Decorating and Design - Two colors....TOO MUCH??

:blah: Well I followed Annette's advice; sort of. I didn't paint the ENTIRE room first before redecorating! Here's my problem: My smallish dining room has a chair rail (paint color: ivory) above is painted a deep rose/burgandy color. Below was wallpaper that I have removed. I am redecorating around plaid curtains and seat upholstery that have the same rose/burgandy color as well as gold, brown and light green tones. The "decorator lady" at the paint store helped me choose a gold tone for below the chair rail- a similar color to one in the plaid. Now that I have painted one wall- it doesn't seem right- I was going for a warm, cozy look, but it looks disjointed. I do not want to repaint above the chair rail- I like the rose/burgandy. Is the ivory chair rail the problem? The two colors competing- top and bottom? Maybe I should try a glaze over the gold?? Any ideas? Help!!! Dorette

the chair rail is ivory, but what is the baseboard, door & window casing? ivory or stained? if stained, then yes, the ivory chair rail is the problem.

Oh sorry! All the trim in the room is the same ivory

in that case, the ivory chair rail is fine. the problem is the two very different solid colors. on their own, it probably DOES look disjointed & unrelated, but once the curtains are up and you hang some wall art and maybe a floral arrangement for the center of the table that all incorporate the 2 different colors, it'll make more sense.

another thought: you've got the darker color on top and the lighter one on bottom, and that always seems a little top heavy. i'm not saying it's wrong. actually for a dining room, that's how i'd do it for added drama. but it does tend to confuse our brains!

and lastly, it might seem just sort of boring, having 2 different "solid" colors. it would really be pretty if you would go ahead & paint the bottom the solid gold color, but then go back & tape off wide stripes, and then repaint those stripes either one shade lighter or darker of the same color, OR, if your base coat is flat sheen, then paint the stripes in a glossy sheen, or vice versa. or you could even just use clear glaze for the stripes over flat. but just by adding a subtle stripe (or even a subtle ragging effect, or sponging, or strie, etc) it'll really jazz it up and add some elegance.

:thumbup: Thanks, Annette! I think I might try doing a glazing technique over the solid gold. Stripes sound good too, but I wonder if the striped pattern would conflict with the plaid curtains. Another question: do people everpost pics of their projects on this board? It's hard to describe sometimes :D

if the stripes are much wider or narrower than the plaid, it will work. if in doubt, go with the ragging idea, just to impart some texture & pattern.

you can provide a link to your pictures if you've got them somewhere else, like your own web page or photobucket, etc. and some people have posted pics right in the post, but i haven't a clue how they do it!!! :o