Q: We are very excited to renovate and decorate what we hope will be our new home, but I'm having some difficulty with the entryway (which I can't send photos of since it's not yet our house, but I did send some diagrams!). The front door opens to a foyer with stairs going up the left wall and a hallway to the right (the floors are a warmish oak). We want to paint the entryway a bluish green (like BM's "Bermuda Blue") and the second level gray (haven't chosen one yet) but the left stairwell wall continues into the dining room, which is what you see when you get to the top of the stairs. Would it be awkward to paint the right entry wall (and the bit of wall space the door occupies) bluish green but make the left wall the same gray we choose for the second level in order to continue it into the dining room?
Furthermore, would a bluish green color look good with gray? We want a bold color to make a statement in the entry and wallpaper isn't in our budget. I love all sorts of colors but I'm wary of making the warm oak floors even warmer, which is why I chose cooler colors.
I haven't found any examples of this on AT so I don't have a good idea of whether this will look good or just disjointed. I appreciate any suggestions you and the readers have for us.
Sent by Diane
Editor: Leave your suggestions for Diane in the comments - thanks!
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Have you thought about painting the risers in the "Bermuda Blue" color? You could alternate between "Bermuda Blue" and either the gray, a white or a pop color (orange/red maybe?) to blend the spaces and maintain the separate wall colors.
First of all, *everything* looks good with grey. Second, I think you can paint just as you've said and it would look fine - think of the stairs part as an "accent" wall.
It'll be hard for anyone on here to give you a definitive answer. I think you need to put each of your candidate paints on some large foamcore boards and put them in the space to see how well they go together, how well they go with your trim material and with the oak floor, and how the light catches each color in that space throughout the course of a day. Ultimately it's going to be a question of whether you like them and whether they acheive what you want for that space. Good luck!
Maybe you could treat the one wall in the hallway as an accent wall and paint the wall in the stairwell, as well as the wall the door is on, gray. Or just do it all gray and bring in the blue through accessories...
I have a similar situation in my house. After talking with my painter, I decided to just continue the color of the downstairs up the stairs. The rest of the upstairs walls are a different color. I really like the effect. You just have to use accessories & fabric to unite the two.
Anyway, it's only paint. It's not hard to just redo a wall if you change your mind at some point.
"You just have to use accessories & fabric to unite the two." - Dulcibella
This.
Darker accessories on the gray wall, lighter accessories on the blue wall. Go easy on other colors or it will look like a circus. Don't shy away from them entirely either.
Also, you could use any of the extra gray to paint accent pieces (tchotchke, not the furniture itself) that will be featured on the blue wall.
What about painting the stairway/dining wall with a sophisticated stripe that incorporates both the gray and blue and maybe a bright blue or some other brighter color for a little pop.