With Christmas bearing down on us, this might be the perfect time to make some quick changes to your home before the partying begins.
Unless there is a major problem with the plumbing or tiles, one of the quickest ways to renovate a bathroom is with paint or wallpaper.
If you are really stretched for time, removable wallpaper takes only a few hours to apply – and can be just as easily removed again if you decide you don’t like it after all, or that you want to renovate the whole bathroom instead.
Removable wallpaper is also landlord-friendly, as it leaves no marks or impact on the walls when removed.
Painting takes longer than wallpapering because of the necessary preparation, but if you have the time, the effect could be magical – whether you do one wall, the whole room or just the vanity.
Fresh paint will enhance any room, but it can work wonders in the bathroom. Applying a light-coloured paint scheme can ‘open up’ the room and make it seem more spacious. Darker paint colours 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, which tend to arouse and stimulate – helpful in the morning, but not at bedtime. Conversely, ‘cool’ colours, especially 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 may ‘feel’ warmer when surrounded by these hues, whereas a blue or green space might seem cooler. As a result, warm colours are often favoured in colder climates and cool colours in the tropics.
However, colour isn’t the only thing to consider when painting a bathroom. The typical bathroom is 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.
Until recently, that meant applying a coat of latex primer, followed by two or even more coats of top-quality 100% acrylic latex paint. But today, there’s a quicker and easier way to complete your bathroom painting by using new ‘paint and primer’ products.
Paint and primer products – also known as self-priming paints – are coatings with a dual personality. Like primer, they conceal the existing paint colour, as well as many marks; like paint, they form a tough, colourful finish that is stain-resistant and washable.
Rather than taking the traditional approach by applying successive coats of primer, paint and more paint, you can usually complete a painting project with just two coats of a paint and primer product, thereby eliminating an entire application, saving lots of time and effort in the process.
To get the best result when painting a demanding area like the bathroom, it’s wise to choose a paint that will produce a semi-gloss or high gloss finish. The higher the sheen, the easier it will be to remove any marks or stains that may show up on the painted surface.
For covering up old tiles, look for a designated tile paint; use a small brush to paint over the grout, then apply with a roller. Likewise, an old, stained or damaged bath can become as-new again with a designated bathtub paint.
If you want to give your bathroom an entirely new appearance this year, maybe all you really need is a colourful new paint treatment. It’s a quick and easy way to enhance and beautify one of the most important rooms in your home.
