apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I bought an unfinished coffee table for my living room and it ended up being bigger in the space than I had anticipated, so I painted it black, which shrinks it a little, visually.

it's a lovely table. if it's solid wood, i wouldn't paint it. i wouldn’t tile over hw floors, either. they're delightful. my favorite way to introduce color is through great rugs or accent walls. you can be bold but change it easily if you don't like it. i really like the colors janel posted.

I'd go for the red, too (lacquered, if possible). It will fit nicely with the grey of the sofa and walls and with the white library, too.

I really like the table as is. But if you must paint it, I agree that a color would be preferable to black or white. I don't really agree with light yellow or red though if the other colors in the room are going to be orange and teal. Maybe a red-orange? If it must be black or white, I would go with white. I think black would be too dark against that couch.

i have flor tiles in an addition with a cement slab floor and love them, but unless you're planning to do an area rug with them, i wouldn't spend the large amounts of cash for flor to cover up a beautiful hardwood floor.

that said, i'd go white or consider another color, as everyone else is saying. i don't like the butter yellow, but maybe something in the toned down red/orange family would be nice.

I showed the picture around at work, and folks said the same thing - I'm considering painting it orange, though I like the red idea as well - I think that would look amazing with the grey walls. (Though when I think of a black/grey, white, and red colour scheme I think of Claudia from The Babysitter's Club...)

KristinaXI -- I knew the black/white/red color combo reminded me of books from my childhood, but I couldn't remember if it was Babysitter's Club or Sleepover Friends! Good call on that one :)

I vote for orange as well.

Question from the peanut gallery: Where did you get your sofa? Thanks ...

After reading the post, and the mentioning of the soon to be tiled floor, the first thing that came to my mind was pick a color that wasn't already in the room. The coffee table is the clear center of the space, why not make it stand out more. So the first color I thought of was a intense red. Which was already mentioned in the first comment. So I'd go that way if it was me.

@ mascarah: Not tiles (like ceramic tiles) but carpet tiles - I wouldn't ever tile over hardwood, ever!
And I only want to get enough for a 5x8ish rug type look - the room is a huge one, separated into living on that side, and dining on the other, so I want to visually...separate them. Isolate them. What have you.
The coffee table seems to be solid wood, but it was lacquered or varnished in the worst putty-color ever, which you can't really tell from the picture. It's an awesome piece, but the color as is (along with stains and chips, etc.) is pretty horrible.
And I got the sofa off craigslist, though it's the 80' Lenox sofa from Room & Board.

Orange would be really nice! Sounds like you already have decided what Flor pattern. You could pick a Flor tile with a bit of orange to help tie it all in. Even as a border-cut the tiles in half to make a slimmer border.

I also like the yellow. The couch looks a bit brown to me, but maybe that's my computer.

KristinaXI-- I love this colors in this room, especially your beautiful grey walls. I've been thinking about painting my bedroom grey for months, and you just inspired me to finally do it. May I ask what paint color you used?

As for your table, I think it would be stunning done up in faux bois. I'm thinking dark, large-scale "grain" painted on with stain, like this: http://www.meublepeint.com/images/fauxbois5.gif

Though I'll admit this option would be a bit more involved than a simple paint job :)

I really like it as is - if anything, I'd stain it to match the wood on your beautiful chair.

I used Pratt & Lambert's Carolina Gull and got freaked when I first painted it on, but it dries lighter, which surprised me. (Since that's not normally the case, right?) I love it, though.

The couch is grey - the colours look weird in this photo because the light is on.

I'm with Sasha on this one - if you have to paint it, I'd go with a color (like the red-orange, which has some Pop! to it) over black or white. But if you're dead-set to go with either black or white, then I'd go white.

(first choice being not to paint it at all though.)

I like it unpainted. Maybe some pastewax could buff it up?

orange

stain the top (strip it if it has a finish already) a deep mahogny color so you can see the grain and paint the legs black. either way, try mixing two shades, I think it will make it more interesting.

I think you're at risk of too many colors, too busy of a look. The bookshelves are great, but they call for a less cluttered living room to keep it from becoming a mishmash. I would try to match the color of the table to the wood arms of the chair, as Becky suggested, or preferably vice-versa, although admittedly that would be much more difficult. If you really want to paint, match the white trim, or the dark sofa. With the new rug and the chair and the books you've got a lot of color going on. I really like it!

p.s. I've been looking at that Lenox sofa on R&B's website, but I'm afraid to buy before I try. How comfortable is it? I know it's not pillow-like, but is it easy to sit in? I admired the Camden from Crate and Barrel until I tried it. It was quite stiff and uncomfortable. Do you like it?