How and with what color to paint the kitchen
For wall decoration, two types of finishing materials are most often used - wallpaper and paint. Moreover, the paint, which once lost its popularity, is gaining it again. This is because new formulations have appeared that look beautiful, are easy to apply, do not smell, many wash and do not lose their attractiveness for a long time. At the same time, painting walls in the kitchen takes much less time than wallpapering, and it looks, at least, not worse.
The content of the article
What paint and why
A kitchen is a room where stains are likely to occur. Moreover, their nature can be very different. It can be stains of fat, any caustic substances, juices and sauces with a bright color. Hence the main requirement when choosing a paint - it should wash well.
Special washable paints (Tikkurila Remontti Assa, Teknos Biora Balance), which create a dense film on the surface, are suitable for these requirements. These paints are made on the basis of latex or acrylic, they are an aqueous dispersion, that is, they almost do not smell. They can wash with brushes, and some can even use abrasive substances (DULUX Realife, DULUX Diamond Matt, Tikkurila Luja 40, Johnstones Acrylic Eggshell).
The situation is even better when cleaning walls covered with anti-vandal or resistant paints. They withstand several thousand cycles of washing with brushes and detergents (Johnstones Acrylic Durable Matt, Johnstones Anti-Mold Acrylic, Teknos Timantti 40, Novatic Feste Farbe, Novatic Innenlatex matt).
A little about the type of surface that is obtained after painting the walls. Stains are best washed from glossy surfaces, worst of all - from matte surfaces. A matte surface is obtained due to a non-uniform, porous structure. In these heterogeneities, a pollutant is clogged and it is more difficult to wash it off (there are rare exceptions - DULUX Diamond Matt). Therefore, on walls that will have to be washed often, it is better to use glossy, semi-gloss or at least semi-matte compositions.
Foundation preparation
Some acrylic, acrylate and latex paints have good hiding power, due to which they can make small defects invisible. But basically, good preparation is required - walls first plasterthenputty and grind until a perfectly flat plane is obtained. To obtain a reliable base, fiberglass is glued to the layer of starting putty - a cobweb. It serves to reinforce the base. After the glue dries on the "spider web", the walls are leveled with a finishing putty and finally sanded.
Painting walls in the kitchen with glossy or semi-gloss paints requires very even walls: gloss reveals even the smallest irregularities. For a good result, pay maximum attention to this issue. All irregularities can be illuminated using an LED lamp. It very clearly indicates all irregularities.
To make the paint lay flat, the walls are primed. The composition is selected depending on the type of paint: for latex you need your own primer, for acrylic - your own. This stage evens out the absorbency of the base, which reduces the consumption of not cheap paint. It is absorbed into the surface covered with soil in the same amount, a beautiful, even coating is obtained.
Even if the wall to be painted is deliberately made uneven - brickwork or other similar embossed surfaces - a primer is desirable. It further improves adhesion to the base, the paint adheres better, holds stronger, does not flake off.
Color selection
It is not easy to decide what color to paint the walls in the kitchen.The choice of colors and shades is very wide, many companies offer to tint the composition on branded equipment in one of the RAL colors, which is more than 200 shades. In addition, special shades can be created - metallic, glitters, etc. Considering that painting the walls in the kitchen can be non-uniform - stripes, geometric and floral patterns, ornaments, painting and any other ways to decorate walls, the number of options to strive to infinity. However, first you need to choose the main color of the walls in the kitchen. When choosing a dominant color, there are two approaches:
- Paint the walls of the kitchen in a soft "background" color. This will create a calm atmosphere, which, if desired, can be made more dynamic with kitchen set and accessories in bright colors.
- Make the walls bright. The color is in harmony with the color of the kitchen facade, or it can be contrasting. It depends on the color of the facade of the kitchen and on how bright you see your kitchen.
When choosing a color, it is worth remembering its influence on the emotional state of a person. Red is the color of danger, accelerates the work of all body systems. It is exhausting to stay in such a room for a long time. If you crave activity, you can choose it, or a milder orange. If relaxation is needed, something quieter is required. For example, green color and its shades... It creates a calm atmosphere, and in order not to be so boring, you can add yellow. Green becomes more active with it.
Brown gives a sense of stability, but don't use too dark shades - it will be too gloomy. Black in its pure form suppresses, but as an "addition" to all winders makes the interior more dynamic. It is good in small doses.
White, gray, beige - these are ideal "background" shades that allow you to highlight brighter interior items without overloading it. That is why painting the walls in the kitchen in these colors is used where the facades are decorated in rich colors.
Painting technology
The exact order in which the paint is applied depends on the type of binder and substrate and the effect you want to achieve. But there are common points:
- Before starting work, remove the skirting boards, door trims, take out everything that is possible from the room.
- Cover all surfaces that might get dirty. This is a window, doorsapron in the kitchen work area, floor. For windows, doors and an apron, the easiest way is to use plastic wrap glued with masking tape. This coating is easy to remove without leaving marks. You can also spread polyethylene on the floor, or old wallpaper, newspapers, etc. You can fix them using double-sided tape, and preferably also painting tape (it does not leave traces of glue after peeling off).
- The paint is applied with a roller or brush. Usually two to three coats are required to obtain an even color. Each subsequent layer is applied after the previous one has dried. This time is indicated in the technical characteristics of the composition as “touch dry time”.
- When applying paint to a brush or roller, take a small amount of the composition, distribute it evenly. It is easier to do this using a paint tray, which has a special platform for removing excess. The paint is applied by rolling it out in a thin layer as much as possible. The most common mistake is the desire to paint over with the first coat of paint. This is wrong and threatens with the appearance of drips - they are trying to apply more paint. It is much more difficult to get rid of drips than unpainted spots. You will have to wait until they are completely dry, and then remove the nodules with fine sandpaper.Therefore, it is better to apply the paint thinly, and all the imperfections will be covered with the next next layer. The result is an even deep color.
- When using a roller, a brush passes through hard-to-reach places - corners, a joint between the ceiling and walls, etc. Then, with a roller, paint over the rest of the space.
- To obtain a uniformly colored wall, layers of paint are applied in different directions - one layer horizontally, the other vertically.
When painting the walls in the kitchen is over, don't rush to test how well your chosen paint washes. Please read the instructions carefully first. Some of the formulations only take up their performance a month after application. So don't be in a hurry.
All of the above is true for all types of paint - water-dispersion acrylic, latex. But, before starting work, carefully read the manufacturer's recommendations. If there are differing recommendations, they must be followed.
Options for painting the walls of the kitchen - photo
Not so long ago, a third trend appeared - painting the walls in the kitchen in two colors. Companion colors are selected. These can be shades of the same color - dark and light, can be contrasting or combined. If you want to match different colors, use the designer color matching charts.
In any case, the most popular trend is painting one wall a different color. This allows you to clearly identify the accents. In the kitchen, this is usually a wall near which there is a dining table, but not necessarily.
Striped walls in the kitchen
Another option is to apply stripes of a different color. More often - the stripes are vertical, which helps to visually "raise" the ceiling. They are usually of different widths, located at different distances from each other, but this is far from canon. The options are different. Several - in the picture below.
If you don't want variegation, you can play with the texture of colors. The combination of stripes of glossy and matt paint in the same color gives a very interesting effect. It's like a combination of velvet and satin. It looks very interesting.
If the stripes are narrow, first paint the walls in the dominant color. After drying, strips of masking tape are glued, which will serve as borders when painted in a different color. After the second shade completely overlaps the first one, the adhesive tape is removed, and clear boundaries are obtained without "transition".
Ornaments and stencils
So that painting the walls in the kitchen is not boring, you can revive it with a drawing, ornaments. It is more difficult to cope with a drawing - you need professional skills, and applying ornaments to walls can be easier than you think. With the use of stencils, this is not difficult at all. They can be made independently from thick paper, pasted over with tape (to make it easier to cut and not torn), or you can buy ready-made ones, cut out on thick plastic wrap.
A suitable stencil is attached to the wall. The easiest way to do this is with masking tape. The paint is applied with a regular sponge (you can use a kitchen sponge). They take a little paint on the sponge, distribute it evenly over the entire surface (a plastic plate is suitable as a palette).With this "tool" we paint over the wall in the slots. Since there is little paint, it dries quickly.
If you want to get a two-color ornament, cover the parts that you will paint in a different color with adhesive tape (also painting). Apply the pattern in one color, wait for the paint to dry. Cover these parts with tape and add the missing part in a different color.
You can find a suitable drawing for the kitchen in the catalog of sites selling ready-made stencils. There are a lot of them in different styles. You will definitely find the one that you like best.