Getting rid of paint smell

Last Updated on Sunday, 12 February 2012 06:48 Written by ermand Sunday, 12 February 2012 06:41

Today’s question comes from Aaren. Aaren asks:

Hi hope you can help! My daughter’s room will not stop smelling. In fact, I challenged Olympic Paint and Lowe’s – going back and forth until we settled. KILZ and another coat of paint reproduced the original smell! Olympic even paid a professional to do all that work for us. The second coat of Premium One water based latex interior paint still smells. We have 2 air purifiers and had our windows opens for a week while painting and for 12 days afterward. …. As of today however we are dealing with a smell from Friday. It’s awful and I’m afraid to let my daughter sleep in there (although she has for two nights). WHAT can I do to make it go away. The room seems like it’s cursed. No other room in our house ever smelled like this… Please help with ideas of what to do. How long is this supposed to last. The smell is like a sweet, clay smell. It doesn’t really smell like paint at all. We even crawled into the attic to check for smell and it wasn’t present. We tried sprays, onions, vinegar, steam cleaning. Everything. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Aaren

To be honest I personally have never experienced prolonged smelling after painting a room. Usually something like that might happen if there is excessive moisture which makes the paint dry slower and may contribute to the paint smelling. To try to get rid of the smell I would put a container with some coffee in it. If it doesn’t remove the smell at least will enhance the air a bit.

Warm Colors and Cool Colors

Last Updated on Saturday, 5 March 2011 06:17 Written by ermand Wednesday, 13 October 2010 02:36

Reds, yellows and oranges are considered to be warm colors, while blues, greens and violets are considered to be cool. Warm colors condense a room making it feel energized, intimate and cozy while cool colors expand a room making it feel open and calming.

You can combine both colors in your home cool or warm, to complement or contrast each other.

A warm color placed next to a cool color will look warmer and make the cool color look cooler.

More muted tones tend to work better than brighter hues with strong color intensities.

Try to keep colors similar in big open spaces to maintain a visual harmony. Separate rooms can maintain a more distinct color identity but still need to have a sense of color cohesiveness.

Choosing sheen for interior painting

Last Updated on Monday, 20 December 2010 07:43 Written by ermand Wednesday, 13 October 2010 01:37

Sheen affects the amount of light reflected from the painted surface and the color perception. Darker colors with higher sheen might appear lighter due to the light reflecting from them.

For depth of color choose flat which also hides any imperfections on the surface. Flat paint is easier to touch up and maintain.

Colors appear with a soft glow on an eggshell finish. Eggshell is easy to clean and could be ideal for kitchens and baths.

Semi-gloss is usually used on trim and woodwork, it is also more durable and withstands repeated cleaning.