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More or Less Space!?...Perception Boosts


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Sorry folks another one from me as I plan my next 6 months.....provided the survey is clean on 5th June!

The boat I'm hoping to buy has a lot of natural light but due to it being ALL wood, and most of it a bit tired and darker side, it needs a bit of something to give the inside a lift and to gain best perception of space....

....would you go light or dark on each of these options?

Floor

Lower Cabin Wall

Upper Cabin Wall

Ceiling

-------------------------

I thought :mellow:

Floor - medium (dark side near entrances)

Lower Cabin Wall - light paint (soft not high gloss)

Upper Cabin Wall - dark wood

Ceiling - lighter shade or light sides and dark varnished wood centre!

.....but then I am rubbish at colours and have no real idea.........so was hoping to get some thoughts of those more experienced than I will ever be :D

saw a very pink and purple boat for sale ......not quite my style

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As dark a floor as you can stand on a boat.  You'll never keep a cream coloured carpet clean unless you don't use it.  

Personally I don't like light interiors.  We don't spend much time in the cabin during daylight hours and I like a nice cosy atmosphere at night which darkish wood promotes, you can have lots of LED spotlights to see by.  Light colours don't necessarily create an illusion of space either.  Not having too much clutter on the walls helps as do mirrors.  

I always find open plan interiors and free standing furniture make a boat look more cramped.

YMMV.

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I've spent some time in quite a variety of boats and I'm largely with mross on this one. While I wouldn't advise having a light floor, and as mark99 says white is too stark, if most of your décor is in light colours you will be able to see your way about the boat much more easily when the daylight is poor, i.e. most of the time. This is especially true if you have portholes not bus windows.

It's common for older boats to have lots of wood, often varnished rather than painted, and I wouldn't want to paint over that in a historic boat or in a modern boat with a good quality fit out. Indeed there's been a trend in the last decade or two to fit out new boats with lighter wood such as ash. But there are quite a lot of boats about which were lined with tongue and groove, or with dark plywood panels in the 1970s, and I'd be inclined to paint over that in an off-white colour of your choice.

Carpets are another matter; if you're going to move your boat about much, they won't stay clean anywhere that the crew go stomping through, so I'd avoid them or at least not have them fitted and treat them as a disposable item. It's nice to have a bit of carpet under foot in some places like alongside a bed, but offcuts of carpet big enough for this are widely available and cheap.

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Depends on what colour you want throughout the boat and if you want tie the outside colour into the inside, Grey's are ways good as you get such a variety. Say something like a graphite grey carpet, don't go too light as will just show dirt, a slightly lighter lower cabin wall,  then leave wood upper or if adventurous a really nice william Morris Acanthus see link 

https://www.wallpaperdirect.com/search?keyword=Acanthus#min-price=0&max-price=1000&order_by=relevance&keyword=Acanthus&on_sale=0

Then a very light grey roof, all in eggshell. Don't use gloss, semi-gloss or satin, just looks cheap, matt's always look more expensive, also use good quality paint as it makes all the difference. Keep away from whites, creams and magnolias they just look so dated. There's so many boaters out there that go for these bland colours and their boats look dated with no imagination.

 

 

 

 

Edited by PD1964
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1 hour ago, mross said:

Best to go light everywhere.  Can you fit any pyramids in the roof?  They add to the feeling of light.  Mirrors also help.

Won't the Egyptians notice!?....and how high? :)

not sure what pyramids mean but mirrors, yep forgotten that one

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

White on the ceiling. On a sunny day I like watching the ripples from the water outside reflected on the ceiling through the windows.

Jen

Good point Jen, didn't think of that but yes I love the reflection of water so another good reason for a lighter ceiling

 

1 hour ago, Neil2 said:

As dark a floor as you can stand on a boat.  You'll never keep a cream coloured carpet clean unless you don't use it.  

Personally I don't like light interiors.  We don't spend much time in the cabin during daylight hours and I like a nice cosy atmosphere at night which darkish wood promotes, you can have lots of LED spotlights to see by.  Light colours don't necessarily create an illusion of space either.  Not having too much clutter on the walls helps as do mirrors.  

I always find open plan interiors and free standing furniture make a boat look more cramped.

YMMV.

Dark floor, yep!....I am bound to mess it up but I like the later idea of a dark grey as that might tie in with other elements, not that I really understand but going from a part panel of charcoal and Burgandy might blend nicely....

 

1 hour ago, mark99 said:

My tip. Go offwhite ie Dulux Calico number 4 in eggshell or satin in top half and ceiling. White is too stark. Calico is warm.

Good point....will avoid lain white - way too stark, should still be a soft relaxing moody feel at night to calm the mind

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43 minutes ago, Peter X said:

I've spent some time in quite a variety of boats and I'm largely with mross on this one. While I wouldn't advise having a light floor, and as mark99 says white is too stark, if most of your décor is in light colours you will be able to see your way about the boat much more easily when the daylight is poor, i.e. most of the time. This is especially true if you have portholes not bus windows.

It's common for older boats to have lots of wood, often varnished rather than painted, and I wouldn't want to paint over that in a historic boat or in a modern boat with a good quality fit out. Indeed there's been a trend in the last decade or two to fit out new boats with lighter wood such as ash. But there are quite a lot of boats about which were lined with tongue and groove, or with dark plywood panels in the 1970s, and I'd be inclined to paint over that in an off-white colour of your choice.

Carpets are another matter; if you're going to move your boat about much, they won't stay clean anywhere that the crew go stomping through, so I'd avoid them or at least not have them fitted and treat them as a disposable item. It's nice to have a bit of carpet under foot in some places like alongside a bed, but offcuts of carpet big enough for this are widely available and cheap.

I love natural wood but this one has a bit too much of dated wood and really needs a lift in on or two portions of the decor, but without losing that feeling of why I want to be on a boat in the first place.....the lower part of the cabin needs to get the paint I think - I wondered about (hate the phrase but most people know what it means), distressing the matt paint finish....carpets!...I hear you on that one. Also learned from posts about maybe not putting Lino down in the kitchen...maybe a nice wooden floor as feet should be dry by there - middle of the boat

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41 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

Depends on what colour you want throughout the boat and if you want tie the outside colour into the inside, Grey's are ways good as you get such a variety. Say something like a graphite grey carpet, don't go too light as will just show dirt, a slightly lighter lower cabin wall,  then leave wood upper or if adventurous a really nice william Morris Acanthus see link 

https://www.wallpaperdirect.com/search?keyword=Acanthus#min-price=0&max-price=1000&order_by=relevance&keyword=Acanthus&on_sale=0

Then a very light grey roof, all in eggshell. Don't use gloss, semi-gloss or satin, just looks cheap, matt's always look more expensive, also use good quality paint as it makes all the difference. Keep away from whites, creams and magnolias they just look so dated. There's so many boaters out there that go for these bland colours and their boats look dated with no imagination.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all of this, all sounds sensible good advice to be blended inI like the matt look.....trying hard to picture the final finish

need an app to scan your boat and be able to put different colours around inside and outside <_<

1 minute ago, mark99 said:

Pyramid = light lens or bulls eye.

Nope ....no nearer I'm afraid.....am a real newbie so totally ignorant of some terminology I'm afraid.....am trying!

 

....very trying!....I know :D

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I know its a matter of taste but imo any patterned wallpaper is too much in such a small confine. Look up bullseye narrowboat. Google images.

Edited by mark99
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7 minutes ago, mark99 said:

I know its a matter of taste but imo any patterned wallpaper is too much in such a small confine. Look up bullseye narrowboat. Google images.

:) will do - someone mentioned wallpaper and I just cringed....I can't fold a napping let alone get paper straight but...just a personal image.....wallpaper = house with four walls, I want 'Not House' with unlimited nature! ....no else can put up with me ;):D

Just now, The Grumpy Triker said:

:) will do - someone mentioned wallpaper and I just cringed....I can't fold a napping let alone get paper straight but...just a personal image.....wallpaper = house with four walls, I want 'Not House' with unlimited nature! ....no else can put up with me ;):D

Another one mentioned space paint!?....that sounded quite mind blasting to me....has hidden glitter that only the mind can perceive but not the eye....sounds expensive though ......and think I am heading down the matt route

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4 minutes ago, mark99 said:

I know its a matter of taste but imo any patterned wallpaper is too much in such a small confine. Look up bullseye narrowboat. Google images.

The William Morris looks good, big bold pattern not too bitti like a lot of patterns, I think big bold patterns look ok but not the smaller patterns in a small space, something different and you can see the quality, not your usual £4.99 a roll, remember your only 5ft away from it and looking at it 24/7 so you have to get it right.

Keep away from pyramid or little bullseye lights on the roof, once again old and dated.

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Just now, PD1964 said:

The William Morris looks good, big bold pattern not too bitti like a lot of patterns, I think big bold patterns look ok but not the smaller patterns in a small space, something different and you can see the quality, not your usual £4.99 a roll, remember your only 5ft away from it and looking at it 24/7 so you have to get it right.

Keep away from pyramid or little bullseye lights on the roof, once again old and dated.

Being less than 4ft away at one time is another reason I wouldn't wallpaper....the gaps could be measured in inches not mms :huh:

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29 minutes ago, The Grumpy Triker said:

I wondered about (hate the phrase but most people know what it means), distressing the matt paint finish...

It's your boat. If you fancy a distressed paint look then go for it, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. If you do it and decide you don't like it then paint over it :)

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2 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

White on the ceiling. On a sunny day I like watching the ripples from the water outside reflected on the ceiling through the windows.

Jen

Early morning is best when they are like flames 

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Just now, WotEver said:

It's your boat. If you fancy a distressed paint look then go for it, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. If you do it and decide you don't like it then paint over it :)

:)......but I am happy to learn as well ;)....I don't want it looking too much like a numpty's bourgouis palace ....it was Duluth Matt wasn't it :D

Am just keen to keep the feel right and seen so many high gloss finishes, which people like so no problem, but want to keep a balance between the light and dark - like the idea seeing the reflection of the ripples but equally just want to hear the water - and strangely enough, I like the cold so will get plenty of that If I want it. 

Thanks to all on here as I know you get so many of us cobbling our way through - look forward to buying you a drink in a local if I ever get the chance to meet you. ...oh...no beer glass emoticon on my options :(

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4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Early morning is best when they are like flames 

That's a time I look forward to....apart from the blooming swans knocking on the boat like last time I did 3 weeks on the Thames:huh:

 

1 minute ago, WotEver said:

:cheers:

Now that's not fair!!....I don't get that option !?....but ahh well, if you're buying :D

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Just now, The Grumpy Triker said:

That's a time I look forward to....apart from the blooming swans knocking on the boat like last time I did 3 weeks on the Thames:huh:

 

Now that's not fair!!....I don't get that option !?....but ahh well, if you're buying :D

Just hit the button and got a few more :clapping::cheers: god help you if they release any more 

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So I've got a mottled mid-dark charcoal carpet....good if the wood burner spits out....distressed eggshell over very pale blue on the lower half, well tended to wood with a nice darkish natural varnish finish and a lighting matt coloured ceiling.....dark seat cushions, and......well, who cares!....it will be on the water, in a great community and it will be MINE! :)

....

......or maybe that should be eggshell blue and a mint carpet with brown spots...!? 

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33 minutes ago, The Grumpy Triker said:

Another one mentioned space paint!?....that sounded quite mind blasting to me....has hidden glitter that only the mind can perceive but not the eye....sounds expensive though .....

You'll find that in the Lysergic range!!!!!! :D

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Mine is oak and ash so light and bright, I love the wood but another boat I am doing will be wood and painted finish with wood floor. All boats are different and as long as you like it and can live with it thats all that matters

  • Greenie 1
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