Paint

Colors are a powerful phenomenon and have an enormous impact on both body and soul. It is therefore necessary to briefly describe their impact:

Red = hot color, excites the temperament, not an advisable color for an unruly child but good in moderation for a calm child. A whole room painted in bright red would, however be overwhelming. The same goes for the color of pink, since it is actually only red diluted with white.

Yellow = hot color, enlightens, brightens the mood and increases optimism – a good color for most people. Bright yellow is a bit strong though and aggressive for a whole room. Yellow is a good color to work with and temper down.

Green = temperate color, soothes and connects to the earth. Green shades can be very variable – yellow-green, blue green, light green, green as moss, and still all those colors act as calming and soothing.

Blue = Cold color, has a certain amount of balance and opens space but is still a bit cold and distant all by itself. It is better to temper it down a bit or  add a little green to it.

It is good to temper colors down by diluting them with white or to use layered painting (lasur). Lasur provides a certain depth and the room does not seem to be a closed box anymore. There are several methods for painting lasur, for instance, by using a sponge and ordinary watercolor (made from lightproof artists’ quality pigments) that have been diluted in a bucket of water. The sponge is then pressed against the white painted surface. It only needs a little bit of good quality watercolor into a whole bucket of water. The sponge is pressed against the whole wall, the paint left to dry and this process is repeated twice or thrice depending on how dark one wants to have the color. It is best to use a natural sponge but a bungled old cloth also can create an interesting texture.

Paint can pollute the air that we breathe!

Environmental labeling addresses the production processes of the paint and it’s offgassing when it’s already on the wall. It is therefore advisable for the indoor air quality to choose environmentally labeled paint, for instance marked with the Swan label or the European flower.