Ahh…The Power of Paint

Photos from "The Romance of Country Inns," Rutledge Hill Press From rag-rolling to sponge painting to creating the look of stone, new products and processes are taking over the market.

SUMMER HOME & GARDEN VIEW THE PRINT ADS
	Ace Excavating – Garden Supply
	Aqua-Soft, Inc.
	At Home America – Decorating
	Baker’s Nursery
	Beco, Inc. – Kitchens
	California Closets
	Central Jersey Nurseries
	Century 21 – Kathleen Sucharski
	Century Kitchens & Bathrooms
	Chamberlin & Barclay – Garden
	Coast Nursery
	Cranbury Paint and Hardware
	Cream Ridge Garden Structures
	Creative Ceramic Tile, Inc
	Custom Wood: Kitchen & Bath
	Danish Designs
	Decorator’s Consignment Gallery
	Designer’s Treatment
	Doerler Landscapes
	Drago Flooring Center
	E & B Distributors
	Ever After Antiques & Furniture
	Extension Patio
	Fan World
	First Jersey Mortgage Services
	Gardener To Gardener
	Gasior’s Furniture & Acces.
	Glenns Furniture
	Graves Design – Studio Store
	Hamilton Greenhouse
	Henry’s Paving
	Herman’s Landscape & Mason.
	Jack’s Famous Furniture
	Jamesburg Hardware & App.
	Jefferson Bath & Kitchen
	John August & Co. Construction
	John Deere
	Jones Furniture
	Joyce’s Early Lighting
	Keris Tree Farm
	Kitchens Direct
	Lawrence Fuel
	LMI Landscape Materials
	Miller Equipment Co.
	Montalbano’s Pool & Patio
	Morris Maple & Son, Inc.
	Mrs. G’s Appliance Superstore
	NorthEastern Construction
	One Of A Kind
	Patio World
	Peterson’s Garden Center
	Poss’s Concrete
	Princeton Air
	Rosskam Leech Murals
	Ski Barn
	Solar Sun, Inc
	Spooky Brook Herbary
	Suburban Fence
	Swimland Pools & Spas
	Ten Thousand Villages
	The Closet Doctor
	Trenton Building Block
	Vector Security
	Village Paint and Wallpaper
	Water’s Nursery
	White Lotus Home

   COLOR.
The word itself suggests a brightening of our lives, a welcome alternative to a gray world.

   But here’s the irony: We carefully plan and strategize color in our clothes, fussing over what matches what. We stress-out about the color of our cars. And hair salons practically survive on the insistence of women for that momentous "shade of difference." Yet too often, we look around at our homes and take the easy way out, sticking to no-risk white walls, or, if we’re feeling brave, subtle off-white — and call it a day.

   Well, as Bob Dylan observed a while back, "The times, they are a’changin.’" Our homes, where so many important family moments occur, deserve better. Since families live, at least metaphorically, in Technicolor, so should their walls.

   The answer: Paint! Walls don’t just sit there any more. Nor are they automatically painted off-white. "Faux finishes are really taking over the market, and for good reason — they’re beautiful, they’re interesting and they’re relatively easy to create," said Jeffrey Siperstein, who ought to know. Mr. Siperstein is vice president of Siperstein’s 17 regional stores, including the one in Hamilton, where paint and wall coverings are state-of-the-art.

   And Mr. Siperstein will be the first to tell you that this is not your father’s paint world anymore.

   Today, paint can take on a total life of its own, not just through color palettes that offer even the most artistic and experimental homeowners an embarrassment of riches, but through technique. From rag-rolling to sponge painting to creating the look of stone, new products and processes are taking over the market, according to Mr. Siperstein. And if you’ve vaguely heard these terms, and figure it takes a Michelangelo to do the job, think again. Decorative painting can actually be fun — and the results are definitely worth it.

‘The Romance of Country Inns,’ Rutledge Hill Press For sponge painting (top), dab paint onto the wall, hitting once and trying not to overlap. Go around the entire room using your eye to judge (middle). Then, using a lighter shade of paint, dab in between the darker shade (bottom).

The Basics

   You can use almost any kind of paint that’s available at a good paint store. And household objects become your artistic "tools."

   The first step is to prepare the wall to be painted by removing dust and dirt and patching cracks and holes. If rag-painting, which imparts a marble-like finish, is the goal, the process involves three paint colors and a glazing liquid. One color serves as a base, then the other two, which are mixed with a glaze, are rag-rolled on top of that base coat.



Glazing/Ragging

   Your tool for the glazing/ragging: the old T-shirt you’ve been meaning to get rid of. It does take practice, but like so many things, rag painting is an acquired skill, according to Mr. Siperstein.



Sponge Painting

   Sponge painting, which offers a soft, mottled look, is achieved through the use of a natural sea sponge or synthetic sponge made specifically for sponge painting. As in rag painting, your tool becomes not a brush or a roller, but that sponge, once a base coat has been applied. There are how-to videos available at Siperstein’s and other paint/hardware stores to get the novice going. "We recommend experimenting first on poster-board," said Jeffrey Siperstein. "It’s cheap, it’s safe and it gets your confidence up."



New Tools

   One of the simplest — but mightiest — devices to create professional-looking walls is the ingenious double-roller, which uses pieces of car chamois for interesting effects.

   "There’s also a big run on metallic and pearlized wall effects, both of which can be very dramatic and beautiful," said Mr. Siperstein, who also notes that earth tones — golds, rusts, greens — are also being seen on the best-dressed walls.



Color

   The experts agree that deeper tones — golds, reds and greens — are increasingly finding their way into homes. And paint color pops up in surprising places, including on kitchen cabinet doors in alternating colors; on the inside of closets and cabinets for more private, but powerful, infusions of color; and on ceilings, that can be painted in soft pastels for contrast.

   Remember, it’s not a black and white world, and paint in strategic places can add instant pizzazz to your home — and your life.



   Siperstein’s is located at 2021 Nottingham Way, Hamilton Township. For more information, call (609) 588
4777.