It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do, and as there are so many different colours and types of paint available, not to mention application techniques, your options are almost limitless.

Plus, the best part about paint is that if you don’t like the end result, you can cover it up quickly and easily!

These painting ideas will add life to any room, and are easy to complete too.

Feature walls

In recent years feature, or accent walls have become incredibly popular- and they are exactly what they sound like- a wall that is painted to stand out. Bright bold colours, or rich dark hues work best for feature walls, so red, blue, purple or even a deep grey is ideal. A very light feature wall won’t have the same impact as a darker one, so picking a deeper colour is best.

Light and dark walls

This takes the idea of the feature wall one step further. You’ll need to choose a darker colour for a feature wall, and then the rest of the room’s walls will be painted in a lighter shade of the same colour.

Imagine a paint strip swatch- you’ll pick the darkest colour on the swatch, and then one of the lighter colours to complement it. Pinks, blues, greys and greens work really well for this, but you can choose any colour you love really, so let your imagination run riot.

Contrasting colours

If you are really looking to make a statement you can pick contrasting colours that look great together, and paint 2 adjacent walls.

Take a look at the colour wheel for inspiration and match up luxurious purple with sunny yellow, or deep blue with hues of orange. You can go light or dark here and can mix and match as you desire.

Mix matte and gloss

Matte and gloss paint, even in the same colour, can look quite different, and if you do alternating walls, or a feature wall in one, and the rest of the walls in another, you’ll get a great textured finish.

You can even opt to do skirting’s in gloss and the rest of the wall in matte to add some interest.

Try paint effects

We don’t mean that hideous sponging effect that was huge in the 1990’s, but more the elegant ragged, streaked or stained effect that adds gorgeous texture to any room.

You may need to call in a professional to get this right, or practice it a bit, just like you would when playing the various fun online games on offer, but the results will be worthwhile.

Paint the ceiling

And not just white or cream! If you’ve painted your walls, why not paint the ceiling a lighter shade of whatever colour you chose?

Or, if you are really brave opt for a darker colour, especially if you have cross beams or sections that you can keep white for contrast.