Painting your Home into a Masterpiece

Most folks dread painting and they’ll go to great lengths to avoid it. But it wouldn’t be so bad if you actually knew what you were doing, right?

HGTV Design Star judge Vern Yip, known for incorporating silk, candles and flowers into his rooms, dishes out his best painting secrets.

Make Your Home’s Walls Your Canvas

Flat paint is best suited for most walls and ceilings.

Eggshell paint is better suited for rooms with high traffic where the walls may frequently be touched or bumped into. It’s also a good choice for rooms with a small amount of moisture, like power rooms.

Satin paint is also a good choice for high traffic areas, but this type of paint works well in rooms that have a high amount of moisture—like kitchens and bathrooms.

Pearl paint works well in rooms that may receive a steady amount of moisture or touching.

Semi-gloss paint is great for kitchen cabinets, shoe molding, baseboards, crown molding, door casing and other types of trim. This high-sheen makes wiping away spills and basic cleaning much easier versus other types of paint.

High-gloss paint has a knack of expressing every flaw and imperfection on a wall, the ceiling or a piece of furniture. However, it’s great at reflecting light and it’s also easy to clean. But only use this paint if the surface you’re going to paint on is absolutely perfect.

Dark floors can make a space look bigger.

Dark ceilings help create intimacy in rooms with especially tall spaces.

High-gloss finishes can make a ceiling appear higher than it really is while simultaneously making the space appear bigger.

Keep color contrast to a minimum to make a small room look bigger. A monochromatic approach reduces visual breaks while increasing the perception of more space.

Make a change to an inside corner versus an outside corner. When painting an accent wall, switching up the color on a wall or making a material change, use this technique. Making changes to an outside corner won’t show off the architectural integrity as well as making changes to an inside corner.

We hope you’ve been able to pick up some helpful painting tips. Let us know in the comment section if there’s anything you think we should add to the list!