apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

With such rich colors, I think that painting the doors to match the walls would look best.

White to match the trim and other doors.

I agree with tauremini - especially in such a small room, I might even paint the trim to match the wall so it all fades away.

I would recommend painting the doors to match the walls. In a larger space where the doors and trim are more prominent I would paint them the same color but in these rooms, the less your eyes jumps around, the better.

~Lorrie @ MyDesignSecrets.com

I think matching the walls is best, too. My mom did this in my teeny tiny bedroom after I graduated from college and moved out, and it made such a difference!

Paint to match the walls - use hardware that matches the window ware. Lovely use of color!

However - consider hanging a curtain to match the window dressing, with an under-cabinet light to illuminate the clothes.

I'll add to the "paint to match the walls" camp. There's a lot going on in a small room. Purple will make it blend away.

I'm sitting in a similarly sized room as I type and as I look around my own, small surroundings, I would have to say that in the darker room, I would go with white just to give some light. It could get cave-like really quickly. Maybe in the lighter room the doors could match the walls and not have the same effect, but there is also something to be said for some design symmetry within the larger space of your abode. And the more I think about it (and look around) the more I'm leaning toward painting them white in both rooms.

Is this a trick question?

The WALLS need to be painted a different color FIRST!

i'm with home body. i'm sitting in a room that's about 10'x10', with 8' ceilings, painted a valspar color called tour eiffel. it's a dark, slightly purplish (?) taupe. the closet doors and all the surrounding trim are pained white. i think the little bit of a light color goes a long way in keeping the room from being too cave-like.

Lorrie - the trim is somewhat prominent. This is an old bungalow, so the baseboard and headers are 8" tall and the side trims on doors/windows are 5" wide. All the trim and interior doors in the house are white. All the woodwork (trim) right now is original, except that the headers are missing their caps. We'll be replicating it for the closets.

m_j_s - curtains aren't an option, as my cats believe the clothes are hanging there for them to claw at!

home body - there is a 42" wide x 60" tall window behind me in that picture of the darker room, and those pictures are at night - so it's not as much of a cave as you might think.

Daily Nuance - not a chance. Aren't you glad you don't have to live here? Oh, and, these aren't the first colors I've tried. The dark blue is my 2nd choice for that room and the light blue is my 3rd choice for that room...#2 having been a deep red (Behr Autumn Orange.) I am very happy with the current choices.

Thanks for the suggestions!

-Cara Jo

in the lighter blue room, I would paint the trim and doors white. if there is any chance you can paint the exposed side of the freestanding wardrobe, I would paint it out in the same color as the walls.
as for the darker room, if the doors are nice enough, I would stain the wood to match the floor, and then proceed to paint the trim a darker color than the walls---dark brown or deep graphite. Then get a richer bed cover to tie it all together and complete the cozy feeling.

Just a heads-up on those bi-fold doors...they're going to eat up a bunch of space, and you won't be able to see the stuff in your closet on the side that they fold open to. Just something you might want to think about.

I'm in the process of removing the bi-fold door on my hall closet and hanging a curtain in its place, because it was so annoying every time I opened it. :-(