With winter on it’s way, many people have accepted it’s a time to hibernate and get ready for the winter blues. This year, why not plan a living room or bedroom re-design? Planning a new interior design of any room is a great way to pass the winter months. Save your warm months for going to the cottage and spending time outside, spend winter selecting new paint colours, shopping for furniture, textiles and accessories to change your room’s look and brighten your spirits. 

In the past it was common to save your paint and home remodelling projects for the spring, summer and fall but the reason was out of necessity. Paints of the past emitted odours and gasses that required a lengthy ventilation time. With all of the no VOC paints available today, there is no need to stop painting in the winter. In fact it’s a really good time to paint, a fun project is sure to beat the winter blues and give you a fun project during the months we spend inside.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Here is a re-post of out top picks for paint colours in 2013. Hope you had terrific holidays, we’ve been busy throughout but are thrilled with the projects we are working on. New blog post coming out next week about beating the winter blues with paint and interior decorating.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Well, 2013 is just about here! If you are thinking of doing some winter painting (we’ll be talking more about why this is a great idea in our next blog post), here are some recommended colours we have compiled based on trends forecasted by Pantone and Benjamin Moore. Enjoy!

All-over neutral paint colours

Grey will continue to be a popular paint choice for 2013. Still one of our favorites. ‘Builder beige’ has met it’s match!

This turquoise-grey is a neutral that will look great with wood furniture and evokes a feeling of tranquility.

A neutral green with a nature-inspired hue that would really complement dark grey furniture.

A violet-grey that would be both uplifting and inspire romanticism.

Accent Colours and contemporary colour combinations

Benjamin Moore’s 2013 Colour Forecast

Not a particularly inspiring palette if we’re honest.

Pantone’s Spring 2013 Colours

Lots of appropriately spring colours happening for Pantone’s forecast for perhaps some home accessorizing inspiration.

Be inspired and let us know if you have any questions or would like to arrange a colour consultation to discuss ideas for your home’s 2013 colour palette.

We here at Palmerston Painting are always trying to spread the word about environmental choices, wether it be for your home and family or for the environment itself. A thought that we are often found sharing with our customers and friends is that about buying secondhand. It’s a great way to find unique and vintage clothes, furniture or accessories for your home and it’s a good eco-conscious choice. Every piece of furniture you re-use means one less item will have to be manufactured, reducing the environmental harm involved with furniture manufacture and it’s distribution.

For an inexpensive way to update your condo or living room, fresh paint and some new pieces of furniture from your local Goodwill or Value Village. If you don’t have as much time for hunting down pieces, check out Bungalow in Kensington Market. They have a fantastic eye for vintage furniture (and clothes) and have really reasonable prices. Loads of teak and accessories with tons of character to inspire a new room design. We love the idea of contrasting a new condo with minimal aesthetic with retro furniture. It instantly warms up the space and adds character.

From Bungalow:

Next time you are ready to take off to IKEA to pick up new items for your home, consider a secondhand approach and see what you can find to reduce environmental impact and add character to your living space.

The holiday season is upon us! Thanksgiving, Hallowe’en, Christmas and New Years are sure to bring guests to your home and a chance for you to spend time with your loved ones and enjoy your decorated space. Now is a great time to get some painting done before the holidays are upon us. And a fresh coat or colour of paint is a great way to inspire your new holiday decorations. Change it up this year!

Start with a fresh coat of paint and then pick up some new accessories to create a whole new look for entertaining this season.

Another idea we love is to create a hotel-style guest room for your guests staying over through the holidays. All it takes is fresh paint, some new bedding, nightstands and a few accessories. You could even display some treats and mini-bottles in a basket to really complete the hotel experience. Your guests will love it!

We get asked a lot about our recommendations for paint colours and we thought we would share our thoughts with you for paint trends for fall 2012. Our personal favourite and a very trendy colour for a year now is still grey. It is modern, neutral and plays well off any flooring. Here are some notes about what we like and also see happening over the next few months and some ideas for inspiration:

Moonshine 2140-60 from Benjamin Moore is a popular grey right now, especially in condos with concrete ceilings. It is a nice neutral with a subtle warm tone to it. We love seeing this neutral backdrop with some bright accessories and artwork added with it. Looks great.

We like Benjamin Moore’s Flora & Fauna 2012 trend recommendation. This is a very modern palette that would also translate nicely in a traditional home as well. More info >

Pantone’s fall 2012 colour report. Pantone’s colour guides are always something to reference to see colour trends for the upcoming season. Their forecast for fall 2012 was just released and shows a bold palette with some warm neutrals. Perhaps a good start for some inspiration in accessories or a statement wall. More info >

Our designer Elaine Stam has been working away and is almost finished our new site. Thank you for your work Elaine, we love the new site and it’s going to be a great tool for our customers.