apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Paint it the same color as the other walls in the room?

I would paint that entire wall-doors, trim, walls all one color.
I don't know what the rest of the room looks like but a nice medium blue would be nice-Benjamin Moore's rendezvous Bay is a good one

I second 'rightbrain'. I'd even try to paint those black pipes in the same color. It will be much more cohesive.

Yea, the black pipes definitely need to be painted. If you have an industrial feel to the place at all and don't want to paint them the same color as the walls, you could always paint them silver -- you know, give it the proper industrial feel.

Laura
http://www.grafxnerd.net

It looks like you might get enough light from the skylight to try a 'green' wall on that central area, with more plants placed along the top ledge. A little drip irrigation system could make it fairly hassle-free. I think it would really help play up the loft opening, too.

This is what I'm seeing: an industrial space with traditional, builders spec moulding and doors. This is what looks odd. You can change them out for something more modern or paint them the same as the rest of the space. Give the paint a shot first. As for color, BM linen white would be great, and it would highlight the black staircase and pipes, both of which I would leave with their original finishes. It looks like you have traditional furniture, so I'm curious as to what drew you to this space? Painting your furniture black will help loads. Keep the rest simple if you can. Color scheme, black, white and your favorite accent color. It could really work.

One big problem is that you have suburban house doors and molding in stark white in a great modern space. My solution would be to unify the style for a start, by removng the molding from around the doors and replaceing your panelled bi-fold door with a plain solid one. Then you have all one style. Then I would paint the doors something like a green, on the dark side. I would add a thrid color in your space and let the doors stand out as color blocks. Of ourse they don't have to be gree-just pick up a color from your decor and something that works and is of the same or greater intensity as the colors you already have on the walls.

black

not the I'm an angry teenager still living at home it's MY room black

but something subtle (off-black?)

a color infused black?

a high gloss black?

a light grabbing black... such exist

Renoir: "Black is the Queen of Colors"

Paint doors, trim, wall, and pipes white. Your really cool ceiling should be the focus of the room.

yep, paint all the walls white. accent walls are never a good idea...

and if you can't spring for new doors, at least replace the hardware on the existing ones.

Right now, it's a big jumble of elements and needs to be simplified/unified. (What is that large, slightly crooked rectangle up top behind the pipes? What is that space up there? I'm wanting to say that rectangle should be removed, but I don't know what that would leave---)

Yeah, get that rectangle thingy out and put trailing plants up there. . . .

Steel-framed, single-pane, frosted glass doors would look great as replacements for the two mismatched ones that don't belong in a loft space anyway.

I sympathize with your struggle to figure out what to do with this end of the room. I don't think it's an easy problem.

long slate fountain made with tiles would be cheap
see http://www.exaltedfountains.com/ag-slate-waterfalls.html

to get an idea..saw it done on design on a dime bedroom redo

I am guessing that the rectangle mentioned by Aulaire is a board blocking the light from the wide window -- am I right? If so, I'd get rid of the board and put up some kind of window treatment instead -- maybe those IKEA ceiling mounted sliding panels (cut to fit, of course.) Since your bed appears to be a four poster in a traditional style, the panels you choose could lend a transitional feel to the room as well as help control light.

The wall would look better with one long vertical piece hanging on the "chimney" and eliminating the little stuff by the door. (The things you have now compete with each other. Go for a cleaner look.) You could put up a full length mirror (maybe with a black frame since the furniture is going black.) Or a tapestry or a series of identically matted and framed photos or prints (maybe three, stacked, and at least as wide as the piece you have there now.) I'd use wide white mats and black frames. Move the candle or whatever that is.

Colors... that depends on stuff like your choice of bedding.

It might be helpful if we could see a couple more angles, but I think choosing a color to unify all the doors/pipes/walls would be a great way keep it from looking choppy. I love rooms with odd nooks. It seems like a problem area until you do something cool with it and then it becomes your favorite spot.

I agree with dandy there is a disconnect between the loft space and the rest of the living space.

You'll have to decide weather you really do want a modern space or if you want the traditional space and then design from there. You have a metal ladder and the piping (industrial) and then it seems as if there is a traditional four poster bed with the traditional closet insets and doors.

If your style is traditional you may want to change out the ladder to a wooden one and change out the doors to maybe wood ones which would carry the wood tones from the room up to the beams.

Wall color will help. If you painted the wall of the loft space black to help the pipes recede or a darker shade of the rest of the wall color so you won't notice the loft space as much.

Maybe you could try some pattern.

What if you painted the top part of the wall black (which will fade it out) and then did a hip wall paper on the bottom (which will pop it out). You would have instant style.

I don't mind the white doors, but in the past, I have painted white doors and trim a chocolate color with muted green walls. That was a nice combo.

Maybe you can get some inspiration here:
http://mochihome.com/?p=159

If you want to send a photo, I would love to test out that black with pattern or pop of color. I think that might be interesting...

Good luck!