Don't want my black clothes to turn orange...
January 12, 2012 8:01 PM Subscribe
Have you painted a closet a bright color? How did it turn out?
I recently painted my bedroom a warm gray with undertones of purple. It looks fantastic with yellow-green, spring green, or burnt orange, and I have always wanted a brightly colored closet. I'm slightly worried about whether it will affect the way my clothes appear, but if I mostly wear neutrals will that be a problem? Also, what type of paint is best to achieve a modern but not garish look? I have built-in wooden shelves, already painted with water-based paint, and would like to paint walls and shelves the same color, but I'm not sure if they should be the same finish. Thanks for the advice!
I recently painted my bedroom a warm gray with undertones of purple. It looks fantastic with yellow-green, spring green, or burnt orange, and I have always wanted a brightly colored closet. I'm slightly worried about whether it will affect the way my clothes appear, but if I mostly wear neutrals will that be a problem? Also, what type of paint is best to achieve a modern but not garish look? I have built-in wooden shelves, already painted with water-based paint, and would like to paint walls and shelves the same color, but I'm not sure if they should be the same finish. Thanks for the advice!
We recently moved into a house with a pretty eclectic mix of colors/surfaces, ranging from bright red, purple, blond wood, cedar,dark brown polished cement floors, forest green, dark grey, and often three or four colors/woods in the same room.. It.is.great! When I bought the house there was no trim (floor/wall)... I purchased recycled materials, every room has different trim ranging from wood to tile...
go for it! as Francesca too says, paint is cheap and easy to redo, and, "garish" is in the eye of the beholder... have fun, that's what life is about...
Nobody ever died saying "I wish I had less color in my life".
posted by HuronBob at 9:13 PM on January 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
go for it! as Francesca too says, paint is cheap and easy to redo, and, "garish" is in the eye of the beholder... have fun, that's what life is about...
Nobody ever died saying "I wish I had less color in my life".
posted by HuronBob at 9:13 PM on January 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
How would painting your closet change your clothes' color? I mean, yes, they'll reflect the walls of the closet, but you don't wear your clothes in the closet, and it's not, like, permanent. Do you mean that they would clash with the closet interior? I suppose that might be a problem. I clearly am missing something here.
As a general rule, you want to paint walls an eggshell or matte finish, because the more unbroken space you have the more evident flaws are, and the less reflective the paint, the better it hides flaws in your paint job. Plus, cheap semi-gloss and glossier paints dry to the tacky point really fast, but then can take days to cure to hardness. Which is super-duper-irritating because it gets easier to foul up your paint job as your paint dries, and then you have to wait for it to cure before you can cover up the previous mistakes.
But no one is going to be able to see the whole glorious span of your closet walls, because your clothes and shoes and that box with last year's Christmas decorations are going to block the view. So go for it - paint it the color you want, in the finish you want.
(You may be able to tell: I am enthusiastic about painting but I make a lot of mistakes.)
posted by gingerest at 9:52 PM on January 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
As a general rule, you want to paint walls an eggshell or matte finish, because the more unbroken space you have the more evident flaws are, and the less reflective the paint, the better it hides flaws in your paint job. Plus, cheap semi-gloss and glossier paints dry to the tacky point really fast, but then can take days to cure to hardness. Which is super-duper-irritating because it gets easier to foul up your paint job as your paint dries, and then you have to wait for it to cure before you can cover up the previous mistakes.
But no one is going to be able to see the whole glorious span of your closet walls, because your clothes and shoes and that box with last year's Christmas decorations are going to block the view. So go for it - paint it the color you want, in the finish you want.
(You may be able to tell: I am enthusiastic about painting but I make a lot of mistakes.)
posted by gingerest at 9:52 PM on January 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
All of our closets are colorful inside; it's how we use up testers and leftover paint. The closet in my home office is pinstriped, just for the hell of it. Makes me smile every day,
posted by desuetude at 10:18 PM on January 12, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by desuetude at 10:18 PM on January 12, 2012 [4 favorites]
I have two lavender closets and one apple green one. Not only have I never noticed the colors clashing with clothes or anything, I kind of forgot that they were colorful until I read the questions. I also have a hot pink bathroom. That color does make my skin look a bit rosy in the mirror, but that's not terrible!
posted by artychoke at 10:33 PM on January 12, 2012
posted by artychoke at 10:33 PM on January 12, 2012
How would painting your closet change your clothes' color? I mean, yes, they'll reflect the walls of the closet, but you don't wear your clothes in the closet, and it's not, like, permanent. Do you mean that they would clash with the closet interior? I suppose that might be a problem. I clearly am missing something here.
I was a bit confused by your asking about how your CLOTHES would be affected as well -- unless your question is more like, "would painting my closet X color suddenly make me freak out because all my clothes would look ugly while they're hanging in there because they clash."
I doubt that would be as much of a problem as you fear, because a) you know how your clothes look already, so it wouldn't be like "hey, I know, I'll wear my favorite teal blouse today, and -- OH NO THE TEAL LOOKS UGLY HANGING THERE IN THE CLOSET IT IS RUINED FOREVER," and b) you can always pull a piece of clothing OUT of your closet for a moment if you're skeptical about how it looks.
I don't think "clothes clashing with the color of my closet" is even a concern you should take into account.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:35 AM on January 13, 2012
I was a bit confused by your asking about how your CLOTHES would be affected as well -- unless your question is more like, "would painting my closet X color suddenly make me freak out because all my clothes would look ugly while they're hanging in there because they clash."
I doubt that would be as much of a problem as you fear, because a) you know how your clothes look already, so it wouldn't be like "hey, I know, I'll wear my favorite teal blouse today, and -- OH NO THE TEAL LOOKS UGLY HANGING THERE IN THE CLOSET IT IS RUINED FOREVER," and b) you can always pull a piece of clothing OUT of your closet for a moment if you're skeptical about how it looks.
I don't think "clothes clashing with the color of my closet" is even a concern you should take into account.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:35 AM on January 13, 2012
The way I read the clothes thing is that the OP is worried about the paint rubbing off onto clothes, perhaps in a way that is more noticeable than traditional colors. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience there so I can't speak to that.
posted by raccoon409 at 5:59 AM on January 13, 2012
posted by raccoon409 at 5:59 AM on January 13, 2012
The way I read the clothes thing is that the OP is worried about the paint rubbing off onto clothes, perhaps in a way that is more noticeable than traditional colors.
Really? Huh. I don't think I've ever heard of paint rubbing off the wall onto surfaces even being a Thing.
Well, it's an anecdotal data point, but I've not ever noticed the paint from my closet rubbing off onto my clothes, so I think acidic is safe on this front too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:08 AM on January 13, 2012
Really? Huh. I don't think I've ever heard of paint rubbing off the wall onto surfaces even being a Thing.
Well, it's an anecdotal data point, but I've not ever noticed the paint from my closet rubbing off onto my clothes, so I think acidic is safe on this front too.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:08 AM on January 13, 2012
The paint color in a kitchen affecting the look of food may be a concern, but the paint color in a closet affecting the look of your clothes shouldn't be. Paint away!
posted by fivesavagepalms at 7:39 AM on January 13, 2012
posted by fivesavagepalms at 7:39 AM on January 13, 2012
Response by poster: To clarify, I was worried that light reflecting from a glossy, brightly colored surface would affect how my clothes appear in the closet, not that any paint would actually transfer to the fabric. Or that bright colors in a small space would be overwhelming. But it seems as though that's not a major concern, so thanks for the reassurance.
posted by acidic at 12:25 PM on January 13, 2012
posted by acidic at 12:25 PM on January 13, 2012
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Go for it, paint is cheap, closets are small and the whole project easy to redo if you are not happy with the results.
posted by francesca too at 8:11 PM on January 12, 2012 [4 favorites]