• Color Box Painting LLC

    Licensed | Bonded | Insured | (503) 989~7415
  • Color Box Painting LLC

    Licensed | Bonded | Insured | (503) 989~7415
  • Color Box Painting LLC

    Licensed | Bonded | Insured | (503) 989~7415
  • Color Box Painting LLC

    Licensed | Bonded | Insured | (503) 989~7415
  • Color Box Painting LLC

    Licensed | Bonded | Insured | (503) 989~7415
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Color Box Painting LLC Blog

Color Box Painting LLC - Portland, Oregon based Painting Contractor's Blog.

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7378
spring-house

As the days get longer and the weather warmer, a homeowner?s thoughts turn naturally to. . .painting! Yes, as the spring maintenance season gets ever closer, we start our to-do lists and plan out our projects. But when it comes to home painting, what to do first?

One of the best ways to begin is to thoroughly assess the painted condition of your entire property, both inside and out. Take a slow walk through and around your home, with pad and pencil in hand. Check out everything. Take notes. And bring along your significant other ? not only because two sets of eyes are better than one, but to get buy-in as well.

Inside the home, the desire for a more attractive appearance may take precedence over maintenance needs. Are you tired of your room colors, or are you simply ready for a change? Jot down your thoughts, along with any ideas you have for new paint colors.

But don?t neglect to note the condition of your interior paint. Have your painted walls seen better days? Is the trim banged up? How do the baseboards look? And don?t fail to assess the condition of your ceilings; most people paint them far less frequently than the walls. . .and they often look that way.

Outside the home, start your inspection at the front door, which gives friends and visitors the all-important first impression of your home. Make sure it?s in tip-top shape.

Next, look for signs of paint failure on your exterior walls ? evidenced by bare wood, peeling or flaking paint, mildew or mold. If you have any masonry (on walls, foundation or a fireplace), check for white, crusty efflorescence. Aluminum siding? Look for vulnerable bare metal and unsightly white oxidation, an indication that corrosion has set in.

Check all the areas where two different surfaces come together. Make sure they are properly caulked and that the caulk is in good condition. If you see a problem, make a note of it.

Naturally, you?ll want to inspect your exterior trim, windows, shutters, and doors, but don?t forget to also look at your garage door, gutters, downspouts, railings, and decks. A fresh coat of paint can help maintain them all, not to mention your metal light fixtures and lamps, outdoor furniture, swing sets, picnic tables, and fencing.

Now that you have an inventory of your painting needs, categorize the projects in terms of their urgency or desirability. You should actually assign every job a numerical or alphabetical rating, indicating which ones to do first.

Next, see if you have the brushes, tools, and accessories that you?ll need for your most urgent projects. That way, you can purchase them all in one trip to the paint store, saving valuable time that you can spend applying your paint.

Generally speaking, it?s better to get to the exterior paint jobs first, starting with the areas of greatest need. You just can?t fool (around with) Mother Nature. By delaying urgent outdoor painting projects, you run the risk that your home will suffer damage. So, start outside.

If there are multiple exterior paint jobs on your ?urgent? list, you might be able to bunch similar projects together, saving yourself a lot of time and effort. For example, if your metal railings, metal furniture, and a metal lamppost are all badly in need of painting, you can work more efficiently by doing them all at once.

Keep addressing your most urgent outdoor needs until you run into weather that is not conducive to outdoor painting ? for example, especially wet, cold or windy days, which may interfere with good paint film formation. When the weather takes a turn for the worse, move indoors.

Follow the same procedure with your interior painting that you followed when doing the outdoor work. Start with the projects you deem most urgent, either from an aesthetic or maintenance perspective. And since Spring has sprung, you can comfortably work with your windows open so as to keep your rooms well-ventilated as your paint.

By identifying and completing your most important projects first, you?ll do a better job of protecting your home with paint. And if afterwards you sneak away for a short vacation or a round of golf with your friends, you?ll be able to do so guilt-free!

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1439
testing paint color intensity

When creating a color scheme with paint, we?re all drawn to the colors we love, but to ensure that the overall effect is pleasing to the eye, it?s wise to take into account the ?value? of the hues that we choose.

Value is another word for the intensity, vividness, or brightness of a paint color.  Most successful color schemes combine two or more colors with similar values.  That way, no single color jumps out at you at the expense of the others.  The result?  A harmonious combination of compatible colors that look like they were made for one another.

What happens when one paint color is too bright in relation to its companions?  The eye naturally gravitates toward that color, noticing it and not the entirety of the color scheme.

If, after painting a room, you find that the values are ?off?, don?t panic.  Identify the color that seems out of synch and tone it down by reapplying paint in a less vivid version of the same hue.  Fine artists refer to this adjustment as ?muddying? or ?dirtying? the paint color.

You can avoid value concerns altogether by mimicking combinations shown on color cards at your favorite paint retailer.  Manufacturers employ professional colorists to develop these palettes of naturally compatible hues to simplify your color selection.  There?s great value in following their advice.

Speaking of value, after spending the time and effort to get your paint colors just right, you?ll find added value in using a top quality 100% acrylic latex interior paint.  These paints have superior fade-resistance to help your carefully chosen color scheme look exactly the same for years to come.

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1205
dark brown wall

Interior painting can be a tremendously gratifying form of self-expression, a chance to select a color scheme that is uniquely yours.  But sometimes a color choice goes too far, creating what is known as a color ?trap?.  This happens most often when dark or very bold shades of paint are used.

Here are three of the most common color traps and simple ways to avoid them:

The most common color trap for novice painters:  selecting a deep shade of paint without considering how it will look at night.  When the sun goes down and only artificial light is present, inexperienced painters can be shocked to see their walls appear to be much darker than they intended.  To avoid this trap, evaluate paint colors in every lighting condition ? day and night, even sunny and cloudy days, if possible ? before picking up a brush or roller.

The second color trap has to do with color harmony.  Here, a very strong color is used and the room looks great.  But when it comes time to paint an adjacent room, it seems that most colors clash with the walls in the first room.  To avoid this trap, remember that colors should harmonize or otherwise be compatible from room to room.  Like a good chess player, try to plan a step or two ahead when selecting your color scheme.

bold wall colorA third color trap can occur when a very bold wall color is used.  The color may be so intense that it can overwhelm the rest of the décor, forcing the use of ever-brighter home furnishings to compete with the walls.  A precaution to avoid this trap:  paint just a single wall and live with it for a while before finishing the room.

Despite these potential color traps, strong colors can be used to create striking home interiors.  The trick is to take everything into account before locking into a color scheme.  If you have any doubt about your color choice, consider building in a margin of error by selecting a paint that is one shade lighter on the color card.

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5440
bright red paint brush and can

Have you ever walked into a recently-painted room where the wall colors were electric. . . just too bright, almost blinding?  We?ve all had that experience, but do you know why some paint colors appear that way?

Often, the explanation is that the paint color is a ?pure? hue ? in other words, it is precisely the same as the hue that appears on the color wheel.

In real life, few colors are pure hues.  The leaves of most plants may be green, but each one is a variation of the green on the color wheel.  And color in the natural world is typically mottled, as is most of the color we see, whether it be on fabric, wood, or any other object.  That?s why pure colors are so visually shocking:  They look almost unnatural.

Paint color experts know that the aesthetics of any hue can be greatly enhanced by modifying the pure color slightly.  This is accomplished by adding white, black, or gray to the pure hue to soften its intensity, making it more visually inviting.

When white is added to a pure hue, the result is a tint of that color.  Add white to the blue on the color wheel and it takes on look of a soft blue sky, something we see almost every day and, hence, are familiar and comfortable with.  Our eye can easily accept paint in this color because we experience the color frequently.

When black is added to a pure hue, something else ensues:  It produces a shade of that color, which is darker in value than the pure hue.  As an example, add black to the red on the color wheel and it takes on the familiar shade of ripe strawberries or leaves in the fall, objects (and colors) we?re used to seeing.

Adding gray ? that is, both white and black ? to a pure hue is an especially effective way to ?kill? its intensity and, thus, make it visually acceptable.  The addition of gray converts a pure hue into a tone, which is a muted version of the pure hue on the color wheel.  Artists sometimes refer to this type of color modification as ?muddying? or ?dirtying? the color.  Don?t be put off by those terms.  From an aesthetic standpoint, pure colors benefit greatly from the addition of gray by ?toning down? their brightness to a more visually pleasing level.

The next time you create an interior or exterior color scheme, remember that bright isn?t always right, especially when it comes to paint color.  Tints, shades, and tones are usually more visually attractive than pure hues. . .and there are an infinite number of color variations to choose from!

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Flowers: beautiful tulips

One of the quickest and easiest ways to freshen the look of your home is to change the color of your front door or entranceway. Cleaning, prep, and painting can often be accomplished in just a couple of hours, less time than it takes to plant your front beds. But what color to paint your door? One idea is to let your flowers be your guide.

When visitors approach your home, they take in the whole scene with just one glance. For them, your entranceway and plantings form a single tableau. Keep that in mind when you select your paint color. . .and when you purchase your plantings. To create the best first impression of your home, the colors should work well together.

If you?re interested in creating a well-crafted look for your entranceway, it?s wise to start with a color wheel. You can find one on the Paint Quality Institute website at www.paintquality.com. Another one that is very helpful for planning purposes can be found at www.colorschemedesigner.com.

Assuming that your flowers are perennials, or if you?ve already planted this year?s annuals, one part of your color equation is already in place. All you have to do is decide what door color will complete the look of your entranceway.

One ?can?t miss? combination involves high-contrast complementary colors, which sit directly across the color wheel from one another ? for example, red and green, blue and orange, or yellow and violet. If most of the flowers in your front beds are red, a good color to paint your door would be a dark shade of green. Yellow flowers? A door painted blue-violet would work well.

Depending upon the color of the flowers in your beds, you might be able to create a more complex color scheme using a triadic palette, involving three colors that are equidistant from one another on the color wheel. As an example, if your flowers are blue and yellow, you could paint your front door a dark shade of red for a perfect triadic plan.

On the other hand, if your taste has a strong gravitational pull toward just one part of the color wheel, then you might want to go with an analogous color scheme, in which all of the colors are close cousins. Let?s say your flowers range from pinks and reds to fushia and magenta ? a bright red door would complete the picture.

Of course, if you?re going to both overhaul your beds and paint this spring, the wheel is your oyster. There?s no limit to what you can do as you create your color scheme from scratch. If that describes your situation, spend time with the color wheel, see which color combinations appeal to you, then decide which color to paint the door, and which to use in your beds.

But don?t forget: Spring and summer won?t last forever, nor will your flowers. Plan for the day when the petals drop by selecting a front door color that will also look good in the off-season. That way, your front entrance will make a great first impression year ?round!

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