5 Paint-Tastic Ways to Transform a Room

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About to launch into a decorating project? Then don’t settle for the norm. Ramp up the style factor with some creative paint effects and make sure your home stands out from the crowd. Dulux’s creative director, Marianne Shillingford, loves how gratifying paint can be. “You can transform a whole room with colour in a matter of hours, and it has the biggest impact for the smallest amount of money, too.”

Here, we show you some incredibly simple decorating tricks with paint that will instantly transform your home without the need for a huge renovation, and what’s more, all these schemes feature Dulux’s Colour of the Year for 2020, Tranquil Dawn, making sure your home is ahead of the game.

So, whether you’re feeling confident to tackle these ideas yourself, or you need to call in a decorating expert for some support and assistance, have fun with your new schemes and let your unique personality shine through.

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1. Choose a Clever Combo

Whether you clash bold shades, or layer hues monochromatically, a carefully-considered colour combo can have a huge effect on the mood of your scheme. Take this living space, for example, which uses a burst of zesty orange to highlight just one wall. The ambience is immediately lifted by the vibrant shade and the room becomes a haven of energy and positivity.

What about trying a simple but striking paint feature, such as these monochrome stripes? Paint them in a spot where you want to increase energy and impact, and they will instantly heighten your room’s design aesthetics. Stunning when nailed right by an expert, but challenging for paint-effect beginners, so don’t be afraid to call in the experts for this one!

Above: ceiling in Tranquil Dawn; back wall in Rocket Fire; pillar in stripes of Basically Black, White Cotton and Tranquil Dawn, all Dulux.

Dulux

Bonus tip: If your decorating skills are a little rusty, or non-existent, then help is at hand. An expert decorator can give you the colour confidence you need to select the right shade and the best finish for your surface. “They can also help you visualise the end result and suggest the correct products that are specifically designed for your job, such as super-durable and beautiful matt paints for busy areas like hallways, kids bedrooms and family living rooms, which look great for longer so you don’t have to redecorate as often,” says Marianne.

Above: ceiling in Tranquil Dawn; splashback in Burnished Brass; kitchen cabinets in Sapphire Splendour, all Dulux.

Dulux

2. Paint the Ceiling

Need a change in a big way? Then how about painting that often overlooked fifth wall, otherwise known as the ceiling?
“Break with tradition!” says Marianne. “The ceiling is a great place to experiment with colour because it’s the biggest blank canvas you have in the room and so you can add colour easily without visually cluttering the rest of the space”.

For a subtle effect, use a colour on the ceiling that is a tone or two deeper than you have on the walls, but if you want full on show stopping impact, pick a contrasting shade and bring it down onto the walls to picture rail height (30-40cms). Or, if you have a picture rail, paint it the same colour as the wall. By doing away with the sharp line-break of a white-painted ceiling or picture rail, you’ll expand the sense of space in the room. “I’m loving a band of ceiling colour creeping down onto the walls – it makes a room feel instantly more interesting and welcoming to be in,” says Marianne.

Bonus tip: Are you filled with fear at the thought of precariously balancing on a ladder to paint your ceiling? Then call in professional help for those tricky and challenging painting jobs. “A professional decorator can help you realise the vision you have for your home with skills and attention to detail that (let’s admit it…) most of us don’t have the time, patience or expertise to achieve,” says Marianne.

Above: ceiling in Dark Garnet; rear ceiling in Tranquil Dawn; stripe in Chocolate Fountain; doors and architrave in Stable Gates, all Dulux.

Dulux

3. Draw Attention With a Feature Wall

Turn your walls into a work of art by using clever paint tricks to create an eye-catching effect. Thanks to simple tools like good decorators’ low-tack masking tape that leaves clean lines and doesn’t pull off the paint underneath, the pattern possibilities are endless, allowing you to create a truly individual space that’s unique to your home. And what’s more, your large-scale piece of art can be achieved on a shoestring budget.

Marianne gives us her thoughts on creating a feature wall. “Good quality masking tape and a spirit level allows you to be creative with bands, blocks and grids that make decorating more of an enjoyable, creative adventure than a chore. At the moment, I love overlapping similar colours in a grid pattern that create a 3D visual effect and bringing colour up from the walls onto the ceiling to increase a sense of height and space in a room,” she says.

Above: ceiling in Tranquil Dawn; wall in Sapphire Splendour and Burnished Brass, all Dulux.

4. Make Stripes

Got an awkward-shaped room that you don’t know how to decorate? Try adding depth, interest and even boost the feeling of space in your scheme by decorating with bands or stripes to visually widen the walls. “Blocks of colour draw attention, horizontal bands instil a sense of tranquillity, while circles are instantly fun and dreamy. The key is to work out what you want to happen in a spaceand how you want it to feel as well as look. ” says Marianne.

Stick to similar tones in different harmonious colours, like soft chalky blue and soothing green, and the effect will feel balanced and cohesive. “Dulux Colour of the Year, Tranquil Dawn, is a great choice for this decorating technique because it’s a colour that effortlessly plays nicely with other shades” says Marianne. “It won’t dominate other items in the room and will make the room look bigger and feel more connected to the outside. Imagine you are painting the walls away and that is exactly the effect you will get with Tranquil Dawn.”

Bonus tip: Don’t worry if you’re a DIY novice or have no idea how to implement this decorating technique yourself. Simply bring in the pros and they’ll help you with any tricky creative painting details that might have you stumped. Ask to see photos of their previous work, so you feel confident that they’ll be able to realise your creative vision perfectly.

Above: far right, left and back wall in Tranquil Dawn; centre wall in Chic Shadow and Snail Trail, all Dulux.

More: Click here to find your local Dulux Select Decorator, and you can rest assured you’ll be hiring the best in their field, having undergone a workmanship assessment, up-to-date training, and a guarantee on their work for two years after completion.

Your turn: What paint tricks have you used in your home?

This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.