Decorating and Design - choosing a color
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05-01-01, 08:59 AM
Hello,
I would like to paint my living room. My furniture is a light to med solid grey. My living room and dinning room are one large room. The dinning room is about three steps higher than the living room. The livingroom is about 18x22 and the dinning room is about 18x14. The furniture in each room is a dark walnut. I would also like to put in new window treatments. I would like the rooms to look more contemporary. I would like to keep the dark wood blinds but add a drapery color that would show them off. I don't care for floral prints. I have large windows in each room. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You, Judy Littlefield
[Edited by Judy Littlefield on 05-01-01 at 11:12]
I would like to paint my living room. My furniture is a light to med solid grey. My living room and dinning room are one large room. The dinning room is about three steps higher than the living room. The livingroom is about 18x22 and the dinning room is about 18x14. The furniture in each room is a dark walnut. I would also like to put in new window treatments. I would like the rooms to look more contemporary. I would like to keep the dark wood blinds but add a drapery color that would show them off. I don't care for floral prints. I have large windows in each room. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You, Judy Littlefield
[Edited by Judy Littlefield on 05-01-01 at 11:12]
05-01-01, 10:39 AM
You gave a lot of details that I don't always see. Which is great. There is one more thing I would like to know, What are your favorite colors? Do you like reds, blues, greens. With your grey furniture I would say you like cool colors. Deep rich tones will bring out the woods richness.
For a contemporary look you can use a valance with a shade of some sort. Very clean and neat. To add a pattern to the room you can use a stripe on the valance instead of flowers. Throw some pillows made of the same materal on to your sofa.
With such a large room with large windows you can easily use dark colors on the wall if you want. Dark isn't the only way to go, rich colors come in medium tones as well. Think gem tones. Bright colors would be very contemporary.
Hope this helps you make a decision. If you need more help let me know.
For a contemporary look you can use a valance with a shade of some sort. Very clean and neat. To add a pattern to the room you can use a stripe on the valance instead of flowers. Throw some pillows made of the same materal on to your sofa.
With such a large room with large windows you can easily use dark colors on the wall if you want. Dark isn't the only way to go, rich colors come in medium tones as well. Think gem tones. Bright colors would be very contemporary.
Hope this helps you make a decision. If you need more help let me know.
05-01-01, 11:21 AM
Thanks for your imput. One thing I am wondering about is the wall color. How will my grey furniture look against the color on the wall? Would using shades of grey throughout the room work. I was wondering about that idea with a few brightly colored accent colors. As far as colors go, I love vibrant colors as well as neutral shades. I love things that are unexpected. Traditional is my least favorite. Grey seems like it can be to bland if not carefully constructed with other shades. Thanks again, Judy L
05-01-01, 10:58 PM
Colors that go really good with grey are Royal Blue, Purple and Crimson. You can use all three at once. You use one as the main color (walls) and the two others for accent colors. Get swatches together of everything you think you want to use (paint for the walls, trim colors (you could use a grey here, pulling the sofa color in). You can use one of the colors on one wall and on all the others use your main color. What wall do you want to use for your focal wall? Thats the wall to use the accent color. Don't forget fabric colors. thats the place to start since you can match paint to fabric but not the other way around.