Turning magnolia into white - whole house

penguingirl

I'm a fan of brilliant white. Like you, we were used to renting a new flat that was white and then moved into a house where it was shades of magnolia or brown. We painted most rooms white except our lounge that we went for a warmer sandy colour and it didn't look clinical. We had nice carpets, cushions, curtains etc and in our bedroom we did go for one lilac wall with deeper purple curtains and throw on the bed.

Personally I don't like houses that have all been done in an off white- it can end up having a slightly toned down magnolia type look which sounds like you are trying to avoid. Particularly in a modern house I think you can get away with the brighter white. But obviously it's an individual preference.

If you've not painted before- paint your ceilings first (check if they're Matt or silk). Then do basecoat on your walls- this is a thicker paint that will help to cover the magnolia and also helps provide a good surface. You might need 2 coats. Base coat tends to be brilliant white so you could always do it and then see if you like it? Then paint over with your preferred paint. Remember, multiple thinner coats tend to get a better finish than one thick coat.

brooklyn07

definitely take note of what others have said regarding the ceilings. I just did this, I painted my hallway white, not brilliant white, not off white, just plain white and when I looked at the ceiling I thought its fine, it looks nice and white I won't bother repainting that...


then when I'd finished painting the hall, the ceiling looked horrible and dingy!! so now im going to have to paint that and hope I don't get any drips all over the walls!


I went for timeless but I would do a large tester first because after I'd painted my hallway with it I noticed that to me it looked a horrible mid yellow like it was all nicotine stained!


I guess it works well in some rooms/houses but definitely not mine so went for white.


I went for armstead durable matt because its for the hallway and knew it would probably get handprints all over it so the durable meant I could scrub it clean without removing the paint.


Do add some accents of colour so that it doesn't look all cold and clinical...

Clive_Woody

My advice, for what little it is worth, would be to paint your walls and ceilings in brilliant white as a base coat. If the ceilings are already white this should 'freshen them up' enough and it should also help to start to cover the magnolia. I would then go for a slightly different shade of white on the walls as a top coat. Consider two coats of final colour for the bets finish.

I think we have used timeless in a previous house and I think when we had our extension built we had it finished in white mist. Both Dulux.

If you have a trade shop like Brewers near you buy your paint and rollers here as it will be cheaper than B&Q or Homebase.

Some carefully placed mirrors and new lighting will also help brighten the place up.

A_Frayed_Knot

I had all white in all rooms except bedroom where I went for a" hint of a tint" emulsion, couldn't see the "tint" until you looked at the join at the ceiling - which was white, then you noticed.

Then got a bit fed up with white - so decided to have some colour on the feature wall in the l/r - went for magnolia - didn't like, went for red, - didn't like, so then went for a mint green - didn't like, then went for a peach - didn't like, so ended up back to white, all that work, money and effort all within about 2 months.:mad:

So when I moved into this house, it was going to be all white - my friend is a magnolia fan, and thought it would be clinical but when she came to view once all work had been done, she said all the accessories eg curtians, cushions, pictures bedding co-ordinated so you didn't really notice the walls were all white.

White every time for me, but not adverse to a feature wallpaper.

brooklyn007 - The thought of all that work only to have the walls looking like a horrible mid yellow like it was nicotine stained:( afraid I would have to start again and re-do - in pure white.:)


As for the gloss - can't find a good gloss paint anywhere that actually stays white for any decent length of time, the first pot I bought was a brand new kind - years ago, and this stayed pure brilliant white for around 5-6 years, but obviously they caught on, so didn't manufacture it to be that good for so long anymore.:(

Owain_Moneysaver

If you haven't moved in yet, buy or hire a spraygun, mask the windows and lightswitches etc with plastic sheet, and spraypaint the whole house.

Will give you a much better finish than rollering.