apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This looks exactly like the shelving system in my freshman dorm room.

paint it white..... quick

Embrace the beauty of the wood, and try to bring it out rather than fight it.

Don't do white; it'll just make the wood look dark and dingy. Instead pick a medium- to medium-light value that brings all your colors into a closer brightness range.

Neutrals like taupes and grays will bring out the deep rich color of the wood (charcoal looks amazing against wood if you can stand the room being that dark). Dusty blues (not too saturated) are compliments and will bring out the warmth of the wood. Dusty greens like sage (again, not too saturated) can start to make an analogous palette than can feel soothing.

Stay away from yellows and oranges as they will compete with the undertones in the wood. Red can work if it's dark enough (darker than the wood) and again not too saturated.

Suggestion: Paint the doors/drawers. Leave the 'framing' as is.

See the bludot modulicious storage line:
http://www.bludot.com/Browse_Products/Storage/product/Modu-licious_3

Wood framed cabinet with painted/color doors. Maybe you could even color-code the doors/drawers. One color for office stuff and one color for sewing stuff.

Have fun.

I would go with champagne gold - I have dark wood built-ins in my place, most of the walls are champagne, and the contrast actually works very well.

Hey guys,
We can't paint the wood, so count that out. Other than that, anything is game! Even wallpaper!
Thanks,
Sab

Don't paint the wood. Under any circumstances.

Your landlord didn't give you permission to paint the wood did he, just the walls, right?

Is there any cherry color in the wood? If so, go soft rose. Another possibility is celedon green, which generally will go with anything. White does seem boring, but it might be the best bet with a wall of built ins.

Too much green and too much blue will bring out the "orangey" in the wood. I learned that the hard way (but it's gone now, yay!).

I'd follow nashdp's advice and go for a neutral shade of a charcoal blue kinda tone, just to set the base of the room and tone down the amount of wood. And then from there you can bring in color with artwork, accessories, and furniture.

i'm so sorry. that's an awful storage system. i'm onboard with charcoal blue too.

If the storage system's a given, I'd stay with glorious architectural WHITE.

I don't know your style, but this system would be well complimented by neutrals and modern furniture.

It's not terrible-looking storage, BUT if you try to work something 'dainty' or girlish around it, it'd look HIDEOUS.

A warm color to make the wood blend in.

But this is suuuuch a classic case of paint-grade wood being over-celebrated (by your landlord, not you!). That wood SERIOUSLY needs to get its clothes back on.

Here's something different. If you want to use wallpaper. How about wallpaper that resembles a european city.

Check out Cole & Son as an example.

http://www.cole-and-son.com/collection_detail.asp?CollectionID=104

The collection is called Fornasetti and the name of the wallpaper is Riflesso.

Since you have a black desk, I think it would accent it.

Olive walls? I'd Hollywood Regency it up.

I'm annoyed w/your landlord, it looks like previous tenants spilled paint on them already... hard to clean.

I think a celadon or a dusky blue would look great and with switched up hardware you could really update it. Something in glass, or even funky homemade ribbon/cord pulls... trying to find the how-to... I thought someone posted it on here?

Can you add new drawer handles and cabinet handles? (Even just temporarily, and reinstall the old ones when you move out?) That would be a small change with a big benefit

For that closet, can you pull the doors off and put in some curtains? And on the smaller cabinets maybe also pull of the doors and get some nice bright storage boxes to add some interest. Just breaking up the wall of wood will help.