Brightness Ensues

I haven't been real motivated the last couple of weeks, so have chosen to loll around the house and read or sleep. Last Sunday afternoon I finally started mudding/taping the basement wall. Thru the week I continued with sanding, mudding, sanding some more and the 3rd coat of mud went up of Friday night.

Yesterday I did the final dry sanding, followed by a wet sand then last night I got the first coat of paint on. The first coats of paint are a water inhibitor since the basement is damp during the summer. It still has another coat to go yet.

I never thought I would ever say this about any room in this house, especially part of the basement after dark, but it is too bright. Before anyone says it doesn't look bright, these pictures were taken at 8 PM, with only the lights from that room, and no flash while the mudding picture was taken with a flash.

Two factors come into play to creat the super brightness; the 4 LED recessed lights that I had installed in October and the "bright white" paint. I have used this paint on the bathroom walls that are up, but the lighting is poor, so it does a great job of spreading the available light. The part of the wall toward the door is in a darker portion of the basement (not pictured), and it is just fine. But I am hoping at some point to add more lighting on that side

So now I'm unsure if I should have the next can of paint tinted to a less bright white (this paint cannot be tinted very much), whether I should add additional layers of paint with a conventional tinted latex paint, or whether to stay with the bright white hoping the work bench, shelves and tool cabinets (that will eventually go in there, and most likely will be black or dark gray) help tone things down.But, at the same time, I still have 1.5 walls left to put up (after I tear down and rebuild one of the walls), so there will be additional brightness from those. And if I decide to enclose the ceiling too (unlikely, but possible), it could be overwhelming.

To add to my indecision, I've been thinking of adding a wainscoting-type covering in the lower half of the walls to reduce the chance of damage from banging things against the wall - which will invariably happen since it is a work shop.

I guess I have plenty of time to change things, so will probably leave the paint as is (after second coat). Then later, when it is more complete, make a decision on whether it needs to be toned down or not.

Comments

[Cop Car]

I just love reading about the way you do things - taking the time to do things correctly. Kudos!

You've already thought of these, but my ideas on the brightness: the paint will naturally dull over the years; getting things in (work bench etc) will, as you wrote, absorb or block light; the remaining wall doesn't have to be painted the same color.