My Saloon is too dark!!

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pcatterall

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Lots of lovely wood but a bit gloomy. I am considering painting the upper parts white or cream, probably just the bulk heads bits.
I hate painting over the wood and just wonder if anyone has fitted or considered some king of lining aka headlining which could be removed if 'fashions' change.
Otherwise I guess its a standard paint job, prepare prime and a couple of coats?
Perhaps white is a little stark? There is a nice yellowish colour which seems appropiate for a ships saloon but that may just be nicotine stain!
Any advice?
 
For light you need windows, painting the inside of a box white won't make any difference if the box is sealed.:)

Painting over varnished wood, seems like a bit of a crime, yes I know old wooden boats have white sides, but that was because they were really dark

Do you have curtains? A strange question I know, but we took our curtains off to wash them and suddenly the boat became a lot lighter down below as half the windows were no longer covered, we replaced them with oceanair blinds which aren't cheap, but ther are neater and look better.

Do you have room for a hatch?

If you don't want to do anything too extreme, lighter colour cushions, either scatter cushions or go the full monty, but this too would be expensive.

Paint is the cheapest option, but do it a little bit at a time, mock something up with White paper instead of jumping on with the paint straight away. Take a photo, and see which areas are the darkest in the picture.

Even white fabric panels behind the hull sides might be better than paint? If you have book shelves a bit of white behind them makes a difference. Have a look at some modern yacht brochures or http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/360 to see what designers are doing to make the interiors brighter, look for the C Yachts 1050 or the Najad 410.
 
Goodness Snooks. I would have thought you would have realised that a white interior will make the most of any light available.
They used to paint dark-rooms (you remember them) white to get that red glow bouncing around.
I used to paint my commercial photo studios matte black to better control the light I introduced .

Introducing more light source will help, but a dark interior will soak it up at point of entry.

I agree though not to jump in with the paint pot. Try pinning some bedsheets around the place or blue tack some sheets of paper about. But try to keep to the contours of the woodwork or the effect may be to make the cabin feel smaller than usual, when it ought to feel bigger.



Or some selective white bits

19MainCabinPortsideaft.jpg


26FowardCabin.JPG
 
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I agree that painting wood is drastic, in case you ever want to reverse it but (don't laugh) how about wallpaper. Not your standard Sandersons but maybe some form of unpatterned vinyl suitable for kitchens and bathrooms. If required, going back to wood would be relatively straightforward.
 
If the wood comes off in panels, maybe cover them in foam backed vinyl stapled to the rear surface? This would eventually lead to a sag showing, Would not advocate glueing it if you want to reverse the process.
 
Do as I did.Light plywood panels painted in white two pot polyurethane.They're held in place by the trim and a fitting or two like the oil lamp and the book shelf.If you don't have any of those a few very small screws will do.If you ever return the boat original the screw holes can be disguised with coluor matched wood filler and a drop of varnish.
It took me years to gather the courage to do .Silly really.
Before
barcoantes075.jpg

After
boat2.jpg

boat1.jpg
 
I have a similar problem - at some time before my ownership, a T&G panel was fitted on the bulkhead over the nav station and painted with a dark wood stain. I keep looking at it and thinking about painting it white. I certainly absorbs any light and looks out of place with the rest of the saloon. My problem would be that instruments are fitted on/through it and I'm not sure what I'll find behind it...... So it's on my list of 'Things to Do/Too difficult to deal with at the moment'
 
snooks said:
For light you need windows, painting the inside of a box white won't make any difference if the box is sealed.:)
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True if the box is sealed, but I suspect he has some windows! In which case a light colour will reflect the available light and dark colours will absorb it. We painted the wooden ceiling on our Mac28 and it made a big difference, I think the mixture or varnished wood and high gloss white is attractive, as per those photos above.
 
Painting bulkheads

I had a very similar issue- my boat had lovely teak-faced bulkheads which I painted satin cream- my old dad thought I was mad at the time but I have never regretted it, much brighter and the cream sets off the teak trim- of which there is still a lot, much better.
 
Lakesailor said:
Goodness Snooks. I would have thought you would have realised that a white interior will make the most of any light available.
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My point was that if there ain't a lot of light coming in, then painting the whole saloon white won't make a great deal of difference. You might just remove the boats interior character if you start running around with a tin of white emulsion.

The more light that can enter the saloon, the less of the white paint you have to spread around :rolleyes: Deal with the root of the problem first

The dark rooms I worked in had black walls to stop and extraneous light effecting the colour balance....Yup I worked in colour darkrooms. I also spent too much time in a B/W darkroom. but then I came to the conclusion a photographer should be out in the light, not left in the dark:D
 
I am in similar position in my 'new' boat. Lots of solid teak and tan coloured bulkheads.
It's plucking up the courage to paint the bulkheads as I've seen some horrible paint jobs.
Not really ideal in many cases, but well positioned mirrors reflect light of course and give a feeling of greater space.
Also I'm considering a string of LED uplighters on each side of the saloon, hidden behind the deep grabrail which is in the shape of a deep 'U' and can act as a light pelmet too.
Problem is which LED strings to buy as I believe some are voltage sensitive?
Perhaps another posting on LED's??
 
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Twister_Ken said:
I agree that painting wood is drastic, in case you ever want to reverse it but (don't laugh) how about wallpaper. Not your standard Sandersons but maybe some form of unpatterned vinyl suitable for kitchens and bathrooms. If required, going back to wood would be relatively straightforward.
Click to expand...

I did just that to experiment with a gloomy heads - as an experiment to justify painting. I used bathroom type ready pasted. Worked a treat, and because it was Greece (hot and dry a lot) I left it as is.
 
BAtoo said:
dulux do a "reflective" paint for walls and ceilings - so presumably not a gloss - that reflects "twice as much" light according to the blurb.
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I used that on my kitchen ceiling, as the lighting in there is fluorescent tubes on top of the cupboards designed to bounce light off the ceiling for an even spread with no obvious source. It doesn't look any different to normal paint, no worries about it being shiny. Can't tell how much more reflective it is than normal emulsion, but certainly I get plenty of light coming off it.

Pete
 
Cuchilo said:
You can buy pre finished white hardboard that bends quite well to bulkheads etc . Just cut it to shape and pin it in place .
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I have some on my 'new' boat.
I guess ideal until the untreated hardboard starts absorbing moisture and starting to grow unwanted things behind it.
If the hardboard side were treated with a sealant then possibly a better result. ??
 
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