You've probably heard at one point or another that certain colours can convey certain feelings.  Whether you believe this or not, it's an interesting topic to consider!  Here's our take on how colours can affect your mood.

Yellow

This colour tends to cause eye fatigue, more than any other colour.  It's also been shown to upset babies!  In adults, it tends to increase metabolism.  There are some conflicting reports, however.  Some say yellow causes people to lose their temper more often, but then others say it makes people feel cheerful and happy.  Seems like a very polarizing colour!  

You'll find the softer shades of yellow are easier to live with than bright, canary yellows.  The shade range in yellow is very large, and some are better suited for interior paint designs than others.  Ultimately, yellow prompts opinionated feelings, more so than other colours.  Those who like it, really love it, while those who don't, tend to strongly dislike the colour in a residential interior painting project.

Pink

This is an interesting colour.  It is mainly associated with females and being feminine, but it can go further than that.  There is research data that shows rooms painted in pink tend to reduce aggressive, angry behaviour, at least on a temporary basis.  These studies were conducted at prisons, where various cells were painted in pink and then the behaviour of inmates observed afterwards.  The cells painted in pink did in fact have less violent behaviour than the regular cells.

Pink is a true favourite for painting a baby's room.  It has comforting appeal to a baby, male and females alike.  It's also a great choice for a young child's room and works very well with lavender shades.

Brown

The colour brown is all about security and reassurance.  It also tends to be comfortable.  Browns hold up well over time and are an excellent choice for rooms that get a lot of use.  Shades of brown work well with other warm colours.  The shade range of browns spans broadly and contains many neutrals.  You could theoretically make some shade of brown work for any room!  Furthermore, you can create exciting designs by incorporating unexpected tones in with the browns, like fuchsia and light blues.  Play around with this and see what sophisticated interior paint designs you can come up with!

Grey

The colour of grey has been shown to increase creativity.  It makes a great colour for studios or a home office.  Grey is also ideally suited as an "executive colour."  Since grey is truly a neutral colour, in all shades, it provides an excellent background for a very large number of colour combinations.

Greys often last a very long time on walls and they provide a great background to make your beautiful furniture pop.  A very stylish living room/family room trend is a shade of grey on the walls with unique furniture and area rugs.  Shades of grey are very flexible, covering a wide range of styles, from traditional to contemporary.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this article where we'll explore more colours!

When you think about painting your home, the first few things that come to mind are the types of paints, usage of paints and the preparation required for the job.  Home painting may seem to be an impossible, gargantuan task for some, but it's totally possible to tackle the job yourself.

Types of Paints

Latex based paints, which are most commonly used for interior home painting jobs, come in two finishes:

• Flat/low-gloss: Used during home painting in bedrooms, living rooms, hallways, laundry rooms, etc.
• High gloss: Used for painting floorboards and trim.  Also ideal for bathroom ceilings and other high humidity and water prone areas.

Paint Usage

On average, a one-gallon (3.78 L) can of paint usually covers an area of 400 square feet in one coat.  The thicker the coat you're applying to an area for home painting, the higher the consumption of paint per square foot.  Also, the amount of paint may vary with the kind of surfaces you opt for.  If you want a textured surface, painting it will require more coats and thus more consumption of paint.

There are online calculators available for you to plan your paint usage requirements.  Try costing out with several different types of finishes, and then make an informed decision.  Once you have your paint quantity estimations, buy all the paint required at one time to reduce the chances of colour variations.

As for colour choices, use a colour wheel to ensure colour harmony is just right.  Trust your instincts when making the final choice.  Follow the colour combinations defined by the colour wheel and once the right combinations are chosen, first apply a primer in a shade similar to the basic colour selected.

Preparing for Home Painting

Whether or not you choose to hire a professional painter to complete your home painting project, or choose to do it yourself, preparation of the job site is a crucial component of the task.  The main part of prepping the job site involves removing items from the work area so that they do not become hindrances for the home painters.  Moving furniture away from the walls and covering it with drop cloths is also important.  Painters will require easy access to a water source, so they can clean their brushes and tools easily.  Be sure that kids and pets are not around the work area either!

Next, you can move on to prepping the surfaces.  Walls and ceilings should be washed with a mild soapy solution.  If there's any flaky or peeling paint, just scrape it away.

General Tips

A useful home painting tip is to leave a good amount of the same batch of paint for any touch up jobs later.  For surfaces that should not be painted, cover them with a good quality painters tape.  If you are doing a home painting job yourself, start by painting ceilings, then move on to the walls and finally the doors and windows.  This sequence reduces the risk of having to touch up later.  Home painters should invest in a top quality roller to ensure a smooth finish.

By taking the proper precautions and preparing your job site, your home painting job can be a very successful one.  If you end up starting a project you can't finish for any reason, just call a professional painter!