth surface to work with. Depending on the type of primer, this may need more time to cure than your paint colors will.

2. Choosing the right paint can be confusing, and often a homeowner with no experience will choose something that is cheap, assuming that all paints are created equal and a more expensive paint is just “buying the name brand”. You’ll quickly find out that buying better quality paint will save you both time and money in the long run and eliminate many issues associated with a cheap paint. Higher quality paints often have a thicker consistency and the coverage is far superior, meaning that less paint goes a lot further and covers well in 2 coats with minor touch ups.

3. Paints come in a variety of finishes from ulti-matte to high gloss, with eggshell running right down the center and the most often purchased. Depending on the use of your space (How much traffic will your space get and are the walls often touched?) different finishes will provide different benefits. Your ceiling is most often painted in matte, while walls are usually painted in eggshell or flat and very glossy finishes are reserved for trim and baseboards, doors and chair rails. Your paint can give you an average drying time between coats, which can change from finish to finish. 

Other things to note:

1. Using a good edging brush and a steady hand can eliminate the need for much of your taping work. Taping is time-consuming and can add hours to your job, whereas the careful use of an edging brush can mean the rooms are finished in half the time. It takes practice to master, but it’s worth it.

2. Don’t skimp on your drop cloth use. You may think that small splatters can be easily taken care of “later”, but often they harden to the floor’s surface and mean you’ll be on your knees scrubbing away. Use those drop cloth and move them to every new work area.

3. When painting wood trim, take the time to sand the surfaces first, and then prime. Allow primed wood surfaces to cure for 24 hours between coats. Two coats of primer and two coats of paint are often enough to get the look you want to achieve and provide a durable surface to withstand normal wear and tear.