The man cave might just be the last respite, the last place where you can completely relax. When you’re decorating your man cave, think about creative painting options to make your room your own.

The Location of Your Man Cave Will Help You Choose Paint Colors

Deciding what to paint your man cave in part depends upon where the room is located in your home. If your man cave is in your basement, painted stripes can help delineate spaces. Ask to have stripes painted or have a painted chair rail added to break up a long room into cozy small spaces. If the man cave is in the garage, it’s especially important to mark off one area that’s dedicated to games, reading or media. Choose 2-3 shades of one color, like dove gray to charcoal, or a neutral, muted orange punctuated by a pop of tangerine color. An awkward space, like a converted attic or a bonus room in a Cape Cod home quickly becomes a man cave when painted in shades of Wedgewood blue accented with navy.

Painting a Man Cave in Bold Colors

Have your man cave painted in bold colors to refresh and rejuvenate visitors. Shades of red, blue or green or boldly painted modern stencils will give your man cave a new energy. Painted walls in different colors can coordinate without clashing- deep chocolate brown is set off by turquoise blue or orange; charcoal gray will pop with azure blue trim. A stylized use of color for every wall can work well, when the colors complement each other.

Man Cave Painting Ideas Include Deep Notes of Color

Deep notes of color work well in a man cave. Having your walls painted hunter green, navy blue or burgundy brings a hint of elegance and a lot of warmth into the room. The dark, bold colors will provide a restful place for reading and relaxing after work or on the weekends.

The expert consultants at Sundeleaf Painting will get your man cave ready in time for the next big game. Contact us today to learn more about options for painting and updating the man cave in your home.

Read “Painting a Man Cave – Part 1″

When the Woman Cave is in the Bathroom

When your bathroom is the woman cave in your home, use crisp, energizing colors or soothing spa-like shades of paint to make this room sparkle. White accented with navy blue is a classic color combination that always works well. Soft shades of green, ranging from moss to jade, provide a relaxing retreat for your woman cave. Brisk shades of Caribbean blue, accentuated with pearl white and yellow accents, provide a fun beach theme that will instantly evoke memories of a coastal getaway.

A Woman Cave in the Bedroom

If your bedroom is your woman cave, use paint to make the room your haven. Peach, ivory and ruby red are feminine colors that make your bedroom a restful, relaxing sanctuary. Deeper shades of orange and red will also embrace you when you enter the room and are set off beautifully by a crisp white crown molding.

Bonus Room Woman Caves

If you have a bonus room or a refinished basement, you can quickly turn the awkward space into a woman cave with new paint choices. Brisk canary yellow, soft purple heather and lipstick red are unique choices for a woman cave. Mix and match your favorite color combination so that you feel wrapped in warmth every time you come into the room. Use peach, red-orange and rouge red for a room with hardwood floors. Warm up a room with beige carpet by having the walls painted with an antique finish or an ivory glaze. Color-on-color painted stripes add elegance to any room in your home.

Decorating a woman cave should be a delight. The expert consultants at Sundeleaf Painting will help you choose the best colors for your home, even if you don’t know where to begin. Our staff has years of experience decorating homes with paint and you’ll love your new woman cave.

Coved Ceilings Charm

Coved ceilings are a unique architectural detail found in many old homes and in some newly built homes, too. Sometimes coved ceilings are set off by molding, which can be added to accent this architectural feature. Contrasting colors can be used to paint the highest point of the ceiling, and a faux finish can accent a coved ceiling beautifully, drawing the eye upward to appreciate this architectural detail and making it a focal point in your home.

Refinished Attic Spaces Shine

Refinished attic spaces make charming bedrooms, offices and guest rooms but can pose a challenge when it comes time to choose paint colors. Pitched roofs, long rooms and low ceilings are just a few of the challenges attic spaces pose for homeowners. Warm colors and neutrals make refinished attics cozy places to read, work or study. Or, ask your painting professional about choosing contrasting colors, stripes or using other painting techniques to highlight unusually shaped attic spaces.

Dormers Sparkle with Accent Colors

Dormers are a charming addition to any home, providing extra space and a spot for a window. When you’re thinking about having dormers painted, consider accent paint colors to emphasize your dormers. Yes, continuing the paint colors used in the rest of the room will work, but it’s a safe choice.  Draw attention to dormers by having the wall painted a contrasting color. If there is a window in the dormer, the molding can also be painted with an accent color. These don’t have to be shocking paint choices- an off-white room is balanced with a taupe or pale yellow wall and bright white molding around the dormer windows.

Emphasize Arched Walkways

Arched walkways between rooms are a charming addition common in many vintage homes. Take advantage of this architectural detail by having the wall with the arched walkway painted a contrasting color or by using a patterned paint technique, like a stencil. In Arts & Crafts homes, vivid reds, greens and blues are not at all uncommon- ask your Sundeleaf painting pros to give you more tips for having unusually-shaped rooms painted in your home.

Soft Paint Colors Turn a Bedroom into an Oasis

Use soft paint colors to help make your bedroom a restful place to unwind and end your day. Pale green, soft blue and soothing greige (a beautiful shade of gray and beige) help turn your bedroom into a quiet oasis. Yellow, lavender and off-white infused with a hint of color (blush, taupe or blue) also work well in bedrooms. Place furniture in the bedroom so that windows are a focal point, and sunlight washes over your newly painted walls for best effect. Use a contrasting paint color for attached bathrooms, closets or sitting rooms.

Bright Paint Colors

If you prefer a pop of color, tangerine or lime paint work beautifully in bedrooms. These walls especially pop when surrounding by bright white moulding. Red painted walls should almost always be used in moderation in the bedroom. Instead of painting an entire bedroom in red, use a contrasting color, like dove gray for every wall except the wall behind the bed. Paint the wall behind the bed red to make it pop and to draw attention to a large headboard. Consider painted stripes or chair rail accents to add additional drama to your bedroom.

Our expert staff will help you choose paint color combinations for your bedroom. Tell us what you’re looking for- soft, romantic colors, or exciting dramatic color combinations, and we’ll help you choose the right colors for your bedroom.

Add opulence to any room in your home with an antique finish. Using a faux finish adds depth and luxury to painted walls. This treatment can be done in several ways. An antique finish can have a leather or “sueded” appearance, and can be done using a tonal color-on-color paint scheme or in contrasting colors.

Get the Look of Leather with a Faux Finish

One type of faux finish that works well on painted walls is a method that looks like leather or suede when completed. This type of antique finish is often created using shades of brown, taupe, yellow or gold. Leather-look paint finish works especially well in dens, living rooms and family rooms. This is one of many ways that paint can take the place of wallpaper. There’s no messy, expensive paper to hang, but the end result is a gorgeous finish that looks rich and aged.

Color-on-Color Antique Finish

Add warmth and interest to a great room with a color-on-color antique finish. Gold over gold, ivory over ivory and pale yellow over pale yellow are all examples of common color on color antique finish combinations. When you choose a color on color, the look is subtle, yet expensive. If you don’t want subtlety, try contrasting colors like gold over red to add high drama to a dining room or an entryway.

Antique finishes, faux finishes and similar paint treatments should be done by professionals. If done incorrectly, the finish won’t look antique- it will just look slipshod. If you’re considering an antique finish for your home, ask the experts at Sundeleaf Painting about processes used to achieve this look. The professional consultants at Sundeleaf will help you choose colors and styles that suit your rooms, your furniture, and, your personal style.

Stencils Work Well in Small Spaces

A foyer or an entryway is the perfect place to use stencils in your home. If you don’t have a sunroom, but love the outdoors, stencils of plants, trees and leaves add energy to a foyer. Your bathroom brings the beach into your home with stenciled saltwater fish, palm trees and sea turtles.  If your staircase is lined with photos or paintings, ornate “frames” can be stenciled on the wall to feature your collection.

Stencils Accent a Beautiful Bedroom

There are many ways painted stencils can accent a bedroom. In a children’s room, sports-themed stencils can be used to bring basketball, baseball and football into the room. In the master bedroom, formal stencils work well- trailing cherry blossoms, delicate florals and bold stripes can turn any wall into an accent wall. Keep a guest room interesting and fun with stenciled walls of gingham, stripes or plaid.

Punch Up Your Kitchen with Stencils

Stencils brighten up a kitchen and add fun to the space where we seem to spend so much of our time. Stencils that work well in a kitchen include nature themes, like ivy, birds, butterflies and flowers. A brocade-like stencil or fleur-de-lis adds luxury to a formal kitchen. And a classic country kitchen sparkles with stenciled roosters, or words and phrases that evoke country living.

No matter what types of stencils you choose, they need to be perfectly applied. The professional consultants at Sundeleaf Painting can help you choose the perfect stencils for your home. Our consultants will help you choose paint colors, show you examples of our past work and provide input to make sure you pick the stencils that are perfect for you.

Painted Paneling Artfully Blends into the Woodwork

Paneling isn’t uncommon in old homes, but it can be a bit of a nightmare when you’re trying to update your home. There are a few options for painting paneling. Most homeowners want to downplay the paneling, so it becomes a less-obvious characteristic of the room. Soft, muted shades work well to deemphasize the paneling. Pale green, any shade of off-white and many lighter shades of taupe can all be good choices for painting paneled walls.

Rejuvenate a Hardwood Floor

Purists will say that it’s always a mistake to paint a hardwood floor, but actually, there can be good reasons for having your floors painted. If an old hardwood floor is stained or otherwise beyond repair, having the floor painted can be a less expensive option to replacing the floor.

A painted floor should be in colors that accent the rest of your room. Black, navy and forest green paint all work well on hardwood floors in living rooms and family rooms. In a sunroom or any room where the feel should be light and airy, pale blue, white or seafoam green will reflect back the sun beautifully.

Bring Molding Back to Life

If your rooms seem dull and drab, have the molding painted to bring life back in to your home. Fresh coats of primer and paint can brighten up any molding. Although many people choose to go with white molding, a classic look, some people choose brightly colored accent colors for their interior molding. If you like to be surrounded by color, having your molding painted can work for you.

Add Elegance to Your Hallway

Painting chair rail is an easy way to bring elegance into your dining room or hallway. Chair rail was frequently added to older homes, but the wood paneling often used with chair rail is sometimes too dark or too light for the rest of the home.  When having your chair rail painted, look for neutral tones that off-set the other walls in the room. If you use yellow in a dining room, use ivory for your chair rail. If you want to draw attention to the chair rail, paint the wood a royal blue or a deep scarlet.

Get help with all of your painting decisions with the pros at Sundeleaf Painting. Our color experts can help you decide what colors will work best with the wood surfaces in your home.

Love the Oregon coast? You’re not alone- we love it, too. Whether it’s the blue sky of summer, or the soft gray of driftwood, choosing paint colors inspired by the coast warm up the coolest of city homes. Bring the beach into your home with a color palette inspired by the coast.

Paint Colors Inspired by the Coast

Dove gray might not seem like a first choice for a wall color inspired by the beach but in fact, nothing is more reminiscent of the driftwood found along the Oregon coast. Brighten any room with soft dove gray walls enhanced by bright white moulding. Pale gray walls are enhanced by almost any shade of hardwood floor, and brown and black furniture will both pop against a painted gray wall.

Beach Inspired Rooms Pop with Painted Accent Walls

Accent a room painted in dove gray with one wall painted in deep charcoal. Use the charcoal wall as an accent, to display your favorite finds from the beach. A shadow box filled with shells, a painting of the coast found in a little shop in old town or a driftwood mantle will be perfectly framed by a deep charcoal painted wall. Pale blue, ivory or navy also all work well as an accent wall in a dove gray room.
Beach Inspired Bedroom

A beach inspired bedroom brings the warmth of the ocean into your home. Pale blue walls work well with both carpeted or hardwood floors. Choose a shade of blue paint that is warm to make your bedroom a snug haven against the winter months. Chair rail painting techniques and painted stripes can also be used in a bedroom to help create space and to add accents to a freshly painted room.

Sundeleaf Painting has a long history (80+ years!) of helping customers choose the right color combinations for their homes. If you’re unsure about what colors of paint to use, talk to one of our consultants about your ocean-inspired vision, and we’ll help you pick the perfect colors for your home.

Perk Up a Bathroom with Paint

Bathrooms tend to be the most neglected room in the house, when it comes to painting the walls. But a bathroom can be the most interesting and fun room in the house, if you’re willing to experiment. Ideas might include using ocean-inspired paint colors or contrasting paint colors for a master bathroom.

Faux Finishes Add Texture and Life to Painted Walls

A faux finish adds a beautiful texture to painted walls in any bathroom. Use this technique for a bathroom that is off a main entryway or that gets a lot of traffic. The professional look of a faux finish adds depth and interest to bathroom walls. Choose monochromatic paint colors that are reminiscent of Europe, leather or old architecture for a beautiful faux finish that attracts interest for years.

Splash Painting Technique Livens Up a Bathroom

Splash paint (or spatter paint) brings an element of abstract art to your bathroom and allows you to experiment with color. After walls are painted, a contrasting color is “splashed” on one or more of the walls, creating a spattered paint effect. Multiple colors can be used as part of the splash painting, to add dimension and depth to the walls. Some color combinations we love for splash painting include red and blue, pale green, navy blue and white, and orange, lime and ivory. The colors you choose might reflect your favorite colors or the colors of your linens and accent pieces in the bathroom.

Sundeleaf Painting has more than 80 years’ experience helping customers find the best color combinations for their homes. We do more than “just” paint – our Portland, Oregon consultant and painting pros can help you choose the paint colors that are right for you, drawing on our years of experience.

Links

1.       Choosing Paint Colors

2.       Colors for Your Guest Bathroom

3.       Contact Us

Add Elegance to a Formal Dining Room with Painted Stripes
Infuse elegance into a formal dining room by using vertical stripes that combine a flat paint and a gloss or semi-gloss paint that are the same color. Using the same color paint for stripes is a subtle effect and works especially well with ivory, taupe and slate blue. For a formal dining room, try same color stripes in widths of eight to twelve inches.

Paint Stripes in Children’s Bedrooms for a Fun Effect
In a child’s bedroom, paint fun stripes in varying shades of color and in varying widths. A girl’s bedroom painted with shades of pink, from pale pink to fuchsia, might be overlaid with stencils of flowers. A boy’s room comes alive with painted vertical stripes of aqua, green and sky blue.  In children’s bedrooms, the stripes don’t have to be completely symmetrical and in fact, using different widths and colors adds interest to a room.

Accent Adult Bedrooms with Painted Stripes
Painting stripes in bedrooms doesn’t have to be relegated to the kids’ bedrooms. Paint the wall behind the headboard of the bed in bold horizontal stripes from floor to ceiling to create a focal point in the room. If you have a desk or a chaise lounge in your bedroom, highlight that wall with painted horizontal stripes.

Brighten Up a Basement with Painted Stripes
We often think of basements as gloomy after-thoughts, but they don’t have to be dark or dreary. One of the biggest trends right now in painting interiors is to use a solid color around the room, and then accent with stripes. Start with a bold color, and ask to have a 2-foot section in the middle of the walls all the way around the room taped off for stripes. Use contrasting colors for the stripes and consider adding a stencil to break up the stripes and to add interest to the room.

Ask our expert staff how we can help you brighten up your home with painted stripes.