Enriching our lives with colour, Heritage Homes, June 2011

Spring is the time when we start to think about refreshing the look of our homes, the sun is radiating its warmth again and the exteriors of our properties are dry and ready for decoration, renovation or restoration; maybe it’s time to rethink and get ready for a new look.

More recently there has been a trend to ensure that exteriors and interiors complement each other, so that we have a seamless transition.  Sustainability is fast becoming a prerequisite rather than just being a fashionable and admirable choice for us all.

Colour is important in all of our lives. It is often taken for granted; but interest in colour has never been as great as it is now. The world would be a sad and boring place if it were only grey and monotone, without colour. Paints over centuries have been the traditional providers of the colour we desire and need in our lives, decorating buildings and properties from the earliest of days.

The choice and number of colours used in an exterior colour scheme is dependent upon the property, its locality and the details that need to be highlighted too. Today’s architects and designers have of course, paid a great deal of attention to creating an interesting and attractive environment, designing buildings that complement their location in shape, style and colour treatments. If you wish to test the boundaries, it is possible to explore a wider palette of different colours that leave behind the bland and monotone and perhaps consider a minimum of three colours.

This is how it is possible to add interest to your property and make it visually more appealing by highlighting its most beautiful features. Perhaps take into account your property’s history and its immediate environs, are you in a rural or built up area, or even by the sea? All of these factors may affect your choice of colour, as well as the style and colour of homes in your neighbourhood, so that you blend in with your surroundings, creating harmony.

It is often possible, without going to extremes, to produce a colour scheme with startling and exciting results; furthermore it is possible to choose colours that set your house apart, without clashing with those of your neighbours’ property; that is if you have any.

If you’re in the country maybe consider earthy colour combinations, a sea view might suggest terracotta, blues, turquoises and coral colours, and even your garden can inspire exciting colour combinations. Don’t forget to harmonise!

If there is a need to break up the appearance of the exterior of a building then it can be possible to use multi-colour, highlight and feature panels to add interest and generally enhance the visual appeal and overall tone of the building.

It is possible to achieve all of this with mineral paints and even have the benefit of real long term colour stability. 

You may need to repair stone façades, reinstate original colours, replace incongruous materials, remediate inappropriate repairs and recreate the original substrate or simply just want to repaint.  Whichever treatment you are considering there are a number of versatile solutions for you to choose from.

Let us consider rendered surfaces, when existing rendered surfaces are being redecorated there is usually a need to carry out repairs. These can range from small localised patches to complete reinstatement of façade elevations. To repair the surface and create a sound smooth consistent base, often the best value in the longer term would be to apply a proven thin section mineral render with a long life mineral coating system.

You could feature a colourful treatment using Keim Universal Render combined with a longlife external mineral paint system such as Keim Granital or Keim Soldalit.

Keim Universal Render provides a lightweight, lime and silicate based render solution, which is breathable and will not shrink and the chosen mineral paint finish will provide a consistent and lightfast strong colour treatment. 

Supplied pre-bagged and ready to use, Universal Render is easy to apply and can accommodate a high degree of thermal expansion and contraction whilst preventing surface crazing or cracking. Keim mineral paint systems offer extremely long life performance due to their microcrystalline structure which forms a chemical bond with the underlying surface, rather than simply coating it, providing exceptional long life protection. This gives rise to long term whole life cost benefits as the frequency of repainting cycles is significantly reduced.

Mineral paints are fully breathable, able to withstand exposure to severe weather conditions, durable and provide a high light reflectance surface. Visually this means that even on dull days the exterior of your home can appear warm and vibrant.

The colour range is extensive, with over 300 standard colours and an available specials library of some 16,000 shades. All colours are produced individually by trained colour experts using a batch blending process, which gives the flexibility to manufacture individual custom colours and colour match particular shades.

Our paints are produced using natural earth oxide pigments, which do not fade throughout the whole life of the paint, it is UV stable and has an inherent resistance to mould and algae and attack by the pollutants which are prevalent in today’s environment.

As well as providing protection, the choice of paint colour can greatly affect our lives, helping to brighten our days and I’m sure you will agree colour can make a very positive contribution to our feeling of wellbeing.

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