The power of color drenching, design’ s newest paint trend.
BY SUSAN SPANN, owner, susan cash-spann interiors
When it comes to our home’ s interior, most of us strive to find ways to stay up-to-date with the hottest trends while balancing it with a look that will stand the test of time. Most of us are also looking for ways to make our homes look and feel expensive while secretly knowing that we didn’ t pay much at all for the look. So, how exactly do we make the most dramatic, stylish impact in our homes without spending an arm and a leg?
What if I told you that the secret is in your walls? Because if your walls could talk, they’ d tell you to completely saturate them with beautiful paint. We’ re talking completely drenching your walls, along with all the adjoining casings, moldings, trims, adjoining fixtures, and finishes, in the same color.
Color drenching, as the technique is known, is a design trend in which rooms are saturated in a single color from top to bottom. Going all in on a single hue throughout a room may sound a little out there, but that’ s mainly because we’ ve always been made to think that any extra woodwork in our homes will pop in the color white. In our minds, we’ ve maintained that it’ s the white, or an equally stark color, that makes our trim, casing, chair rail, and other woodworking stand out enough to adequately showcase its beauty and detail. It’ s hard for us to fathom our walls without all the white cut-ins and outlines, as if that’ s what distinguishes one room from the next. But if we keep in mind that it’ s really our furnishings and accessories that define each room from its neighbor or counterpart, we can open our minds to decorating our walls in a way that creates a more seamless, boundless illusion of space and elegance.
30 | NW GEORGIA LIVING MAY / JUNE 2025
Here are the basic steps for best painting results. 1. Sand unwanted blemishes and wall finishes.
2. Mask off any hardware, fixtures, or finishes that need protecting.
3. Use a great primer and a quality paint.
4. Use the best“ cross finishes” of your color for the most optimal aesthetics across different surfaces:
• Matte for walls and ceilings.
• Satin for skirting, trims, door frames, and doors.
• Gloss for radiators and other random wall fixtures.
5. Remember to work your way down from top to bottom to avoid drippings. Coat ceilings first, then walls, then skirting and wood trim, and finally the hardware and other decor.
In the early 2000s, white or light trim was all the rage, and those of us who bought into it couldn’ t wait to not only accentuate our walls with all that stark white framing, but also go wild with our main wall colors, too. In retrospect, we seemed to be on a mission to transform our mostly subdued surroundings into colorful fun houses. We went bold and took little hesitance in going super confident with that look, as if to prove the less serious sides of our personalities, at our walls’ expense. Enough time has passed, though, that I think it’ s safe to admit there were some terrible judgment calls made in the boldness, darkness, and starkness of many of our