Tips for painting the interior of your mcm home

Our Eames Lounge chair looks great against this vivid red wall in our Streng Bros home.

The open floor plan found in many mid century homes doesn’t mean you have to paint all the rooms the same color or settle for painting the walls white. Far from it. You can give each room its own identity and still achieve a cohesive look.

The trick is to pick three or four colors that work well together as well as pick repeating colors and patterns in accessories such as pillows, rugs and decor items to further tie the rooms together.

You can find many articles and opinions on what colors qualify as Mid Century Modern colors. We read numerous articles as well as poured over our back issues of Atomic Ranch Magazine for inspiration when it came time to paint the interior of our home.

In the end, we chose our colors based on the colors in our artwork and furniture as well as colors we loved from prior homes.

All of our paint choices were from Benjamin Moore in a matte finish.

Benjamin Moore Blue Ocean adorns the wall that spans between the living spaces in our Streng Bros home.

Our floor plan includes an open ceiling between the living room and family room. We visually connected the two spaces by painting the wall that ran between the two rooms the same color of Benjamin Moore 1645, Thousand Oceans.

The living room displays most of our artwork, so we painted the entire room one color to show off the art. This bold color really makes our vintage C. Jere sculpture and Blenko glass pop.

Our Blenko art glass pops when shown against the light grey wall.

As noted, the family room now has the main wall shared with the living room in blue. The rest of the family room/dining area was painted Benjamin Moore 1482, Sabre Gray—a gray color that complements the blue accent wall and lets the colors of our (mostly) vintage Blenko glass collection really pop.

We spoke with Nick Pierce, co-owner of N Style Painting, a Sacramento based painting company with a particular expertise in painting both interior and exteriors of mid century homes for additional interior painting tips (Editor’s note: Nick’s answers have been edited for clarity):

How is painting the interior of a mid century home different from other architecture styles?

Because of the open floor plans in these homes there are often multiple color schemes that require sharp line transitions and expert caulking to achieve that rich full look. You don’t have with this issue in other types of architecture.

What are some of your favorite paint colors for a mid century home? Any color trends you like? Do you offer color consultations?

The most neutral colors would be Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter, Edgecomb Gray and Decorator’s White. I really like the color drenching trend which is popular right now where you select one paint color and paint everything in the room that color — walls, ceiling, trim, etc.

A relaxing green wall sets off the navy bedspread.

We do offer color consultations once we are hired and we will apply paint samples to the walls to help decide the best color.

What is your opinion on matte vs. semi-gloss paint finish?

Depends on which room you are painting. While matte paint hides imperfections it also burnishes after scrubbing which creates shiny spots. Semi-gloss when fully cured for 30 days becomes a hard wipeable finish that creates a moisture barrier in wet areas like bathrooms. This finish is also easy to clean but it also magnifies imperfections.

What is your recommendation for removing popcorn texture that was popular in some of these homes when they were built?

I like the classic smooth wall texture and feels it does justice to the mid century style. We definitely recommend removing anything that could be a health hazard.

Any recommendations for painting the interior beams?

The classic look is for the beam color to be the same on the interior and exterior of the home. My favorite colors are Decorator’s White from Benjamin Moore on the walls with Balsamic Reduction from Kelly-Moore on the beams or Edgecomb Gray from Benjamin Moore on the walls with Decorator’s White on the Beams. Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy is another popular choice.

How long does this type of project take and what is the best time of year to paint?

It typically takes one business week. We think April-October is the best time for this project.

Looking to also paint the exterior of your home? Check out our tips at this link.