Painting Questions

Painting Windows

I have two questions: Question One - We would like to paint our interior window frames, base boards & doors (note: the outside frames are black). Our top floor is 2300 square feet of Scandinavian Natural Maple hardwood (which is light to mid-variation of colors with a bit of a black streaking in places). Our cupboards are a mid-tone and our kitchen & great room are open concept. We have three large windows 12 feet high in the great room and two 10 feet in the kitchen; the rest of our windows throughout the house are quite large. We are wondering if it would work to do a dark trim (coffee color, which is quite dark) on windows and door frames and boarders or would this look like a jail or close it in too much? Do we paint the inside of the frame a lighter tone than the outside boarder or can we paint it all dark (our wall color is a mid tone)? I have looked at some show homes and there are more light colors used than dark for doors and windows. Also, is it better to use a dark stain or can we just use dark paint? We thought the dark coffee color might look nice with the bit of streaks in the floor. Again we're looking at little tiny samples which can be hard to gauge. What are your thoughts/suggestions/experience and do you know of any websites or other resources that could give us some ideas on this? Question Two - We have in-floor heating in the basement and we are wondering what alternatives we can use instead of a rug for our floor cover. I heard that laminate can curl on this type of floor. Is this correct? We would also like something easy to lay where we wouldn't have to use plywood on the floor, just a cushion/foam or something. Our basement will be used a lot because it's where our games, TV and exercise rooms are; there are bedrooms down there. It's approx 2000 square feet. Also, what about leather flooring - how durable is that? If you know of any other flooring we could use that would be helpful. Are there any other web sites/resources that we can help us? Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! Lori Read our expert's answer »
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Complete room renovation

We are renovating a house and need to paint all walls and replace all floors with new hardwood. All floors currently have thick carpet and the living room has double height ceiling and the walls are partially wallpapered. The house is very open concept with very few doors between the rooms. Should we paint the walls first or replace the floor first? Read our expert's answer »
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Fixing corners before painting

I was wondering how to repair corners. I am painting a bedroom and there are areas on the corners where the metal is showing through. Read our expert's answer »
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exterior wall painting

I have a garage and am trying to paint it's exterior wall, which has 12 to 15 year old white paint on it. The outside walls of the building are made from block cement and they have texture (it is not a smooth surface). What do you recommend to use to clean off the old paint? I tried to use a steel brush but it's taking a long time. Also do you recommend me to use a roller for painting instead of a spray gun? Thanks in advance. Read our expert's answer »
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Textured ceilings

We are renovating and have opened up a space between the dining area and kitchen. The dining area has a textured ceiling finish and we want to know if it can be scraped off and made smooth enough to match it to the new sprayed ceiling planned for the kitchen? Read our expert's answer »
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