Paint is one of the easiest ways to change the look of your home. It’s also one of the least expensive ways to instantly improve its appearance and the way you feel in it. You don’t need special training—just some basic information and a boost of common sense. You don’t even need expensive equipment. However, there are times when painting may not be as easy as it seems, especially if you decide to paint light colors over existing dark paint.
While dark paint colors can look amazing in the right environment, if you no longer want them, you’ll have to fight them. If you don’t believe this, do yourself a favor and perform a personal experiment. It will help you understand the challenges of successfully painting over dark colors. After all, anyone can tell that it’s much easier to paint red over white than to paint white over red. For example, imagine a dark study with a gorgeous leather paint effect on the walls that you want to turn into a playroom. The paint effect looks wonderful, but it’s completely inappropriate for your children. You need to find a way to change it.
Preparing for the Transformation
You might not have a clue where to start. RELAX.
You don’t need to paint your lounge black and your bedroom red to understand the technique of painting light over dark. All you need to do is see what happens when you paint over different colors. The idea is to physically observe the effects of changing colors inside or outside your home.
If you have a garden wall, use it as your canvas. Otherwise, simply buy a piece of hardboard and prepare it appropriately, coating it with a loud, dark color. Ideally, use paints that are normally used for home walls. Choose a color close to whatever you need to overcoat. Don’t complicate it with paint effects—just use a basic color. You could also do the experiment with artist’s acrylic paints, but avoid using watercolors or oils; they won’t work. Different types of paints are manufactured for different purposes, and the paints that artists use are very different from the ones we use for our homes.
For this experiment, let’s stick with the garden wall, as it’s the easiest option. Paint a large square in a dark color—black, red, navy blue, or garden green. Then paint another square in a softer hue, such as pale ochre. Paint both squares with a single coat of compatible white paint, like acrylic over acrylic. A day later, repaint the wall with more white paint. Anyone who has painted anything will know that it takes more coats to cover dark paint than light paint. If you haven’t experienced this before, continue with the experiment. Without a doubt, the dark hues will be harder to cover than the lighter shades.
But this isn’t the only factor to consider when painting over dark colors.
It’s important to realize that painting over dark colors isn’t just about adding numerous new layers. Depending on the surface, you may need to strip or at least scrape the old paint before you begin. Otherwise, you’ll end up with so many layers that the surface becomes increasingly thick. Even if this isn’t a major problem, the top layers will likely start peeling off over time. This largely depends on the paint and the surface it covers.
In general, the best approach when painting over any color—light or dark—depends on the surface. For example, painted wood is best stripped before repainting. At the very least, it should be lightly sanded. Imagine you have a wooden door painted dark green and want to paint it white. If you don’t strip the door first, you’ll have to paint it… and paint it… and paint it. Eventually, when the paint dries, you won’t be able to close the door because the surface will have thickened by an extra millimeter! It’s much easier to paint over walls repeatedly, but even then, the paint surface will get thicker. This happens much faster when painting over dark colors. While this may not matter with walls, it’s a problem when painting wood or other surfaces, like roof tiles.
Nevertheless, painting over dark colors—both inside and outside our homes—can help transform your space. If you choose to do so, just be sure you know what type of paint was previously used. Otherwise, you might as well stick with the original dark colors.
