Jump to content

Can I paint walls inside instead of wallpaper


ShazNZ

Recommended Posts

Hi. I’m new to miniature building and have bought a Fairfield dollshouse. I was thinking I would try and create a modern farm house style for the interior of the house using one neutral colour throughout with white trim. Can I paint the interior walls instead of using wallpaper??? I know if it did this I would need to putt the joins in the corners and sand smooth. Then paint over the corner joins.  Does this work? Would it come up ok or does it look crap painting interior? Any thoughts or advise?

Also can I use a water based enamel paint.......as I have this nice colour paint left over from when we built our own house.?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You certainly can! I painted my Beacon Hill back in the day with just plain acrylic craft paint and it turned out fine. A good option might be chalk paint which is thicker and would fill the grain well. You could also get a good sized jar of artists gesso and lay that down as a primer then paint on top of that. You'd use more gesso than paint in that case but the gesso would smooth everything over failry well. I wouldn't use the enamel on the walls. It would be too shiny. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, ShazNZ said:

 I would need to putt the joins in the corners and sand smooth. Then paint over the corner joins.  Does this work? 

Also can I use a water based enamel paint.......as I have this nice colour paint left over from when we built our own house.?

A paintable caulk will fill in the corner gaps and smooth out very nicely.  You can use your house paint, however keep in mind that a shiny surface will reflect light, so any irregularities will show up. Satin, eggshell or flat paint works best; gloss, not so much.

31 minutes ago, SewMini said:

 You could also get a good sized jar of artists gesso and lay that down as a primer then paint on top of that. You'd use more gesso than paint in that case but the gesso would smooth everything over failry well.

You can also spread on a very thin coat of Spackle or joint compound on the wall. It forms a lovely surface that resembles real life plastered walls and takes paint beautifully.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, KathieB said:

You can also spread on a very thin coat of Spackle or joint compound on the wall. It forms a lovely surface that resembles real life plastered walls and takes paint beautifully.

Im going to do this with my Glencroft on the outside :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the little family, Sharon.  Other than a few of the bedrooms I painted my Fairfields throughout.  I primed with a flat white interior latex/ emulsion paint and used mostly interior latex flat or eggshell finish interior latex paint that comes in small sample pots at the hardware store on the walls.  I spread a thin coat spackling compound over the primed exterior walls and painted a diluted wash of regular acrylic artist's paint over it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just realized reading this question, that I haven't wallpapered must of the last houses that I had finished lately. I enjoyed painting them (they were for young girls in love to draw paintings on their real life walls, lol) and honestly, I think that in this cases is better to paint them not only because of the chances of the walls being marked all over, but also, this will give the chance to the girls to customize their houses to their likes when they grow older.  My painted walls look as neat as the painted walls of my real life house. Wallpapering is more final, permanent...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all,

Thank you for all the advice. I feel more confident now to give it a go. I have already used a primer undercoat and sanded. The plywood has come up nice and smooth so I think two coats of paint should come up smooth, with a good finish.  

It’s a 4 day weekend here in New Zealand with Easter. I’m look forward to getting lots done, after I visit the paint shop on the way home from work this afternoon.

Thank you

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Shaz - I have a sister Sharon who is called Shaz, she's in Rangiora!  I'm in Auckland - which area of NZ are you?  I've painted both my Gypsy wagon and the inside of my apothecary with house paint and both have come up beautifully!  Thankfully the weather looks like it'll be good for most of the weekend, even if it is cooler in the mornings and evenings, the days are still perfect for paint drying!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Rebecca

I’m in Whangarei. Looks like rain now, perfect excuse to stay inside and do craft stuff. Do you belong to any Miniature Clubs in Auckland? There are not any in Whangarei.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, SewMini said:

Im going to do this with my Glencroft on the outside :)

I'm going to use Spackle or joint compound on the outside of my Beacon Hill. I'm going to pounce the surface lightly with a damp sponge to raise a bit of texture to imitate stucco and will have egg carton quoins for a more formal look.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, ShazNZ said:

Hi Rebecca

I’m in Whangarei. Looks like rain now, perfect excuse to stay inside and do craft stuff. Do you belong to any Miniature Clubs in Auckland? There are not any in Whangarei.

I used to go to the North Shore Mini club which is a fantastic club.  They do a new tutorial every meeting (they meet monthly) and there are some really lovely people in the club - it's a big club.  However it's an hour from our place and I have fibromyalgia which is a chronic pain and fatigue thing, and it was a struggle especially when going on my own.  There is a club closer to me but they meet in each other's homes and... I don't know, maybe at some stage I'll join but I'm quite happy doing my own thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

That's why a lot of people make templates of their walls and use lightweight cardstock to cover the wiring, and paint or paper that.  If you install baseboards and cornices so you can slip the card behind them they will hold the wall coverings in place, but they can be removed for trouble-shooting electrical problems that might develop later.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Fkendall said:

Can I size and paint over light wiring?

IMG_5546.jpg

Yes, painting directly onto tapewire will be noticeable. I recently painted an entire house that had been tapewired but I placed the tapewire in places that were covered by baseboards and other trim.   If you prefer not to move it then I recommend to place clear shipping tape on top of the tapewire then add a thin layer of joint compound over it, sand, prime and paint. 

You had mentioned using an enamel paint. When I hear enamel I think of high gloss or oil based exterior paint. High gloss paints are never recommended. The highest sheen we recommend is a satin although I got away with a semi gloss on a house recently but it had a very smooth surface.  Also if the enamel paint is for exterior use then definitely do Not use it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Working in miniature, gloss and even semi-gloss makes it look like a toy.  Flat and eggshell finishes are best and I'm all for acrylic or latex emulsion paints that are soap & water cleanup.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if you can get it in South Africa but I use Americana paints by DecoArt quite a lot.

https://www.michaels.com/americana-acrylic-paint-2-oz/M10132000.html

https://decoart.com/americana/

 

I've also used paints from Benjamin Moore's historical collection. You can get samples of one pint for $11 American. One pint would cover a lot. I doubt you could paint an entire Thornhill with it, but I expect to be able to paint my Dutch Colonial with a pint (it's not a large dollhouse). Benjamin Moore is, IMHO, one of the best paints on the market. Their historical collection has the most gorgeous colors!

https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/color-palettes/historical-collection

 

Ralph Lauren also has excellent paint and a great selection of colors. I'm probably going to use them when/if I ever get around to my Creole house. I used Ralph Lauren to paint a dining room in our former home. I think I must have searched every red on the market. I chose Ralph Lauren's "Dressage Red." It's taken from the color of English fox hunting jackets. It was beautiful, painted smoothly and covered well, which is often not the case with red. Next to white trim, it just gleamed. You can order 2-oz. samples for $3.99. Two ounces covers a lot more than you might expect. You could probably do one medium-sized dollhouse room with that.

http://qa.ralphlaurenhome.com/rlhome/products/paint/lifestyle.asp

 

Holly is correct about gloss and semi-gloss paints. In miniature, they read as plastic. Avoid them. I've found Americana's matte finish to be perfect for most uses. Eggshell is also okay. Satin is a maybe, depending on the use. Might work okay in a bathroom, maybe a kitchen. I think I used it on mouldings once and thought it looked good. I would avoid anything glossier than satin.

I might be stating the obvious but in order of sheen from dullest to shiniest, the finishes are:

Flat (I avoid it. It shows every smudge and doesn't clean easily. I think new formulas have improved upon that but I don't care)

Matte (my preferred choice)

Eggshell (also a good choice. Tiny bit shinier than matte but has the benefit of being even easier to clean)

Satin (see above. Might be okay for limited purposes)

Semi-gloss (nope)

High-gloss (BIG NOPE)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems I can get the Americana paints here. Sadly Benjamin Moore and Ralph Lauren not. I will probably  paint almost every room a different color, or wallpaper, I like colored rooms. That red you used sounds great. How far would one of those Americanas go? If I can find samples of house paint I’ll probably use eggshell. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I googled "2 oz paint sampler" and came up with a list; what about asking at your local hardware/ paint stores?  I also buy a regular can of flat white interior latex emulsion paint to use for priming, and to mix custom colors I pour a little into a clean disposable container and mix in small quantities of acrylic paints from the tube.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...