The reason I personally think paint makes a huge difference, is personal experience. (I decorate a room sans paint, and it looks meh. I paint a room and do nothing else, and it looks amazing) Therefore, the following “reasons” I came up with are after-the-fact rationalizations, but valid, I think, nonetheless.
1) Walls are the “biggest” part of what your room looks like. By that I mean if you closed your eyes, pulled out your camera, and shot a random photo, I would guess that >50% of the resulting photograph would be wall-space (given that you held your camera horizontally). In otherwords, when you’re looking around your room, MOST of what your looking at, in area, is wall.
Note that it is completely POSSIBLE to have a room with white walls, and have it look like it was decorated that way, but it takes a lot of skill to pull off white walls well. Even then, you still might have to paint in order to have the RIGHT white.
2) White is the default color, and so signals a lack of effort. No matter WHAT color you paint your room, as long as it isn’t white, there is an intentionality to your wall color, that white doesn’t convey. The rest of your decor has to pretty much be of professional quality to make it look like the white was a conscious choice.
3) The walls are the background for everything else. Most obviously, it’s the background for your art, but it’s also the background for your furniture, and even yourself, when you happen to be in the room.
Note: Now that I think about it, I would like to mention that you should NOT paint your room and lose your deposit if you are not decently-off financially.
Yes it is! That’s actually my next project. I have tacky office track shelving that came with the room. I’m gonna paint everything to match the wall they are on (so the tacky tracks and such don’t stand out so much) and then fill them with books. The books will also cover up the tacky tracks, so you won’t be able to see how low-class I actually am ;).
But on the other hand, if you completely fill all your shelves with books, you need to buy another bookshelf—so you should always have room for some decorations on the bookshelves.
That’s a good point, not just for book shelves, but for other things too. Whenever I set up a new bedroom (I moved a lot in the last year and a half), I would always purposefully make sure I had an empty shelving unit and an empty dresser or other storage unit somewhere.
If, when you start, you are already utilizing all available storage, then what’s going to happen when you get something new, take up a new hobby, or need easy access to something you usually keep in storage/basement? That’s how messes happen.
But if you plan ahead, and realize that sometime in the next year, you will have new/different things that need to be put somewhere, you can just leave open space available in dressers and shelves and have somewhere to put away new things when you get them!
...you should NOT paint your room and lose your deposit if you are not decently-off financially.
Unless the apartment owners and managers only care what it looks like when you leave and you can afford to add a few layers of white base paint just before doing so, to avoid losing the deposit. Such policies are often clearly delineated in the lease contract, and you can sometimes negotiate leniency with the management as long as you do so in writing and have it attached to the contract pre-signature. YMMV
Paint why does paint make such a big difference? What sort of change are you thinking of? White → some more exciting color?
The reason I personally think paint makes a huge difference, is personal experience. (I decorate a room sans paint, and it looks meh. I paint a room and do nothing else, and it looks amazing) Therefore, the following “reasons” I came up with are after-the-fact rationalizations, but valid, I think, nonetheless.
1) Walls are the “biggest” part of what your room looks like. By that I mean if you closed your eyes, pulled out your camera, and shot a random photo, I would guess that >50% of the resulting photograph would be wall-space (given that you held your camera horizontally). In otherwords, when you’re looking around your room, MOST of what your looking at, in area, is wall.
Note that it is completely POSSIBLE to have a room with white walls, and have it look like it was decorated that way, but it takes a lot of skill to pull off white walls well. Even then, you still might have to paint in order to have the RIGHT white.
2) White is the default color, and so signals a lack of effort. No matter WHAT color you paint your room, as long as it isn’t white, there is an intentionality to your wall color, that white doesn’t convey. The rest of your decor has to pretty much be of professional quality to make it look like the white was a conscious choice.
3) The walls are the background for everything else. Most obviously, it’s the background for your art, but it’s also the background for your furniture, and even yourself, when you happen to be in the room.
Note: Now that I think about it, I would like to mention that you should NOT paint your room and lose your deposit if you are not decently-off financially.
Wall is for bookshelves.
Yes it is! That’s actually my next project. I have tacky office track shelving that came with the room. I’m gonna paint everything to match the wall they are on (so the tacky tracks and such don’t stand out so much) and then fill them with books. The books will also cover up the tacky tracks, so you won’t be able to see how low-class I actually am ;).
It will be the Awesome Wall of Books....of Doom!
But on the other hand, if you completely fill all your shelves with books, you need to buy another bookshelf—so you should always have room for some decorations on the bookshelves.
That’s a good point, not just for book shelves, but for other things too. Whenever I set up a new bedroom (I moved a lot in the last year and a half), I would always purposefully make sure I had an empty shelving unit and an empty dresser or other storage unit somewhere.
If, when you start, you are already utilizing all available storage, then what’s going to happen when you get something new, take up a new hobby, or need easy access to something you usually keep in storage/basement? That’s how messes happen.
But if you plan ahead, and realize that sometime in the next year, you will have new/different things that need to be put somewhere, you can just leave open space available in dressers and shelves and have somewhere to put away new things when you get them!
Unless the apartment owners and managers only care what it looks like when you leave and you can afford to add a few layers of white base paint just before doing so, to avoid losing the deposit. Such policies are often clearly delineated in the lease contract, and you can sometimes negotiate leniency with the management as long as you do so in writing and have it attached to the contract pre-signature. YMMV
Can you expand on the distinction you are drawing between “decorating” the walls white and merely painting them white?
My guess is it means that the room looks like the white wall color is an intentional and well-chosen part of a cohesive design.