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The new owner of this townhouse was looking forward to changing the colours. When they bought it the bedrooms, bathrooms and part of the living room had dark brown walls. A gray with a strong violet undertone was throughout the kitchen, hallway and the other portion of the living room. The violet colour didn’t work well with the warm amber tones of the flooring and other elements in the home. Overall they wanted to make the home feel updated and brighter.

When looking at lighter sample colours for the walls it became apparent that the trim work was not as white as the owner initially thought. It was too yellow to work with many of the wall colours being considered. In the end the client decided to have us paint all of the trim work and doors with Simply White, a bright white colour from Benjamin Moore. It is a crisp white, but has a slight yellow undertone that gives it some warmth. By changing the trim work to Simply White it gave the customer a much wider variety of colours to choose for the walls. After contemplating and sampling a few colours they ended up choosing Benjamin Moore’s Pale Oak. It’s described as a versatile neutral, with warm gray undertones.

What a difference it made by changing the dark brown primary bedroom walls to a lighter colour.

The new look is bright and inviting, but the Pale Oak colour has enough depth and warmth that the bedroom still feels comfortable.

In the photo below the trim work surrounding the door has been painted in the new simply white colour. You can see how white it is in comparison to the door. The colour of the trim work can be deceiving when it’s viewed next to darker walls. It can appear much whiter than it actually is. Find something that you know is close to true white and hold it up to your trim work and doors. It will help you to see how white or in this case off-white they are.

The original yellow toned doors and trim work would not have worked well with the Pale Oak colour or many of the other colours the client was considering. It looked very off putting when we painted a sample of Pale Oak next to it and it barely had any contrast.

The trend for interior repaints continues to be about making spaces lighter and more neutral. In keeping with the trend these owners were ready to move on from the dark green walls and onto something that would brighten up their home.

We were hired to repaint the open concept living, dining and kitchen space and the entry and hallway walls with Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray. It’s a popular warm neutral colour that is considered a greige (a blend of gray and beige).

Before we painted the homeowners said they frequently had to turn on lights during the day because it was so dark. Lighter paint colours can’t create light, but the new wall colour will reflect much more of the natural light that is available.

The drastic change in the wall colour has made it look like a different house.

As you can expect in any vacation property the walls and trim work get constant dings from suitcases coming in and out and over the years there is accumulated wear and tear. It was time for this vacation condo to have a refresh. The reviews for this vacation condo were starting to mention condition of the walls. It was definitely time for some T.L.C. and a refresh of the paint.

The customer requested to have the unit painted in the same colours. We didn’t have the original colour information so we matched as closely as possible to golden sand walls and white trim work. The smooth ceilings that run throughout the kitchen and hallway had become marked up so they were painted as well. The unit is back to being in tip top shape and after the pictures are hung back on the walls it will be ready to rent out again.

This repaint is a great example of how different a home can look with a new paint colour. The owner wanted the house to be brighter, but did not want it to feel cold. They had already painted a few rooms in a light creamy colour called buttermilk and liked it. They decided to have us paint more of it throughout the house. The buttermilk colour acts as a warm but neutral colour. This is perfect because they may decide to sell in the near future and it will be appealing to a wide array of potential buyers.

The darker yellow living and dining rooms walls were repainted in the buttermilk colour.

The space feels brighter and provides a blank canvas for furniture and artwork of any colour or style.

The stairwell went through the most dramatic change. The light yellow walls were repainted in the buttermilk colour and the darker red walls in revere pewter. The new colours compliment the flooring and the wood work.

Calming down the colours has created a relaxed, but elegant feel to the home.

The owners purchased this home because of the beautiful ocean views and spacious layout, but they knew they were going to paint soon after moving in. They found the colour scheme to be far too bland. The same beige paint was used throughout the house on all the walls and the ceilings. To add to the monotony of colour the room doors were a slightly darker beige and the carpets are beige too!

This is the new view the owners get to see when they come down from their bedroom in the morning. What an improvement! A light cream from Benjamin Moore was chosen as the main wall colour. It’s called Elephant Tusk. Buxton Blue was used as a feature wall in the stairwell and entry area.

The ceilings in most of the rooms are only eight feet high. The beige colour made them feel low and heavy.

It took three coats of paint to change the ceilings to white, but it was well worth it as you can see in this after photo. The feature wall in this living room is Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal.

Changing the ceiling to white improves every space in the house. It allows more light to be reflected.

The room below will be used by one of the owners to practice their cello. They wanted a calm space and it was achieved by painting the walls in First Light. It was Benjamin Moore’s 2020 colour of the year with just the right amount of pink.

The Buxton Blue feature wall continues up the stairwell and through to the upper hallway.

The family room was yet another space with beige wrapped right up the walls and onto the ceiling. It remains a cozy place to watch television with Elephant Tusk on the walls and brighter with a white ceiling.

More beige in the bathrooms, along with a look at the beige doors that were throughout the house.

The new look is bright and cheery. We custom colour matched the door paint to get as close as possible to the existing trim work colour.

The primary bedroom starts to look brighter with only part of the ceiling painted white.

Benjamin Moore October Mist makes for an excellent feature headboard wall. It’s a muted green gray colour. The lighter creamy Elephant Tusk colour helps to further lighten the room.

There’s no fear of using colour here! Orange is known to inspire creativity, which is fitting for this space. One of the owners is an author who will use this room to write in. It’s Benjamin Moore Corlsbud Canyon.

Crisp and precise cut in lines are always important where the top of the walls and ceiling meet, but even more so when you’re working with a colour like this. There’s no hiding any errors or anomalies.

The owners goal was achieved. The house is no longer a boring sea of beige, it has life and character.

A remarkable before and after accomplished with nothing more than a change in paint colour. The dark green walls and mustard colour trim were making this vacation rental feel dark and drab.

It took three coats of paint to change the mustard colour trim to white, but it was well worth it. The pairing of a warm neutral on the walls with the white trim work and doors has made the cottage bright and inviting. The owners have been enjoying the new look and it’s sure to be appreciated by any future guests.

The new wall colour has a warmth to it that compliments the floors and woodwork.

Every room of the house has been transformed into a welcoming space, especially the bedrooms.

The bathroom had too many competing colours that have your eye bouncing all over the place.

Now it looks coordinated and there’s a new appreciation for the wood vanity.

The walls will act as a neutral backdrop for the artwork once it’s put back up.

This house interior was originally painted in shades of greige that were popular at the time, but quite dark. To make the home feel brighter the walls were re-painted in an off-white colour from Sherwin Williams called Aesthetic White. It’s actually considered beige, but does not have the golden undertones that some beiges have. It leans slightly towards gray.

The trim work and doors were not in need of painting, but even though they looked white there was an undertone that did not work well with the Aesthetic White colour. This is something you have to be prepared for when changing your walls to very light colours or white or off-white. If your trim work is not close to a true white you may have to re-paint it.

The photo below shows the original darker greige walls that were throughout the house.

The remaining photos are the Aesthetic White colour. The exception is the primary bedroom and one of the bathrooms. The tint formula for Aesthetic White was doubled to give those rooms a bit more depth and warmth.

When looking through the photos you can see how Aesthetic White changes depending on the light. In some areas it looks more gray.

The walls of this open concept living space went through a subtle, but impactive change from light gray to white. The owners wanted the walls to become a gallery backdrop for their collection of vibrant artwork. The paint colour chosen was Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace, it’s crisp and clean looking and about as close to pure white as you can get.

When changing the walls to a colour this white you need to be prepared to paint more than the walls. Your ceilings may appear white, but there’s a good chance that they have a distinct undertone. When paired with crisp white walls the ceilings can end up looking dingy or have a yellow, blue or pink tone. In this case we painted the ceilings in the same Chantilly White, but in flat ceiling paint.

The trim work was also done in Chantilly Lace, but to create a bit of contrast between the trim work a different sheen was used. In this case it was matte for the walls and satin for the trim work. When painting your walls white you need to follow a general rule of thumb. The trim work and walls should either be the same white colour or different enough that it looks intentional, keeping in mind that mismatched whites can look very off putting.

Preparing to paint the ceilings is quite a task, everything needs to be protected from any over spatter of ceiling paint. In this particular case the home owners arranged to have the painting done while they were away on holidays. In a smaller rancher house like this one, it’s an excellent choice. It would be somewhat challenging for the homeowners to stay at the house during the painting work, at least the initial part of it.