Paint Is Not Surface Deep
by Tibby Plasse
A new paint job is one of the easiest ways to update the look and feel of your home. Bend’s local outfit, CJ Painting and Custom Finishes, can match any style and taste for creating the transformation that makes spending more time at home something to look forward to. The company specializes in custom finishes that create a unique look and feel for every project they take on.
“I love working on these modern homes with exposed beams and vaulted ceilings. We get to bring our artwork all the way to the top in the ceiling. It brings depth to the home.”
–Christian Martin, Owner, CJ Painting
On the physical level, paint is only surface-deep but the range of creativity that CJ Painting can offer can be found in giving attention to small details like trim, built-ins, single walls, and textured paint. Even just a change in color can turn dining, reading, and walking into the entryway into an uplifting experience.
The first thing to consider is where the update can happen—a central wall, cabinetry, skylights, trim, or doors. Small details in different colors or stains are just as impactful as big details in different colors. The focal points will change, and the light will act differently within a room depending on where and how the color is incorporated.
Paint selection is a very cost-effective change that’s easy to make, especially when you’re working with CJ Painting’s knowledgeable team. The CJ Painting team looks at each project as a site-specific creative process, ensuring that each client feels like the job is an artistic endeavor and not an average paint job.
However, making a good choice in paint and finish selection is paramount to a happy home. Not only should paint choice be congruent with the room and décor, but it should also be interconnected to the house as a whole. Mood and energy are created by the shared experience of what it means to move throughout the entire space. Bathrooms, hallways, bedrooms, and living areas are all part of the adventure.
A walk through this contemporary home in the Summit West neighborhood, overlooking Discovery Pond, makes one feel like they’re still a part of Bend’s beautiful outdoor atmosphere. With no shortage of luxury, the organic elements of the Pacific Northwest still dominate the indoors with subtle choices—notice the custom gray glazed kitchen beams. CJ Painting and the team worked hand in hand with the homeowner to create just the right look.
If you want your artwork to stand out, choose crisp colors that contrast well with one another by having the color be on the doors and the trim with stark, bright walls. If you want a more calming and sedated feel, pick colors that match the mood, and if the space is meant for celebration and entertaining, then find a paint scheme that enlivens the energy you expect to feel when you pop a bottle of your favorite bubbly, such as in the contemporary home overlooking the greens of Tetherow Golf Course that CJ Painting’s team coated with a low VOC Stays Clear Finish by Benjamin Moore and hand-rubbed Osmo mantel and doors.
“I love working on these modern homes with exposed beams and vaulted ceilings. We get to bring our artwork all the way to the top in the ceiling. It brings depth to the home,” says Christian Martin, owner of CJ Painting. No matter the color scheme, it’s important to pick a paint, stain, or coating that’s healthy for your home, like a low or even zero VOC product. Martin explains how important it is to use better products to create a better living space—because maybe the paint isn’t just surface deep.
“Not only do we like to use low or zero VOC products for the house, but it’s for the wood too; it’s just all-around better for everyone. And these homes by Dennis Szigeti and Leader Builders take a green approach,” he explains.
“A greener approach” to building and design does have a long-term impact on a property. More natural products work with the materials organically, giving wood more elasticity, preventing dry-out and brittleness. If the wood is allowed to breathe through a stain or a paint, the wood is naturally protected, enabling moisture to evaporate, and keeping the surface water-resistant—and ultimately for the homeowner, that means much less maintenance on the home itself.
Determining how a color or texture will work in a room is not a quick decision process. Martin’s business beliefs are about customer service and satisfaction because he is a self-admitting perfectionist. “I love working with clients to make their dream and vision a reality,” he says.
The only way to achieve satisfaction is to sample before you buy. There are no go-to colors for an individual home. There are no universal lighting effects because no house is in the same place with the same cardinal directions or trees outside the window, nor are the tastes of anyone’s interiors the same. Color is just as unique as the person and their home—and it’s really important to observe your options in their natural light, from morning to night, interior and exterior.
Some spaces give you more liberty than just color to play with; the features of a wall or an alcove may also invite in texture to a flat wall, for example. Textured walls are usually more successful in more delicate areas without as much daily traffic tromping through like dogs and children. Different effects can be achieved by application methods, such as hand-rubbed finishes or using a joint compound with a roller or sponge, trowel, or even a compound knife.
“Our team at CJ Painting realizes that slow and steady wins the race! These homes that we work on are art pieces, people’s dreams.”
–Christian Martin, Owner, CJ Painting
Take Martin’s recent work on a traditional Japanese-style home built by Dennis Szigeti’s company, Leader Builders. The house features many different custom coatings and textures to create a personal and artistic approach to each living area—so that no room feels merely like four walls and a ceiling. Martin matches Szigeti’s approach to building; it’s about creating relationships. As Martin says, “Build the relationship and the relationship will build the home.”
“Sapele is an African species of mahogany. All finishes on this species of mahogany were hand-rubbed with an Osmo finish, a no VOC product. The Japanese traditional house was a six-stage process, between hand-sanding and hand-rubbing the Osmo product on all the surfaces,” explains Martin.
Sapele is known for its grain patterns and how its golden or dark red coloring will darken with age. Using an organic product, such as Osmo, to work with the wood’s natural beauty not only maintains the quality of the wood but also works with the organic beauty in the wood itself. Martin’s perspective on how to work with the materials versus compete with them is enhanced in finishing choices.
CJ Painting’s expertise for how to approach a home is demonstrated through their craft and trade knowledge. Osmo is a German-made brand. The coatings the company makes are good for interior and exterior wood and made from natural oils and waxes. CJ Painting’s team evoked micro-detail to the cabinets, with two tones of black and natural finishes, that also used the hand-rubbed technique on the wood.
As Martin shares, “Our team at CJ Painting realizes that slow and steady wins the race! These homes that we work on are art pieces, people’s dreams. We get to know the properties and the architecture we work with. The idea is to treat each one like a work of fine art…because it is!”
For more information, call 541.409.4445 or visit cjpaintingoregon.com.
