When it’s time to buy a home, many new or first time buyers are looking to purchase a condo in the city rather than a detached home in the suburbs. There are many reasons for this trend, but one of the most popular reasons to choose condo living is because they’re conveniently located in the middle of the city’s action. This is a big draw for young adults and newlyweds who are more focused on a career than starting a family. Styling your new condo does take some thought since much of the building’s style is not up to your individual preference. Instead, the decision boils down to a popular vote between you and your neighbors or an elected board. You can, however, bring out your personal style within your home using condominium painting techniques and furnishings. Let’s take a look at some of challenges condo owners face and how you can overcome them.
Pros vs. Cons of Condo Living
There are pros and cons to any home you may want to purchase. The same is true when you’re trying to make a new condo feel like home. A condominium is more than a glorified apartment. Condos are meant to be an investment, just like a detached home in the suburbs. Unlike renting an apartment, you now have a stake in how the building holds up because you may want to sell your condo one day and move into a larger space. It’s up to you to maintain your home and make upgrades so you can stay competitive on the resale market. One thing your realtor will tell you to do before attempting to list your condo on the market is to build in time for a condominium painting project. It’s not necessarily a negative comment towards your choice of paint colors, but realtors know that buyers prefer a home that feels “move-in ready.”
Pro vs. Con: Small Spaces – Depending on your budget, you could see the space in the condo of your dreams to be a con instead of a pro. Most condos are on the smaller side because they’re situated in a multi-level or high-rise building. That fact could be a pro because with height comes better views to the outside world. You can easily overcome the con of a small condo by using a few tricks. First, the condominium painting colors you choose can help make your space feel larger. If you have a lot natural light coming in through floor-to-ceiling windows you can use lighter colors around your condo to reflect the light. This technique can trick your eye into seeing a larger space.
Pro vs. Con: Shared Style – While your individual condo style is up to you, the look of the condominium building is a group or governing board decision. This could be considered a pro or a con, depending on your personality. If you’re a control freak, then this will grind on your very last nerve. If you’re more of a free spirit, this will act as a pro for the simple fact that you don’t have to make the decision or do any of the maintenance work around the building. When it’s time to make some upgrades to building, amenities, or an overall condominium painting job, you won’t have to worry about picking out colors or doing the hiring unless you sit on the condo’s governing board.
Pro vs. Con: Condo Expenses – Since a condominium building is a shared space with shared amenities and upkeep, there are shared expenses. This usually comes in the form of monthly or annual association fees. This is a bill set apart from your monthly mortgage payment and is paid directly to the building governing board. Sometimes the fees can be quite expensive. The association fees will cover maintenance and security for your condo. The board also has the right to vote or hear arguments from condo owners who want upgrades and additions to the building’s amenities. When it’s time to do maintenance, like an overall condominium painting project or lobby renovation, your governing board will decide and use money from the association fees to pay for the project.
Small Spaces Make a Big Impact with the Right Condominium Painting
If your condo is a smaller space, don’t overlook its potential. Smaller spaces can make a big impact if you use the right condominium painting techniques and products. You simply have to think through your design to ensure it serves more than one purpose. That’s how you get the most bang for your buck.
Natural Light Highlights Flaws – When using paint to make a statement, make sure you take the flaws of your condo’s layout and texture imperfections into account. If you’re lucky enough to have a lot of natural light in your space, you need to be aware that the light reflecting from surface to surface can unintentionally highlight some of those flaws like uneven drywall or even cracking. Using the right condominium painting techniques is key to getting the best results and hiding those imperfections. When in doubt, go with a professional painter. They know how to mask even the most unforgiving flaws on your walls and ceiling surfaces.
Use Lighter Colors to Bounce the Light – If you have a condo on the smaller side and want that larger and open feeling, use lighter condominium painting colors to help bounce the light around the space. You don’t have to go with bland, just a reflective lighter color. Try something warm or cool in the pastel color chart. If you have an open kitchen and living room space, a cool gray or grayish blue will really compliment stainless steel appliances nicely.
Use Darker Colors as a Backdrop for Lighter Furniture – If you’re not worried about bouncing the light, then go for bold color. A deep, rich color can be a beautiful backdrop to lighter or more neutral furnishings. A darker condominium painting job can act as a canvas to your unique artwork. Using a dark or bold color may be freighting to you at first, but it’s just a gallon of paint. Live with you initial decision for a week to test it out. If you hate it, you can easily and affordably repaint it next weekend.
Experiment with a Focal Wall
Another easy way to use an affordable condominium painting project to your benefit is to create a focal wall. This is an easy way to bring a bold, bright color into your main living area if you’re worried about using a deeper color all over. A focal wall is also a creative way to bridge different areas of an open floor plan. Most people use a focal wall as a way to get a second or accent color into the space, but you have the freedom to use it a little more creatively.
Use Condominium Painting Techniques to Create Graphics – One of the more creative ideas trending is the use of graphics on a focal wall. While some may resort to wallpaper to get the intercut detail, you can easily get the same effect by using condominium painting techniques. All you need is the idea, two shades of paint, really good painter’s tape, a steady hand, and lots of patience. The results are stunning. You can get ideas and graphic templates off the Internet or at your local painting professional’s store.
Solid Color Can Bring Focus – If a graphical look is too busy for you, there is always bright or bold solid color focal walls to liven up any condo space. If you feel like walking on the almost-wild side, try alternating condominium painting colors. If your focal wall holds your media system, use the alternate colors painted in boxes that act as frames around your media center or television.
Condominium painting doesn’t have to be a complete challenge. Make it fun and an extension of your personality. It’s your home, and no matter its size, it should fit your needs. If you’ve never taken on a major painting project before, it will be helpful to get some advice and guidance from the professionals like paid painters and designers. Their expertise could be worth more than your loss of time if you get stuck repainting and doing touchups over the next few weekends.
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With warmer weather on the horizon, you and your family will soon want to spend some time in the great outdoors. Cold temperatures can compromise your garden and outdoor living spaces with its brutal temperature fluctuation. You can easily breath new life to your favorite outside spot by throwing a new coat of paint onto your existing deck. New paint can make your space feel fresh, clean, and new again. Paint doesn’t take much effort and it’s quite cost effective when you start crunch the numbers and comparing it to a total backyard renovation. All you need is a free weekend, a few buck for a couple of buckets of paint, and the know-how to get the job done right. We want to share a few deck painting tips that will have your deck fresh, clean, and feeling like new just in time for warmer weather.
Prep Your Deck for Painting
The secret of a perfect project is all in the preparation of your deck. If this project isn’t started right, you might just be doomed to failure or at least sentenced to a second weekend cleaning up a big mess. One of the best deck painting tips we can offer you is to emphasize the importance of proper prep time and work to get your project started down the right path.
Clean Sweep – Your first step in deck painting prep work is to simply sweep, or better yet, pressure wash your deck to break up and get rid of dirt, grime, and loose particles. A good power wash could really help do the dirty work of degreasing your deck’s surface. However, you will want to your deck completely dry before you paint so pressure washing might need to take place a day or two beforehand.
Fix the Nails – Every year nails can work themselves out of their place. It’s important to replace them with the next larger size of nail so they don’t rework themselves out again. You wouldn’t want to stub your bare toe on one of those nasty nails so take the time to look for those pesky little suckers now.
Fill any Holes – Another important deck painting tip is to fill any holes worn in your existing deck’s surface. Rainwater can easily seep its way into holes left open to the
elements and create damage. If you add a little wood putty, you can easily ward off early wood rot.
Caulk the Joints – For that same reason, it’s important to press in a bead of high-quality polyurethane caulk into all your deck’s joints. This will help hide the seams and also keep water out of the innards of your deck.
Sand down the Handrails – This deck painting tip is merely optional, but if you’ve got little hands grabbing and sliding along your deck’s handrail system, give those rails a quick touch up with sandpaper. You’ll save some little tears from catching nasty splinters that time, the weather, and rain can fester along your handrails.
Protect Unpainted Surfaces – It’s a tedious deck painting tip, but taping off the surfaces that should not get painted is an easy way to keep your paint job looking fresh and crisp. It’s better to be safe than sorry so spend some time protecting the surfaces that you want to remain the same separated with a little painter’s tape.
Consider Priming First – If you’ve had to caulk and putty imperfections around your deck, priming your deck with a good outdoor wood deck sealing primer is a good choice. It will help you create a blank canvas, of sorts, and allow your paint color to shine brighter.
Choose the Correct Type of Paint – Our most important deck painting tip includes a break down of the types of paints available on the market. There are so many options out there, it would be easy for any DIY’er to get lost. The pros at your local home improvement store suggest using oil-based or latex acrylic paint for your deck. Your oil-based paint can stand up better to whatever Mother Nature throws at it any time of year.
Set the Tone with Style – Yes! More Deck Painting Tips
Now, one of our more fun deck painting tips adds some style to your plans. While you add new life to your deck with a new coat of paint, you can also use paint to add a new style to your garden space as well. The sky and your creativity are the limit to really extending your living space to the outdoors.
Splash of Color – Don’t be afraid to go bold with your choice of color palette. While you almost marry your indoor carpet color, the tones you use on your outdoor deck can be easily and inexpensively changed so go wild with a splash of color! If you can’t decide on which color, a great deck painting tip is to try your top two or three picks. You can use the contrasting colors to anchor different spaces on your deck to informally draw a line in the sand to separate spaces.
Alternate Colors – Bringing in several colors, whether they’re bold or neutral, can bring a lot of warmth and interest to your outdoor spaces. It also makes your outdoor areas versatile and inviting. Using one another deck painting tip, you could try adding a bold color on your deck’s surface while using a lighter accent color on your handrails.
Play with Patterns – If you’re really feeling adventurous, try playing around with painted patterns on your deck. You can bring any feeling or style you want to your space. Remember, painting with multiple colors will mean a longer process, but the results are so worth the effort and the wait. A few deck painting tips include alternating paint colors between slats along your porch or deck, painting square or diamond patterns using multiple colors, painting an area rug in the center of your patio living area, or even white-washing over a bolder color to give your space a rustic feel.
A fresh coat of paint in your outdoor area will indeed breathe new life into your garden living and entertaining space. If you follow these simple deck painting tips, you’re sure to have a fresh new area ready for guests when the weather is right.
Featured image by Liz
If you got this far you deserve another treat - 100+ Wood Restoration Tips
