Another bit on painting

You must develop confidence to express your style.  The best way is by seeing something visually. If you do see it and  do it yourself, it helps develop that confidence.
That is one reason I tell you that if you see it in front of you, you will know that you either like it or don't.  It is definitely positive feedback.

As with paint, furniture or accessory shopping, they have visual vignettes for you to see in the stores.  You are drawn to the visual impact.  You will walk past things that don't appeal to you, and stop at things you like.

That is why I told you about painting boards.  The following are more examples of faux painting finishes, that I have done:

 

This is an actual garage floor, it looks exactly like tile at a small cost.

 

This a free style painting on a rag rolled wall.  Again, inexpensive to do, or have done.

 

A stencil in a kitchen, that can be manipulated to do what you want it to do.

,

This is a stencil between kitchen cupboards over rag rolling  It gives an added effect to the rather plain cupboards.

All of these had a practice board first.

Today, you want to buy environmentally safe products as much as possible.  Buy paint with a low VOC.  Use peace lilies in pots to pull chemicals out of the air.  They also are beautiful in the home, no matter what room they are in.  I am not sure about all carpeting anymore, but it used to have a lot of formaldehyde in it.  Peace lilies pull the formaldehyde out of the air.  There are many companies out now, that are producing products free of toxic chemicals.  A little research will help you find these products.

Here are a few painting tips:
1.  Cut a slice in the center of a sponge and slide your paint brush handle through it.  It will catch all paint drips and keep hands neat and clean.  When you are finished for the day, remove the sponge and clean your brush.  If the paint is water soluble (latex) you may also rinse out the sponge.  If the paint is an oil base paint, just remove the sponge, clean your brush and let the sponge dry.  You  may wrap your  brush in plastic wrap or a baggie and put in the freezer, it will keep for a few days, thaw it out and start painting.

2.  Instead of masking windows, cut strips of newspaper and wet them; apply to the glass.  If they won't stick dip them in  a mixture of liquid detergent and water, then apply.  When paint is dry, peel off the paper.  It is way less costly than painters tape or masking tape.

3.  Glue a paper plate to the bottom of you paint can to end messy drips that cause a can to stick to your surface. It makes it much easier to move it around.

4.  Take a screwdriver and punch holes around the rim of the paint can, this allows the paint to flow back into the can.

If you read all this before you start any job, it will make it much easier to make choices.