Hello AT,
This is a desperate plea for paint color help.
When I got married I moved into my husband's apartment and left behind (for now) my BM Straw walls, dark floors, and beautiful, modern, red sectional.
His apartment had been renovated--new hardwood floors, new kitchen, and electrical wiring was actually in the walls!
All these things are wonderful however we have a living room that I don't know what to do with...
These are old pieces from his family before they moved into a new house.
They are made well but...everything is ECRU. Or Ivory. Or some other non-color with yellowish undertones that I would never choose myself.
The mirrored entertainment center, end tables, ecru vertical blinds, and ecru lamps are also inherited.
Anything else you see is my attempt to combat the ecru-ness of it all.
The brown leather ottoman, the dark wood round tables, dark wood bookcases, the Pier 1 red and gold pillows (the navy ones were inherited as well.) I also inherited the paint color which is a lavender-grey and makes the ecru look yellow/dirty.
I have been tearing my hair out trying to choose a paint color that can make sense of this room (and my attached dining room which consists of an ecru table, chairs and breakfront set.)
I want it to be warm like my old wheat walls but I think it brings out the yellow in the rooms.
I have run through BM Pan for Gold, Sweet Orange, Yarmouth Blue, Wedgewood Gray...Should I go red, brown, blue, marigold, ivory....it's all a bunch of circles at this point.
I also keep considering metallics in order to brighten things up.
There isn't a lot of natural light and the rooms are pretty narrow so I think I should stay at the lighter end of the spectrum but who knows?
Also we use CFLs and in general the color green isn't my fave. Can anyone help me?
Thanks! Rachel
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Comments (23)
Is it too late to get your apartment and furniture back?
I would paint the walls a rich apricot. And get some black lamp shades.
You're attracted to warm and red ...so I'd recommend a delicious Benji Moore color, Milano Red-1313. It will make you happy. Good luck!
I think a medium brown might do the trick. I'd just hold the sample up next to the couches to make sure they don't have that dirty look next to the brown you choose. I like what you've started with--the pillows. If the walls were brown, you could use those rust-y and apricot-y colors as accents. Good luck.
Since the room is small, I would move at least one of the love seats (and more furniture, if you can) out and substitute a smaller, lighter chair for the love seat, maybe in pure white to tie in the white piece (a shelf?) in the back ground.
For wall colors, I think that you can go deep, but keep your ceiling light. I agree that an apricot would look nice, or a (non-metallic) gold, such as the color of the throw-pillow on your couch.
It's so sweet that you're trying so hard to make it all work, instead of the "all you're stuffs gots-ta-go" mentality! Kudos to you!
Well, since you have such large blocks of your ecru color, I think contrasting the walls too much will only make the abundantness of cream even more of an issue.
If it's not the obvious... Have you thumbed through magazines with ecru/cream sofas and taken notice of the wall colors used? That may help you.
http://www.farrow-ball.com/productlist.aspx?cid=PC&language=en-GB
I like Straw & Fawn. Bookroom Red is nice if you want more color.
What's nice about the farrow and ball site is you can keep the window minimized and flow through the colors next to the pics you have posted for your room. (That's what I did)
yes, i think the throw pillow would be a great base for a wall color. i'm in favor of a rich marigold.
I'm on board with the brown - maybe with olive-undertones (like BM-Durango). Something that matches the red in the pillows you've chosen...
And, maybe you could get rid of the chair??? The room looks overpacked...I'm still trying to figure out how one would gracefully access the seating area? Do you have to jump over a couch ala Dukes of Hazzard? ;)
Good luck!
What about just painting the wall behind the sofa a marigold, and then hit the other walls with a warmer grey (rather than sick looking lavender grey - I once had to live with that color, I feel your pain)? All marigold might be too epic, given that the mirrored thing is going to reflected it back. But I think once you get some paint up, it's going to look really successful - your pillows all look lovely together.
Have you considered painting the lamps, or switching them out for something that has come color on the body of the lamp?
This looks like another of those situations that call for putting the T back into AT. What is the room saying? It may be that your "stuckness" about the color reflects being stuck with furniture that is not to your taste. Where is your husband in this? Does he know it bothers you to the extent that you are figuratively pulling your hair out? It seems like you're trying to deal with this by yourself, and if the underlying dynamic about how you make decisions together is not addressed, the room will reflect that by not coming together. Maxwell's AT book has some great examples of how solutions to design problems flowed more easily after emotional issues were dealt with. Communication may be more helpful than more paint chips at this stage. Am sending good wishes for calm, beauty, and a full head of hair..
I think you need new furniture.
No, no, let me rephrase that:
You need new furniture. Nothing can make those couches look good, especially when they're all crowded into a space that's far too small for all of them. I'd recommend selling them and using the money toward buying one nice, modern couch and a couple of nice chairs. Then I'd worry about paint color.
personally I'd lose at least one of those pieces of furn.too much for that small space!!after that I think you'll have a better time planning a wall color!
Um, you'll probably shoot me for the suggestion, but... (wait for it, wait for it)...
Ecru.
Sometimes the best way to combat what you don't like is to make it look intentional. Match the wall color to the sofas. You'll get that much more mileage out of everything else you bring in.
Otherwise, it's like painting a room bright yellow because you don't like elephant gray. But guess waht that yileds? An elephant in a bright yellow room. :)
Have you considered wallpaper? I just wallpapered a feature wall in my living room a couple of weeks ago and it makes all the difference. Turns a room from blah to ah-ha! It makes me smile every time I look at it.
I agree with the too much furniture comments, but without seeing the rest of the room its harder to judge. Perhaps put the couch in the foreground where the chair is now (to maximise seating and either take the chair out entirely or consider getting a different chair to contrast with the set (3 of the same in such a small space is overly matchy matchy for my tastes)
switching out the vertical blinds for real curtains will put another texture in the mix also. All the glass and leather looks a bit harsh. Getting some art or other stuff up on the walls will also start to make the room feel more homey, and distract from the couches, which being the biggest things in the room naturally dominate your view somewhat....
Enter the cure!
I love the idea of metallic accents - but then again I always do :-)
I would go with the warm tones in the pillows that you've already chosen. You can see what you want with those pillows. You want t a warm cozy space. I'm on board with the marigold idea. I also agree that you might want to take one of those pieces out of the living room. I suggest the loveseat. Is there room for it in your bedroom perhaps? I would also switch out the lamp shades. Good luck!
I am a little out of it today, but what does electric in the wall mean? Isn't it always?
I think everyone's making great suggestions...it's too bad the 2 of you couldn't have integrated your furniture more.
My first impulse was for the yellow from the pillow also.
However, I have to agree that the furniture seems large for the space. If a compromise isn't in the works (I keep thinking how great your red sofa would look with those pillows), then maybe one piece at least could go into storage.
Please post a follow-up. This feature is my favorite part of AT, but I find an "after" report is rarely posted.
Thank you for all the suggestions. To answer a few comments:
My furniture is actually in my old apartment for a variety of complicated reasons. I may actually get my sofa one day so it is something I keep in mind re: the wall color. Travelingal - my sofa is quite similar to the Milano Red you mentioned.
As for changing out the furniture entirely, we are all frugal folks and it is difficult to part with perfectly useful items. Which is why I'm looking to try and make it work. My husband and I agree on this. (thanks PlanItGirl)
The love seat is my husband's favorite place to sit and although the configuration is snug, the living area can be rather cozy. Most people like it when they come over. Also, no room elsewhere for it right now. Again, I might be able to get rid of them one day but I'm not sure when. It is a bit of a holding pattern so you hit it on the head KarenH.
Patrick (the other one) - Indeed I recently concluded that I might need to go with ecru for all the reasons you mention. Is there a particular texture or sheen you think would help? I keep ending up at metallics because if I'm going to have to live with ecru then at least it can be fun. Or not.
Lamp and curtain changes are definitely to come-any suggestions on those parts are welcome.
Christine (the one in DC)- my old apartment belonged to to my great-grandparents, and they were the original owners. That meant that when extra telephones, light fixtures, and cable were eventually added, they ran wires on the outside of the walls to run from room to room.
Thanks for your help!
Also I'm a modern dancer, which could explain the graceful leaps into the living room, Jen PDX ; )
frugality is a fine virtue -- particularly in this economy -- but there is something called penny-wise and pound-foolish (at least in New England). Are the pennies you're saving not buying the right furniture worth the pounding your limbs are going to take tripping over the wrong furniture?
As far as color goes, I'll second P(2)'s suggestion, though I might go a shade lighter or darker depending upon how you want the dimensions of the room to be perceived. And then use happy colors for the accessories.
Have you considered slipcovers for the sofas? It might be a way of spending a little to get a lot. If you can find a similarly shaped sofa at IKEA or somewhere you could have almost whatever color you liked and open up the wall color possibility. It's not just the ecru but the shape and fabric which seem like problems.
Also, I really think the lamps are aging the room.. maybe those would be a cheap update?