Thinking of smartening up your skirting boards or giving your doors a dazzling new look? No need to tread on eggshells. If you’ve never used YesColours’ eggshell paint before, or simply feel in need of a little inspiration, read on for a few tips on ways to use eggshell well on woodwork.
WoodWORK it, baby.
So often, woodwork simply fades into the background. We feel sad for that kind of woodwork. Destined always to be the supporting cast and never the star. Lift it out of off-white ignominy with a shot of colour where it’s least expected. How about smart and chic four-panel doors in Fresh Lilac? Or statement Electric Aqua bannisters to slide down, Mary Poppins style? Use synthetic brushes and small rollers for eggshell, and do yourself a favour and buy the best quality you can afford. Fear not, though: eggshell is very forgiving as it has a lower sheen than gloss or satin.
Fresh Lilac is one of our bestselling paint colours as it's so versatile and can easily adapt to any space. Paint your wardrobe or chest of drawers in this colour and you'll find yourself in pastel heaven, wanting more and more colour around you.
Panelled to perfection.
Panelling seems to roar in and out of fashion, but we are fans of it - done with a colourful twist. If you have some tired wood panelling in your home, rather than stripping it or painting it in a wallflower shade of stone or grey, knock back the walls in a neutral colour and let the panelling sing out. We can just see some old pine panelling given a lick of eggshell Passionate Pink paint against a dark or neutral background. When you’re painting panelling, try to always end on an upstroke, which leaves a cleaner finish with fewer bubbles.
The perfect Barbie pink coloured hallway (clearly so on trend right now!) - a colour drenched Passionate Pink eggshell paint heaven in the home of Emma @homemilk.
Totally floored.
Colourful skirting boards draw your eye to the floor, giving a new perspective on a room and helping it appear to be taller. We’d love some Passionate Lilac coloured eggshell skirtings to welcome you into a pared-back hallway or a sophisticated monochrome bathroom. Don’t forget to tape your floor when you’re doing skirtings in case of drips. No one likes a drip.
Unexpectedly amazing colour combinations: Passionate Lilac and Electric Mint Green. Both of these colours are now available in both matt and eggshell paint finish.
Frame it.
Think of window and door frames like a picture frame, highlighting a view. Consider what you see when you look through them and choose a colour that will complement the framed view. A sunshiny Electric Yellow would make a wonderful frame for a garden, picking out the yellows in any greenery outside and lifting your spirits at the same time.
If you want to be incredibly quirky, instead of painting the door and the frame, paint only the trim (that’s the bit you can’t see when the door is shut). A zingy Joyful Orange eggshell on the trim of a grey interior door will make you smile every time you open or close it.
Don’t feel tied to masking tape; lots of eggshell woodwork jobs are best just done by eye - then there’s no tricky peeling off to do later.
Upcycled furniture.
Don’t forget that the eggshell paint finish is really hardwearing so is great for wooden furniture as it can be wiped down if any marks appear. Simple wooden ladder back chairs look amazing in a mix of rainbow colours. We’d go for a collection of chairs, each in a different ice-cream shade from the YesColours Friendly Collection, personally, but you do you.
Our pro tip for painting furniture in eggshell paint is to prep well. Treat any knots with knotting solution first, prime if you need to (though eggshell takes best on bare, untreated wood) and let each coat dry thoroughly and sand between coats.
No more boring furniture! And that includes children's toys, mini kitchens, doll houses and everything in between. This little kitchen piece has been upcycled with our Fresh Peach eggshell paint and it looks so good you'd want to paint your grown-up kitchen with it too. What a glow!
If you’re looking for a little help with choosing the right paint colours for your home decor palette, book a colour consultation with us. It's easy, it's fun... and there's a free option available too.
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