Have you ever had a contractor not show up at a scheduled time and, worse yet, not have the courtesy to call you to make you aware of a schedule change? We consider that all too common practice to be totally unacceptable. And, we guarantee that you will not experience that inconvenience from us with a $100 guarantee. We will show up on time or have the courtesy to call you should that be needed. If we fail on either count we pay you $100.

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Adding color to your home both indoors and outdoors is a great way to not only spruce up the space but add style and flair as well. You can easily change the mood of the interior or exterior of your home with a simple change in color. Not only does it increase the appearance of your home, but painting your house is easy. The walls of your home act as a blank canvas for you to create works of art with endless color palettes to choose from. Here you can find numerous diy painting and decorating trends to help spark a few ideas and give you inspiration to turn your home into an enchanting, colorful place. This article focuses on great house painting ideas to help you enhance your home. There are many diy home design ideas that you can use to spruce up the interior and exterior of your house, however, the easiest and quickest way to do so is adding a coat of paint to the walls. Painting the exterior of your home can greatly enhance its curb appeal and create an attractive look that neighbors and friends will be envious of.

The color of the outside of your home is important because the exterior is the first thing that people will see when visiting your house. It is important to choose the best exterior house paint colors because the color you choose can make or break the look of your home. The best colors to paint your exterior house will vary depending on your style as well as the look of your yard and surrounding neighborhood. Exterior home paint color schemes should highlight the details and architecture of your house as well as reflect your personality.  While softer, more neutral colors are more common for exterior home painting ideas, brighter colorful hues can be used as well as long as it is done carefully. If you choose to paint your home with brighter colors, choose ones that blend well together without contrasting too much. Blues, pinks, and greens can be used along with white trim to create a stylish look without too much contrast between the colors. When looking through your house paint color chart, try not to choose colors from drastically different palettes. For example, blue walls with bright orange trim may be too distracting and unappealing to the eye.

Custom house paint color combinations can be made at your local home improvement store to create the best look for you. How to paint the outside of a house will depend on the material that your home is made out of. Certain paints are made for wood while others adhere better to brick or stone. Exterior wall paint colors are designed specifically for outdoor use and are made to withstand moisture and sun without fading or wearing out too quickly. If you live in an area that constantly receives inclement weather, the best outdoor house paint colors to use are earthy tones such as greens, browns, or darker hues as they are least likely to show dirt that may be stirred up by rain or wind. The most popular exterior house paint colours in 2012 included shades of tan, beige, whites, pale yellows and cool blues. One of the best tools to determine what color will look best on your exterior and interior home walls is home design software. Paint software to design a house is available that will not only provide you with the tools to virtually plan and build a home, but also paint and decorate it. You can paint your house online virtually using these programs to see how certain colors will look with the design of your home.

Most local home improvement stores offer inexpensive paint job options, however often times the cheapest home painters will come from private local companies. Research the options available in your area to ensure that you receive the best job for the lowest price. In addition to the exterior of your home, the interior walls are important features as well. The right paint colors, textures, and designs can really to your home and turn any room into a relaxing area to spend your days. Like the exterior, there is a wide variety of interior room painting ideas to choose from, however there are many more options for the inside of your home because you can incorporate patterns, textures, as well as designs into the paint job.  Decorative painting designs are a great way to add style and flair to any plain colored wall. Stencils can be purchased to stamp intricate patterns into the walls. For those wanting to add more elaborate designs to their walls you can incorporate larger murals into the walls of your home. Interior wall paint ideas and reviews suggest using murals with simple furniture and fabrics in order to prevent clashing of patterns. On the other hand, plain colored walls will look best with patterned fabrics and accessories and help to add simple style to any room.

It is important to pick the right color for the walls of every room in your home to ensure you achieve the best look. Popular interior house paint colors will vary based on individual preferences, as well as the trends from year to year, however this year grey-blues, earthy browns, and dark pinks. The next trend for the 2013 paint colour charts are rich antique browns, crisp dark blues, and shades of grey. You can find the best interior paint ideas for your home by looking at images of different rooms to get inspiration. The best paint colors for bedrooms are those that are relaxing and evoke a peaceful feeling such as cool blues, and light earthy tones. While those colors are popular choices for bedrooms, colors that are relaxing will vary from person to person so just make sure to pick a palette that will create a calm, soothing environment for you. A great style idea for bedrooms is to paint one wall a darker, brighter color than the others to create a focal point for your design. Just like the bedroom, it is important to pick the right color for other often used rooms such as the kitchen and bathrooms.

Beautiful kitchen paint colors vary based on style, however researchers suggest that red colors stimulate the appetite making it a great choice for use in dining rooms and kitchens. On the other hand, it is also important to maintain a soothing environment so using cool blues and greys are a great choice for this room. Pictures of bathroom colors and design ideas are a great way to help you choose the best paints. The bathroom is another important room when it comes to picking paint colors because it is the most used room in the house. It is also one of the smallest rooms in the home so it is important to make sure that you use colors that open up the room and create the illusion of space. Our free design gallery of bathroom paint colors will demonstrate to you a variety of different styles from Victorian pinks to country reds and yellows or modern greys. No matter what color you choose for your home, a fresh coat of paint will enhance your space and create a beautiful relaxing sanctuary for you and your family.

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It’s time to clean things up, tend to the garden, and make needed repairs to both the home and its surroundings  Where to start?

If your exterior paint is starting to chips and peel, it’s best to focus on that first.

“Spring is a very comfortable time to do outdoor painting,” says Debbie Zimmer, pain and color expert for the Paint Quality Institute. Plus, it’s smart to paint before putting down mulch, which along with your plants, will just get trampled if you paint later on. And why not get your painting done before more pleasant ‘distractions’ like gardening, sports, and barbecues begin?”

Another reason to get to your painting first:  Exterior latex paint forms the most durable, protective finish when the weather is mild. “It’s always best to do exterior painting when the temperature is above 50 degrees F., but not too hot,” says Zimmer. “Very hot days can cause the paint to dry too quickly and impair good paint film formation. By painting in moderate weather, you’ll likely get a longer-lasting paint job.”

If a day starts off mild, but turns very warm, try to avoid painting in direct sunshine, since sunlit surfaces can be 10 to 20 degrees hotter than the air temperature. Work your way around the house so that you are always painting in the shade. As a bonus, you’ll be more comfortable!

Pick a day that isn’t too windy. Like the heat of the sun, wind can cause latex paint to dry too quickly and prevent optimal paint film formation. Wind can also stir up dust and other contaminants that can embed in the paint to create an uninviting surface.

You should also try to steer clear of “weather events” that could affect the paint, waiting for another day if it has rained within the last 24 hours, or postponing the job if several days of rain are expected right after you finish painting.

Of course, it’s important to properly prepare the surface before doing any exterior painting. That includes applying a coat of primer to any new surface that has never been painted, or spot-priming previously painted surfaces where the paint is worn away.

To extend the life of your paint job, Zimmer recommends that you apply the very highest quality 100-percent acrylic latex paint, which is especially durable, flexible and colorfast. Top quality paint often lasts 10 years or more, compared to about four years for ordinary paint, saving you time, work, and money in the long run.

For the longest-lasting paint job, always apply at least two coats – either a coat of primer and a coat of paint, or two coats of house paint.

Once you’ve finished your exterior painting, you can turn your attention to the other things on your to-do list.  What’s more, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that you’ve done right by your biggest investment – your home.

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Tackling the Exterior Color:

Both the condition and color of a home’s exterior affect buyers’ impressions. Choosing the exterior colors of your home may sound limiting and a bit overwhelming, but today there are so many choices that your exterior painting colors can be. And, with a little imagination and some terrific accent colors, you can make your home stand out from the rest of the neighborhood and make Ms. Johnson down the street even more envious than she already is.

How to Choose that Exterior Color:

Many of you may be familiar with the term “Painted Lady, ” which refers to older Victorian homes that can have as many as 25 different colors on the exterior. While most homeowners do not live in a home that may require this type of painting style, it’s very easy to get a beautiful looking home with minimal maintenance requirements as long as you consider the following tips:

• What’s your style? Figure out what you like. The right color choice can make all the difference in the look and feel of your home. Keep in mind that light colors make a house look larger, while dark colors tend to make the house look smaller. Also consider the color of houses nearby and avoid copycat or clashing colors.

• Consider the color combination. We’re not all Vincent Van Gogh when it comes to choosing the most complimentary color combinations, but I recommend applying a clay color to the exterior siding and, instead of using the normal white trim, apply a cameo color to the trim. This is a softer white with a little cream in it. Then, on the sashes of the windows (the part that goes up and down), paint these two shades darker than the siding. This effect gives your home some depth and can be done with almost any color combination.

• Think small accents. They can go a long way in making your home pop out from the rest and make you feel great every time you pull up in front.

• Give it a test drive. Don’t be afraid to test out an area first before you paint the whole home. Spend a little time and money on test cans to make sure you are making the right choice. Also, leave the sample up for a couple of days and view the choices under different lighting conditions, like in the morning, afternoon or evening.

• Consider the grounds. Another thing you should also consider are the materials for your sidewalk, driveway and patio. Whether it is brick, concrete, tar or pebbles, you want the accents colors in your grounds to complement the final color of the home.

• Remember, this isn’t just a beautiful exterior – it’s an investment. Always go with the highest quality paint that you can afford. Avoid “bargain” or discount paints. For a bargain price without compromising quality, price-shop name brand paints at sale time, usually around midsummer, with major paint sales coming just after the 4th of July and again in the fall.

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The arrival of a new season always triggers a need to change up the wall colors in my home. And when I want a change, I want one now. But when it comes to painting a room, it’s easy to get swept up in getting the job done instead of getting the job done right. Here’s a handy list of common problems that can come up, why they did and how you can stop ‘em.

- A dark hue looks faded. This happens when you paint over a light color with darker one. To prevent this from happening, apply a gray-tinted primer coat in between. This will stop the lighter hue from bleeding through the bolder one, and will create a neutral base that’ll let bold hues look their best.

– A random shiny spot appears a week after painting. When a flat paint is applied to a high-traffic area, a glossy spot can appear where hands (or a sponge) frequently comes in contact with the painted surface, rubbing off the matte finish. So, when it comes to high-traffic areas where you know you’ll have to do some cleaning, go for a semi-gloss.

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San Francisco is well known for its Victorian architecture. Neighborhoods like the Alamo Square, Haight-Ashbury, Lower Haight, Cole Valley, Noe Valley, Castro, Nob Hill, and Pacific Heights are full of these majestic structures.

Indeed, the “Painted Ladies” of San Francisco are known, world around, for their vibrant and sometimes even psychedelic tones. In Victorian times, more natural earth-tone colors like shades of brown, red, mustard and green, would have been mostly used. But, whatever the color scheme you may choose to for your Victorian, a lot of TLC will most likely be required before even a single gallon of paint is opened.

Whether you own a fanciful Queen Anne Victorian or a more restrained Edwardian, you may already know that these types of buildings require considerable effort to keep in maintain.

This is not only because of the age of these structures but also because the very thing that made this type of architecture so beautiful has also made it more fragile and susceptible to the elements. All of the fine wood detailing, extensive trim-work, brackets and bays to preserve; all those angles and corners for water to get into and for the rain and the sun to beat on.

So, you are thinking of painting your Victorian! You simply can’t wait to see that beauty shimmering in the sun with a brand new and beautiful paint job, of just the right color!

It is very common for people to put most emphasis on the paint finish. Yes, the importance of a skillfully applied paint film can’t be over stated and, after all, this is what you will be looking at after the paint has dried. But, if this look of a freshly painted home is to last, one must not underestimate the importance of a proper surface preparation.

I am sure that you have heard before that surface preparation is important. Well, this is even more true and requires even more skillful workmanship in the painting of a Victorian.

OK, so you are a believer! But how do you make sure that it is done right?

Here is a brief summary of steps that maybe required:

• Before any paining work is begun, check for leaks and any moisture getting into the substrate. You may need to repair any roof leaks, gutters, windows and leaky plumbing. Unless the water is prevented from entering the substrate, the quality of your paint job will be compromised.
• Check for and replace all rotted or missing wood. This can be an expensive step because some of these trim pieces may be difficult to replicate. But, if not too badly damaged, some of those could be salvaged by injecting loose wood fibers with epoxy sealer, in order to solidify softened wood, and then replacing all missing wood sections with the two part epoxy filler.
• Replace all badly rusted window and water table flashing. When this is not done, the rust will promptly come back or, even worse, the flashing may rust through completely and will allow water into the substrate.
• Re-nail or screw-in to reattach all loose siding, trim boards and brackets.
• All rusting through nails should either be pulled or punched in, to set the nail heads slightly below the surface, spot primed with rust-inhibitive primer and nail holes filled the with epoxy filler. Once more, with this not done, the rust will come back and spoil the look of your new paint job.
• All exterior surfaces will need to be washed to remove mildew, dirt and excessive chalking.
• All loose and cracking paint should be thoroughly scraped off and sanded. Consider complete stripping if more then 25% of the coating is cracked or peeling.
• Any open joints around windows, doors and all open vertical seams will need to be caulked. As this may be your last defense to water entering your home, insure that this step is done thoroughly and that only a good quality caulk is used.

Now, all this may seem like a lot of work just to get ready to paint. Well, it is a lot of work! But, if you are like me, your heart beats just a little bit faster when you see a beautiful building.

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by Scott Smith

Curb Appeal Quality Painting

It can’t be overstated – when it comes to buying a house, the first impression is everything. If you’re selling or getting ready to sell in the coming months, one of the easiest and most dramatic ways to enhance that first impression is through paint.

Fresh paint makes your house look clean, bright, and inviting.

“Painting your house’s exterior before you put it on the market give the biggest bang for your fix-up buck – if you use colors that conform with your neighborhood’s decorating norm,” says Eric Tyson and Ray Brown in their book “House Selling for Dummies (Hungry Minds Inc., 1999).

Agents agree that sellers shouldn’t take curb appeal lightly, especially when so many buyers are doing their homework and looking at the exterior of houses before they even contact an agent.

“Curb appeal is crucial,” said Mary Sheridan, an agent in Santa Cruz, Ca. “Buyers get a lot of information from the web now and I find that often they have already driven around with a list of addresses and have decided which ones they want to see, giving curb appeal a lot of weight.”

The Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute, an educational resource for paint and paint-related coatings, offers the following tips for painting before selling:

If nothing else, paint at least the door, door frame, and foyer or first room the would-be buyers will see.

Use fresh, neutral colors. If you’re painting the exterior, make sure the color blends in with the neighborhood. Opt for neutral whites, creams, or neutrals. The PQI says these colors appeal to the greatest number of people.

Whether you paint yourself or hire someone, make sure all the prep work is done – washing all dirt away, and patching and repairing any necessary areas on the surface before it is painted.

Paint railings, window frames, trim, and other accents to freshen up the exterior.

Promote any recent painting in your ads, flyers and online descriptions of your house. Homeowners and buyers place a high value on the painted appearance of a home. Include the date the paint job was completed and the quality of paint that was used.

If you’re thinking about going with a different color, the experts say you should consider the architecture of the home. You should also consider:

What the house is made of. You can easily paint wood, brick, masonry, or aluminum siding. But if you have vinyl siding, it should only be painted the same color or a lighter color. Dark paint will absorb the heat and ultimately cause the vinyl to warp in the heat.

The fixed colors – roof color, wood, masonry, and stone.

The surroundings – houses and other buildings in the neighborhood.

And if you don’t to paint the whole house, consider an eye-popper like the front door.

“It is very important to have a home looking its best and that starts as soon as a buyer drives up to the home,” said Paul Thury, a Silicon Valley Realtor. “One important tip is to paint the front door if you cannot paint the whole house. This brings a good feeling as you enter the house.”

Another important tip is to get all your painting done before potential buyers view the house.

“It is important to have all the repairs and paint done before going on the market,” said Julie Nelson, a real estate consultant in Austin, Texas. “You need that bam experience on day one on the market. Anything less than bam and you’re just helping the other homes in the neighborhood sell first.”

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Color has the ability to transform any room more effectively than other decorating techniques, and selecting a cozy color scheme for your living room can make the house feel rejuvenated. Living rooms are meant to be inviting and warm, welcoming and intimate and colors create specific moods. Especially during the winter, creating a cozy and warm living room can make the house radiate light and warmth, attracting family and friends to the room you’ve designed for entertaining. Set the right mood for your living room by selecting cozy paint colors that enhance and complement the style of your home and your personality. There are warm and inviting colors for every individual style.

Food as inspiration for paint colors

Spicy colors, such as orange, honey and scarlet, are bold and unusual enough that they aren’t seen in the majority of homes and designer models, but they’re under appreciated for their inviting natures. Use a soft pumpkin paint color scheme for your living room and accent it with clove trim and scarlet fabrics. Spicy colors also encourage the appetite, which is ideal for rooms near the kitchen or dining room, and creates an environment for gathering around food, endorsing our primal familial characteristics. Try starting with a primary color that you like, and look to food sources for inspiration: if red piques your fancy, think of raspberry, cherry or chestnut; if you like orange go with honey, tangerine or sweet potato. These colors will elicit a more comfortable and primal emotion because they’re associated with delicious foods.

Base colors plus bold accents create a modern look

Any color scheme requires a neutral base to keep it classic, but should be livened up with a bright and bold paint color. Shades of brown are ideal for pairing with nearly any other color and allow you to design a warm and cozy color scheme, even when using traditionally cool colors. For example, brown and pumpkin can be just as inviting as a more modern sand and plum or coffee and aqua. Pair light colors with dark browns, such as chocolate and rose, to offer a visually stimulating contrast for your living room. Keeping your paint colors monochromatic can be dull and unimaginative; create rich and vivid paint color schemes for your living room with color contrasts. Taking a bold step with your paint color can show you’re not afraid to take a step in the modern direction and make a statement with your living room paint colors. Start with a neutral color and play around with the shades until you find one that matches or contrasts your bold paint color perfectly.

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Accent painting is a wonderful way to draw attention to a certain part of a room, or to add a feeling of color variety without overwhelming the senses. Accent painting can also be a great way to appease two different style tastes because the color doesn’t dominate and it leaves visual space for other decorative techniques. No matter what your experience level, accent painting is quick and inexpensive and a great way to experiment with your personal style.

Determining which wall to use for accent painting

Contrary to what some homeowners may think, the accent wall should not be the biggest or longest wall because it ends up dominating the room and becomes an over-emphasis. Select a shorter, far wall to accent, especially if the room is rectangular because a short accent wall will help to visually even out the room. Similarly, the accent wall shouldn’t have any breaks in it, such as a door or a window, that distract from the wall. An exception to this rule is when accent paint is going around a window or door to frame it, or when the accent color is complementing a spectacular view through a window. An easy way to select an accent wall is to look at the furniture arrangement and accent a wall that a natural focal point, such as a fireplace or bed, is up against.

How to pick your accent painting color

In general, accent painting tends to be a bolder color than everything surrounding it because that’s what draws the eye. The point of accent painting is to create a focal area of the room and a bright or bold color will draw attention much more effectively than a lighter color. If you’re having trouble deciding on the right color or shade, take inspiration from your fabrics or artwork. Chances are there’s a underlying color in your throw pillows or framed photography which you could use as your accent paint color. This is a great way to get those colors to pop more and be noticed as well as to create a unifying look in your room.

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EXTERIOR: if you can’t paint the whole thing, or it doesn’t really require a whole new look, at least touch up the eaves, window trim and door. A newly painted door (which every potential buyer gets very close to) will give off the impression that the whole house is well maintained, and they’ll be more apt to accept other areas of the house. If you are going to paint the exterior, select a neutral color that meshes well with the rest of the neighborhood and complements your landscaping. Keep in mind that white is not a neutral color, but rather a bright color and it can deter potential buyers. Cream to medium browns work best, as long as you have appropriate trims to match and as long as your exterior color isn’t too different from the neighboring houses. Don’t forget that the exterior paint on your house is the first thing potential buyers will notice, and if they don’t like what they see they can have a sour disposition when touring the rest of the home, or can even decide to leave immediately. On the other hand, a home with a great exterior paint job and fantastic curb appeal will have buyers lining up.

INTERIOR: when you step through the front door and into the hallway you should feel like you’re transitioning into a new space rather slowly. For example, if your home’s exterior is a chestnut color you don’t want to step through the door into a blue hallway when a light coffee color would flow so much better. Don’t pick exactly the same color as your exterior, but a lighter or more muted version will work wonders. Use a color wheel to pick complementing shades, and then as you move away from the entrance you can branch out with more color variations.

Walk through each room: different rooms have different color associations. The kitchen can have a much brighter color than the den, and the bathroom can have more personality than the master bedroom. Pick a color that reminds you of food for your kitchen and remember that red and yellow are well suited for this room. Bathrooms, also, can have brightness because they’re not a main area of the house and are usually so small that they’re much easier to modify. If you are going to repaint a bathroom, pick a neutral color that you can dress up with towels and other accent features because this is one way to suggest personality without taking away the potential buyer’s ability to imagine their own belongings in it. Although you want to create a somewhat blank slate for the new owners to add their own personal touches to the walls, don’t make the mistake of painting most rooms white. White walls can be blinding and make a room look sterile and uninviting, when even a small change like a matte mint can feel so much more welcoming. One room you can leave completely alone, however, and that is a child’s room. It can be too hurtful to change a kid’s play area on top of all the other changes that are occurring, and a nicely decorated child’s room can help a new family imagine the space as their own.

Some of these changes are easy enough to tackle yourself, but getting a professional house painter with some quality paints will really show up and pay off in the sale. Fresh paint gives the impression of a completed home and new owners aren’t going to immediately wonder about the additional costs of repainting, encouraging an even faster sale.

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