Personalized Wall Colors Are Easier to Create Than You Think

You’ve visited paint store after paint store, burned through Pinterest options, and are starting to find creative uses for that stack of paint chips, like bookmarks and coasters. Still, you can’t find the right color. Now what? It’s time for a personalized wall color – one you’ll only get through unique wall paint or color consulting. Our pros walk you through the process, helping you pinpoint that one-of-a-kind hue.

Personalized Wall Colors the Easy Way

You can get a customized interior color without hiring an interior designer. Here’s how.

Upload a Match

Many designers start a project with an inspiration piece — that can be anything from a favorite scarf to a rug or even a color from nature. But how do you get the paint to match your inspiration piece?

While you may have browsed lots of paint chips, the truth is, stores don’t put out every hue by a paint company. To find those, you have to get a fan deck, which is the fan-shaped set of color strips that show every color family a company has.

If you can’t get ahold of a fan deck, use a color matching app. Many paint stores have them on their websites, including PPG’s Match My Color app. You just snap a picture of your inspiration piece, upload it to the app, and the system matches your color to the nearest hue in their complete color palette.

Get a One-of-a-Kind Blend

Another option is to find something – anything – that matches the personalized wall color you’re interested in matching. It doesn’t have to be an inspiration piece. It can be a spool of thread, a piece of fabric or even a photograph.

Paint stores have something called a spectrophotometer, which can analyze the material and match it to their brand’s closest hue. You’ll need a flat sample about one inch square, which the paint-store pro will run through the machine and match to a color in their palette.

sk for a Recommendation

If those methods don’t work, ask a professional painter for a recommendation. Let them know you’re looking for a personalized wall color, and experienced painters can make recommendations based on furniture colors, existing color schemes and specific contrasts or tones. They can even help you plan a color scheme for your home, not just one room, so you get a pulled-together look that truly fits your style.

Interested in your own personalized wall color? Our color consultants can help. Not only can they recommend hues, they’ll send you free 8’ x 8’ color samples to help you find the perfectly customized interior color for your home. Or, if you’d rather talk with a painter, try our house painting services today.

The post Personalized Wall Colors Are Easier to Create Than You Think appeared first on Paintzen.

Good and Bad Paint Choices for Bathroom Colors

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Your guests have just arrived for a long, overdue get-together. You’ve meticulously prepared the rooms they’ll see the most, specifically the kitchen and the living room. But have you paid enough attention to the bathroom colors? Chances are they’ll visit this room a couple of times during their visit, and it can make a powerful impression.

You can’t treat a bathroom just like every other room in the house, and there are certain colors you should and shouldn’t consider for this important room. Read on to find out how you can make your bathroom a pleasant place to visit for you and your guests.

Smart Choices for Bathroom Paint

What color work well for a bathroom? Which ones can create the kind of environment you want there? Here are colors to think about when it comes time to repainting your bathroom.

Ocean Aquamarine

Is there anything more comforting than the sound of ocean waves ebbing and flowing on the beach? With an aquamarine color on the walls and a beach/nautical theme in décor, you can feel relaxed as you enter the bathroom, almost as if you’re escaping real life with a brief retreat.

Calm, Light Blue

You don’t have to go for an aquatic vibe in your bathroom, but blue is a commonly chosen color for the bathroom because of its calming effect. Think of the kind of blue you’d see on a robin’s egg. This shade is clean, light, and airy but not too bright. Other neutrals, such as gray or off-white can have a similar effect.

Deep, Dark Blue

If you prefer a darker color for the bathroom, you can choose to paint the walls with a deeper blue, but be careful. Dark colors can make a space seem more intimate, potentially making a small powder room feel even smaller. If you choose a rich, deep blue or a charcoal brown, make sure you include accent pieces that bring more lightness to the room. Or you could consider highlighting one wall with a bold color and putting a lighter complementary color on the others.

Bad Choices for Bathroom Paint

There are certain shades that work in other rooms but simply shouldn’t be used in a bathroom. After a while, bathrooms tend to look dingy and grimy, usually assuming muddy or beige undertones. As a result, you should not use these kinds of colors on the walls. They have long been out of style and can make your bathroom appear outdated and dirty.

In addition, although kids may find them fun, the bathroom isn’t the best place for bright neon colors, which can be especially overwhelming in small spaces. Instead, you can choose a bold accent color of their choosing to make the room fun, yet still tolerable.

Although your bathroom isn’t where you or your guests will spend the most time, it’s still important. By following these tips, it can provide a calm, beautiful area for anyone to visit.

About Platinum Painting

In over a decade, Platinum Painting has painted well over 10,000 North Texas homes ranging in size from one-room condos to three-story houses. With every project, you can enjoy a color consultation with one of our experienced team members, ensuring that you’ll love the shade you pick before we open the first paint can. If you have questions about bathroom paint colors, you can give us a call for an free, in-home estimate.

The post Good and Bad Paint Choices for Bathroom Colors appeared first on Platinum Painting Blog.

4 Ways Exterior Painting Could Boost Your Home’s Value to Sell

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You’re getting your home ready to put on the market. You and your realtor walk around your home and try to see it from a potential buyer’s perspective. Like many sellers, you may need to replace a couple of dead lightbulbs or reduce some clutter, but as you step outside to look at the house with buyers in mind, your realtor points out that your house could definitely use a fresh coat of paint if you’re wanting to get top dollar. Can exterior paint really have an effect on the home value? Absolutely! Here are the ways that investing in exterior painting can help you get more traffic and potential offers.

Cut the Buyer’s List of Doubts

If you’ve ever searched for a home to buy, you’ve likely experienced finding a home that you liked, but it still had those asterisks, you know, those things you’d need to fix or do later on. Perhaps, these flaws were enough to dissuade you from buying the house, or perhaps you made a lower offer as a result. The same could happen with your house. Even little things can scare away buyers from making an offer on your house or reduce the price they make in the offer. When you address the exterior paint, you cut a big-ticket item from your buyers’ potential list of doubts and motivate the buyer to give you a higher or more reasonable offer.

Make a Statement

There’s a reason why realtors talk a lot about curb appeal. It’s important to buyers! You want your house to stand out in the best possible way from other listings, and painting your home’s exteriors is a great way to do that. Whether you have brick, stucco, or wood surfaces, a well-chosen, well-executed paint job can make your house attractive to buyers.

Show the House’s Good Bones

Overall, some interior changes to a house tend to be simpler and more affordable than exterior changes. By taking care of the exterior painting before listing the house, you are making it clear to the buyer that your house already has great potential from the moment they pull up to the house, even if there might be some interior updates that still need to be done.

Get More Return on Your Investment

Compared to some other updates you could make to your house, exterior painting can be one of the most affordable ways to show off the beautiful features of your home. This simple home improvement method costs significantly less than many other projects but can increase your home’s curb appeal, a vital part of appealing to more home buyers.

In the end, although you may not know exactly how much value exterior painting adds to the value of your home, you’re more likely to see interested buyers, which is always good for your bottom line. It’s worth the small investment now to sell your home later.

About Platinum Painting

Since 2008, Platinum Painting has been helping homeowners in the DFW area and beyond increase their properties’ curb appeal. We can paint practically every surface including wood, brick, stucco, vinyl siding, metal, and much more. Although we can use whatever brand you choose, if you have a preference, we tend to pick Sherwin Williams’ SuperPaint Exterior Acrylic paints. Would you like to have a free, in-person estimate? Contact Platinum Painting today!

The post 4 Ways Exterior Painting Could Boost Your Home’s Value to Sell appeared first on Platinum Painting Blog.

3 Clear Signs That It’s Time to Paint Your Home

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Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, you work from home, cook at home, and binge watch at home. You only leave the house to pick up groceries and other necessities, which means you have had plenty of time to notice the things you don’t like about your house.

As you try to focus on working, you look around you at the walls and feel that something isn’t quite right. It could be the paint that’s been there for many years now. You ask yourself: when should I paint? Read on to learn about and recognize the signs saying it’s time to paint now.

You Need a Fresh Start.

Sometimes, it’s painfully clear when the paint needs to be replaced. Peeling, bubbling, or chipping paint is an eyesore, even if you’re the only one who sees it. It can attract the wrong kind of attention and evoke the wrong feeling in a room. However, even if your paint isn’t failing in some way, it may be time to refresh the paint on the walls.

After a year of spending most of your time at home, you may have become restless, tired of seeing the same walls with the same old colors. Believe it or not, simply changing the paint on the walls around you can make you feel as if you’re in a completely different house!

You Don’t Feel Comfortable in the Space Anymore.

Do your rooms, especially your bedroom, give you the feeling of being in a retreat? During these stressful times, you need a place that calms you, that helps you achieve tranquility. In 2021, cool shades of blue are quickly gaining attention in the design world because of its ability to soothe. One of these is bound to be the perfect choice for your bedroom, helping you feel completely comfortable where you spend a large portion of your time.

You Want to Bring Nature Inside.

Chances are you haven’t been able to spend much time outside over this past year. But studies have shown that time in nature provides your body with amazing benefits for your mental and physical health. Why not make it easier to enjoy those benefits in the comfort of your own home by bringing nature to you?

Earthy, deep browns, as well as deep greens and blues, are increasing in popularity in 2021, and picking one of these nature-inspired colors can help your living spaces feel like a cozy haven. As a result, you can truly create a peaceful oasis from the outside world.

If you’re going to be at home most of the time, you might as well make it somewhere you actually want to be. Getting your home painted may be a rather small change, but it can have a significant impact on you and your favorite spaces.

About Platinum Painting

Platinum Painting got its start in 2008 with Karl and Marjorie Pickens, who continue to be involved in the daily operations. Their dedication to excellence has spread to all our team and crew members. We’ve grown to service the entire DFW Metroplex, yet we strive to exceed expectations with each project. If you’re ready to love your living spaces again with new paint, you can contact Platinum Painting by clicking here.

The post 3 Clear Signs That It’s Time to Paint Your Home appeared first on Platinum Painting Blog.

How to Paint Over Dark Colors The Easy Way

Ever wondered how to paint over dark colors? Lightening up a room is easy – but it does take a little more elbow grease than repainting an already light-hued space. If you’re ready to get rid of that too dark (or too bright) hue, we’ll walk you through the process in three easy steps.

How To Paint Over Dark Colors

Taking an extra step in the painting process will ensure you completely cover your old paint color. What’s this extra step? Painting with white primer.

Step 1: Prep

First, though, let’s talk prep. A paint job is only as successful as the prep work that came before it, so take a little extra time to do it right.

After you’ve taped and draped your room, fill any holes or uneven areas with filler and then sand smooth. This will give you a clean surface to paint over.

Step 2: Prime

Once the walls are patched, you’re ready for primer. Why use a separate primer when you can buy paint and primer in one can? Because what’s in the paint-plus-primer isn’t really primer – it’s just thicker paint.

Primer is a totally different product than paint. It’s a blend of resin, solvent and other additives, which are made to seal the surface you’re painting and to help the paint bond to the wall. Paint, on the other hand, is simply a blend of resins and pigments, which makes it great at adding color, but not sealing or creating a bond. This sealing/bonding power is what allows primer to cover stains and old colors, where a regular paint might let these bleed through.

After you prep your wall, roll on the primer using M or W shapes to ensure full coverage. Once the primer dries, do a second coat. This ensures the smoothest surface, but it also creates the best sealing and bonding opportunity for what comes next — paint.

Step 3: Paint

Finally, you’re ready to paint. Depending on how bright or dark your original color was (let’s say you’re painting ballet pink over lime green), you may need two coats of paint on top of the primer. We recommend painting on one coat, letting it dry, and then evaluating the finish. If your wall is uneven or you can see the old color bleeding through, do another coat.

Even with two coats of primer, you may still need more than two coats of paint. To get a truly saturated color (and hide what came before), it could take three or even four coats. Be patient because it will work – it just make take a few more coats than you anticipated.

When Do You Use Primer?

In addition to using primer when you paint over a dark color, you should also use it when:

You have damaged, stained or greasy wallsYou’re painting a new surfaceYou’re painting over metal or plasticYou’re painting wallpaperYou’re painting latex over oil paint

Now that you’ve learned how to paint over dark colors, you may be realizing it’s more work than you have time for. If that’s the case, let our interior painting pros take care of it for you. They can help you choose a color then ensure you get the best paint job possible, without your ever lifting a finger.

The post How to Paint Over Dark Colors The Easy Way appeared first on Paintzen.

Choose Baseboard and Trim Colors That Will Make Your Walls Really Pop

 

When choosing a color scheme, most of us default to white wall trim and baseboards, no matter what wall color we’re using. And while white baseboards and wall trim are a no-fail combo, there are good reasons to look at other wall and trim color pairings.

Don’t Overlook the Importance of Baseboards and Wall Trim

Trim is an often-overlooked architectural detail, but rooms without it can feel unfinished. It gives spaces a sense of proportion and highlights architectural details, like windows, doors and fireplaces. It can draw the eye up on a room with a low ceiling or balance a room with tall ceilings. Trim lets you know where a room begins and ends — and the type and color of trim you choose helps you define your space’s style.

Paint Walls and Trim the Same Color

If your style is contemporary or transitional, blend the trim and wall color by painting them the same color (or a lighter or darker version of the wall color). This unifies the space and allows rooms to flow into each other, visually. This is a great choice for open-concept floor plans.

Choose a Lighter Hue

Do you love classic, traditional spaces? Use white or off-white paint to play up the architectural details. (Many design pros deem white (like Delicate White) the best color for baseboards and wall trim, no matter what the room’s style or wall color is.) White trim lightens dark walls, and, on lighter walls, it makes the color pop

Make a Design Statement With Dark Baseboards and Trim

Dark trim – especially chocolate, charcoal or black – creates a visual contrast that highlights today’s popular wall colors. It also sets off intricate woodwork in older homes and frames windows to set off a beautiful view.

Decide Which Option Is Best for You

With so many great options, how do you choose? Here are some ideas that may help you narrow the field.

If you want to …

Enlarge the room – Paint the trim the same color as the wall and the walls will appear to recede.

Make the ceiling look higher – Add crown molding to the ceiling, then paint it a darker color than the ceiling. (This doesn’t have to be a big color variance – just a shade or two will do it.) This will draw the eye up and make the ceiling seem taller than it is.

Lower your ceiling – If your home has high ceilings and you want to balance the space, add a chair rail on the walls, then paint the rail or the wall above it a darker hue.

Refresh your room on a budget – Give your room an instant boost by repainting just the baseboards and wall trim. Try pairing black trim with turquoise walls; cream baseboards and trim (instead of white) with greige walls; or match the trim to the wall color in a neutral color scheme.

Get more great color tips on our Color Tool, where you can browse trending colors and request free 8” x 8” paint swatches. Or learn more about our house painting services and let our pros do the work for you.

The post Choose Baseboard and Trim Colors That Will Make Your Walls Really Pop appeared first on Paintzen.

How To Get the Beauty of a Textured Accent Wall

A textured accent wall is a great way to update any room in your home. These focal walls add drama, intensity and depth to your space. So, go beyond the usual coat of paint and get a look that’s all your own.

Venetian Plaster

There are lots of ways to create a textured accent wall, including faux finishing or using a specialty paint, like suede, sandstone or metallic. But one of our favorites, which has been around for centuries, is Venetian wall plaster.

This wall and ceiling finish, a blend of plaster with marble dust, is applied in thin, multiple layers to create a deep, burnished color with an appealingly rough texture. Perk up a kitchen or bathroom with this low-maintenance finish. It’s nontoxic, zero-VOC and breathable, so it’s naturally mildew resistant.

Faux Finishing

Faux finishing is a decorative painting technique that recreates the look or feel of other surfaces, like wallpaper, marble, wood or fabric. You can use a variety of faux finishing methods to create the look of a textured accent wall.

For example, a rag or sponge roller will give you the look of plaster or marble. Or by applying a glaze in a circular motion, you can create an effect called color washing, which gives walls an Old-World look. You can also paint on any geometric shape, like stripes or a checkerboard, using two different paint colors or one color and a glaze. Faux finishing gives kids’ bedrooms a textural pop and it can be elegant in a master bedroom, especially when used as a focal wall behind the bed.

Metallic Paint

Make your walls shimmer with metallic paint or glaze. You can now get water-based metallic paints, which you apply the same way you do any other paint. Try one whole wall in a glowing gold or try rose-gold stripes in a powder room.

And speaking of metallic finishes, you can also get metallic plaster, which blends glass and mica with the plaster for a deep color that really shines.

Sandstone Paint

This highly textured acrylic paint has a find sand finish gives walls a distinctive feel. The paint has a raised finish that’s slightly gritty to the touch. It’s one of the fastest and easiest textured accent-wall finishes to apply – just roll it on like any other paint. Try it in a man cave or a coastal-style guest room.

Brushed Suede Paint

Give your walls the look and feel of suede with brushed suede paint. Like sandstone and metallic paint, brushed suede paint, this textured finish rolls on like any other paint. However, the finish is delicate and easy to scratch, and it can be hard to blend repairs into the surrounding paint, so it’s best to use it in low-traffic areas. Try it in a guest bedroom.

Textured Wallpaper

Paintable wallpaper with a raised design, like grasscloth and embossed papers, are popular because they’re versatile and easy to use. With a nearly unlimited variety of textures and patterns, you can tailor a textured accent wall using one of these to your preferences. Grasscloth and home offices go together like PB&J. Try an embossed wallpaper in a guest bathroom or on the ceiling to create the look of vintage ceiling tiles.

Learn more about our interior painting and wallpaper installation services and how we can help you create your own textured accent wall.

The post How To Get the Beauty of a Textured Accent Wall appeared first on Paintzen.

How Many Square Feet Does a Gallon of Paint Cover?

Imagine this: You’re standing in the hardware store, can of paint in hand. As you walk to the counter to get the paint colored your perfect shade, you realize you have no idea how much wall space that can will cover. So … exactly how many square feet does a gallon of paint cover? We’ll help you figure out how many gallons of paint you need for any paint job.

How Many Gallons of Paint Do You Need?

As a painting pro will tell you, you can get about 400 square feet out of one gallon. That’s the size of a 20-by-20 room, which is the equivalent of a typical two-car garage or a small studio apartment.

However, most paint jobs require more than one coat. That means you’ll need to figure the number of coats into your calculations. For example, if your room needs two coats, you can squeeze about 200 square feet out of a gallon of paint. With that in mind, one gallon would cover a small room, like a bathroom.

Two gallons cover up to 800 feet, which would do two coats on an average-sized room. This is the most common amount of paint people buy, allowing them to paint, say, a living room with two coats.

If you’re doing one large room or two average rooms next to each other, you’ll need three cans. That will cover up to 1,200 square feet.

Four cans will cover a great room or several average rooms, totaling about 1,600 square feet.

Make Your Paint Stretch

Make your paint stretch by using the right tools. A good-quality roller will give you the correct coverage and the best-looking results. Use a 9-inch roller with 3/8-inch nap for smooth walls. Try one with 1/2-inch nap for textured walls.

Consider Your Walls

Also, consider the type of walls you have. Older homes with walls that haven’t been painted in a while may need more than two coats. You may also consider using primer before you paint to create a surface that will bond to the paint.

Should You Buy Extra Paint?

A lot of people buy too much paint, thinking they’re going to save themselves a trip to the hardware store later. But usually, this just means you’re out the cost of a gallon and your garage is home to half-filled paint cans.

On the other hand, if you buy too little, you’ll find yourself making another trip to paint store halfway through the job. Neither outcome is good, but you can avoid both with the help of a paint calculator, like this one: PPG Paint Calculator

When calculating, round up. Not only can the walls soak up more paint than you anticipated, but a little extra paint will be helpful for touch ups. If rounding up means buying an extra whole gallon when you need less than half, consider buying an extra quart, instead. That way, you’ve got the little bit extra you need, without adding to the paint graveyard in your garage.

If you’d rather catch another episode of “Better Call Saul” than ponder “how many square feet does a gallon of paint cover,” we get it. You can skip the calculations entirely and let our pros do the work for you. Click to learn more about our interior house painting services. And did you know we do color consultations? Let our designers help you take the guesswork out of choosing your color scheme today.

The post How Many Square Feet Does a Gallon of Paint Cover? appeared first on Paintzen.

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What’s the Best Painter’s Tape for Your DIY Job?

When you’re picking the best painter’s tape, it’s all about getting the cleanest lines and protecting your walls. Seems easy, right? There are some things you’ll need to consider before buying that roll. We’ll tell what they are, show you how to tape and give you some ideas for the best type of painter’s tape for the job.

Why Bother With Painter’s Tape, Anyway?

Painting, like so many things in life, is all about the prep. Do it right and your job will succeed; don’t do it, or do it poorly, and you’ll be back at work for round two. So, it’s important to choose the right prep tools. One of the most important is painter’s tape. It’s the real secret to making your paint job look professional.

Painter’s tape covers a multitude of sins: It keeps your edges clean, provides clear definition between colors and keeps surfaces clean. When buying, look for ease of application, how well the tape peels off (Does it do it cleanly or take the surface with it?) and how clean it leaves the paint edge.

How Do I Pick the Right Tape?

Choose the right tape based on the job. Consider:

Your finish – Pick a tape that is suited to the material you’re using it on. Use a multi-surface tape for hard surfaces but go with a delicate tape for things like wallpaper or fresh paint (if you’re stenciling, for example).

Job time – Tapes only stay on the wall for so long. So, abide by the recommended time on the label; that way, your tape won’t peel prematurely or leave a hard-to-clean residue on whatever you’re painting.

Tape width – Pick a tape between 1 1/2 -2 inches. It will protect the largest area from stray brush strokes. This will cost a little more up front, but it’ll save you in cleanup time later.

How Do I Apply It for the Best Results?

Finish your paint job faster and with fewer messes by taping off your room before you paint. Before you tape, though, clean the walls and trim so you start with a clean surface. Even the stickiest painter’s tape won’t adhere to dirty walls.

Tape the edges of the windows, doors and ceilings, isolating the area you want to paint.When you’re taping trim, use the edge of a putty knife to apply pressure as you lay your tape line. This will help it seal better on the glossy surface.Remove tape while the paint is still wet. If the paint dried first, score the tape with a putty knife before you pull it off.Remove it at a 45-degree angle.If you know you won’t’ be able to remove the tape while the paint is still wet, buy a good-quality tape. This will make it easier to remove.

At Paintzen, our contractors are all about the perfect paint job, starting with the prep. Learn more about our interior painting services today.

The post What’s the Best Painter’s Tape for Your DIY Job? appeared first on Paintzen.

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Wallpaper vs. Paint: What’s the Real Benefit of Both?

If you’re ready to give your home a new look, your thoughts probably turn first to painting it a fresh color. But don’t forget wallpaper. This once-maligned covering is popular again, with gorgeous prints plus peel-and-stick convenience. In the wallpaper vs paint battle, we’ll examine the pros and cons of both. Our goal is to help you weed through the branches of your decision tree and come up with the answer that suits you best.

Paint – the Pros and Cons

Paint is a classic option and probably the easiest to use, overall. Almost anyone can do it and it’s one of the most affordable decorative changes you can make. It’s a durable, easy-clean finish for families with kids. There’s an almost endless selection of colors. Depending on the sheen, it’s easy to touch up if it gets dinged.

The downside is that painting takes planning and time. There’s a ton of prep (cleaning and spackling walls, applying primer – not to mention taping and draping). Switching between lighter and darker colors can mean extra coats of paint. And trying to match an older shade can be tough. (That’s where our color consultants can help.)

Wallpaper vs Paint: Wallpaper’s Turn

Wallpaper has been the decorator’s friend throughout the years, but it declined in popularity around the turn of the 20th century. People got tired of stuffy, old-fashioned prints and the nightmare of getting wallpaper off the wall.

Enter the next gen of wallpaper, with beautiful prints and interesting textures. And while some paper is still best applied by pros, much of the newer wallpaper is peel-and-stick – made to go on and come off just as easily. (Which means even a renter can use it.)

Wallpaper is usually more expensive than paint. It’s less durable and if it gets damaged can be tough to repair. If you’re not hanging peel-and-stick, you probably would be better to hire the job out. And since it goes on with adhesive, it might not be the best long-term choice for high-moisture areas like bathrooms and kitchens.

The Bottom Line

Both paint and wallpaper are good décor choices. So, why choose one over the other? Paint your living room a beautiful color and enhance it with a wallpaper accent wall. Or hang textured wallpaper like grasscloth in your dining room and paint over it.

The bottom line? When considering wallpaper vs paint, remember that wall coverings encompass a vast, customizable world. Whichever one you choose will give your home the style you’re looking for.

The post Wallpaper vs. Paint: What’s the Real Benefit of Both? appeared first on Paintzen.

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