Choosing Paint Colors for an Older Haddonfield Home's Interior: What the Preservation Pros Say

You can paint the inside of an old Haddonfield house any color you want. But if you want it to look like it belongs, and you want the paint to stay on the wall, the National Park Service has a guide worth ten minutes: Preservation Brief 28, Painting Historic Interiors. Here's what it says, in plain English, before you buy a single quart.

Start with what the house wore

Every old house is a stack of paint layers, and each one is a clue. The Park Service says a full paint study can date changes to a house and match the original colors. For most homeowners that's overkill. For a typical rehab, it says, matching on site and picking from period appropriate colors is enough.

A cheap version: when you're patching a chipped door frame or a baseboard, look at the edge of the chip. You'll often see the old colors in order. Then leave one small patch of old paint taped and painted over in each room. The Park Service suggests exactly this, so the next owner can see the history.

What colors fit which era

The Brief gives a quick tour that maps well onto Haddonfield's mix of houses:

• 1700s and early 1800s: grays, buffs and tans, ochre yellows, iron oxide reds, greens and Prussian blue. Oil paint went on wood trim; walls were often whitewashed. Glossy trim was prized.
• Early 1800s, the Federal era: lighter, brighter, clearer colors, inspired in part by Pompeii. Flat finishes on decorative plaster.
• Victorian: glossy varnish or shellac on wood trim, flat or oil paint on walls and ceilings, and stencil work.
• Early 1900s, Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts: more subdued colors and a tighter palette.

You don't have to copy a period. But colors from the right family will make old trim and plaster look intentional instead of tired.

Gloss matters as much as color

Old paints looked different. Early oil paints dried glossy with visible brush marks. Water based whitewash and distemper were always flat. The Brief says many paint companies now make latex in colors close to historic ones, in the right gloss levels, without lead.

Its best tip is also the cheapest: buy a quart and test the color on site before you commit.

The rule that saves you from peeling

This is the one to remember. The Park Service says softer or weaker paints should go over harder, stronger ones. Latex is stronger than oil, and oil is stronger than old water based paint like calcimine. Put a strong paint over a weak one and it can pull the old layer right off. That's why so many old ceilings peel in strips.

So:

• Latex over old oil trim? Use a primer whose label says it bonds to older oil or alkyd paint.
• Chalky old ceiling paint? The Brief says white shellac gives new paint a stable surface.
• Match primer and finish brands to keep them compatible.
• Fix leaks first. Water is a prime cause of interior paint failure.

Before you scrape, think about lead

The Park Service says virtually all paint made before 1950 used lead white, and dry sanding or heat stripping releases it. Never use a propane torch on old trim. If a contractor is doing the work in a pre 1978 house, here's what the EPA lead safe rule requires of them. If your walls are bubbling, our guide to old plaster and radiators in winter covers the moisture side.

Sources

• National Park Service, Preservation Brief 28: Painting Historic Interiors (PDF)
• Borough of Haddonfield: Historic Preservation Commission FAQ

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