Your paint primer for the season ahead
is looking forward to another winter coloured by the transformative power of paint
I ALWAYS feel extremely puffed up and ridiculously powerful when approaching the groaning cliff-face of a paint stand. I mean, in terms of visual impact and capital outlay, paint is cheap. We whinge and complain, but on balance, even the more pricey paint is relatively inexpensive — even as a transient two-year thrill. Covering acres of wall, woodwork, metals and even awkward surfacing like MDF — one day’s hassle can be utterly transformative. The boring part of painting is its most essential moment — preparation — so once you know what paint you need, get into your old clothes and tool up to perfect that essential, clean canvas in the right base-coat if needs be.
Emulsion
The litres to cover most of your interior spaces, emulsion with its pigments, oils and binders has a liquid feel and high water content and is therefore extremely easy to apply (ceilings aside!). The composition of paint here is crucial — think about matching the environment and traffic of the space above all. A scrub-clean silk finish and the holy of holies — the matt you can at least wipe are impossible to beat.
The density of the paint will allow between one and two coats of coverage for most situations, but raw walls are best treated to an undercoat in a pale or dark colour depending on the final finish.
About 12m sq to 14m sq per litre is a promise of reasonably easy application and blocking power but steer clear of one-coat performance promises for naked plaster and plaster-board. In terms of durability — look for the inclusion of vinyl or traditional acrylic to give even a matt paint (vinyl matt) scuff and scratch resistance.
It’s the binder than allows water/mud/scratches to bounce back off the surface — far easier in general with high binder content in a silk or sheen-like product. Choose a true matt for intensity of colour (don’t paint over a vinyl shine — undercoat first), or go to a slight shine with a sheen finish to inflate space and hide imperfections on the wall surface.
Autum/winter favourites
Bancha #298 from Farrow & Ball, a sumptuous mid-century olive green named for a Japanese tea that will have you licking your lips in the kitchen and can warm up the most northerly corridor for the winter months. It’s has a slightly deeper protective tint than their classic Olive. Marry to sugar pinks and soft browns. Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsions from €25 per litre.
Dulux Spiced Honey is comfortable, grounding, slightly 70s sophisticate, and a perfect step away from increasingly jaded greys. It’s priced from €12 per litre, try its ten-times-tougher Diamond Eggshell if the kids are hooligans in the hallways. In the mood for a mint without too much sugar? Tranquil Dawn is the Dulux Colour of the Year 2020.
Wet ‘n’ wild
If you don’t fancy unbroken canyons of tile, the paint in your bathroom has to be of a special recipe to ward off humidity and condensation. Most of these specialist paints are offered in a satin sheen for its stain and grease repelling properties that will make cooking splashes and soap scum easier to remove with a mere swat of wet cloth. The best branded paints will offer at least five years of resistance to mould growth on the surface of the product — important in older bathrooms with frail ventilation features.
Working in “wet” rooms of any kind, ensure the walls are perfectly clean and dry before you start. One five-litre tin is generally enough for most bathrooms to get two-three coats of product. White is trending for 2020 bathrooms, so think about going brilliant white to off white with a yellow undertone for north and east-facing rooms. Kitchen/bathroom paint is a good call for playrooms too.
Season’s choices
Promised by Fleetwood as having richer, truer pigment in smooth, thicker paints, Sugared Almond is right on trend for chalky pale pinks and fresh but elegant in a bathroom setting in their Kitchen & Bathroom varieties. Belt in pure white and match carefully to tiling choices. Sample pots €5, fleetwood.ie.
Johnstone’s paints are an excellent choice for coverage and quality at a good price point in B&Q. For Kitchen Paint we love their pigment-rich Pure Brilliant White and Hemlock in naturally inspired dramatic dark, low odour mid-sheen. Check out their metallic accents (key for 2020 anti-kitchens) in Silver. Gold, Copper, Rose Gold and Champagne Gold, johnstonespaint.com.
Wood and metalwork
With the demise of toxic solvent-based oil paint, doing up the skirting, windowsills and other timber and metal components is a far less onerous and odour heavy job. That said — achieving a bullet-proof, lacquer-like gloss remains important to many decorators. Most interior wood paint utilises either acrylic or alkyd to achieve close to the same bonding and character as oil-based paint.
Satin and eggshell finishes dry quickly, and have a similar mid-low sheen finish that is far easier for the DIY warrior to get right. Eggshell is tackier to use, with a solvent base, so use white spirit to wash out brushes.
High gloss in very reflective, liquid, and as a water-based paint takes an experienced hand to avoid atrophied dribbles.
Never overlook knotting and priming products before starting on bare skirting. Otherwise start with wet and dry paper to give yourself a smooth key and use a good non-shed paintbrush.
For a natural choice replace acrylic paint with the natural resins and minerals of an eco-paint (see our guide).
