How to Brighten Up a Basement Apartment with Paint
- 1). Pick up a color swatch from a paint or hardware store. Different brands, such as Sherwin-Williams or True Value Paint, have their own custom color swatches of paint. Paint swatches are hues of colors that are arranged into color families. They make it easier to pick a color and find a light hue.
- 2). Decide if you want to brighten the room with a neutral color, cool color or a vibrant color, like yellow. Neutral colors consist of gray, beige or white. Cool colors include light greens, soft pinks and light blues. Avoid using a warm color, like a dark red, because it will darken the room. Ask the store to mix up a several small cans of different paints to test on one of the basement walls.
- 3). Paint a small portion of the wall with the sample paint. Make sure to give the area two coats to get an accurate assessment of what the color will look like. Turn on all the lights and open the curtains in the room to see how much light is reflected off the new color. A color that reflects a lot of light will brighten up the dark corners of a room.
- 4). Buy a primer to cover up the existing wall color, allowing your new paint to go on without too many coats. Try to get a primer tinted with the same color as the new paint. Apply primer on all walls and trim.
- 5). Make sure that the primer is completely dry before applying the new paint. However, certain primers are chemically formulated to attach to wall paint applied within 24 hours, so make sure to check instructions and don't wait too long.
- 6). Paint the trim with white interior house paint to show off the details. Use a semi-gloss finish to keep the trim from getting chipped from vacuums. Semi-gloss is also easier to clean with a sponge than matte paint. Use painter's tape to section off the trim from the rest of the wall to avoid spilling wall paint on your newly painted trim.
- 7). Apply a semi-gloss wall paint to the basement walls. Semi-gloss paint will be durable for basements that can sometimes flood and it reflects a lot of light from the walls. If you want more of a matte finish, choose an eggshell finish, but keep in mind that it will not reflect the same amount of light.
