apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I did a guest bedroom in a matte greyish blue, I prefer it to glossy. Blue can a strong color statement and I think "glossy" takes it over the top.

Gorgeous! I love how the glossy walls reflect the light.

These are absolutely beautiful! personally, i'd prefer to keep glossiness to more neutral colors...these vibrant blues make plenty of statement on their own. definitely agree with gingergirl. still, they are gorgeous...making me hate my landlord-beige walls more than ever. :)

The first one is really dramatic.
I would gladly do it in my spare bedroom, but the walls have too many bumps and are too uneven. I'd only do it if I had perfectly straight fresh walls and it were painted professionally. Nothing looks worse than a botched up gloss painted job.

This post did not deliver i was expecting glossy blue walls based from the first picture.

i did my scalloped-y edged ceiling in a semi gloss oil and it is so pretty i could cry. no, it's not blue, it's sherwin williams' "impressive ivory," a very alive, bright ivory. i would encourage anyone to paint their ceiling glossy, blue or not. xo

To truly accentuate the glamour and elegance of glossy walls, I would need large windows (maximum light exposure) and high ceilings, whose reflective surface would amplify the space.

Intriguing...

any source for the octopus print? it's great!

now to find someone to do the painting, picking the colors is the fun part...

You really do need perfect walls to pull it off, otherwise it just looks cheap and tacky. If you have old plaster walls or can't afford a level 5 drywall finish, go flat!

Hate it! I'm usually a risk taker but this just doesn't do it for me.

It's not as easy as picking up a can of gloss and going to it. As referenced above, the walls need to be pristine. You would need to sand all the texture off the walls, and depending on their condition, that can be a job in itself.

I would suspect that these walls are sprayed.

I did a hallway that was real wood paneling in semi-gloss white in an apartment building that was about 30 feet long. If it wasn't for the wood pattern(the lines to signify the boards) it would have looked awful. As I looked down the wall, I could see the striping effect from the roller. The texture calmed down after the paint fully dried for a few weeks but, I would imagine it wouldn't be a great look on a straight drywall wall.

The dining area in image two is so beautiful! I want that pale, gray-blue for my apartment! ...but I could take or leave the glossy.

In Newport, I've seen wood panelling painted glossy blue (in some of the historic houses). It looks spectacular. For anyone looking for an alternative to either dark wood or glossy white...

I agree with superbeetle, or I should say, my painters agree with superbeetle. I was just chatting with them yesterday about high gloss, and they said everything shows up with a gloss. The painters use flat in their homes, as it is very forgiving.

I have to disagree with the comments about smooth, flawless walls being a prerequisite to pulling off this look. My home boasts plaster walls dating to 1920s, and I'm not the least bit afraid of their showing their age:) Cheap and tacky? Not a friggin' chance. I went with a deep blue satin in most of the main floor, and I actually regret that I didn't go with a higher sheen. Maybe in a 1960s tract home I'd be a little more cautious...

I second the request to know a source for the octopus print! Anyone?

it's not the exact octopus print as in the picture but natural curiosities has one...octavio octopus.
http://naturalcuriosities.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=438

here's the exact octopus print. you might be able to find cheaper, this is pretty expensive:

http://www.tonichome.com/catalog.php?item=371

How funny! We just installed a steam cabinet in our shower, and my husband decided to paint the walls and ceiling (from the tile up) glossy cobalt!