apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I feel so validated. I just painted my living room and half of my kitchen (it's all connected) tiffany blue (Benjamin Moore Covington Blue, HC-138, thanks for that AT!!!), with one white accent wall, white trim, white curtains, 2 white lamps, and 2 white tables. This summer, I'll paint the kitchen cabinets white. There's a lot of orange in there too (2 sofas, a chair, some random accents, and the dining area of the kitchen). I personally think it's gorgeous.

Me too! My living room is painted a light sandy color and the furniture, oriental rugs, and art all have different shades of blue (accented with deep burgundy and chocolate brown). I LOVE blues and browns/neutrals together. My very favorite!

Blue with anything but Brown. Blue & Brown is destined to be the Seafoam & Salmon of this generation.

I've got dark brown and aqua in my living/dining area now.

Man, I loved the seafoam (aqua!), peach and lavender combo in the '80's! I had an Esprit outfit with those colors.

I have blue and brown right now and I love it! But it's a darker French provincial blue not a light blue... I just painted my bedroom brown last year, after seeing it in AT! Don't even tell me my crib is passe?

Blue & Brown is a timeless & classic color combo: How long have you seen guys wearing Khakis with Blue shirts or Blue Jeans with brown shoes? (Always?)

Anyone think a blue would go well with this wall?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidstereo/2397931325/in/set-72157600195882099/

I tried the last suggestion I received - Ralph Lauren Urban Living - and it didn't turn out so well. I need to paint the region below the bricks...

Thanks,
Sean

Yes, I love it too, a few more images to look at:
http://www.bhg.com/decorating/color/colors/blue-home-decorating-ideas/?page=3

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/color/colors/cool-color-home-decorating-ideas/?page=9

Anyone have any good links to the pale greys/pale tans color combos?

@truckeekid, you want images of gray and tan together?

Or, things that go with gray. And separately, things that go with tan?

Or, things that go with gray and tan?

Grey rooms (which rooms do you want gray in?):

Yeah, I KNOW it says "kid's rooms"...bedroom.
http://home.howstuffworks.com/decorating-kids-rooms3.htm

But that gray one I can see working in a studio for adults with no problem. The bits of orange and green (or whatever colors you like) would liven it up.

Gray, white, black living room:
http://bp1.blogger.com/_tD07Abn3zPo/R0imbtoFqQI/AAAAAAAAAvc/mTiDEJbWYV0/s1600-h/nice gray from domino

Grays and silvers in the living room:
http://penchantsponderingsandposies.blogspot.com/search/label/gray

Gray and yellow retro living room:
http://retrorenovation.com/2008/01/24/a-smoke-gray-palette-for-a-retro-living-room/

This rug has tans/taupes? and grays?:
http://www.homevisions.com/hvprod/prod_display1.asp?Product=86197&CMB=&CP=00&pp=yes&afsrc=1&placeID=hvblog

Found that from this blog (and they reference back to here, AT):
http://designtalk.homevisions.com/2007/05/10/black-white-red-bedrooms-paint/

For combining the tan and gray, think beachy naturals. Sand and driftwood. You can play that up with natural materials, like these rugs:
http://www.coastal-style.com/jute-rugs.html

Here's someone's home project, where they used Wilmington Tan, a paint color:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg0217324818922.html

It doesn't look that "tan" until you see the white baseboards. It's an excellent example too, demonstrating how "dark" the window wall appears, vs. the wall across from the window. Same color, different lighting.

While that person has some kind of blue/green on the accent wall, that could easily be done in a gray tone too.

And you can putter around all day in this section, going through the neutrals!
http://www.bhg.com/decorating/color/neutrals/

I love blue and brown. I don't care if it's an outdated fad. It would be silly to avoid colors I really like based on what is popular or has been popular or has never been popular.

My living room is currently a mix of brownish colors with blue and orange accents. Blue and white is my all-time fave color combo though.

The blues that are popular change slightly each year. Be happy you've got blue and brown right now, as it's much easier to find fabics, paint, accessories that work well with it. We recently added some blue to our brown sofa because it's a nice contrast.

Nobody wants to be labeled as "typical" or have over saturated tastes... blah blah blah. I think it's a classic color combination, as they both are indicitive of colors from nature.

Love your brown and blue, whatever hue it may be!

SeanG, I played with your photo, the green closed in the walls a lot. So I tried other colors, and the one I was most pleased with, after forgetting what color you had chosen, was a color that was almost identical to what you have already. I LIKE that color.

It goes well with the furniture. It appears to have texture, sort of like stucco, and I think that's because of the lighting in the room and the matte finish of the paint. I LIKE the way that looks, with the brick.

And it reminds me of James' Cotton Mill Small, Cool entry here:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/small-cool-2008-midwest/midwest-33-james-cotton-mill-in-atlanta-049008

You both have a lot of exposed brick and electrical and heating/ventilation. The wall color you have now kind of reminds me of his rust image on the wall behind the TV.

Other ideas you could consider is going with WHITE, in a slightly reflective finish, super smooth, if possible. Or check out the blue used in his bedroom.

But I'm NOT sure if the blue would work on the LOWER portion of that wall. The brick above would look too "heavy" over the blue.

One idea that could be totally cool, by the windows, is to use similar grasses along both sides of the entry as James does.
http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photo/042508james/3Living%20Room%20Main

Or just along that one wall that is painted. I think that would look great. Since very few people walk in that space that is about 8" from the wall, the plants in long, narrow containers that are upright would be perfect and add a nice element and contrast, without having to repaint anything.

I just checked out your home photo area, very cool floor plan! Looking at the photo with the view from the kitchen, I do like that color you have right now.

You COULD try out the idea of James' with the large photo scene. If you like the way it looks in his place, it might work in yours too. But your ceilings are much higher, and I don't know what you'd do about that. Frame in the image?

TRUE BLUE: I think you're right in that the color I have right now is quite good. I've learned this after trying a few other colors. The latest attempt is the chocolate like Barrista (Benjamin Moore - Aura line) and it does not look good.

I will try a white, which I'm partial to, but I'm afraid of too much white - one wall, floor, and ceiling...

Thanks for your suggestions. I really do appreciate it.
I will look into plants/grasses too.

Cheers,
Sean

True Blue- Thanks. I'll go over the sites. Overseas, I see a lot of new 'natural' decorating- with reclaimed wood (light woods), grey pebbles and rocks here and there, and white walls. It looks so crisp, clean, and simple...