apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I like the red and yellow on the walls, but I'd do something about those kitchen cabinets pronto.

Looks like great photograghy. One wall painted red. And it's a beautiful red. Great start!

Gee Liza, what a rude thing to say. Did no one teach you manners?

Yian, I love the red. What make and color is it?

Beautiful

The red wall colour you chose and the wood floors complement each other so well. Well done!

I love the combo of red and light blue. Unfortunately, I don't think it comes through in the photos.

Those kitchen cabinets were the second thing I noticed in the second photo. I agree with Liza.

But maybe they look sad because they're juxtaposed with the gorgeous red wall and the playful blend of colors from the prints on that wall and on the adjacent white (beige?) one, which is the first thing I noticed. That corner is marvelous, as is the artsy floor-up first picture. I want to see more!

The red and the robin's egg are a gorgeous combination. Is the inside of the kitchen a light yellow?

Gorgeous! This is one of my favorites so far. I really love the deep red and light blue, and I also like how the orange, blue, and green in those 4 prints on the wall works with the opposite red wall without matching.

I think everyone should settle down about the kitchen cabinets--yeah, they're not gorgeous new ones, but I think part of the value in these contests is seeing how people who have not just renovated their apartments 5 minutes ago have nonetheless made them beautiful.

Love all the art! The red wall is so wonderful!

I have cabinets like those in my rental, and I don't plan on replacing them. I'll save that money for when i actually OWN a home. Love the red and the art work.

I like the paint colors and the artwork, but you need a rug (channeling P2!).

Not a fan of the kitchen cabinets either.

Now we're cooking with gas!

And I agree with those who suggested that the photos don't quite capture the color well. I can't tell if its because the photos were taken at night and the flash washed out the color or if they were taken at noon and the noontime intensity of the natural light washed out the color.

Because the primary color triad of the canary yellow, that red and the robin's egg blue is Fa-BOO!

hi everyone - thanks so much for the positive feedback!

in all fairness to liza, the kitchen cabinets are not my favorite either. but, first-time home buyer that i am, i'm at the stage where i am still figuring out how to decorate and make my house my own. i definitely love the red/light blue combo and will carry that over wherever i go. dream projects do include redoing cabinets until i remember that involves cold hard cash.

delia - the accent red is "rodeo red" by behr. yes, i'm a home depot gal...

and jackson - yes, that inside of the kitchen is light yellow. "butter yellow", to be exact.

unfortunately, as devyn, pointed out, the blue isn't really coming across in the photo quality. hopefully you all can see the robin's blue wall (which wraps around from my dining area into the living room) most accurately in the first pic.

believe it or not, the beige-looking wall in the corner shot is actually the same robin's blue - i blame this on the pic being a night shot and also on my poor skills as a photographer :)

happilyever et al, here are two additional pics to give you an idea of the blue - as you can see in the hall picture, the red wall wraps into my hallway. and ignoring my kitchen frig and cabinets ;) you can also see how the blue on the living room walls can photograph totally differently (pale to a nice saturated blue) at different times of day.

hallway peeking into my office, which is a deep saturated teal/marine blue - http://tinyurl.com/r5q23
view from kitchen out to LR - http://tinyurl.com/m3n2d

thanks again for the compliments!

If the choice of color highlighted the kitchen cabinets, I could see griping about them (ours are similar 'cause that's what the place came with), but it's clearly chosen to tame them and make them less conspicuous. Then the red grabs the eye outside the kitchen.

One valuable use of color is to distract from features that one cannot remove or replace at the moment. That's more challenging than deploying color in an already perfect space.

I really think the place looks great! But, if this is a contest about using color, one red wall and a few posters doesn't seem particularly interesting to me.

I think this is one of those times I wish the pictures showed more. I can't really get much of a sense of how it's used throughout the room.

I agree with Liza too - I don't think those cabinets go with the fantastic colors in the other rooms too.

But isn't this a forum to say what we think?

I don't think we should sit here and be nice and hide what we really think.

For instance - I could not tell that "robin's blue" was even blue - thought it looked white...

I agree the photos aren't really giving a good representation of the lighter colors.

Finding the right shade of red can be very difficult (as we well know from entry #9). I think it's close here, but not quite, but then again with the colors being perhaps a little off, it's hard to tell.

I also agree that people should say what they think even if it's not so pleasant. It's okay to disagree people! Yin and yang!

Hey, no fair sneaking extra photos in.

hmmm...it is a lovely red but feeling stymied by the lack of photos so I can see more color and get a better feel.

That red wall is fabulous. It pops. And those hardwoods look pretty marvelous too... I love the look of old hardwoods (I assume they're old... they seem to have a richness of color that comes with age). Is that far wall a light green? I love it!

Sorry if the cabinet comment was offensive. I do love the colors you've chosen, so the cabinets seemed to pop out as not done yet. I had some cabinets with less than perfect colors not long ago. Vile, in fact. I couldn't afford to put in new ones so I spent two weekends sanding, priming, painting, re-sanding, overpainting, re-sanding- overpainting, etc. until the cabinets had a very layered and fantastic look. Not expensive, just labor intensive. Funky knobs help a lot, too.

i like the colors. the place looks too cluttered for me.

You can find ways to say what you think without being abrasive.

I love the red wall, but it took a second glance to see the the other wall was blue. But it could be my monitor as well.

no offense taken, liza :) i didn't even think your comment was that big a deal... the cabinets are brand-new and what came with the house. if i'd had my druthers, i definitely would have gone for something much more modern.

that said, i do wish i'd been able to get a better picture(s) up since so many people are having problems seeing the blue come through - but in both pics, it really is a robin's egg blue. i wanted the red wall to pop and be the central accent color, but didn't want a bland-beigy... and hence figured that a cool, light blue would work well as a nice "neutral" against the red. since my living room is a mixture of wood and greys and muted accent colors (like moss green and goldenrod) i think it works, but am not willing to open up the LR just yet for discussion, AT- and house-newbie that i am. :)

i'll also say i do not understand the "looks too cluttered" comment at all - these pics show practically nothing in the way of decor (by intent...)

i do love the concept of having a red wall but i rarely see it able to be pulled off correctly. to me anyone can paint a wall (or portion of) in red paint. i just don't see how the room ties together. i think this entry has great potential but seems still in the making. maybe better pictures or lighting to show off the blue would of helped but this room doesn't make me want to pack up and move in. i don't see a concept here. nice entry though.

Love the red! And I wouldn't sress over the cabinets, if you wanted to do something with them in the future would new hardware be a quick update??

I really like the art on the right, light wall--and I was surprised to realize that I had that calendar too!

But how did you make it look so sleekly a part of the wall?

I'm always trying to put different things on my walls and call them art, but feel like unless I frame them, they don't look good. I like what you've done with what you had available...