apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I want to say green. But every time I do, I think of Barney the dinosaur - or actual eggplants.

How about a shade of yellow? Or tan? Grey could work if the furnishings are colorful... Or maybe a nice rich red...

What look are you going for? Traditional bungalow/craftsman? modern? I think these are important considerations.

A marigold color would look really nice against the eggplant (great color by the way). A chartreuse would also work if you're feeling daring.

I think christinalouise is on the right track with the grey or tan.

Whenever I think of painting with a food color, I think: what other foods go well with that one? For example, olive green and pimento red. Eggplants make me think, for some reason, of yellow squash, off the bat. YMMV.

Now that I read Christina's comment it got me thinking..I also think a vibrant red with orange undertones would work.

My bedroom is eggplant and chartreuse...I love it!

grey family

I'm a big fan of eggplant too. I would think about pairing it with a sharp shade of yellow or maybe even better, a mustard color. I'd accent it with with gold, black, and grey. It'd be sweeeeeet.

I am no paint expert but a friend of mine paired a similar eggplant color with dark brown in another room and I really liked the effect. I think it sort of depends on your furnishings and what style you are going for though.

~Amanda
http://onehappypanda.blogspot.com

Actually I just noticed I am wearing a black, chartreuse, eggplant combo today. Good combo.

Go to a paint store and get a Benjamin Moore brochure/paint chip card for historic house colors. They group the colors in complementary groups of three (for painting older houses with lots of trim work).

Or go here to look at combos. The closest I can find to your ruby purple is the "Atlantic Northeast-Metropolitan Merge":

http://www.myperfectcolor.com/SearchResults.asp

I have eggplant in my dining room, which is the central room of the house. I have used aqua, apple green, and yellow cream in other rooms around it. Here's a link for the apple green and aqua next to the eggplant.

http://flickr.com/photos/lorie09/2385419523/

I was going for a happy cottage feel so I left the other colors very light and airy.

I've also used red with eggplant here in another house:

http://flickr.com/photos/lorie09/225698784/

More of a jewel toned look.

blue... a lighter shade but rich(that is, not pale or pastel) blue would bounce off nicely.

Zuchinni or Olive green?
Mustard or Squash Yellow?
Tomato Red?

(I think I've just made a Ratatoille out of your house...)

Mustard looks great with eggplant but for an even more surprising combo go for navy blue. i saw fabric in those shades and they were exquisite together!

What direction do the windows face? If it's north, warm up the room with a colour like Dijon. If it's south, you can cool it down with greys or moss.

I have some major eggplant in my house. It looks great with a deep taupe. I used Poetic Plum and Hearth by Sherwin Williams. Deep orange accents are nice, and a little light blue looks good with it all.

I love eggplant with pale ice blue or dove gray. Also looks great with dark woods and bright whites.

Try a warm soft silver grey - and temper the eggplant hue to be a little less pinkish. i did and the result is very very satisfying (very kind to the complexion too!)

Gray. Ice blue would look good too. I think eggplant is a pretty versatile color, though- you could go with just about anything.

Gray, pewter/ steel blue and coppery-rust orange look great with that eggplant color.

grey

PALE BLUE

http://image22.webshots.com/22/0/37/31/200303731hrlwef_ph.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Hrccm7P9s4I/SFyXeByyXAI/AAAAAAAAAJI/KC08tJFj1aE/s320/aubergine3.jpg

http://www.lindsaytaylor.de/images/kambira/kambira_roll.jpg

http://www.kitchencritic.co.uk/upload/2008/09/M&S-glassware.jpg

If you want to see a purple (not quite eggplant) paired with gold, check out this photo:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/uimages/sf/01.31.09_Chesterfield_09.jpg

I just discovered this site called CSS Drive. You upload a photo, its free and no sign up. You can basically design your palette around a photo you love. So in this case you could up load this one and see what is recommended or another eggplant colored photo.

http://www.cssdrive.com/imagepalette/index.php

I was thinking a pale blue or robin's egg blue, but after seeing Aidan09's pics I'd go with aqua.

Gorgeous pics Aidan09; I had to save them all in my inspiration folder! Thanks for sharing!

It's easy for us to throw out color suggestions but it truly depends on your preferences with color theory (monochromatic, complementary, analogous, triadic, etc.). When I began designing my first space, I thought I didn't have strong preferences until I started learning more about color theory. I found, believe it or not, landscape design websites extremely helpful. In my research process, I realized I was drawn to certain landscapes. Understanding the color theory behind those landscapes helped me with interior design.

My only recommendation would be to use a beige with undertones of your color choice for two reasons. First, if you are just starting out with design, you'll likely change your mind in the near future and it's easier to paint over a lighter color. Second, you'll become more inspired my exercising restraint in the wall color. One dark room is striking, three or four comes off as uninspired - you start to think, oh the purple room, the green room, the yellow room. Let your design speak through textiles, furniture, and accessories. But, that's just my personal preference. I'm sure others would find beige walls uninspiring. (I see the color as a canvas for furnishings.) Good luck. Hopefully we'll see a link to photos of your redesigned space in the near future.

one more vote for pale silvery grey. i think another bright color would compete with, or even detract from it. pale grey would really make it shine.

I'm all for grey, dark or light. I just love eggplant and charcoal together.

Thanks AT family!! These are great suggestions. thank you so much.

The house faces north, and the I am more traditional /craftsman than modern ( at least with this type of house). Just behind the swinging door is the kitchen in which I also am looking for a color. I def. am leaning towards the pewter/gray or mustard, although that Navy suggestion was nice too. I def, don't want it to look like a circus and want all the colors of the house to work well together even though each room will be different.

I'll post a link soon and keep you guys updated. Thanks again!

All colours on this website go with eggplant: http://www.emeryetcie.com/en/what/

honey-gold blue green silver grey

Soft sage green, something with golden tones (not too yellow, think along the lines of antique jewelery or vintage silk), or a really bold burgundy. Bright greens also work well, but they can be a bit overwhelming in a room.

Buttery yellow. Friends of mine had an old apartment with a painted fireplace, the walls were very light yellow and the fireplace was a deep eggplant. Sounded odd when they told me about it, but with white trim it was beautiful.

I think the suggested mustard color would look great with the eggplant and really fit well in a Crafstman home. A muted, bronze-y orange would also work.

Purple, tan and brown, like a PB&J. Sage is also great with charcoal and purple. And using a chocolate brown or charcoal with purple keeps it from being too dark.
A nice way to tie adjoining rooms together is to repeat the colors on the ceiling, but use a lighter shade. I have a sage green guest room with a lavender ceiling next to a plum bathroom with sage counters. It's not overly matchy-matchy.

A warm gold!