Tone on tone – primer and the ability to blend in

A primed lighting fixture can be painted with the same paint used for the wall or ceiling it’s installed on. The result is a fixture that blends into its surroundings, putting its light output firmly centre stage as the sole protagonist.

Painting the body of an LED fixture as if it were a part of the architecture gives you the best possible visual integration, especially when it's not possible to identify the colour being used on the walls or ceiling (by means of a RAL code, for example). Slight colour discrepancies between the lighting product’s finish and the paintwork are perceptible even to the untrained eye: these can be easily overcome with the primed version. It is also the ideal solution for reproducing, on the fixture, any distinctive wall textures obtained with techniques such as spatula painting.

Below is a photo of the temporary installation “Riflessioni Intono” at the Fuorisalone 2019. It featured the Intono wall-mounted fixture, our first product to offer a primer version as standard.

Our primer treatment was originally conceived and developed for lighting fixtures intended for outdoor applications, just like the Intono wall-mounted fixture. When planning a facade that is to be punctuated by the light from these wall lamps, painting the fixtures with the same paint used on the walls themselves means they will blend into the background, even in bright daylight.

This solution also increases the lighting planner’s scope for creative input. Picture a striped wall: the pattern can also be reproduced on the lighting fixture to create continuity with the setting.

Primer is defined as

This is what products look like in primer versions:

The paints that can be used on primed fixtures are the same ones suitable for use on wall surfaces, namely:

🎨 Two-pack polyurethane varnishes

🎨 Two-pack acrylic paints

A film is applied to the glass of the lighting fixtures to protect it during painting. Once the final coat has dried, it can be removed by hand.

We also offer primer versions for indoor lighting fixtures intended for hotels and private homes. The fixtures can easily blend in on surfaces with a uniform background, decorative patterns or special textures.

Take the case of the Berica IN wall-mounted fixture: in the first photo below, it has been painted with the green paint used on the lower part of the wall. An equally viable alternative for Berica, in the primer version, is to cover it in the wallpaper it is sitting on, as in the second photo.

Remaining in the context of interior architectural spaces, in retail and showrooms, fashions follow on one another very quickly, and furnishings have to be changed equally quickly – and with them, of course, the room colours.

That's why it can be useful and practical to choose a downlight with a primed cover that can be painted like the ceiling. When the colour palette for the furnishings changes, and with it the ceiling colour, simply replace the cover on the LED fixture with a primed one on which your creativity can be unleashed.

We’ve been talking about treating our fixtures with primer, an adhering material that allows the lamp to be painted in the same colour used for the wall or ceiling, ensuring the perfect visual integration of the lighting fixture into its surroundings. This practical solution focuses attention only on the architectural space made vibrant by the fixture’s light output.

Now it's your turn.