apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Is that Toteru on your couch?

I think taupe is a good idea. I've been thinking of it for myself.

such a pretty couch. i'm thinking a subtle tangerine, a shade or two lighter than your pillow.

yea taupe or a latte color with a dark brown wall (same color as the pillow) on the wall the couch sits on. or the dark blue in the rug. those colors popped in my head as soon as i saw your space.

A warmer yellow might work and also still please the hubby. Benjamin Moore's "Barley" worked for us in a space kind of similar to yours. How it goes with the blue sofa I'm still not certain. As always, get the samplers and have fun graffiti-ing your walls.

a taupe-y almond color would look great if you kept the trim a crisp white.


love the cat!

You have a lot of color from the blue couch and colorful art and accent pillow. I think a pale coffee color, maybe one shade lighter than the lampshade, would be a nice backdrop for your existing pieces.
Have you considered sliding the rug under the sofa? I'm sorry I am mentally rearranging your furniture in my head.
I really like your mix of modern, contemporary, mid-century and traditional pieces!

If you click on my name you'll see the first picture of your room but with a pale-ish orange. I tried beige, yellow and green and this was my personal favorite. If you want to see the other colors or different colors, let me know.

I picked orange also because it's a color you both seem to like, if your pillows and picture is any indication.

I really think you have a lot of options - but I guess that's the problem :) Good luck.

that couch is beautiful! i love it.
you could pull one of the colors out of the rug for the wall color. i'd go for a yellow or taupe like color, since you already have a good amount of color going on with the couch and rug.

I second the pale tangerine idea! I've always loved that color, and I think it'd look great in this room.

I agree with keeping in an orange tone, but I'm imaging a cantaloup color in a warmer shade.

Are you in Glover Park? Your house looks quite similar to mine! We have a butter yellow that seems to work with all our other colors in the house. And I am not a yellow fan, but it works!

Here is a different shade of orange(and it's the 2nd pic, not the first, sorry). I don't know if this is the tangerine people keep mentioning - but it's more soothing than the other orange.

Also, meant to say that putting dark molding around the windows might also help pull things together.

I'm thinking an antique gold.

I'm for orange. The color of creativity, and your place is very creative. I like the tangerine idea or the lighter orange in opininated's second photo. Your sofa and lamp are great.

Your house has almost the exact same footprint (and arched doorways) as mine! If you want to go with an almond color, I recommend C2's Linger. It has just enough tint that it will contrast really nicely with your white moldings. Slightly darker is C2 Sandcastle, which will still keep the walls light and complement the blue in the couch.

I agree with the ideas for a warm color to balance with the sofa (which is fantastic!), think about using a dusky orange or gold to go with the rug and furniture. A bright, saturated color will make the rug and sofa look dingy, while a softer shade will play up the texture and pattern better. Strong color in accessories like your pillows and print are fine and will play off the walls well and not compete. Great table, too!

I would do that and orangey/tangerine colour that draws from your throw pillow, as many other people suggested, however I would only paint the wall with the window and door. I think it would be a nice modern pop, but not too overwhelming.

I would say go for a deep warm brown on one of the walls, maybe the wall with the door. The rest of the walls you could do a lighter sand color. You could do the wall with the archway a really fun bold color...

Oooh, such a thrill to see our place on Apartmenttherapy! Freddie (the cat) will be thrilled about his newfound fame, as soon as we succeed in explaining the internet to him.

To Jean (also in DC): Is Toteru an Uglydoll? The one on our couch is Jeero.

Adriana, we live in Mt. Pleasant. There are a lot of houses almost the same as ours in our area--small, square brick rowhouses built in the late 1930s--so maybe yours is similar too?

Becca, I think you're right that we should probably move the rug more under the sofa; we just haven't played around with this much. Do you think the whole couch should sit on the rug, or only the front legs?

Thanks so much to everyone for your suggestions and thoughts about the paint issue. I think I need to look at more paint chips to get a better vision of what color tangerine is. Is it a slightly pinkish orange? We obviously both like orange, but I am hesitant about idea of a bright orange wall. For instance, Opinionated, the first picture you put up I think is similar to what Tom has in mind, but I worry it would be like living in a Caution! sign. (How did you you make those pictures, btw? Very impressive!)

My fear about paler versions of orange is that they would look like peach, as in the old Crayola "flesh"-color crayon, not the fruit. There is actually a peachish color like that in our rug, and I don't really like it.

I like the almond or light coffee idea several people mentioned, and am intruiged by the dark-brown accent wall idea too.

Thank you again!

I would pick a light shade of tangerine. It would add an eclectic cherrfulness to the room, while pulling the elements you have into a cohesive looking until. You have high ceiling and a lot of light so this could work without a doubt!

Jenny:

Glad you liked the pictures. I just use photoshop to erase the existing wall color and select other colors to replace it. The link in my name takes you to a beige version. Once I delete the existing color it's super easy to try out all different colors. If you have photo editing software on your computer you can probably do the same thing.

black- to match the cat, should probably paint the marionette too.

it's just paint.

I think Sherwin Williams' "Creeping Jenny" would look good on part or all of your walls.

Orange - but I'd go with a darker, more orange, orange instead of a paler or yellowy orange.

Good luck!

Too bad we don't have a close up of the rug. Can you pick something out of the rug (not the salmon - peach is icky)? I also would avoid a flat paint and use a semi gloss regardless of the wall condition. I find flat paint depressing

I think the suggestion about darker molding is excellent, maybe stain it to match the doors and stairs?

domino mag featured a lovely soft metallic b&m paint this month--anyone have it handy? i think it'd be perfect!

Where did you get your arc lamp? I LOOOOVE it!

taupe = boring

I suggest terra cotta.

the second orange in opinionated's sample rocks. what's wrong with mustardy yellow is it makes the people in the room look sick, and it's very hard to look at, or sit in, for more than six hours. i know people who painted their guest room mustard yellow so nobody would stay too long.

I can really relate to this delimma. I have these blue countertops that are highly visable like that blue couch and replacing them is not an option. However, blue is a tough color to work with! I have pale yellow walls that tone down the blue but sometimes they feel too "beige" for me so I think about painting them. I like orange but growing up in Denver, I just have too much Broncos baggage to attempt it-but I think it would look great. My other choice is green. Opinionated, if you see this, would you post what some kind of green wall would look like with the blue? Maybe a yellow green? Thanks-

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I'm going to break with the crowd here. Some describe the room as eclectic. Really, the room is done with mid-century style furnishings, but has a traditional persian style rug. Everyone wants to pick a color to intergrate the rug into the room better. I would suggest using this rug in another room, and put a modern rug in this living room. I found one at, appropriately enough, ModernRugs.com that works well enough for this sample composite.

If you used pale mint green on one wall, and took a paler tint of the orange from your pillow for another, and used a modern rug, this is how the room could look:

LIVING ROOM PHOTO:
http://www.awardshow.name/temp/living_room_AT.jpg

THE RUG:
http://www.modernrugs.com/rug_images/35_sk1568.jpg

I really like Chris's idea. The orange wall is fabulous. If that color is too much, I would try I pale yellow and maybe add a few hints of lime green like the color on the bottle on the window. It will give the room a very cheerful feel. Right now it looks a bit cold. But some bright colors will punch it up. You also have a lot of wall space, which would be perfect for a very modern wallpaper or something like the Wallter paintable wall aplications. If you want more color, try placing some accessories on your coffee table and side table. Best of luck! Your miniature rocking chairs are very cute.

Love your idea chris, Now THAT works way better

What about the windows? Do you plan to leave them bare, or do some blinds, or curtains? It seems to me that whatever you decide about the walls - taupe, tangerine, pale salmon..., you'll want to think about the windows and the woodwork at the same time. Also (sorry!) I'd put the throw pillows in another room, they are nice, but to me they don't belong with the rug and the couch. (And that *is* one amazing lamp.)

Rudopal:

Is the picture in this link what you were asking for? Chris's version is much better but hopefully this helps with your dilema.

If you have any photo software on your computer you can probably change the tint in this picture and the brightness and contrast to see different shades of this color. If you can select parts of the picture by color (color wand is what it's called sometimes) just click on the green wall and that will just select the wall. Then you can fill color.

I love doing this and enjoyed messing with someone else's room. Good luck with yours :)

Oh yeah, and Jenny, I added brown molding to your windows in that last link. You'd probably have to rehang the picture you have but I think it looks great. I did sort of a sloppy job, but hopefully you can get an impression from it.

I actually think a dark, rich blue would be good here, something between sapphire and midnight. It would look really nice with the lamps in particular, and I think the couch would look more velevety that way. The rug would tie in too, and make it look luxe.

Wow Chris. Your suggestion gets my vote. Although I generally love eclectic rooms, I think the rug might have been confusing the issue a little. Those colours look great too. The green looks like it would be a good match for limesicle from Benjamin Moore.

Chris NYC - the rug is fab and really pulls all the elements of the room together.

I know how you feel about going light with orange and the fear of peach. When trying to lighten things with white it usually makes things look chalky and pastel. You might try a thinned out glaze of orange over white or cream, and that way you will have a lighter, still vibrant orange rather than a pastel. I'll be trying this myself this week, as I just brought home a much brighter than anticipated orange.

Has anyone thought about trying the room with no rug? I think it would look fresh and modern with yellow walls (I like Benjamin Moore 305) and bare wood floors.

Thanks, opinionated! It helped me a lot-as for Jenny and Tom-please post after picks when you are done. I'm really curious to see how this works out-good luck-

i am with chris. that rug is great. i think, though, with everything going on in that rug, you should stick with just one wall colour.

also, i really dig your teak tables. one thing though...i really want to chop a couple of inches off the coffee table legs. i feel like it competes in height visually with the sofa. most table legs like that are easy to take off, cut down, and replace. just a thought though. and yes, love the lamp.

Wow. I'm really glad we decided to post our room here. Very, very good suggestions.

Chris, I am really impressed with the way the room looks in your mock-up. Also, I'm really happy you chose to keep Freddie Knuckes in the photo. I've had him for over three years, and he's only just become a bit of a lap cat, so I'd hate to lose him. :) jk

To be honest, I don't think Jenny or I would be opposed to moving the rug into our bedroom, which currently has very little decor and--you guessed it--feels kind of cold. Also, we're looking at a nice, deep blue for the walls in that room--maybe Blue Grotto from C2--so the rug might work well.

Lil, the idea of going without a rug hadn't really occurred to us, although I will say that it probably never occurred to the many previous owners either, because although the wood floors look pretty busted generally throughout the house, they look absolutely great in that front room because people have probably always used a rug.

Setting aside Chris's very tempting suggestion for a minute, I want to revisit the Tangerine idea. Here is what "Torch" from C2 looks like according to Colorcharts.org: http://www.colorcharts.org/ccorg/resources/colors.aspx?ProductID=705&CBN=392P-RVMP-JU29

That looks pretty much like the paint chip we have. Is that what people are referring to when they say Tangerine, because there were a million different "tangerine" colors on Colorcharts.org and they differed so much it was hard to know.

By the way--the orange color in Chris's mock-up looked kind of like Chutney from C2, another color I've toyed with...

fun...

Wow, thanks again to everyone for your help.

Chris: Your fabulous mock-up (how did you give the coffee table a shadow?) confirms what we had suspected, but had been too lazy to try, namely that we should move the rug. It's true that it's a different style than the other things in the living room, and also the colors are tricky. I think it will work better in our bedroom because, like Tom said, we want to paint that room blue anyway, so we could ignore the difficult peachy colors in the rug. I really like the orange wall you put in your picture, too--I'm not totally sold on the minty green (although it does match Jeero nicely), but in any case the idea is very liberating.

Joanne: we got the arc lamp at Storehouse's liquidation sale, so I doubt it's available from there anymore, sadly.

Other Joanne (or same Joanne?): I totally agree we need to do something with the windows--we haven't dealt with that. It's kind of confusing because there's just the one normal-sized window, and then the door with a glass panel and the two smaller, high windows. I'm not sure whether, if we get curtains, we should put the same length ones on all the windows, even the short windows, or just leave those bare, or what.

Opinionated: Thanks so much for making all those pictures. Tragically, we don't have Photoshop or anything like that on our computer. We have used the poor man's photoshop technique that someone suggested elsewhere, I think maybe in the color contest--we printed pictures of the room and cut out the walls, so we can hold the picture up to paint chips.

Iacoli: You may be right about the height of the coffee table. We bought it when we had a different, taller couch in that room.

Thanks again! We will be thinking of all of you this weekend as we move the rug and go back to the paint store to collect more chips. :)

Tangerine? Just say no.

And one (wo)man's boring is another man's tasteful.

i vote for KELLY MOORE: FULL SUN. when you see it's swatch.. it looks more brown.. but i sware it is a warm, deep.. yellow.. a very HAPPpPppY yellow. Everyone who sees it on my walls and other people's home's walls LOVE IT. Just remember.. it looks better on the wall than on the swatch.

I know four different people who have used that yellow on their walls and are crazy in love with it.

I appear to be in the minority, but I think tangerine would look terrible (and does, in the mockup). It's very "football colors"

I envision a very pale, buttery yellow or maybe a taupe.

I'm wondering why you bought orange and brown cushions to go on a blue sofa? - they don't really go at all

However, if you want to retain everything in this room and pull it all together with a wall colour I suggest something very warm - taupe is going to look very bland and cold - the mustard your husband suggests might work but I'm thinking a rich warm terracotta

Use red. It complements the blue couch.

I have similar colors in my living room, I painted the walls Benjamin Moore's "Jersey Cream". It's a pale/buttery/creamy yellow. It looks amazing. I now have 4 friends who have added "Jersey Cream" to their houses. It's a happy yet VERY calming shade.

OOPS

I meant Sherwin Williams' Jersey Cream...not Benjamin Moore. Ack, it's been a few years since I painted the living room...LOL

I agree with antique gold. Tangerine is not going to cut it in this room. Nor anything in the orange family.

Violetsrose, we got the orange and brown pillows to try to pull together the couch with the blue and orange print that is hanging above the couch, and the brown and white lamp. The orange and blue certainly contrast with each other (being opposite colors and all), but I hope they don't look hideous . . . do you think?

Mia and Maria, when you say antique gold do you mean a color similar to the picture frame (visible in the 2nd picture)? I like that idea, it could be warm and brownish without being super dark.

I think a light antique gold or pale mustard would be great.

Or... navy! Your wooden furniture and flooring is in a warm shade. I think navy would be brilliant.

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Jenny wrote:
> Violetsrose, we got the orange and brown pillows to try to pull
> together the couch with the blue and orange print that is
>hanging above the couch, and the brown and white lamp. The
>orange and blue certainly contrast with each other (being
>opposite colors and all), but I hope they don't look hideous . . .
> do you think?

No, they look just fine.

Orange is the compliment of blue. Many things about style are subjective, complimentary colors are not. You can tell from their posts who has some experience with color theory.

Orange and Blue will "pop". The room will excite- be visually fun. Blue and Yellow are stately- both primaries, and will provoke a more formal feel (look at national flags). Same with those who recommended using Red with your Blue sofa. Using Blue with Green is soothing- this is because they are analogous colors.

Your room is dominated by your Blue sofa, and your predominately Blue rug.

People that are attracted to a stately room are recommending Yellow or even Red.

People who want a more soothing room will likely recommend Green.

People who like excitement, and maybe who see this room as a place to entertain, are attracted to Orange.

I mixed it up some. From a stylistic point of view, I simply thought the room would pull together better with a modern rug more in-period with the furnishings. As seen from the eating area, you would view the room against the green wall, more soothing. When seen from the entrance, the complimentary Blue against Orange would make the whole room pop- a bit of a dramatic gesture, but you had already chosen the Orange pillow for the Blue sofa, so you seemed inclined to go there. I figured, the Orange wall would take that move to its logical conclusion. I'll admit, choosing to do both colors with contrasting walls is a bold move. Probably too dramatic for some. A lot of people would choose one or the other, or even only one accent wall in one or the other.

If you're interested, I will give you my point of view on how to integrate the kitchen/breakfast area: do the whole kitchen in the same Green. Leave the wall going up the stairs White. On the Living Room side of the arched wall you can either go White or Orange, the effect will be much the same either way. If you go Orange, make sure to paint the inside of the arch in either White or the Green so that you don't see the Orange of that wall once you enter the kitchen. If the wall has a good crisp edge, use white. If the wall surface is uneven, and you don't want to get into doing plaster work, then just bring the Green on around.

Here is the living room photo and the rug again.

LIVING ROOM PHOTO:
http://www.awardshow.name/temp/living_room_AT.jpg

THE RUG:
http://www.modernrugs.com/rug_images/35_sk1568.jpg


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Whatever you chose, I'm sure it will work very well. You've made a lot of good choices already. I'm confident you will do equally well when you choose your paint.



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I think a chocolate color would really warm up the room, or at the lighter end of the spectrum, a dark taupe.

I also don't care for the orange wall and agree that the orange and blue together look very school colors.

a dark taupe like Benjamin Moore's shenendoah taupe would look lovely, I think

i had an orange room and i just found it to be too much. i vote for a rich chocolate - it would give this room sophistication.

A bright, lime green would look great.

If you want to live dangerously, go with a metallic dark avacado. The dark green would go with what you have and hint at the retro feel to some of the appliances. Paint over the base with a little gold flek (don't overdo it or you'll go all "Saturday Night Fever" on us) to pick up the wood and that lampshade. I would put it in the corners and near the moulding to make it look like it wore off everywhere else, but that's just me.

Based on Opinionated's fantastic manipulations of color, my two cents is that a bright color on the walls to complement the couch, in tandem with NO rug at all (the bare wood floor simplifies, declutters, and really warms up the space) would make this room really pop. Having solid wall, couch and floor colors over most of the space will make accessories and accents stand out without being too busy, giving a cleaner line and look.

Have fun with it!

I agree that the rug should be replaced with a smaller area rug and I also think the pillows at each end should be replaced - they don't seem to coordinate well with the picture that has orange in it and draw too much attention to themselves. I also think the lamp is too tall for the furniture you have, as is the coffee table which was mentioned before. I think a subtle yellow on the walls would look good and then find some pillows in jewel tones or orange, grown and lime green.

This was very informative - as I read the comments here I just had to visit the site that was mentioned several times regarding area rugs
http://www.modernrugs.com I thought I would just take a quick look at this site - this was before I actually purchase the rug, I Spoke to Zachary Nitzan - he really knows his stuff - and was very very helpful in selecting a great area rug for me I will post the picture soon - thank you