The 7 Best Deck Paints You Can Get, Tested and Reviewed

Chalk paint has become a popular medium for DIY enthusiasts due to its ease of use and ability to transform various surfaces with minimal preparation. This article reviews seven top chalk paints, tested on unfinished wood birdhouses to assess their performance, coverage, and drying times. The testing process involved evaluating each paint's viscosity, ease of application, the number of coats required for full coverage, and the visibility of brush strokes and wood grain. Clean-up difficulty and odor were also noted, with all tested paints demonstrating low odor and easy soap-and-water clean-up. The Annie Sloan Wall Paint is highlighted as the best overall choice due to its versatility, durability, and washable finish. Originating from the inventor of chalk paint, Annie Sloan, this product excels in covering both raw wood and pre-painted walls without requiring a primer. It offers a smooth, manageable texture, excellent coverage, and a soft matte finish that isn't chalky, making it suitable for high-traffic areas like kitchen cabinets. While it needs two coats and may show visible brush strokes, its quick drying time and impressive range of 31 colors make it a top contender, despite its higher price point. It cures completely in about two weeks, after which it can be cleaned without damage. For DIY projects, the FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Ultra Matte Acrylic Paint set is recommended. This affordable nine-color kit is perfect for small creative projects, offering smooth application and a saturated matte finish. It dries to the touch within five minutes, allowing for recoating in ten, and a little paint goes a long way, making it economical for multiple uses. The kit's colors are true to life and can be blended or distressed for custom looks, with individual larger sizes available for frequently used shades. The Waverly Inspirations Chalk Paint is identified as the best budget option, offering excellent coverage and a smooth application for under $10 per 8-ounce jar. Despite its limited eight-color selection and sometimes misleading online color representations, its medium-thick viscosity and smooth, matte finish make it a great value for transforming furniture or craft items. It dries quickly, with minimal brush strokes disappearing as it cures, though care is needed to avoid runs with heavy application. Country Chic Paint Chalk Style Paint earns the title for best colors, boasting over 50 shades and outdoor durability. This paint provides excellent coverage with a smooth, consistent application and a lovely matte finish. While it may be pricier, its performance is comparable to other high-quality brands. It cleans up easily with water and has no strong odor, making it pleasant for indoor use. A protective sealant is recommended for finished projects to prevent chipping or peeling. Behr Premium Chalk Decorative Paint is chosen as the best for walls, offering a balance of chalk paint aesthetics with wall paint performance. It's tintable to over 500 colors, providing extensive color customization. This paint offers great first-coat coverage on porous wood, minimizing the appearance of wood grain, and dries quickly. Its slightly thinner consistency than standard wall paint ensures easy application, making it suitable for large surfaces and a budget-friendly option for accent walls or furniture. Finally, Chalky Chicks Premium Chalk Style Paint is highlighted as the best for furniture due to its versatility on various surfaces, including fabric and leather. This paint adheres well, offers quick drying times, and requires little preparation. While it provides deep, rich color and a matte finish, a topcoat is highly recommended to prevent color rub-off. It can also be thinned for use with a paint sprayer, offering an ultra-fine finish. Rust-Oleum Chalked Spray Paint is recognized as the best spray option, providing a convenient point-and-spray application for an ultra-fine matte finish without brush strokes. Ideal for irregular surfaces and hard-to-reach areas, it offers vibrant color and quick drying. Users are advised to use continuous movement during application to avoid runs and ensure even coverage. This spray paint offers one-coat coverage and eliminates the need for a primer on many surfaces, making it a fast solution for transforming various items. The article concludes by recommending Annie Sloan Wall Paint for its overall versatility and Country Chic Paint for exterior projects, emphasizing the importance of considering finish type, application surface, ease of application, coverage, drying time, and color selection when choosing a chalk paint. #ChalkPaint #DIYProjects #HomeImprovement #FurnitureRestoration #InteriorDesign #PaintReviews #HomeDecor #Crafting

This article explores Glidden's ten best-selling paint colors, offering insights from Glidden Paint by PPG color expert Ashley McCollum on how to best utilize each shade to refresh various spaces within a home. The selection covers a range of hues, including popular neutrals, statement colors for both interior and exterior applications, and options for creating specific moods. The first color highlighted is 'Delicate White,' a soft, rich true white that serves as a versatile main wall color or for trim and ceilings, providing a clean and neutral backdrop that complements diverse decor styles. Following this, 'Night Watch' is presented as a charming deep blue-gray, capable of elevating spaces and pairing effectively with rich camel tones. This versatile shade is recommended for kitchen cabinets, accent walls in studies, or as a striking front door color. 'Gypsum' is described as a creamy white that energizes any room with cheerful warmth, avoiding the coldness often associated with other white shades. It is suitable for main walls or trim and pairs well with green accents. For bold statements, 'Starless Sky,' Glidden's deepest black, is suggested for accent walls, floor and window trim, cabinetry, or even as a modern, sophisticated overall wall color, with varying sheens adding dimension. 'Whiskers' represents the ultimate greige, a popular neutral choice noted for its elegance and versatility. It is recommended for foyers, entire rooms, cabinetry, and home exteriors due to its ability to support both deeper and lighter tones. 'Chalky Blue,' a calming mid-tone blue-gray, is ideal for creating monochromatic schemes in living rooms or bedrooms when combined with deeper blues, grays, and blacks. 'Flagstone' is celebrated for its versatility as a midtone gray, perfect for both interior and exterior use. It can be paired with lemony yellows for a midcentury aesthetic or with whites for a fresh, airy feel. 'Cavalry,' a deep blue-gray, is recommended for creating a bold look, particularly for front doors or exterior trim, and can also be used in dining rooms or bedrooms, with the suggestion to paint trim the same shade to enhance its impact. 'Toasted Almond' is a soft, caramely beige, praised for its neutral appeal. Indoors, it creates a cozy atmosphere when combined with natural woods, greenery, and various textures, while outdoors, it pairs timelessly with classic black and white accents. Finally, 'Light Sage,' an organic midtone green, is presented as an ideal choice for transforming bathrooms or bedrooms into serene retreats, complementing off-white trim and silver or gold accents. Each description provides practical applications and complementary color suggestions, guiding homeowners in their paint color selections. #GliddenPaintColors #HomeDecorating #InteriorDesign #PaintSelection #NeutralPaint #AccentColors #DIYHomeImprovement #ColorTrends

This article offers a comprehensive guide to luxury paint brands, focusing on quality, durability, sustainability, and aesthetic appeal. It begins by emphasizing the transformative power of a fresh coat of paint for home updates. The guide features 18 distinguished paint brands, providing an overview of each to assist consumers in making informed decisions for their interior design projects. Among the highlighted brands, Sanderson is recognized for its extensive color palette of over 150 shades, ranging from subtle neutrals to bold statement colors, available in matte Active Emulsion for high-traffic areas and Acrylic Eggshell for kitchens and bathrooms. Warner House, while known for furniture, is praised for its paint range that complements its fabric and wallpaper collections, featuring sustainably produced colors inspired by historic silk yarns. Edward Bulmer stands out for its commitment to sustainability, openly sharing its nature-based ingredient list and offering luxurious, climate-friendly paints. Soho Home x Lick presents an exclusive paint collection inspired by global Soho House locations, catering to a sophisticated aesthetic. House of Hackney, a B Corp brand, offers over 40 earth-inspired shades with low VOC levels, non-toxic formulations, and recyclable packaging. Little Greene is lauded for its eco-friendly credentials, being the first British paint manufacturer to receive BS EN ISO 14001 certification. Its paints are manufactured in the UK from recycled steel tins and developed in partnership with heritage organizations for historically accurate shades. Farrow & Ball, a British favorite since 1946, offers highly pigmented, water-based paints with minimal VOCs, known for their light-enhancing qualities. Lick is noted for its chic packaging, low VOC formula, and commitment to environmental initiatives, including plastic removal from oceans and tree planting. Clare, a female-founded brand, simplifies the paint selection process with peel-and-stick samples and millennial-targeted names. Andrew Martin introduces a new paint collection featuring signature bold pigments, quick-drying, odor-free, water-based formulas, and a custom color service. Annie Sloan, pioneer of Chalk Paint, provides a versatile solution for painting furniture and walls without priming or sanding, with colors inspired by 18th and 20th-century design. Argile, a luxury French brand new to the UK, offers a timeless, natural-world-inspired palette with sustainable sunflower oil and plant resin formulas. Coat is highlighted for its on-trend colors, peel-and-stick swatches, and B Corp certification, emphasizing recycled packaging, carbon offsetting, and paint recycling. Designers Guild offers 184 shades with high pigmentation, excellent coverage, and low VOCs, ideal for pairing with its bold wallpapers. Fired Earth, known for tiles, provides a range of 120 vibrant colors with deep, mellow tones and a water-based, environmentally friendly formula. Gris focuses on a limited, elegant palette of monochrome tones, using mineral paint free of synthetics and colored with earth oxide pigments for durability. Graphenstone is praised for its pioneering use of lime and 100% natural production cycle, offering flexible, versatile, and durable eco-friendly paints with innovative photocatalytic properties. Mylands, London’s oldest family-run paintmaker, boasts a Royal Warrant and a reputation for luxury, offering a timeless selection of shades for interior and exterior use. Finally, Paint & Paper Library is a favorite among architects and designers for its 180 high-quality colors, including a graduated Architectural Paint range. #LuxuryPaintBrands #EcoFriendlyPaint #SustainableInteriors #InteriorDesign #HomeRenovation #PaintSelection #WallColors #HomeDecor #DecorativePaints

Green paint colors are increasingly popular in interior design, moving beyond walls and exteriors to become a top choice for kitchen cabinetry, trim, and built-in shelving. This trend is attributed to green's bold yet restorative qualities, offering a sense of calm and a connection to nature. Experts like Patrick O'Donnell from Farrow & Ball and Nivara Xaykao, formerly of Benjamin Moore, highlight green's soothing attributes and its versatility in pairing with other colors. Choosing the right shade of green for cabinets, whether light or dark, can be challenging due to the vast number of options. Christopher Scott of Christopher Scott Cabinetry recommends displaying larger painted samples in the physical space and seeking inspiration from platforms like Pinterest to build confidence in the selection. O'Donnell emphasizes trusting one's gut instinct, as a home's decor should reflect the personality of its inhabitants. Interior designers and cabinetry professionals recommend specific green shades for cabinets and trim. Stephanie Sabbe favors Benjamin Moore's Hillside Green for its muddy, neutral quality, suitable for achieving a cohesive monochromatic palette in small spaces when combined with brass, linen, marble, and antique wood. Carrie Hatfield uses Farrow & Ball's Green Smoke for home offices, noting its warm tone and adaptability as a neutral backdrop for various complementary colors and patterns. Whittney Parkinson selected Sherwin-Williams' Oyster Bay for a light, minty, fresh, and cheerful laundry room, believing green symbolizes freshness and perfectly complements cement tiled floors. Alexandra Kaehler recommends Benjamin Moore's Enchanted Forest for a bold yet versatile green, appreciating its gray undertones that make it dusty, muddy, warm, and inviting for spaces ranging from children's rooms to libraries. For a European-style mudroom, Farrow & Ball's French Gray was used on built-in cabinetry, storage, and a worktop island, shining under natural light and against limestone floors and white walls. Shelly Lynch-Sparks chose Benjamin Moore's Essex Green for a modern kitchen, advising bold paint choices can always be changed. Becca Casey, aiming for a traditional Cotswold green, selected Farrow & Ball's Pigeon for a custom built-in, noting its sage hue and how its undertones shift with light. Sara Barney used Benjamin Moore's Captivating Teal for her design studio's shelving, valuing its depth and unique presence. Lynch-Sparks also suggests Benjamin Moore's Hunter Green for kitchen cabinets, highlighting its ability to make neutral furniture pop. Mary Patton utilized Farrow & Ball's Calke Green as a neutral medium tone for a media space, painting walls, ceiling, and trim to add drama. Parkinson also used Benjamin Moore's Intrigue, a gray-green, in a powder room to combat high ceilings, pulling the color from grasscloth. Finally, Glidden's Deep Shaded Grove is suggested for achieving a dark, luscious tone inspired by a client's garden, creating a striking contrast with a white backsplash. Green cabinets are particularly impactful in kitchens, where they evoke health and well-being. Options include using green on all cabinetry, or combining it with another color on base cabinets. Green can also serve as an accent for kitchen islands or built-in bars. In utilitarian spaces like mudrooms and laundry rooms, dusty sage and minty greens add energy, while earthy olive tones can transform bathrooms into serene oases. For a fully immersive experience, green can be applied to all walls, cabinetry, and trim. Darker blue-greens in living rooms or offices are suggested to encourage focus and create a sophisticated atmosphere. For optimal aesthetics, a satin or semi-gloss finish is recommended for a soothing look, while a high-gloss finish in an all-over green shade can create a glamorous effect. Proper preparation, as per manufacturer recommendations, is crucial for paint adhesion and durability, and hiring a professional painter is advised for the best finish, especially for spraying. #GreenCabinets #KitchenDesign #InteriorDesign #PaintColors #HomeDecor #CabinetryTrends #BenjaminMoore #FarrowAndBall #SherwinWilliams #Glidden