HELPFUL ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS

Black is a fabulous color for adding contrast, “edge”, or glamour, and as home and cabinet painters, we’ve painted more than our share of black out there, so we wanted to share our top four picks for the best black paint colors.  There is a plethora of  options, but choosing one really comes down to…

Where to buy wallpaper has become a real puzzle for many of us.   Without a local showroom to shop at, where do you go?  How do you know what’s available, what you will like, what a wallpaper might feel like or look like in your space? What options do you have?   Knowing where…

Knowing how to choose wallpaper, especially if you’re shopping online, can make the difference between jumping for joy when your new wallpaper is installed, or desperately looking up the vendor’s return policy and hoping you didn’t just make a very expensive mistake!   Finding the right wallpaper for your space is now both harder and…

If you’re researching how to install removable wallpaper (commonly called “peel and stick wallpaper”), you’ve probably already read our earlier post with our installation how-to videos. . In those videos, our own Peter Moon shows you how he begins the installation of peel and stick wallpaper at his daughter’s apartment, on top of the existing…

If you love wallpaper but just want something temporary, removable wallpaper (also known as peel and stick wallpaper) sounds like the best of both worlds!  You get the pattern you love, but you get to take it down later without damage to your walls, which is perfect if you live in an apartment or are…

Banana leaf wallpaper feels so fresh and modern but has a fun history and some serious design cred. . It first burst on the scene in the 1940’s with the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel, at a time when people we celebrating the end of war and a return to nature and vibrancy.  There have been many…

As an experiment recently, I googled “white kitchen ideas” to see what the all-knowing internet had to offer.  We get asked to paint kitchen cabinets white so often, and see the hesitation that some homeowners have about painting their kitchen all white, that I wanted to have something useful to offer.   However, while there…

A glance at some of our favorite white kitchens shows why a limited color palette can be both timeless and interesting!   When we started painting kitchen cabinets in a big way eight years ago, almost all of our clients felt overwhelming relief at finally painting out their outdated oak cabinets and getting the bright,…

The undertones in exterior paint colors can make or break your painting project  –  here’s how to identify them! . If you’re planning to paint the exterior of your home, you can’t just pick a random color out of a fan deck –  you need to know about the ever-present undertones in exterior paint colors,…

If your home needs painting, do it, but don’t neglect these curb appeal basics!   Even though we’re not professional landscapers, we see so many homes when we go to estimate an exterior painting project that we feel like we’ve absorbed some curb appeal basics by sheer osmosis!  It’s too easy to get used to…

Green-gray exterior paint colors are often the best choice for homes with natural stone or brick accents.  Here’s a case study that illustrates why!   In our blog on picking exterior paint colors, we talk about how any unpainted brick or stone areas on your home must be factored in when you’re selecting colors for…

Picking exterior paint colors is the scariest part of their project for most homeowners.   The process seems fraught with peril:  What if your house ends up looking garish and (even worse) everybody sees? What if it goes from “old, outdated eyesore” to “expensively painted eyesore”, and now you’ve spent your whole budget and it’s…

Can you get an estimate for your home painting project without meeting with an estimator in person?  Yes, we can do that for you!  We call it a “virtual estimate”, and it’s a convenient and safe way for us to estimate your home painting, cabinet painting, or wallpapering  project, without having to come to your…

Should you paint your brick house?  What are the pros and cons?   A common scenario:   Homeowner Jane wants to paint her dark red brick home.  It’s dismal, dreary, and looks like an old institutional building.  There’s nothing attractive about it, other than its “good bones”.  Hubby Josh insists that brick, like stained wood,…

Painting cabinets two different colors can elevate a kitchen to a whole new level, design-wise.  While it used to be considered a bit daring or even eccentric, we now see two-tone kitchens quite often.  But is there a reason to take this risky-sounding move?  Or should you stick to just one tried-and-true color for your…

“Why is it so expensive to paint a house?  Why is there such a wide range in the estimates I get?”  You grumble to your partner as you’re looking at three widely different bids.  You really liked the most expensive guy (of course), but the cheaper guy’s price is just hard to ignore.  Is the…

Visualize an excited homeowner who just moved into her house, and is opening the door for the color consultant to come in and work her magic.  As a color consultant, I know exactly what the homeowner is probably thinking.  She is thrilled to have finally moved into her house but is decidedly NOT thrilled with…

Can I use my kitchen while my cabinets are being painted?   We get asked this often enough that we wanted to answer this question in detail.  Professional painters like us want their clients to feel at ease when they’re in the middle of a painting project.  After all, we know that painting, or just…

Ever want a little help picking a paint color, but you’re not sure who to call – an interior designer, or a color consultant, or your stylish neighbor, or your mom?  Especially when it comes to interior design and knowing what will make their home look good, many of us freeze.  As professional painters, we…

Before I got trained as a color consultant, I used to stress over picking paint colors.   I’d come home from the paint store with ziplock bags full of paint chips and color strips.  Too many choices?? No such thing!  You need to make an informed decision, right?  Somewhere among all those paint chips I…

Homeowners ask me all the time if they’ll still see the grain on painted cabinets, or whether they should just tear the old cabinets out and start fresh.  Whether or not you’ll still see the grain is probably the number one factor that determines which direction their kitchen improvement project will take. If you have…

Does “Paint and Primer in One” actually work? Homeowners and DIY enthusiasts have almost certainly heard their favorite paint company advertise a product that eliminates the need to prime. “Paint and primer in one!? My lucky day!!” This is what the average consumer is undoubtedly led to believe. But there are many misconceptions about this…

As a lover and purveyor of interior design on a dime, I’ve wondered, “Should I paint my kitchen cabinets myself?”  I’m always looking for inspiration and how-to’s on just about any interior design or home improvement topic, and I have to admit the amount of “Professional DIYers” I follow on Instagram is astronomical. The tufted…

The title says it all, and believe it or not, I get asked this question by more than half of our new clients. And it’s an understandable one. I know the feeling of opening your front door for the electrician or plumber and wondering, “Hmm.  He looks a bit… raggedy.  We’ll see how this goes.”…

Painting cabinets is a pretty tempting DIY project.  How do the pros do it?   I remember looking at my hideous pickled-oak cabinets and thinking, “I should just paint those!  I’ve got time, how hard can it be?”  I used to be pretty handy back in the day, and I’d try household projects all the…

Wondering if an accent wall is a good idea?     We often get asked to weigh in on this, since we’re asked to paint them!  Here are my do’s and don’ts for accent walls, from an interior design perspective.     First, the most important thing to understand about accent walls is that they…

Working with an interior designer is the surest way we know to guarantee a beautiful, updated home that reflects your tastes.  We love working with designers, and your project will be in good hands. . But homeowners can unknowingly make life difficult for their designer, and get in the way of their own project’s success….

How do you know who is a good painting company, and who isn’t?  How do you find a great painter, and not just someone who hired a good marketing company to make them look good? After all, it’s easy to make just about any business look impressive online.  What should you look for in a…

Why hire a professional painting contractor? After all, painting doesn’t look that hard . . .  right??   There are plenty of blogs out there designed for the DIY market that make interior painting look pretty easy.  (Most homeowners won’t tackle exterior painting, and with good reason . . .  but more on that below.)…

White paint is the go-to color for most homeowners in Austin, TX, and with good reason!   (It’s quickly become the go-to color in San Antonio, TX as well, although San Antonio kept its beiges and tan colors a lot longer than Austin did. By the way, the lovely white interior space in our title…

If you’re picking a paint color for your home, you first browse online for some inspiration photos, right? . Yes, but that’s only a starting point.  Finding photos online can point you in the right direction, but it won’t get you to the finish line . . .  and those photos can inadvertently be misleading….

If you want a fresh, white kitchen, selecting the right white kitchen paint color for your cabinets can be massively frustrating! So much so, in fact, that many of our clients opt for our complimentary color consulting services, to take the stress out of it.  After all, there are hundreds of whites out there, in…

What does kitchen cabinet painting cost?  We sat down with our San Antonio team to discuss our painting process and estimate some ballpark figures based on a small, medium, and large set of kitchen cabinets.     You can view our video, or just read on! Let’s start by covering some of the benefits of hiring…

Are interior colors getting warmer, and is brown coming back?  And what does this mean for you?   I’m often asked if brown is “coming back”. This photo is my answer to that question. Yes, brown is being incorporated back into interiors, bringing some friendly warmth into a space.  But notice these walls:   they’re…

We’re so honored to have one of our wallpaper installations and cabinet painting projects featured in this Houzz article, that we just had to share it!  And we are tickled pink (orange?) by the playful and cheery design selections by the wonderful Crystal Romero of Bradshaw Designs! Read the full article, with details and before pictures,…

If you’re ready to start updating your Tuscan brown home, where do you begin?  What will have the most impact immediately?   Do you start with painting the walls?  (Not a bad plan!)  New rugs?  Furniture??  Moving out of the Dark Ages (the “Brown Phase”) actually starts with decluttering!  Because most homes designed during the…

After seeing light, fresh interiors everywhere in stores, on HGTV, and in your friends’ houses, you’re ready to freshen up your home, especially if it’s still in what we call the “Brown Phase” of the past few decades.  You’ll be moving out of the Dark Ages – literally!  But you’re unsure how to begin.  Cream or…

We’re often asked whether we recommend painting kitchen cabinets before or after the new countertops and backsplash are installed.  You might be worried about damaging the freshly-painted cabinets during new counter or tile installation.  But maybe you’re itching for an updated kitchen NOW  –  we’ve all been there!  –  and want to get the painting done, at…

Painting crown molding is usually straightforward – just paint it the same color as the rest of the trim or woodwork in the room (the baseboards, door casings, and window sills).  But there are exceptions! . If we’re painting kitchen cabinets in a new color, homeowners often ask us whether their crown molding should be painted…

Perhaps you’ve noticed lots of black painted trim – doors, windows, woodwork – in interior design magazines.  The problem is, not ALL the trim is black, which makes it hard to figure out the pattern.  Maybe all the baseboards and crown molding are white, but the windows themselves (the metal, wood, or vinyl parts –…

Clients often ask us about grasscloth, whether it wears well, and especially whether it’s possible to get a “seamless” look with it.   We love grasscloth!  Yes, it wears beautifully  –  after all, this is not your 1970’s straw-looking stuff.  Today the fibers and weaves are tighter and lay flatter.  You’ll find many lovely versions…

Most of us know by now that the “Brown Phase” of interior design is (thankfully!) over.  It lasted a good long while… through all of the 90’s and into the mid-2000’s.   White and gray are tied for the “new neutral”, and bright colors are back in a big way.  No more bronzes, golds, and…

We wanted to show you one of our favorite examples of how white cabinets will transform a space!  This small kitchen, in a lovely hundred-year-old home in a historic neighborhood, was completely transformed when Paper Moon Painting refinished the cabinets in a lovely soft white.  The previous owner had “modernized” the kitchen in order to sell…

Okay, so you decided your kitchen needs a facelift, you’ve done some research and professional painters like us are telling you that painting cabinets with lacquer is going to be your best bet.  Originally you wanted a full remodel . . .  You thought your Uncle Gene said that he left you some “fracking land”, but…

Seemingly all at once, everyone’s cabinets are outdated.   One day, everyone woke up, took a good look at their golden oak cabinets while brewing their morning coffee, and said to themselves, “Argh!!… they’re orange!”  Or  you realize that those “whitewashed” pickled oak cabinets are… pale pink.  Suddenly you find yourself staring at a massive design…

Over the past few weeks, some of my clients have really struggled to pick a paint color.   These people were decisive professionals in their business lives, yet when sifting through hundreds of colors in dozens of paint charts, they froze.   So many colors are SO similar.  And color choice seems so “permanent”.  After all, you’re paying someone to put…

We’re back for Part 2 of the gripping story that had you all on the edge of your seats at the end of Part 1: “I tried stripping this *f#&$@%!!^ paper, I’ve realized that removing wallpaper is no joyride but it still needs to come off, now what??”   Okay, so you took a razor…

So I walk into one of my jobs the other day and what do I see but one of my painters making a massive rookie mistake:  trying to remove wallpaper that didn’t want to be removed.  Ugh!  There goes an extra day of prep and many hundreds of dollars right out the door.  We were preparing…

“Which paint sheen should I use?”  “Does it really matter?”  “Is there such thing as a sheen mistake?”  I hear these questions all the time. What is paint “sheen”, exactly? Loosely defined,  “sheen” is the amount of “shininess” of any surface.  Technically anything you can imagine has a sheen, from a rose petal or a…

Okay folks, in case you’re still wondering, wallpaper trends have changed again, and now it’s back!  I know you’ve been meaning to get rid if that old dated wallpaper, thinking that the stuff is completely passe.  You’ve resigned yourself to having that room with the leopard print wallpaper textured and painted like the rest of the house,…