Every year the home décor and repair industry comes out with a bevy of new and improved products to help with our various projects. I'm all for making things easier and was pleased to hear about a new paint product from CIL that is being billed by CIL as the next generation of paint and coatings.
The new line is called CIL Smart Interior Wash & Wear. The new product combines a built-in primer and one-coat coverage paint in a single can - and enables walls to be washed and scrubbed without getting marked or scuffed evenen on low-sheen, trendy finishes.
Shaun Noble, Marketing Manager for CIL Paints say, "both in low and high-traffic areas, one coat is all that's needed to create super-durable, stain-resistant and easy-to-clean walls. Even ultra flat paint can be washed clean."
I say hurrah to that! Years ago I remember having to prime and paint at least two coats of paint before the finished product looked...well...finished. Painting is the most economical way to update your décor but it is a lot of work. Now that you don't have to prime the surface you'll have more time for additional decorating projects or at least complete the one at hand more quickly.
The new paint was developed using Ceramic Microsphere and StainBlock technologies, the 100 per cent acrylic Smart � Interior Wash & Wear line creates a guard that resists chipping, scuffing and marking, provides surfaces with superior adhesion, hide and coverage, and enables dirt and stain to be easily removed. Making the finished product more durable ensures that the paint job will last a lot longer, which is great because it seems that I'm often saying, "Didn't I just paint that room?" Time flies in the decorating arena. Anything that will make your project last longer is ok with me.
The featured photo, courtesy of CIL, shows a kitchen that has been painted with the new generation paint, which comes in various finishes for various surfaces.
How to use vivid colour successfully
This sunny, modern kitchen is fresh and clean. Along with the featured paint product this kitchen offers slick, scrubbable surfaces (including the painted surfaces) which make this an easy kitchen to keep clean. The Spice Orange cabinet colour is a current colour trend that I find exciting. It's lively without being shockingly bright and offers just enough 'spice' to the space to keep it interesting. One can pull off a colour like this in a similar space when the actual cabinet surface is about one quarter of the room's visual space. You'll notice that some of the lower cabinets where painted in a slick black colour called (Dark Secret) which keeps the space demure. Adding in a few orange accents on the opposite side of the room helps pull it all together. As well, the orange colour was painted on the inside of the glass paneled cabinets which produces a muted sense of colour which is a nice touch. If all of the cabinets had been painted with the bright orange it might have been too much. The black lower cabinets compliment the dark granite countertop as well.
Remember what I've said before about the new fusion kitchen. Experiment with two or even three tones of colour on your cabinets. The easiest way to get a feel for the look before you paint is to take a head on photo of the cabinets and scan it into your computer. Use some sort of paint program to fill in the cabinets with the colours you propose. The colouring won't be exact but it will give you a general idea of where to put dark versus light colours paint and so on. Experiment with painting the face of the cabinets and the doors in two different colours or perhaps a different colour just on the cabinet inserts. There are tons of variables to work with so have some fun.
Keeping the wall colour light (Artesian White) makes the whole room work. The light coloured flooring helps as well. Other cabinet colours that could work in place of the orange are colours like red, deep purple (Hey, wasn't that a band from the 70s?) or the new muted lime green. If you can visualize the cabinets being painted in boring beige the room just wouldn't have any character. Likewise, if the cabinets had all been painted in Dark Secret they would be foreboding. Balance is key.
Keep in mind the style and size of your kitchen. Our featured kitchen is open and airy with high ceilings and lots of natural light. If you have a small galley kitchen with no natural light you might want to use vivid colour in smaller doses, like on the backsplash area only just as an example. If you have a country cottage style kitchen décor opt for an appropriate colour if you want to keep the theme going.
Painting is still the cheapest and most convenient way to update your space because most of us can do it ourselves. If you're going to paint a room or surface consider some colour instead of playing it safe with beige or white. If you get stuck use the free resources available to you. Paint manufacturers have colour assistance on their websites or you can visit them in person to pick up brochures. The paint manufacturers often have colour schemes all ready planned out so you don't have to second guess yourself. If after that you are still stuck e-mail me before you paint and I'll try to help you out.
