If there is one room in your house you’d like to improve but don’t know where to start, it’s possibly the bathroom. Yet unless the plumbing’s dodgy or the tiles are intolerable, it is possible to ‘lift’ a dingy bathroom simply by painting it.
Applying light colours can open up the room and make it seem more spacious. Darker colours will do just the opposite: add intimacy.
Aside from light or dark, there are psychological considerations when choosing a paint colour for the bathroom.
Tints and tones of yellow, orange and red, including some browns and tans, are ‘warm’ colours that tend to arouse and stimulate – helpful in the morning, but not so much at bedtime. Conversely, ‘cool’ colours such as greens and blues are calm and relaxing, creating a peaceful spa-like ambience for a bath.
Warm and cool paint colours can also affect our perception of room temperature. Since we associate yellow and orange with the sun, we might feel warmer when surrounded by these hues, whereas a blue or green space can seem cooler.
Colour isn’t the only thing to consider when painting a bathroom. Typically it’s exposed to water, high humidity and significant wear and tear. For that reason, it’s important to select paint that produces a finish tough enough to stand up to these conditions.
To get the best result when painting a demanding area like the bathroom, choose a paint and primer product that will produce a semi-gloss or high gloss finish. The higher the sheen, the easier it will be to remove marks or stains.
