DOs and Don’ts of Color Drenching
Color drenching is when you paint everything (walls, trim and doors) the same color, but there are some dos and don’ts of color drenching that you should be aware of.
When we first bought our home I was in love with all of the light. There are windows everywhere and although I knew there were a few changes we wanted to make, first and foremost creating an ensuite on the main floor, I didn’t want to do anything that would lose the light.
And then we built a wall. One thing always turns into another and as we stole space for a kitchen pantry we ended up in need of a half bath on the main floor. So we stole hallway space that was unused and created a powder bathroom.
But let’s get back to color drenching.
DO Color Drench Walls with Picture Frame Moulding
Choosing to color drench a room is a bold new trend that actually helps create a curated and sophisticated look. But, flat paint on flat walls can feel heavy.
✅ Do Color Drenching to highlight architectural details. Adding moulding helps to add depth and character to your room that takes things from boring to curated.
✅ Do Luxe Architectural Moulding to save you time, headache, and money. It is not worth the hassle we went through in our other rooms. We searched high and low for moulding and though online makes it look easy, it was out of stock everywhere. Finally I found Luxe and it was the BEST. DECISION. EVER. The moulding arrived completely ready for each wall with peel and stick capabilities. We had it up and completely ready for paint (for a small powder bath) in less than 30 minutes.
DON’T try to Color Drench Open Layouts
❌ It’s far too difficult to know where to start and stop certain colors, so don’t don’t spaces where one room leads into another.
✅ Do choose to do spaces that are single room spaces like bedrooms, bathrooms, offices and theaters. Walking into a room you couldn’t previously see is a jaw-dropping moment that creates fun and vibrancy in the home.
Do Add Wallpaper
✅ Color drenching and wallpaper are the peanut butter and jelly of the interior design world. Try adding the wallpaper between moulding, choosing an accent wall, or be bold, and do like we did, the ceiling!
We worked with Wallpaper Direct to locate a wallpaper we could not find anywhere and my friend even ended up doing her entire dining room in it! It is stunning and I’ve officially become obsessed with scrolling the site for new ideas. We went with the Pimpernel in Charcoal.
Do Large and Small Spaces
✅ Throw out the opinion that small spaces need light colors. That’s old news and totally not true. Color drenching can be in tiny spaces to large open spaces. It adds a cozy feeling without closing you in. The color we used is Night Train by Benjamin Moore.
Don’t Skip the Door!
❌ Do not leave doors the same as the rest of the house. Color drenching means literally painting everything. But what do you do about the door and the edge of the door? Paint the inside of the door the same color as the room and then pull the door open. If the door enters the room and you see the edge from inside of the drenched room that edge should be the drenched color.
The door edge should always be painted to match the color of the room the door swings into. You don’t want to see the other color when the door is shut AND you want the edge of the door to match the room it’s facing when the door is open! So you also have to look at the edge with the hinge, that color should match the hallway it now faces. Here’s a short video on color drenching doors.
Do Add Small Touches
✅ Do add wood, metals and other touches to break up the paint. We chose to buy these beautiful walnut shelves and then added actual brass railings to make them all the more special. Do not get sucked into the fake stuff online. It will break. It will look plastic or fake and it will not be worth your time and money.
We found the Brass Addict online and have quickly noticed that they are taking off more and more as the number one source for all things brass. In fact, stay tuned as you are going to see it show up in a very important way in another room in our house!!
Check out our instagram channel to see the videos of everything!