Painting Rooms: How to Choose and and Use Paint Like an Expert - Softcover

Judy Ostrow is an independent journalist who specializes in writing about the home, its architecture, interior design, and renovation. Her articles have appeared in many national magazines, including Home, Natural Home, This Old House, and special publications of House Beautiful and Woman’s Day. She has painted many rooms of the home she shares with her husband and two children in Westchester County, New York, and is currently planning the painted interior of the family’s vacation house in Maine.

Introduction: The Power of Paint

For the cost of several cans of color and a few simple tools, you have the power to transform an ordinary room into something memorable, beautiful, and comfortable. Available in an almost infinite rainbow of colors, paint has become the most easily obtainable, versatile, and economical decorating medium.

Paint accomplishes myriad decorating tasks. It creates a unifying backdrop to harmonize an eclectic group of furnishings. It highlights a collection of prized possessions. It accentuates beautiful architectural features, making it easier to notice their detail. It brightens dull surroundings, or softens an austere setting. It can be manipulated to mimic many kinds of luxury materials—marble, precious metal, or exotic wood. With so much talent, paint has become an indispensable ingredient for home decoration. Painting Rooms is designed as a guidebook for using painted surfaces as a key component for decorating interiors.