What's new
What's new

wall color

roll maker

Aluminum
Joined
Feb 10, 2003
Location
wind gap pa
Have old unpainted block walls. Want to paint them to improve the atmosphere and light reflection.
I know a bright white is great for reflection, but that can't be good for machining dust and dirt. What are some other light colors that have been used and have worked well, or just stay with white.
 
I put "not quite daylight" (5000K color temperature, high CRI) lights in my shop and painted the walls and ceiling with eggshell (between matte and gloss) white paint with the slightest amount of yellow tint in it. Been very happy with it. Lots of indirect light, no glare, warm feeling with neutral color light.
 
My new shop has a very light gray/blue hue on the walls and floor and bright high efficiency lighting. Seems pretty good so far. I prefer a very light green, but I really didn't want to paint the place.
 
Start with white. When it gets dingy, paint it again. Why start with dingy?

I like gloss white machinery enamel with catalyst.
 
I paint my walls with silver metallic paint. White gets dirty the first day- it shows if you lean on it. Its a dirt magnet.
The silver paint looks good, especially on irregular surfaces like concrete block, strandboard, or plywood, and reflects almost as much light as white, but looks good for years. Plus, its still available, from companies like Rustoleum, in a good old fashioned enamel, not latex.
 
Try something different, start with all white and add the "Holstein Look".....big black blobs randomly placed.....:D

Oh, and don't limit yourself to just the walls....:crazy:
 
I painted our block walls and ceiliing "designer white" (would look white to anyone walking in) down to about 5' high. Painted the lower walls gray, and put a 1' wide stripe of medium blue where they met. It's been 20 years now and it still looks good, and gets compliments. My shop is sort of dirty/messy/crowded but the white still looks clean while the gray and blue hide any dirt from contact.

I painted my personal workshop all white then painted the ceiling light blue in a color that matched the sky's color (by holding chips up to the sky on a bright day). It's way darker than the white ceiling, sort of gives you a "cloudy day" over head feeling.
 
My shop is divided into two large rooms. I painted the walls and ceiling white and installed florescent lighting in one. The other side still had yellow walls, the legacy of a woman's junk store, and minimal incandescent lighting. One day I was trying to assemble something in the unimproved room and kept fumbling around. I finally realized that by working in the other room, I was no longer keeping my hands from blocking the light because it was all around. When I proposed painting the room all white, people came up with all sorts of gloomy predictions about the psychological effects, but the fact is that the machinery breaks up the all white factor. I am staying with it.

Bill
 
My walls are cheap paneling: medium wood tone, no paint. My lights are 5000° K. But the walls are mostly covered with shelves so they make little difference in the lighting.

The ceiling is white and I will keep it that way.
 
i have plain white kilz paint on all of my walls is it dingy now after 4 years sure. block will likely be harder to keep kind of clean but i have drywall. im bettering if i just ran a dust mop over the walls it woudl make a difference.... if i cared
 
Behr "Kansas Grain". It's a beigy yellow that resembles how a room looks when lit on a nice sunny day. All bulbs are in the lower temperature spectrum (2700K to look yellow), and the 4-foot fluorescent bulbs are 3500-4100k.
The room is a happy room. :)
 








 
Back
Top