House Painting - Rue du Golf, Dieppe

The owners of this newly purchased home in Dieppe contacted us because they wanted to update the existing aging paint colours to something that matched their style, worked with their furnishings and artwork and brought more light into the back of the home - but mostly, to make it feel like their own.

“I know colours what I like, but will it look good in my space?”

Picking colours is one of the greatest challenges for homeowners. There are so many, it’s hard to know where to start. A big question we often get from clients is, “I know what I like, but will it look good in my space?” Well, we can help answer that. We always recommend using our design services and doing a colour consultation with our designer because there is so much more to colour than what you see on the paint chip from the store. Today’s colour ranges are so vast it can seem overwhelming. Another common statement from clients (mostly the husbands - sorry guys!) is, “Isn’t gray, gray? Like, why is there so many?”. The answer is that gray is not gray is not gray - clear as mud? You’re not alone. Every colour has a different undertone meaning the cast that it gives off. It may seem gray, and it is “gray”, but live with it for a bit in different lighting conditions and you will notice that, yes, it is gray but maybe it’s a gray that has a more blue undertone (making it feel cool) or a gray with a more yellow undertone (making it feel warmer). All of them have an undertone of either a warm colour (think yellows, pinks, or reds) or a cool colour (think blues and greens) and that can drastically change the look and feel of a room, especially if you wanted warm and cozy but chose the gray that had a cool, bluish undertone. Our designer will work with you to make all of this make sense and work for your space. All you have to do is say, “I like grays and beiges and I want this space to feel cozy and warm”. Conversely, you can say, “I want this space to feel bigger and work with my dark brown furnishings". No problem.

This image shows the colour combinations used for this home to help push light from these large windows into the back living room.

We set up a scaffold in this room to a) be safe and b) be quicker. Even though it took time to set up, we spent less time overall and were able to give the room back to the homeowners so they had less disruption.

In this particular case, the homeowners wanted to brighten up that large back living area (pictured above). Most of the light came from the front entrance so in order to create more reflectance, we needed to brighten the space. We opted for a combination of White Dove and Classic Gray. White Dove has a yellow to gray undertone while the Classic Gray has subtle undertones of purple and pink, often leaning into a taupe or beige. Together, the worked well to brighten the space while being relatively neutral, working with the existing furnishings and dining room and tying in to the colours we would use in the kitchen.

To get to those high-ceilings and hard to reach areas we opted to set up a scaffold in the main living room. We did this for two reasons. Number one, a scaffold is much safer than working from a ladder. And number two, we saved time and could turn this project around for the homeowners quicker.

At Luxe, we pride ourselves on our high-quality, service-first approach. Meaning, we look after the details that other companies might miss. Before we brought any tools or the scaffolding into the home we protected the hardwood floors with heavy-duty construction floor coverings right from the front door to the back and wall to wall in the living room. We then used wide, large diameter, CLEAN rubber wheels on the scaffold. I can’t emphasize the clean wheel piece enough. If they are not cleaned properly, small stones/gravel get caught in the wheel and can wreak havoc on the flooring covering, and potentially even puncture the floor protection and really damage the hardwood underneath. Imagine all the weight of the scaffold and those working on it directed at one pointy little stone fragment caught on the bottom of the wheel - disaster. The floor coverings also protect your asset from tools, traffic and liquid spills. If your contractor isn’t protecting your floors, my advice is to demand it. Paint will get in places you can’t even imagine. It takes a split second for splatter to get on a floor and whole lot of effort to remove it after. Better to protect it from the start.

Difficult to reach areas are best left to the professionals who have the skill, experience and specialized tool necessary to tackle this job.

Yes, staircases are always tricky but professional painters have specialized tools and the experience to do it properly. This is not something you want to tackle yourself so leave it to the professionals. In this case, we had the ceiling that we left white white applying the wall colour above the cove as well as inside the cove and continuing for the length of the upstairs hallway leading to the bedrooms and upstairs bathroom.

It’s also important to note that the upper window of the main entrance is set back from the front door, creating a ledge. We had to do some careful maneuvering to access the area above and to the sides of the window. All in a days work.

After the front entrance, staircase, upstairs hallway and main living room areas were completed we sifted our attention to the primary bedroom suite, which was on the main floor, and the kitchen that included a sitting area and breakfast nook. These areas easy to access and presented little issues. As usual we prepped all the walls by filling holes left from hanging artwork, fixes dents and nicks from years of regular use and sanded all the walls before and after the first coat to get that super smooth finish. Inside the bedroom was a long hallway leading to the bathroom suite and a large walk-in closet. All the wire shelving from the closet was removed but we left the fasteners in place and worked around them.

In conclusion, just remember that great results take time and take the right materials and tools in the hands of the right people. Like any trade, painting is a skill that takes time to master and it’s the FIRST thing people see when they come into your home so don’t leave it to chance.

Luxe Paintworks is here to help you every step of the way to make your vision a reality and to make your house feel like your home!

Hope to see you soon!