Long Island City Commercial Painting for Christie’s

When the legendary auction house Christie’s was looking for a painter last minute we were happy to help. They had an antique housewares auction the following day and wanted to put the pieces in front of a glossy black wall. The picture above shows how the pieces really pop in front of the wall. The walls were actually movable walls to make their photography shoots easier. The finish product looks classy and refined just like the Christie’s brand. It was exciting to be in their Long Island City warehouse full of valuable artifacts from around the world. Always grateful to be a go-to commercial painter in the Long Island City NYC area.

Plastering and Painting To Revive A Home In Manhattan

When this client called us her apartment was in bad shape. After not painting or repairing the plaster in her home for over 40 years everything started to fail. Paint was falling from everywhere. Adding to the situation was water damage from the apartment above. We spent multiple days scraping and carefully disposing off all the failing paint and plaster. We were surprised to discover wallpaper underneath the paint (seen in the 2nd picture below). The client didn’t know there was wallpaper there! We then spent multiple days priming and plastering the entire apartment to return it to it’s former glory. You can see the dramatic transformation, especially in the bathroom picture below. These pictures were taken at the 70% mark of the project. While we always recommend addressing paint issues as they arise, it is never too late to save your home.

The half way point after 2 coats of plaster

After scraping off the failing paint we discovered wallpaper!

After plastering and priming

The scary bathroom before we started

NYC New Home Move-In Painter

When you move into a new place it’s important to take the time to make it feel like your home. If you have the luxury of time, doing home improvement before you move in is the perfect moment to customize your place. Paintworks and Decorating helped these new homeowner’s personalize their new Manhattan home by painting with a splash of color. The new color looks great against the Decorator’s White trim and ceiling. A little contrast goes a long way.

New Year's Resolution: New Paint, New Home, New Me

            From the color of your car, your linens and your favorite sweater to the color of neon lights, dishes, socks, paint and product packaging, there's a concerted effort to attract your attention with color. Without reading the company name, most folks can accurately identify, just from the color, a UPS or FedEx truck, can of Coca-Cola or Tiffany's box. The latter has its own trademarked robin's egg shade of blue.

             Color is a powerful branding mechanism, as well as a delight to the eye in the natural world, our homes and work spaces. Colors promote emotional characteristics and perceived space. If you look around the Internet long enough, you can find almost every color is trending somewhere. The challenges are (1) to choose colors which enhance your home, personality and lifestyle, and (2) engage the best professional painters to transform a room or entire home into your own special retreat. The second decision is the easy one: Paintworks & Decorating.

            Paint companies and fashion designers often drive color trends. Benjamin Moore has selected as its Color of the Year for 2019 a chic pewter gray named Metropolitan AF-690. Ellen O'Neill, director of strategic design intelligence, describes it as "comforting, composed and effortlessly sophisticated ... exuding beauty and balance. It's a color in the neutral spectrum that references a contemplative state of mind and design." The advantage of a gray tone is the opportunity to add vibrant colors in furniture, accents, art and fabric.

            A warm dark colonial blue dubbed Blueprint S470-5 is Behr's 2019 Color of the Year, and they call it an "honest, approachable color that conjures up the blueprints builders rely on to bring architectural designs to life." Blue in any shade can evoke the peace and serenity found in landscapes and water views.

            PPG Paints claims for 2019 that "classic luxury meets the restorative power of nature in this trending deep green paint color" named Night Watch. “The restorative power of nature is important in society now more than ever,” explains Dee Schlotter, PPG senior color marketing manager. "Night Watch is about bringing the healing power from the outdoors into your home." Memories of a walk in the park, like Central Park or Pelham Bay Park, can occupy a permanent space in your home.

   A creamy terra cotta color from the American Southwest has migrated into the Big Apple and takes center stage as Sherwin-Williams' 2019 Color of the Year: Canyon Clay. It can go in a contemporary, neutral, natural or splashy direction in a high-rise loft, Upper East Side condo or Brooklyn brownstone.

            Others in the color industry like Valspar and Pantone release palettes of colors they see as both trending and complementary. These run the gamut of the off-white creams and ubiquitous and optimistic yellows to natural greens and browns, soothing teal and blues, dramatic purples and energizing reds and oranges.

 Color is a matter of personal preference, and the good news is that you don't need to be limited. Accent walls and contrasting trim are wildly popular, and while sky blue color was once relegated to porch ceilings, colors have found their way inside to add an element of interest and/or expand the space. Painting a wall to within two feet of a light colored ceiling and adding a thin strip of wood trim, for example, can make a small room seem larger. Light colors in general expand a space, while dark colors increase coziness. Another tip is to choose a paint color one or two shades lighter than you fall in love with on the paint chip.  

After surfing the web at Houzz, Pinterest, hgtv.com and other sites, make your color selections and connect with Paintworks for the most professional application using the best practices and tools in the industry. We live up to our slogan: "Painting is our passion - Making people happy is our mission.”

Maintain and Preserve Exterior Metal Paneling

Despite our best efforts, we do judge a book by its cover, people by their clothing and a building by its outward appearance. First impressions set the stage for everything that follows. Curb appeal can be a deal breaker for a sale - whether you are trying to sell a building, promote products or services from a company inside, lease condos in a high-rise or sell tickets for a performance.

Thus, exterior metal and steel with rust, oxidation spots or other unsightly deformities could cost real money in lost business or contribute to a poor reputation. Inspecting, maintaining and protecting metal is sensible to protect not only your revenue stream, but also your investment. It is incredible how much damage a pin hole or expanding rust issue can cause. Pollution, sunlight, weather, salt from winter road treatment and myriad environmental and man-made factors (like jack hammers digging up a sidewalk nearby) can adversely impact and potentially compromise the strength and durability of exterior metal beyond the appearance.

Paintworks & Decorating possesses years of experience and tons of knowledge in metal maintenance. Based in Manhattan and serving the greater New York City region, Westchester County, and parts of northern New Jersey, the company embraces that a good defense for metal preservation is a positive offense with inspections, appropriate cleaning and sealing or painting.

Cleaning and painting outside metal is not a DIY job or task for the faint-hearted or unskilled. Treatment before painting can include chemical solutions, etch primers and/or sweep blasting. Let Paintworks do what they do best for exterior metal treatments and preservation, so you can spend your time doing whatever you do best.