Decorating and Design - Choosing Paint Colour

Our house is 13.5 yrs old. I still like the colors of our house, but feel if I am going to pay to paint, I should change our colors. I read the thread about decorating and I am ready to match the walls to the furniture. Our house has south exposure. Our living room is 2 storey, and we currently painted the wall of the living room a darker colour in the same tones. Our walls are currently a pale pink, and feature wall is almost a burgandy. We have oak hardwood floors that are unstained throughout the main floor except in the family room and bathroom. We have a burgandy leathersofa and loveseat in the living room and a coordinating fabric chair in burgandy, mauve and light grey... Also a burgandy lacquered piano. I bought an India stye area rug for the living room and main color is an emerald green with pinks, tans, ivory, etc. I have coffee table, and 2 drum tables in spanish style stained burgandy tones and have slate top (purchased in 60's and given to me by my parents). The dining room is adjoining and has pecan Thomasville set, black leather upholstered chairs, and I have a olive green side table. The colours I choose will go throughout the main level (plan to do kitchen and family room in a different color), upstairs (loft over the dining room) and into second storey hallway. We are also redocorating the kitchen and family room. We have cream dove stain on our kitchen cabinets, a taupey pink carpet in the family room. We have chosen to recover out sofa in a blue fabric and the 2 chairs will be plaid with olive green, blue, red, mustard yellorw and ivory. We have chosen valence and side panels for the eating nook that are a paisly fabric - blue background and pinks , tan reds, greens pattern. We are chaning our countertops to granite and have chosen pattern that has tan backgroud with greys, black. We are thinking of a color called iced blue for the kitchen area. Any ideas on how I choose the color? Is the kitchen idea okay? PS The only thing we have ordered so far is the granite and I hope this thread is not too long. It is my first one.

Many recommend being color consistent throughout the home to provide continuity. The simplest way to go for beginners is to pick three colors (light, medium, and dark tone) and determine which one should be dominant in each room. It is important also to consider how much of adjacent rooms are visible and plan color scheme accordingly.

With the dramatic, dark burgundy furniture in the livingroom, burgundy has to be one of your three colors and makes for a great accent color in other rooms of the home. Burgundy on the walls competes with the burgundy furniture. The green in the livingroom rug offers a color palette with which to work. Tan would be a good medium color to put on the walls or the ivory for a lighter color.

Without pictures it is difficult to see how you have pulled things together. What is the focal point in the livingroom and family room? Pull green and burgundy to walls with art. A color in the tan or ivory family out of the rug could showcase the furniture and allow the natural oak floor to make a statement.

Tan could be carried into adjacent diningroom where it would work with the olive green side table, black leather, and pecan. You can pull burgundy into the diningroom in china, art, napkins, flowers, and other accessories. Pull the colors of your scheme throughout the home in art and accessories. The dark green from the livingroom rug can also be pulled through with plants. A splash of the blue sofa color can be added as well.

If kitchen is adjacent to diningroom or livingroom and visible from there, color scheme should continue. Which color to dominate in kitchen? Green or burgundy? Either will allow the cream/ivory colored cabinets to pop. Depending on how dark of a tan you select, it could work too. Accessorize with green, burgundy, or the sofa blue. The black/gray granite will pull the black leather from the diningroom into the kitchen.

Open loft over the diningroom should probably be the same as the diningroom below to provide continuity as the eye moves upward and on down the upstairs hallway. Burgundy makes for a great diningroom color because of the cozy, intimate feel, but probably would not work extended to loft above and down the hall.

Breakfast nook in kitchen should continue with the same color scheme. You say curtains there will be "paisly fabric - blue background and pinks , tan reds, greens pattern." How do the these colors work with colors in other rooms? Is the blue the color of the sofa? A green from the livingroom or diningroom? Will ice blue paint on kitchen walls throw your color scheme off? Is it too cool to work with the rich colors you have? Is it the same blue as the sofa?

The blue sofa and rich colors in the family room chairs would stand out against tan or ivory walls. Introducing a dark blue sofa in the family room on pink carpet would make the sofa pop. I would, however, consider replacing the dated pink carpet with the natural red oak flooring to eliminate the pink and carry the wood out of the livingroom.

Remember that continuity and balance of color are important. If you took all your colors and laid all the swatches and chips down together on the floor, would they compliment each other and provide continuity? Collect paint chips and enter each room. The colors you select for each room should compliment the colors used in every other room of the house, not look lost. Continuity is the key. Vary which colors of your scheme dominate each room. Pay attention to color scheme as seen from adjacent rooms. Avoid the red room, blue room, green room scheme like at the White House. Think about how the colors connect at intersecting walls and ceilings. Does it feel right when you see a different color room from another?

Do not forget the ceilings in your rooms. They are the 5th wall of rooms and can be an important element to pull your room together. Ceilings do not have to be white. What trim color? Remember colors look different in natural versus artificial light.

Thank you for this information. Tan was one of the colours I was thinking of. The kitchen, eating nook, and family room run parallel along the back of the house and there is a natural separation between the kitchen and dining room and the eating area and hallway to the front. Would you recommend that I have the same colors throughout the house or could I do the icey blue in the back part of the house and the tan throughout the front of the house to the second level. I am not sure what we can do about the ceilings as we have the california ceilings that are 2 tone with the pink being the under color and white being on top. Any suggestions?

"There is a natural separation between the kitchen and dining room and the eating area and hallway to the front." Are these areas visible but separate from one another? If so, and wanting to put one of your colors from your selected palette on the wall as a dominant color, then go for it. You want to avoid the Red Room, Blue Room, Green Room like at the White House. Your selected colors can vary from being dominant in one room to being present in accessories to carry through and provide continuity. If adding blue to the scheme, you may want a little touch of it in other rooms in accessories.

Icy blue may be too cool. If stuck on blue, make sure it is a hue and intensity that works well with your palette. There are many different blues. Remember that paint colors will vary from the chips you like. Typically, choosing one chip lighter than the one you like tends to work out best.

Ceilings can be repainted. Will whitish/pinkish ceilings work with your wall colors? If not wanting to change ceiling color, look for a tan with pinkish undertones. Lighting and wall colors determine the ceiling color. Height can also be a factor. White ceilings can make rooms feel lighter and more open. In rooms with low ceilings, white tends to define wall height. Painting ceilings in those rooms the same color as walls will take eyes away from low ceiling height. Going with a shade or two lighter than wall color can also make ceilings appear higher and rooms larger. Large, cavernous rooms with high ceilings can benefit with a rich color on the ceiling because it brings the ceiling down and makes the room cozier. White or off-white ceilings tend to remain the norm.

Thank you so much for your replies. It is really helping me figure out what to do. I have found a color that is in the beige tones. I phoned the paint store and asked about breakdown of the color - it is white base and tinted yellow, reddish brown, and dark brown. The sheet goes 7 tones, from light to dark. I am rethinking having 2 different colors and using the different colors on the same tones. The the living room is 2 stories, south facing, and has windows from floor to ceiling. In the hallway on the wall opposite the living room there is a painted chairrail that follow the lines of second floor and is continuose of the line of our light wood staircase. It divides the first from the second storey. It is currently painted the same color of the wall.
I am wondering if the following would work. If I used the 1-4 colors of the paint spectrum which 1 being the lightest and 4 being the darkest. If I paint the outside wall in the living room #4, and continue with that color in the dining room. Of the other walls in the living room (window to hallway), paint color #2. At the second level, paint color #1 and continue throughout the second level including the loft and upper hallway. In the area of the kitchen, family room, eating area where it is North exposure, use color #1.
Hope this makes sense.