Faux Finishing - Need help choosing a base color

I bought a new house with a large beige bathroom. The fixtures are all polished gold, and the adjoining bedroom is a muted red color. I thought I would sponge paint it with the muted red and a metallic gold, but I can't find a base color that works. I've done some tests with the beige...too light, and I've tried a darker brown, which is too dark to see the red. I need some suggestions on how to spice up this bathroom!

what if you start out with the same original beige, sponge on your red & gold, and then (once dry) go back over it all lightly, randomly, with the original beige again? it'll soften up some of the too-bold reds and help blend it together. you probably won't achieve the desired results with a one-step process. it'll take some layering, and probably some wet-on-wet blending work. sponging one color onto a dry base rarely looks good.

Thanks! I hadn't thought about using the base color over again. I'll give it a try on piece of posterboard first.

my sister in law used this technique on her bathroom walls & i was hunting everywhere to find the SEAMS! it was so gorgeous i assumed it was wallpaper. she explained that she'd lightly dabbed a rag with paint on it on the walls randomly, but then thought it was too dark. so then when it was dry, she went back over "some" of it with the base color. it created a whole new color really, because the base was sort of sheer over what was there. anyway - play around with it on that poster board til you get something you like. and try other things besides your sponge, like rags or wadded up plastic bags, etc. and experiment with 2 wet colors for a less splotchy, more blended & softer look.

good luck!