apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think you should take inspiration from your current room. Forget the material the wall is made out of, look at the color. You've got a mix of rusty orange, terracotta and red. Find a color that doesn't pop you in the face with boldness and go for it.

Why not experiment with a nice rusty orange color? You can break up all the color with your window treatments . . . and your sofas will alleviate it being too overpowering. You've got lovely warm wood tones as well, so I think you can't lose!

remember . . if you hate it you can always paint it something completely different. But don't NOT do it just because you're afraid you might not like it.

I painted my living room red and it's the BEST choice I've made! It may be overdone, and slightly past it's prime 'style' wise . . . but it makes me happy. So throw caution to the wind! Go for it!

"...but fear even a very muted orange would be overwhelming on the walls."

If those brick walls you're currently living with currently aren't a muted orange, what color is it?

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'd take the brick color as your inspiration for paint in your new place.

The grey might work tho...

My apartment walls are in a pale grey, almost white and work with my light-coloured upholstered furniture and the teak/walnut MCM pieces. Mind you, I've got some generous light and not a lot of clutter.

Maybe you can try out the walls for a while with your existing furniture.

If the current paint is in good condition, I would stick with it for a couple of months and see if you like it. For me, seeing the walls in the new place plus your furniture already looks like a great, soothing combination. You might opt for a big change after living with all your stuff in the new space or, who knows, you might decide to get a brand-new area rug or couch instead, and just go in a different direction.

I agree with the previous comments- brick reds, terracottas, maybe some golds?

Or what about a light turquoise/Tiffany blue, with some yellow and/or orange accessories?

I love your coffee table.

When I'm undecided, I prefer to live in the space for a while and see what comes up. You'll get time to sit in the room and get a feel for it, especially important when you move into a new house (in my opinion anyway).

With that said,however, this is a nice color (ALOE)...combined with olive, orange, and the warmth of wood:

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/search/ALOE&section=

Your old place even has the basic color format like the new room. That is, the brick work ends below ceiling level, and there's white above. Why not follow some of the suggestions above, paint the room a warm brown or rust (doesn't have to be dark and intense) and then cream above that, and paint the built-ins cream, too?

it looks like you have plaster walls that have prolly been painted with regular house paint. Why not go back to the original plaster by using a clay plaster or lime plaster/wash. The texture will be beautiful and the color will be soft. Check out american clay and products like that.

Agree with everyone else about looking for a muted terracotta color. If you want to keep it from being too bright, look in the neutral or brown section for warmer colors. But if you want to go in a completely new direction, light, clear blue would also work with your current furniture.

And don't spend forever agonizing about the paint color. It's not hard to repaint it if you change your mind.

Waiting seems like a good idea. You can always paint later on. The red/orange of the brick makes the green stand out even more, so the furniture might look more muted in the new place.

Try hanging some colored fabric or paint some butcher paper with the colors you have in mind and then pin them up around the room. It can be done in pieces and isn't as permanent as actually painting the walls.

Instead of ORANGE, think apricot or peach. That might be the compromise you're looking for. Then maybe amp up the walls a little with some bold frames for your art to give more texture.

Your current room totally works, so you should stick with the same idea!

My first thought, too, was a very pale green or very pale blue. For inspiration, check out Vincent Wolfe's portfolio -- he does pale rooms with white and watery tones that are just gorgeous:

http://www.vicentewolf.com/

I'd be wary of orange walls. Brick reads as a neutral, but orange paint is all about the orange. It overwhelms everything else, so only choose it if you really, really love it.

I live with pumpkin orange, with dark blue and white accents. It's fine! Don't be scared!

I think I agree with both factions above: live with it the way it is for a while. If you don't like the cooler color scheme after getting away from the brick you are used to, then you can paint at least an accent wall a warm color like terracotta. (If the textural look of the brick appeals, you might consider an antiqued faux finish, but be VERY cautious to not go into kitsch with that if you do it... Just some subtle darkening in some areas so the base color isn't totallly flat...)

If you find you like the cool colors for a change, you could take the pale green of your sofa and get t shade or two darker. Greens can conflict, though, so definitely take a cushion or something along (or bring the paint swatches to the sofa) so you know they work with each other...

My first thought was a chocolate, with orange accents, or another shade of brown.

Although it's a little counterintuitive, turquoise can work well with green - it can very serene and calming. Little hits of pink prevent it from looking too neutral.

Don't wait a few months, or even a few days. Painting is pretty easy, especially when you don't have to work around furniture.

Why anyone would want a room like the bachelor has it now is beyond me. That gray just sucks the life out of everything. Or maybe it's the huge TV that says "are you ready for some football?!" no matter what the season.

No orange too much with the floor. I say go with a misty grey blueish aqua color.

Don't be afraid of white.

There are amazingly beautiful whites out there, and white (as you yourself found in your research) is the colour that was most often used in houses such as yours. White walls will unify your lovely coved ceiling and your walls, and make the space seem larger and airier.

What you are responding to in your current home isn't the orange and brown colour of the bricks, but rather, the texture of the bricks, which instill a sense of vitality into your space, their roughness contrasting with the refinement and machine-made perfection of your furniture and accessories. Painting your new home orange or green will not recapture that quality, and will make your home feel more close and confined.

The grey the room is currently painted does need to be changed, as it does not suit either the home or your furniture.

I say this all the time, but the most beautiful whites are those created by Donald Kaufman. He is renowned for them. He created the whites inside the Getty Museum, mixed the ivory that John Pawson used inside the Calvin Klein store in Madison Avenue. He has a range of paint developed for home owners; order the shade cards (they are not free), and some sample pots and try out some the shades. We have his whites on our walls at home, and I can say that they literally glow. (They make the room so beautiful, I have been reluctant to hang anything on the walls!)

http://www.donaldkaufmancolor.com/

You could play with different shades and hues of whites for the walls, trim, built-ins and ceiling, creating something subtly beautiful.

In order to introduce some of that texture that your previous home had, I would look at flooring, perhaps using this rug for the living room:

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p10388/index.cfm?pkey=cnatural%2Dfiber%2Drugs

At some point, you may wish to explore the possibility of historically-appropriate wallpaper for some accent walls, which I think would be lovely.

Let us know how it all turns out!

http://www.coxpaint.com/store/cart.php?target=category&category_id=254

I really like the grey, but I can understand your hesitation about the tones matching. What I would probably do is paint that top garker grey trim a terra cotta or citrusy orange as a nice accent for now and then if the grey walls don't work after your furniture is in then find a muted color that works with the orange and the rest of the furniture. Maybe something like a light warm putty color.

Hello, this is Anna - thank you all so much for all of the feedback! You've definitely given me a lot to think about, and it's six weeks before we can move in, so I have time. Although I recognize the wisdom of the advice to live with it for a while, I'm very eager to do something before we move in, as the room really needs fresh paint, regardless of the color. I may paint it all it out white - the tabula rasa approach - and then spend a few months deciding if we need more color. Thanks again, and please keep the good advice coming!