Brian Santos - Painting Secrets: Tips & Tricks from the Nations Favorite Painting Expert

introduction

W elcome to my world, the Wall Wizards Workshop, where you are limited only by your imagination.

Youve opened this book because youre interested in painting your home. Youre not alone: Painting is the No. 1 project that do-it-yourselfers tackle, boosting the manufacture of paint and painting supplies into a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry. Unfortunately that industry doesnt teach you how to paint! How can you be good at something without ever being taught? Its like trying to read War and Peace without knowing your ABCs.

Thats where the Wall Wizard can help. Ive spent 25 years making mistakes; thats why Im an expert at knowing what works and what doesnt. Throughout the following chapters, Ill teach you the fundamental principles of painting and share scores of tips, tricks, and techniques that Ive learned through years of hands-on experience.

As a fourth-generation painting contractor, I learned from my father and grandfather the value of working with my hands. I helped by pasting paper, cleaning tools, and keeping the work area neat. By age 16 I was a certified apprentice, and two years later I helped found Wallpapers to Go, a successful West Coast company specializing in painting, faux finishing, and wallcoverings. After becoming a licensed finishes contractor, I discovered that people wanted to learn how to paint, faux finish, and wallpaper, but they had limited resources to teach them. Thats when I began presenting painting workshops at home shows around the world. In more than 20 years of traveling, Ive presented more than 5,000 workshops and reached over a million people.

My philosophy is simple: Knowledge is power. I use educational, entertaining, and empowering principles and processesall captured in this bookto take the feat out of home improvement projects. My mission is to educate. The manufacturers put out great products, but they dont really tell you how to use them. Anyone can pick up a brush; the problem is knowing what to do with it.

Besides learning the basics of painting, youll discover tips for using common household products to achieve professional results. Plastic wrap, vegetable oil spray, vanilla flavoring, plastic milk jugs, garbage bags, and fabric softener are just a few of the tools I use to produce extraordinary professional finishesand so can you.

Even if you have never before picked up a paintbrush, you can create your own wall magic in no time. All it takes is a little planning, patience, and persistence. There is a Wizard within us all, when you learn the why behind the how-tos of painting.

When you look through Wizard eyes, you can see the magic all around you.

chapter

Y our home is your largest, most visible, and most expensive possession, and what color do you paint it? White! There are 16 million colors to choose from, but you wimp out and play it safe. Boring! And by the way, antique white, vanilla, and off-white are not colors.

Color is perhaps the most cost-effective and powerful tool in your decorating bag of tricks. Yet few people know the simple rules that govern this important element of design.

First understand there is absolutely no wrong color to use. Any color can be livable when the hue, value, intensity, and lighting are correct and in balance. If you want to paint a powder room purple with silver leafing and a black glaze, go for it! These color combinations used in the appropriate context, scale, and proportion can be stunning. Used inappropriately, though, they can appear garish and overwhelming.

So go aheadexperiment! If the outcome isnt what you expected, the worst thing that can happen is youll have to paint the walls againhardly an irreversible disaster. In this chapter, Ill explain some common myths, mistakes, and misconceptions about color. Youll learn about proven tools and techniques and be empowered with the knowledge and language of color to express your own style with skill and confidence.

COLOR COMBINATIONS

Learn the simple rules that direct your designpage

CREATING A COLOR PLAN

Train your eyes to see color at work all around youpage

FORMULAS FOR SUCCESS

Choose the paint thats best for your roomspage

E ffective design depends on the relationship of different colors in a room. Color creates a rooms personality, defines its style, sets its mood, controls its space, accents its advantages, and hides its faults. It can turn a dull space into a warm, inviting environment. Yet one color alone cant achieve these benefits. You need a combination of colors that complement and reinforce a particular look or mood. This selection of color combinations becomes your decorating plan.

Changing the wall color and a few accessories creates three different looks in the same room.