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Interior Painting Ideas for a Small Townhouse

Townhouses can be small in size, but large in charm.
modern houses and sky with clouds image by Galina Barskaya from Fotolia.com

Giving your townhouse a fresh coat of paint is a good way to make the rooms look new again. There are many ways to use paint to make small spaces appear larger or more wide-open. Painting techniques can visually open up areas and make them seem to flow into one another, thereby creating the look of a spacious home.

One-Color Technique

Using the same pale, neutral wall color throughout your townhouse will visually enlarge the space and make the rooms have continuity. Choose colors like off-white, pale beige, or light gray. Townhouses usually have second stories, and you can use a different neutral color on the walls of separate levels. Add color throughout your townhouse with your furnishings. Try to coordinate the colors in all areas of each level; for instance, if your living room furniture is upholstered in a blue-plaid material, then you should use those tones in the dining room and kitchen areas with different fabrics, rugs, artwork or other accessories.

Monochromatic Color Scheme

Using a monochromatic color scheme is a good way to separate each individual room, yet continue the visual flow to give the feel of a larger space. You may start out with a very pale sage green in the den area and then continue that theme in other areas on the same level, such as a slightly darker shade of green in the study, or a lighter shade in the kitchen area. If your living room area is the largest room in your home, you can paint it in a warm gold shade and the other rooms on the same floor can have a similar shade of gold, but in lighter tones.

Creating Dimensions

You can create dimension and make a small room appear wider by using a darker shade on a smaller or shorter wall, and a lighter shade on a longer, connecting wall, according to The Kitchn website. For instance, you could have a silvery gray on a longer wall and add a darker, grayish-blue paint to the smaller or shorter connecting wall. This will add a bit of pizazz to your room and create visual interest. You can also paint your window frames a grayish-blue tone if the walls are a silvery gray. This is a decorative technique that will highlight the window area, especially if you don’t have window treatments.

Continuity with Painted Borders

You can create continuity in your small townhouse by painting a solid stripe border where the wall meets the ceiling on each wall throughout your townhouse. For instance, if you have used different shades of green throughout the home, you can choose a complementary darker shade of green that will coordinate with all the green tones. Alternately, you could paint a solid stripe at a chair rail height. This will create a fun visual effect and make it seem as if all the rooms are one.

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