Interior Painting Can Make a Quick Fix to Your Home for the Holidays

With the holidays fast approaching, so are your holiday visitors.  Is your home company-ready?  If not, there’s still time to do something about it, according to Debbie Zimmer, spokesperson for the Paint Quality Institute.

“You can dramatically upgrade your décor in just a weekend, or even a day, by doing some interior painting,” says Zimmer.  “And this type of remodeling is affordable even in the gift-giving season, since it typically costs a do-it-yourselfer far less than $100 to paint a room.”

Why is it that we tend to spot deficiencies in our décor just before family and friends are due to arrive?

“In the throes of day-to-day living, most of us become somewhat blind to the condition of our rooms, including their color.  But when it really counts, we take a harder, more critical look.  All too often, we don’t like what we see.  When that happens, we are left with a couple of options:  We can panic. . . or paint,” says Zimmer.

Nothing changes the appearance of a home interior faster, or more effectively, than a fresh coat of interior paint, she says.  And, giving a room an entirely new appearance at holiday-time can help lift your spirits and that of your guests.

What’s especially nice about painting just prior to the holidays is that you can even choose colors that are appropriate for the season. . . as long as you’ll still love them when the day is done.

Zimmer, an expert on color, offers some suggestions:  “At Thanksgiving, fall colors that mirror the time of the year are most attractive -- harvest gold, ochre, brown, beige, and rust, for example.  And nothing is cozier and more inviting at Christmas or New Year’s than a special dinner set in a beautiful dining room decked out in a deep shade of red or green paint.”

If you’re really pressed for time, you can paint just an accent wall in a holiday-appropriate color, says Zimmer.  “Painting even one wall can make a big difference in the appearance of a room and it can be done in a just a few hours.  If you fall in love with the color, you have the option of painting the rest of the room at a later date, and if you happen to tire of it, you haven’t invested much effort,” she says.

Assuming that your pre-holiday painting is focused on rooms that will be filled with people, keep in mind that paints with higher sheen levels will be more stain-resistant and easier to clean.  Both woodwork and walls in gathering spots like the kitchen, family room, kids’ playroom, and rec room should be done with semi-gloss paint.  To make cleaning even easier, be sure to use durable top quality 100% acrylic latex interior paint.

And keep in mind that top quality latex paint offers another nice advantage:  It has very low odor;  plus, any minor odor it may have will dissipate very quickly.  Even if you paint only a short time before your guests arrive, no one will catch a whiff of it!

So think about giving yourself and your family an unexpected gift this holiday season – the gift of color.  The cost is very reasonable, and a beautifully painted room will provide pleasure not just at the holidays, but throughout the year!

For more information on color selection and interior painting, visit www.paintquality.com.

Deborah Zimmer

The Paint Quality Institute
Dow Coating Materials

dzimmer@dow.com
Office: 215-592-2169
Mobile: 215-962-5551

About the Paint Quality Institute (SM)

The Paint Quality Institute (SM) was formed by Rohm and Haas Company (now a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company ("Dow")) in 1989 to educate people on the advantages of using quality interior and exterior paints and coatings. The Paint Quality Institute's goal is to provide information on the virtues of quality paint as well as color trends and decorating with paint through a variety of vehicles, including television appearances, newspaper and magazine articles, and instructional literature. Please be sure to visit the Paint Quality Institute at www.paintquality.com

About Dow

Dow combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element" to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2009, Dow had annual sales of $45 billion and employed approximately 52,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 214 sites in 37 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

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