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Custom Finishes Give Guest Bedrooms a Welcoming Lift
Is your guest bedroom suffering from a bad case of the blahs? We've got the perfect prescription to add some stylish flair without investing lots of time and money. All you need to do is go custom – with custom finishes.
Custom finishes comprise a variety of decorative painting techniques. No matter what you’d like to do – diamonds, squares, circles, stripes, you name it – you can give your room its own unique charm, character and personality. Three of the most popular include Striping, Diamonds (harlequins) and Color Blocking. They're being used more and more because they not only add visual interest, spaciousness and warmth, but they also look like expensive wallpaper - at a mere fraction of the cost.
Best of all, even a novice can create artistic, professional-looking results in a very short time. And because you have your own unique taste and style, your results will truly be one-of-a-kind.
Ready to wake up your tired guest bedroom? Follow our advice to learn how to stripe, diamond or color block. Then meet with a Certified Color Expert at your local True Value store for everything you need to custom finish with flair.
Go Custom With Color
Want Specifics? Here's More Color Advice
Start Right
Stripe it Rich with Wall Striping
Diamonds are a Wall's Best Friend
Color Blocking - Building Block for Your Guest Bedroom
The Grand Finale
Go Custom with Color
First things first - what colors should you choose? Your only limit is your imagination. But if you need inspiration, you won't go wrong with neutral shades or colors that match the room's furnishings. Just use different shades of one color or several different colors that look great together. Visit the paint department at your local True Value store to find Idea Cards with the latest colors and palettes. And consider the finishes of the paints you choose - placing flat and glossy finishes side by side is a great way to add texture and elegance to your walls.
Professional decorators know color not only affect a room's décor, but also the way we feel when we're in it. So when you're ready to pick colors and finishes, keep these handy guidelines in mind:
- Alternating two bright colors creates a fun and cheerful effect.
- Want to create some drama? Choose complementary colors (opposites on the color wheel, like blue and orange, red and green, or yellow and violet. For even more zing, set them off with an accent of black or white).
- To get results that are slightly less dramatic, choose colors that are located on the same position - like second from the top - on different color cards. This ensures that the colors share the same intensity (also called value) and creates a sense of balance.
- For a subtle and more formal effect, many decorators recommend going tone-on-tone, using two shades of varying intensities from the same color card (choose two that are right next to each other for the most subtle effect).
- Another monochromatic technique for creating elegance and subtlety is to use two different finishes of the same shade of paint, like flat and semi-gloss.
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Want specifics? Here's more color advice:
- Yellows, peaches and shades of terra cotta are warm and welcoming - a natural for guest bedrooms.
- Ditto for pale shades of blue, green and lavender, which create a sense of serenity and calm.
- Shades of cream, bone and linen evoke sophistication and luxury.
- Red creates energy and excites the senses. (It also stimulates appetites, so stock up on snacks.)
Helpful Tips:
- Don't forget to write down the names of the colors you choose, in case you ever need future touch-ups.
- Before you begin, plan out your designs on a piece of paper (or several) to see how well your potential patterns and color combinations look together.
- Not sure how well the colors will look in your guest bedroom? Paint them on a piece of white poster board and hang it on the wall.
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Start Right
No matter which custom finish technique you choose, don't skimp on the prep work before you begin - that's the best way to ensure the results you're looking for. Here's a handy checklist to help you prep and prime like painters do:
Step 1: Prep Your Surfaces
- Clean the surfaces to be painted with mild detergent and water and allow to dry.
- Mask off the areas you won't be painting - baseboards, windows, doors and electrical outlets - with painter's tape.
- Remove the furniture, or place it in the middle of the room and cover.
- Use drop cloths to protect your floors.
- Mix the glaze/paint mixture and have all of your brushes and equipment handy.
Step 2: Prime
Add extra texture and richness to your results by rolling on a coat of True Value EasyCare® Stain-Killing primer before you begin. Let it dry completely - overnight or longer is best.
Helpful Tip:
- You can use either water-based or oil-based paint, but if you're a beginner, you're probably better off using water-based paint - it dries faster and cleans up more easily than oil-based.
Safety First!
- Keep all your paint and equipment away from children and pets.
- Wear gloves to protect your hands from paint chemicals. You'll also make cleanup a lot easier if you don't have to scrub. Your hands and nails will thank you.
- Make sure you have adequate ventilation while you're painting, and take frequent breaks if necessary. And don't forget to keep the room well ventilated while the paint is drying.
- Be cautious while working on a ladder and make sure it's stable before you climb on.
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Snazzy Stripes, Dazzling Diamonds and Bold Blocks
Ready to get with the custom? Pick your favorite custom finishing technique, and let's get started.
Stripe it Rich with Wall Striping
Who would have thought adding simple stripes could give your guest bedroom so much personality? Striping is an easy and versatile decorating technique they can make your room seem wider, higher, playful, dramatic and elegant, even like it's wallpapered in fine linen.
Step 1: Paint Your First Coat
Use your roller to paint a coat of the lightest (or flattest) shade of paint over the entire wall. Allow it to dry completely, preferably overnight.
Step 2: Create Your Striping Pattern
Using a tape measure, level and a pencil or chalk (you can also use a chalk line), mark off the area to be striped in the second shade. The usual width for each stripe is three to six inches. Use the level to make sure your lines are perfectly even.
Helpful Tips:
- Don't want to go free hand? Take a long piece of string and use pushpins to attach it to the top and bottom of the wall in a straight, taut line, using a level to make sure it's perfectly even. Run your painter's tape along the string. Then repeat the procedure along the length of the wall. (This technique is handy for horizontal stripes as well. Just start at one end of the wall and continue straight across to the other, making sure the string remains straight.)
- Consider direction as well. Remember, stripes don't always have to go up and down. Just like fashion experts say that wearing vertical stripes makes you look taller, the same is true for walls - vertical stripes make ceilings appear higher. Ditto for horizontal stripes - they make walls seem larger and wider.
- If you've got a lot of wall space, make your stripes wider. It will help balance the room.
- When you're measuring, go for the unexpected by varying the widths of your stripes - it creates a contemporary, whimsical effect.
- Since your measurements will probably not work out to exact specifications, begin your pattern in an inconspicuous place, like behind a door. That way, the pattern will look even on the wall.
- It's useful to have another person to help you measure and tape, to ensure accuracy and to help snap the chalk line against the wall to mark it.
Step 3: Mask
Use painter's tape to mask off the stripes that you wish to remain in the base coat. The exposed areas are now ready to be painted in the secondary color.
Step 4: Paint
Use the brush to paint the stripes and allow to dry for several hours.
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Diamonds are a Wall's Best Friend
Painting your guest bedroom in a repeating diamond, or harlequin, pattern can add fun and drama to a casual room, or sophistication and elegance to a room that's more formal. Just follow these steps to make your guest room sparkle.
Step 1: Paint Your First Coat
Use your roller to paint a coat of the lightest (or flattest) shade of paint over the entire wall. Allow it to dry completely, preferably overnight.
Step 2: Create Your Diamond Pattern
Using a tape measure, level and a pencil or chalk (you can also use a chalk line), mark the wall diagonally, first in one direction, then in the opposite direction, to create a grid of elongated diamond patterns along the entire wall.
Helpful Tips:
- Cut a diamond template from newspaper or construction paper, and use it to trace the pattern along the wall.
- Consider the size of your wall when deciding the size of your diamond pattern. If space allows, make the diamonds larger - it will help balance the room.
- No matter how large you wish your diamonds to be, a good rule of thumb is to make their height approximately twice that of their width. Which leads us to...
- You can also use your design to create a little dimensional hocus-pocus by varying the width of your diamonds. Tall, thin diamonds will make the ceiling appear higher, while widely shaped diamonds will make the walls seem longer.
- As with striping, your measurements will probably not come out to exact specifications so begin your pattern in an inconspicuous place, like behind a door. That way, the pattern will look even on the wall.
- It's useful to have another person to help you measure and tape, to ensure accuracy and to help snap the chalk line against the wall to mark it.
Step 3: Mask
Use painter's tape to mask off all of the wall space that you wish to remain painted in the base coat. The exposed diamond shapes now are ready to be painted in the accent color.
Helpful Tip:
- To make sure the paint will not bleed under the tape, score the outer edge of the tape with either your fingernail or a plastic trowel.
Step 4: Paint
Use the angled brush to paint the diamonds and allow to dry for several hours.
The Grand Finale
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Color Blocking - the Building Block for Your Guest Bedroom
Ready to make your guest room pop? Just go for the block - color blocking, that is. Color blocking is simple - all you do is paint rectangular blocks in different sizes on the wall, using at least three different paint colors. But the results are striking, instantly adding subtle or dramatic wow to walls - especially in rooms with a contemporary feel. In fact, color blocking adds so much personality that it's usually done on only one wall - just think of the money you'll save on artwork!
Step 1: Plan Your Pattern
Using graph paper and pencil, sketch out several potential grids of square and rectangular blocks in varying sizes. When you've created a winning pattern, fill it in with the colors you're considering. Keep experimenting with patterns and colors until you're satisfied with the final results.
Step 2: Do the Math
Convert the measurements of the shapes you've drawn on graph paper to fit the wall's dimensions.
Step 3: Transfer
Using a tape measure, level and a pencil or chalk (you can also use a chalk line), transfer the shapes to the wall.
Step 4: Mask
Mask off the lines with painter's tape, exposing the areas that will be painted in the lightest (or flat) color first.
Step 5: Paint
Use the brush to fill in the blocks with paint, and allow to dry.
Helpful Tip:
- For best results, paint your blocks in the following order: lightest to darkest colors, flattest to shiniest finishes. That way, you can cover any drips in your color next go-round.
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The Grand Finale
You might be finished painting, but you're not quite done. Don't forget...
- When the paint is completely dry (wait several hours or overnight), remove the painter's tape you've used to mask.
- Clean your brush, roller and tray in warm, soapy water.
- Wait for your guests to arrive (oohs and aahs optional).
For more projects, go to TrueValuePaint.com. >
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