Robyn sent us an email pointing us in the direction of her friend Bri's new living room paint color. Talk about making a bold move that pays off, big time! Bri had always wanted charcoal gray walls and finally had a home where she had the freedom to paint. She went for it and as she says, "Everyone loves it. And rightly so. Because it’s awesome."
Aside from giving this room a shot of real dramatic glamor, the dark hue is a perfect backdrop to the fantastic, color saturated oversized painting and is a great choice to bring out the inherent interest in the vintage architectural details of the room. It absolutely makes the most of the rounded coved ceilings and archways.
Check out Bri's full post on the new color: The Craft Begins
Great job, Bri and thanks to Robyn for the tip!
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Fantastic! Dramatic, but still warm and inviting. You've successfully highlighted all the architectural details that deserve attention!
The mix of modern and mid century is much more fitting to the architecture of the room -- not stuffy, but vintage and unique. It's amazing how a dark color can brighten a room so much! Great job.
Katie @ http://goodsy.wordpress.com/
Hold on there...this change is do FAR MORE to an entire switch out of dated furniture/decor than it is to painting the walls charcoal.
I really love the new wall color, it's fantastic. I do miss the sofas and clock though, they were really wonderful (IMO) and I can't help but wonder how much the new paint would have brought out the lighter tons of the upholstery.
I can't stop oggling that ceiling. I love the curve.
The new wall color and the painting are fabulous!!! It's amazing what the right colors can do to a room!
www.compartmentlife.com
I like the color, would perhaps love it if she painted the ceiling a light blue or aqua.
Honestly though, the first thing that I thought when I saw these pictures was that the room needs to be edited.
Fabulous - both on the paint and the new furnishings!
Agree with waterlife - this was not just a paint job, every last piece of furniture and decor changed. It looks like either a new person moved into the space with different furnishings/taste, or someone hired a decorator to rehaul, redecorate, and buy a whole new set of furnishings.
I honestly cannot find one item in the after photos that are in the before set.
The color is nice however.
Those before sofas would look awesome reupholstered, but I love the new one. I'm curious about that cabinet that looks like an old card catalog or apothecary chest. From the front it has the drawers but in back there's shelves for books. How was that accomplished? Was it actually an antique, or just made to look like one?
I really like the change! I'm with KaBoom in that one major improvement would be to take away some stuff.
I'd start by ditching a few of the sofa pillows (the two blue matching ones would be my pick to go), choosing either the floor lamp or the side table next to the sofa, tucking the suitcase (assuming it's hiding useful items) next to the other side of the sofa, and clearing at least half the stuff off of all the table tops.
But that's just me. Either way, the new color works great with the architecture!
Nevermind, I see a couple pieces that moved in the after pic, but not much.
hmm...charcoal's not my vote. but so long Bri likes it.
Cool. You could definitely skip the pillows on the Wassily chairs, though. They make enough of a cool statement on their own!
Oh, it's GORGEOUS! I'm in love with your grey sofa and that big wooden chest, apothecary type thing. Great changes!
The after color's more striking and sophisticated, while the before color's more soothing and traditional. If forced to choose between them for myself, I'd take the before color because the after color's even less homey. I prefer the after furnishings, though.
agree that the before-sofas would have been amazing with the right reupholster, but the after-sofa is really splendid too.. i think it's being smothered under all those pillows, though!
Nice work. I'm a fan of gray though. Could you provide a source for that sofa? Thanks!
I went to the blog to read more because something seemed fishy about the dramatic difference. Lo and behold, the before pictures are from the previous owner's decor! Though I'm all for a new coat of paint, this post doesn't make a strong argument that paint makes all the difference.
wow... i think the end table is crowding the couch a bit, though... maybe a coffee table instead?
Can I just say that I really appreciate that the homeowner took the before/after shots in corresponding pairs from the same camera angle. One of my big peeves about seeing people's redesigns on here is that so often I can't tell what has changed and what was there before because the pictures aren't of the same part of the room.
would look great with some moulding on the walls
i'm not a fan of the big bulky room divider thing. i think it's a bit much.
I love the grey walls, the new furnishings and the huge piece of artwork...
...but the arrangement of the furniture sure leaves alot to be desired - primarily because that huge divider/credenza/card-catalog thing breaks a comfortably-sized space into awkward too-small spaces.
I've never liked seeing a sofa pushed into a corner like that, and I agree that the pillows on the Wassily chairs is just a silly affectation...
...and the suitcase/table/floorlamp combo on the other end of the sofa is too much visual clutter!
Egads, this room is awesome! Those built-in's visible through the doorway -- ridiculously awesome. And I love the new sofa.
@Laucus116
I think molding would interfere with/detract from the architecture details already there (the curves at the top of the entranceways, the curve and lip where the wall meets the ceiling).
I'm not a fan of the upholstered armchairs, but think they could still use a rug. (Though I assume it's in-progress anyway....)
Vast improvement. Love your card catalog file.
Woops. I liked the before colour better. Loved the contrast with the floors.
Somebody please tell me what IS that strange miniature statue standing in fake grass enclosed inside the hanging pendant from the ceiling? She obviously liked it more than the cool sofas because she kept it and re-hung it in the adjacent room. I don't even think it's a light!
Looks stunning! At first l thought charcoal? No way not for this room but it has worked amazingly well in lifting the room.
HELLO!
Nice job! Charcoal is a stunner in many rooms and not used much in US (Aus and UK know better :)
I dig the naked lady lamp, it's hilarious!
@burnttoast
1) That (and the "cool sofas") belonged to the previous tenant.
2) The second photo you see it in is another "before" picture from a different angle.
@lepidoptery
I think @burnttoast is right. The hanging lady in grass is in two after photos.
I like the paint job, it is a perfect back drop for the lovely large piece of art.
2) Or I lied. But that is an odd piece....
isn't that lady in the grass one of those oil instead of water fountains? the oil drips down along a fishing line? i remember being mesmerized like in 1979 by my babysitters lady in the grass.
mineral oil rain lamp is the "lady in the grass"
http://www.simnia.com/rain_lamps/
great memories. m
I like the elements of the after better, but something is off. I am not a prof., so if it were my place I would just be tetris-ing everything until it gave a more peaceful flow. Much as I love that divider thing, I think that might be the culprit.