The living room is one of the rooms in the house where we spend the most time: this is why painting the living room and dining room and choosing the right color are very important.
It's therefore legitimate to ask yourself how to paint your living room like a pro. Through this guide, we'll give you the best advice for painting your room, from choosing the right paint to applying color to your living room walls .
Between the finish to choose, the almost infinite possibilities in terms of decoration that we offer with 100 shades, or even the tools available to carry out the painting of your room , we will try to answer all the questions that may arise before painting your living room or dining room with Algo ecological paint.
Choosing the right paint for your living room
Use Algo eco-friendly paint
The first legitimate question when painting your living room is the choice of paint: there are a multitude of brands and almost all of them offer a product intended for painting the living room, this is even more the case for multi-surface paints.
While value for money should of course be one of the most important criteria, it's important to know that there are several specific paint characteristics. In the eyes of the Algo team, the ecological aspect of paint should be one of the most important.
Acrylic paint, commonly known as water-based paint, is a possible alternative for this part of the house. However, it is important to know that even if this type of paint is called water-based paint, it contains synthetic elements in its composition and is made from solvent resources that can account for up to 60% of the composition.
As you can see, this type of paint isn't necessarily the healthiest, especially since water-based paints release a certain amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A more environmentally friendly paint will reduce these risks to your health.
To protect your health, it is therefore preferable to use a more natural paint such as Algo multi-surface paints: algae-based paint formulated from a natural and bio-sourced resin. Algo multi-surface paints are perfectly suited to be applied in a living room, offering an average coverage of 12 m² per liter and per coat, which makes it one of the most covering paints on the market with a very attractive price per m2. Opting for an ecological paint such as Algo is also a sustainable choice.
A satin or velvet finish
This is one of the questions that comes up most often before painting any room : we hesitate over the finish to apply to the living room .
While the possibilities between matte, satin, and velvet are real, the choice is much simpler than it seems: satin and velvet finishes are the ones predestined to be applied to the walls of your living room. Both washable, these finishes will reflect light as best as possible and give an impression of brightness. Satin will even tend to enlarge the room if you choose a neutral and soft shade , such as white or beige, for example, which is a real plus in terms of decoration.
For the ceiling, it's a different story. We recommend using the matte finish offered by Algo, as is customary for all rooms in the house (except wet rooms ). The matte finish is very useful for preventing light reflections, which is important for a ceiling.
Please note that there is one exception: the matte finish can be applied to walls if they are in poor condition and have imperfections, as it will have the effect of masking them.
The choice of color: essential for decoration
Before painting or repainting your living room, you must have asked yourself the question of the decoration, the trend but more particularly the color , or the colors that you are going to apply on the walls or on a section of wall of your living room to bring life to the room and bring an ambiance specific to your personality.
With a color chart of 100 shades , at Algo we are fully aware of the interest and time that choosing a color requires. This will have a definite impact on the atmosphere and style that you will bring to your living room. Pastel colors, for example, can make the space more welcoming, while darker colors will bring character.
Color will also have an impact on the style and decor of your living room. That's why it's important to make your choice based on the room 's layout, size, exposure, and natural light. A well-chosen color can even visually enlarge the space and make it more pleasant.
Because there's something for everyone when it comes to decorating , our color chart covers all the trends and colors , from shades of pink and orange to more neutral and timeless tones like white and beige. You'll definitely find the perfect shade for your project.
How to paint your living room with Algo eco-friendly paint?
You've chosen algo's multi-surface paint, your finish, and even the color of your living room. Now you're going to move on to painting it. When we talk about painting, we mostly think about painting the walls of a room .
In reality, for successful work, we break down painting into three stages: preparing the walls to be painted, choosing the right tools and finally the practical aspect with the application of Algo ecological interior paint.
Prepare your living room before painting
Preparing your living room is essential for achieving the best possible results when applying interior paint. First, we recommend covering all furniture and decor to avoid any potential paint spills.
When possible, do not hesitate to place all furniture and furnishings in the center of the room so that the walls are clear and you can paint in peace.
Once you have completed this operation, we recommend inspecting the general condition of your walls and cleaning them with a microfiber cloth and slightly soapy water. Don't hesitate to inspect the surface of the walls to remove grease, dirt, and impurities that may have accumulated over the years. Once this is done, inspect the general condition and detect any imperfections, such as holes and cracks, and fill them with a coating. When the coating is dry, smooth it out and make it consistent with the rest of the walls and you can move on to the next steps.
Choose the right tools
Now that everything is ready and you have Algo eco-friendly paint to paint your interior, make sure you have all the right tools at hand to carry out your painting work. There are essential tools such as rollers, brushes or possible rabbit feet, but there are also other tools that could be of great help to you, including grids to evenly distribute the paint on the roller or simply a paint tray. The smooth masking roller is not mandatory, although very often necessary to delimit the surfaces to be painted and to protect certain elements that you do not want to paint, such as baseboards or switches.
To ensure you don't forget anything and have the best possible tools for your job, we offer a professional tool kit with everything you need to complete your painting projects. This kit is priced at €24.90.
A little extra tip: if you're using multiple colors from the Algo color chart on different sections of wall, we recommend using multiple rollers and storing them in an airtight bag: the roller won't dry out, but you can also reuse the roller without having to clean it.
Time to paint!
Now that you're ready, you can finally start painting and bring some decor and color into your living room. The first thing to do is apply the Algo eco-friendly primer to even out the surface and ensure the best possible adhesion of the Algo topcoat.
Whether for the Algo undercoat or for the paint, it will be very important to start with the ceiling in order to avoid damaging the work carried out in the event of drips or splashes on the walls which will be repainted later.
Once the undercoat has been applied, respect the drying time indicated by the manufacturer and you can then move on to applying the Algo ecological finishing paint of the chosen finish, for which we recommend using a 14 millimeter microfiber roller.
The application of Algo eco-friendly paint must be as uniform as possible, which is why we strongly recommend crossing your layers and applying first from top to bottom, then from left to right. This will allow you to apply the paint evenly and, above all, avoid possible roller marks when the paint dries. This application must be done in a thin layer, as this will allow you to optimize the application and drying time. This will also prevent excess paint from remaining on the edges of the roller, which is often the cause of marks when drying.
You can also apply by perimeter of one square meter by 1 square meter in order to have the smoothest and most uniform result possible.
This is important for smooth surfaces, but you also need to paint the corners and edges. Doing this with a roller can be very tricky, which is why a sash brush can be very beneficial for clearing corners and painting them cleanly. As with roller application, it is strongly recommended not to overload the brush with paint to achieve a smooth and consistent result.
For those with more advanced equipment, spray application is possible. In this context, paint manufacturers often recommend diluting the paint with water, simply because it is applied by spraying. This spraying method saves a lot of time, but makes the final application less clean. For Algo paints, we recommend diluting them by up to 10% to achieve good spraying.
Please note that spray application does not exempt you from applying a second coat and, above all, a loss of yield will be observed, which can be up to 20% of the average yield indicated by the manufacturers; this also applies to Algo paints.
Bonus: Our color ideas for painting your living room
It's normal to be unsure about the decor you want to use and the color that will reign in your living room.
Whether you want to paint the entire room in the same tones, follow a trend or simply paint a section of wall, here are our color ideas and tips to enhance the ambiance of your living room.
Powder pink color in a living room
It's a soft shade that can be used on a wall to add more life to your decor. Powder pink is one of the most trendy shades right now, bringing a refreshing style. The effects of this color can be combined with the neutrality of white. For the more inventive, a combination with delicious orange can be considered when used in small touches.
Terracotta color in a living room
By all accounts, repainting a living room or dining room in terracotta seems to be one of the best shades to use.
The effect will be real and will make your space warm. If you don't want to pair it with white, beige is a great alternative.
Remember, to get the best possible opinion on a color, the best thing to do is to order the tester or sample of the shade in question in order to consider the shade to better imagine its rendering wall by wall depending on its exposure.
