ou don’t have to be a seasoned do-it-yourselfer or painter to know that it’s much trickier to work with dark colors when painting interior walls than it is to paint your walls a light color. This is because uneven coats are much more noticeable with dark colors than they are with lighter ones. You might, for example, be able to pull off painting your walls a white, cream, or a pastel shade by yourself but it can be much more difficult to pull it off on your own when you’re working with a color like dark blue, gray, or dark brown. But just because it’s more challenging, doesn’t mean you should stray from dark paint colors when painting your New York apartment. Below are some helpful tips that you can use when painting your apartment with darker colors:
Using a Primer
While it’s not necessary to use a primer when painting your walls from a light color to a darker color, if you want to maximize how your walls reflect light even on a darker shade, using a high-hiding primer might be to your best interest. Make sure to find a primer that works best with the type of paint you are using. Painting experts often recommend a lighter shade of gray to use for priming to maximize the pigments and depth of the paint color you are using. If you’re painting your New York apartment’s living room in a dark color, you should pay extra attention to the primer you use, as imperfections are easily noticeable on dark colored walls.
Paint with Precision and Speed
Dark colors require much more precise strokes because it’s easier to spot uneven strokes on dark colored walls than it is on light colored ones. So you have to be very precise with your strokes and you have to ensure to strictly paint in one direction. You also have to be very quick about painting because dark colored paint dries faster and if you stop midway a wall, it will show once you’re finished with the entire wall. Choose a high quality roller that is able to apply paint much more evenly. Painting with dark colors will also require two to four coats to even out the texture and color of the paint so you have to paint with sufficient lighting, preferably during the day.
If you have your heart set on a dark paint color for your New York apartment, you might want to opt to hire a professional to get the job done quicker. Since painting with dark colors requires more paint, you can expect to have to spend more for it than for a lighter color.