It looks like I'm actually going to close on my place on Thursday. All the ducks are in a row, the cogs in place, oh, and whatever other saying you want to use. It frankly feels like a miracle. And I won't believe it's happening until it's over with.
Is anyone good with color? I've been wanting to ask this for weeks but didn't want to completely jinx myself. I have an entire place to figure out the colors for - every surface is the same exact gross off-white/beige yucky color, even the ceilings. Colors intimidate me - I mean, I can handle them and take them down in a wrestling match if need be, but that doesn't mean it'll be pretty. And it's so much work to paint that I don't agree with the saying that you can always paint over it. Sure, in about 5-10 years.
Any suggestions you have are great. Here's some information:
- Layout: walk into living room, connected to a dining area straight ahead. You go into the dining area and to the right is the kitchen (galley, small - and making a cutout to the dining area). To the right in the living room are the stairs to the upstairs. You get upstairs and straight ahead is the bathroom (which needs to be redone). To the right are the two small 'bedrooms'. To the left is the 'master bedroom'.
- I'm ok with bold colors as long as they are natural. And I'm ok with dark colors. I like soothing colors, whatever that is (sage?).
- When is it ok to paint a room a darker color?
- Can you paint molding/trim a dark color if the wall paint is light?
- I have a dark-ish blue couch (which in the old place looked great with light carpet, brick fireplace, dark blinds, and light light blue walls)
- My table/chairs/hutch from my great aunt are honey maple (dark-ish)
- Floors are wood (natural oak color)
- Kitchen cabinets and appliances are white. I need to replace the counters, so am trying to figure out a color there too. In the cut out I"m making I'll have the same color counter, so ... it's important.
So, have at it. My initial thoughts are to paint the dining area blue-ish, so there's sort of a flow from the living area. And maybe a gray in the stairwell. I haven't gotten beyond that.
11 comments:
Southwestern colors always win me over...like burnt orange, olive greens (and deeper hunter green), and burgundies etc. I've never really put much thought into decorating though, so not sure how I'd do!
I'm a bit of a minimalist myself, but strong colours can work well. I think the trick is to use them sparingly and in a way that does not reduce the amount of light. I guess the key thing is to choose something you really like, then it will always be a pleasure to look at.
Puss
No one can ever go wrong with polka dots. I am just sayin'.
I don't think I'll be doing the orange, but maybe the greens and burgundies.
Yeah, the trouble is, that sometimes what you like to look at on a small swatch doesn't transfer to the larger scale! I know it when it's done, but choosing it ahead of time is the big thing.
MRT-hey, I'm wearing polka dots today!
I'm still trying to get my bathroom done so yeah..I'm not the authority on this one.
I do like that sage color for a bedroom. It's kind of a nice calming color for me, and it compliments a lot of other colors.
Get color swatches from Home Depot and tape them up everywhere. When you're in the room, imagine yourself sitting in that color...feel it. Love it. If you don't, then don't use the color.
Thanks for coming by.
I'm gonna try to find my funny soon.
Funny thing, when I turned my off-white walls into a pure white, things seemed more cheerful. Pure white goes well with all sorts of furniture and paintings. Like a blank canvass. But if you don't want to go with white, I suggest cheerful colors. Red, turquoise, maybe a lemon yellow for the kitchen...
from experience:
1. don't use a dark color as your primary color in a small room. unless you ~want~ that room to look and feel like a dungeon.
2. try pure white on the walls but a bolder color for the window frame, door frame and any decorative mouldings.
3. maybe a accent wall with a bold color with a complimentary, much softer color for the rest of the room.
4. don't be afraid. it's only paint. it's the tearing down of walls you need to be sober for. ;)
Susan, not finishing the project doesn't mean you don't know how to choose color!
Churlita, I think I might indeed go with sage in the bedroom...
Franki, you can't be funny all the time. Blogs are also for vomiting bad stuff out sometimes.
Tara, I really can't handle pure white or off white. It just feels too rental to me... Even just a hint of color works, and I might go with that. (on a funny aside, my Puerto Rican friend saw my basement and said the walls are white! there's no color there! and everyone else saw the blue. :-) )
Heather. Yeah, I think I might go with accent walls. We're doing demo this sat! Woo hoo!
I really should refer you to my husband, who tends to be the one with the more artistic eye in the family, but what the heck, here are some thoughts..
-dare to be bold! dare to go beyond the blue that is really white!
-muted paled colors highlight the furniture; use in those rooms that you have better furniture or better art or better stuff
-soothing colors (blueish wite, eg.g) work better in ares that should be soothing e.g. your bedroom; the bathroom. Use bolder colors in the kitchen or dining room - rooms to be awake and celebrate.
-accent walls are kind on tricky because they can interrupt the flow in a room. they can work great with a mirror in that wall, or with great artwork in it.
-I agree that dark colors don't tend to work in small rooms; ditto for rooms without a lot of light (artificial or natural)
-you can do trim in a darker color -- I prefer that scheme in samller rooms, like a bathroom
That's all I can think of. Colorful paint is a good and cheap way to liven up a house!
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