apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love orange, so I am voting for those. I think you could establish a lovely, exotic vibe with those together.

I think one of the light blues that tend towards the grayer side would look great.

I'd stay away from blue since the yellow is warm and those blues are cool. If you do a blue, do a warm, pale, barely there blue (cerulean) or just stick with a pale yellow the same color as the undertone of that gorgeous sofa of yours, and then do blue accents in your accessories. Try Benjamin Moore "Ambiance" (I think it's an aura color). It's a wonderful shade. I also have a yellow furniture/area rug, and this shade is heavenly. You barely notice it. It seems to make the room float.

lavender or purplish grey

I was also going to suggest something on the gray end, but with a darker blue tint to it. I just painted my bedroom Crucible (from Valspar at Lowe's, 4006-2B) and it would look great with the gold tones of the couch.

These two colors together would leave plenty of room for some strong accent colors in your accessories, like the bright orange.

You could also get a couch slipcover to match the colors you really want.

Burnt orange, that would really punch things up a notch. I think it depends how 'brave' you are, you could go the safe road or go for the gusto. Good luck

I agree with those opting for something on the gray end... that immediately came to my mind. Then with gray walls you could add black and white pieces, or throw in an orange or red throw or cushions and it all would still work. Benjamin Moore has a great range of warm grays, and even one called 'hint of violet' that goes on quite purple, but dries down to a fantastic lite reddish gray that seems to work with everything. Then you also don't have to be particular about whatever art you want to put on the walls... it matches everything. That couch seems quite casual and easy-going so I suspect you'd want your decorating to be the same!
P

What about a medium charcoal gray with strong yellow and orange accents?

My first thought were chocolate brown/red/orange. I think a chocolate brown wall would look lovely.

I think it's a nice couch. But the color choices seem a bit..neon to me. If you can go dark, I would choose an eggplant, slate gray, or maybe a navy blue. I also like the above idea of a burnt orange, or maybe a terra cotta color. If you need a lighter color, I would say a light grayish blue. Have fun!

You definitely need gray-blue walls. Save the bright colors for the pillows.

My first instict was green. A bright green on an accent wall and a softer on the others.

You must match the kitty.

Dove grey goes beautifully with gold & yellows.

I'd say grey (blue would be too seasidey I think). Sounds silly, but if the legs are brown (can't tell from the photo) I'd consider painting them a colour that would blend well with the grey - maybe the same gold as the sofa. The sofa looks sort of veloury from the picture, in which case I'd avoid green walls (for me green and yellow is ok if the sofa was more matte finish or canvass). Good luck!

If you're going to paint, paint the whole room and not just one wall. I like the dove grey suggestion, myself.

Grey grey grey! My new favourite colour

"you must match the kitty"- lol!

Burnt orange or slate blue.

I was waiting for a kitty comment.

and yes with a black cat, go dark!

i have a very similar sofa, and we went with a bright green, but it was a little more olivey then the ones you're showing. we liked it a lot, and with some chocolate accents, it was nice. but then we moved and tried to re-create, but got the wrong green and it was GLOWING. so, definitely do a test first! but i vote green.

Eggplant, olive, cocoa, or a warm pale grey. Bring the bright colours in with art and accessories.

Painting the wall behind the sofa seems like it will draw attention to the sofa. It is hard to tell from the image...but is that a good thing? If it were my sofa, I would most likeley match the wall color of the accent wall exactly to the color of the sofa and toss on a pair of great throw pillows in a sexy pattern and accent color. That would throw ina great vivid shot of color without drawing attention to the form and condition of the piece of furniture.

Go with a chocolate brown and then accessorize or accent wall with a deep orange or even a modern blue color.

You could always paint the couch.

Seriously!

Test a hidden section of the fabric first to make sure it will accept the paint and not simply act as a sponge.

You can buy fabric paint, but I've had good luck with plain old interior wall paint. Sometimes you can make a nice effect just touching a roller to the existing fabric in a scatter or crisscross pattern without covering the entire couch (or chair) with paint.

Thank you for all your comments! Many of those paint samples have already been discarded, as we have had a week or so to really look at them. We still were leaning toward green, but gray sounds so tempting to me! Or navy blue. My first choice would be to replace the sofa ASAP, but it is just not in the budget. Its not the best looking couch, but I am sure it is better than most college students (*sigh*). Keep the suggestions coming, we really appreciate all your help!

Lori

Oh.. and the picture of this couch looks a little distorted online. It is really not as green/bright yellow as it seems to appear. It is more of a muted gold/beige color. It is a chenille fabric. I would LOVE a gray couch! Any suggestions on slipcovers (normally I hate how saggy and frumpy they look) but I am willing to try all my options!

thanks again!

Lori

Plum was my first thought, but I love high contrast, so I usually jump right to the opposite side of the color wheel.

We had orange faux finished (like old European stucco style) walls in an apt. for 4 years. Every single person who visited commented positively on them. We loved them too. Then we got bored and painted the walls dark brown and burgundy (matching across) and even though we had to add a lamp to the room for light at night the dark color made the room much larger. Go with color, be bold, it is only paint!

Gray is not a color.

i have a great vintage couch that is a very similar color. when i was deciding what color to paint the walls, i first tried to come up with a three-color scheme that I liked. Since my couch was a greenish gold, i chose a rug from ABC that was a coral pink and painted the wall behr's "monet moonlight," which is a super-duper pale yellowish green, sort of minty. The one thing I would definitely recommend would be to go with the shade that is at the top of the card (closest to white), especially if the room is on the smaller and/or sunnier side. A good rule of thumb i've found is that the color you pick on the card usually comes out looking like the shade below it. Saves you a lot of trouble to go a little lighter than you think!