Hello AT,
We recently moved into new construction and are looking for a few good
ideas.
1. We have a hall way that leads into the kitchen/living area -- all are currently white. Would like ideas on how to paint the walls to separate the rooms a bit... would the hallway be a lighter or darker color than the other room?
2. In the kitchen area, there are three windows (one is actually a door to a juliet balcony). What type of window treatments would you suggest... right now there are temporary paper shades up...
Thanks in advance for your brillant ideas, A.
Dear A.
Ouch! Boy do you need to get some color into your apartment! Where were you during Fall Colors Month in September? We're going to leave the window treatments to others and tell you what we think about painting.
1. All your walls should be a different color from the ceiling. We would recommend a warm off-white in the larger areas. It doesn't have to be Linen White! Just about any off white will do. Make sure you love it.
1 1/2. FYI trim color is different. We generally go lighter than the walls with trim, but for the time being, we would just leave your trim alone and paint the walls.
2. Consider a fun, bright color for the kitchen area wall behind the stove, etc. This color would play off of the general off white color.
3. For the hallway, we like to go darker so that when you come into the main room you really get the feeling of opening up and expanding much more. This all depends on your color palette (which we would need more information to get into here), but we usually go with dark neutrals like brown, taupe or even gray. For some we bust it out and go with strong reds or oranges. The depth of the color here allows you to really show off the pigment in these paints and give you a chance to use them.
A, if you do all this, your apartment will feel COMPLETELY different and be on its way to BEAUTIFUL.
Anyone else?
For window treatments, I would hang drapery over the windows and door leading to the balcony. I think you could hang the curtain rod quite high up for a dramatic look. Unless you have a really fabulous view that you want to show off at nighttime as well, I think the room will feel cozier with drapery pulled shut at night along that wall.
Depending on what colours you decide to decorate with, the curtains could be some neutral twill, or maybe a nice stripe or larger-scale pattern that picks up on the colours you use in the room.
I agree that the entrance hall should be painted something that makes a statement. My first thought was a strong coral-red, if that suits your style.
If you decide to do something like that, what about bamboo blinds for the bay windows? Do you need shades down permanently for privacy, or just at night?
I would put up either a very deep plum color or a chalkboard gray on in the hall and on the back wall (oven-wall) of the kitchen. I would opt for wallpaper for these walls if it were my place. (I'd wallpaper the whole place!)
The living room walls I would do in an old plaster white color (BM's Arcadia White comes in a test pot, try that and see if it needs to be lighter or darker).
Add crown molding. Crown molding and trim should be a whiter white (Behr's Vermont Cream is good)
Roman shades for windows or window film. Look here:
http://www.surfacematerialdesign.co.uk/
...and there are other cheaper version of this in US too.
Now, what are we going to do about those sofas!
I definately agree with the charcoal for the kitchen - it'll pick up the color in your countertops nicely. Also since the kitchen is in the livingroom I wouldn't go with a bright color. I have the same setup and when we painted the kitchen yellow once it was an eyesore and really made our appliances stand out. Maybe a deep terra cotta for the hallway.
The space seems simple and modern so I don't mind the white walls sans molding, I'm sure its beautiful when the sun is out...wish I had sun in my living room!
As for window treatments I would take advantage of that sun and get something translucent and hang them really high up to make the room seem taller. Also I think a nice neutral rug would soften/cozy up the space.
Then I would find a wallpaper that compliments that color scheme and paper the bathroom with some kind of cool graphic design.
Have fun! Oh and I agree about the sofas. Something with clean square lines would be great. I would do a bold pattern, stripes or something if I was starting with such a clean space.
d
I would be totally Matt-and-Sherry and start with a paint chip card. Which one depends on your tastes and accessories.
OPTION 1: BEIGE
Match the middle chip to the kitchen cabinets, effectively painting them out. Use one of the two darkest golds in the foyer and one of the two lightest beiges in the living room.
OPTION 2: GREIGE
Choose a strip that picks up the grays in the countertop. Again, dark color in the hall; light color in the living room; medium color in the kitchen. Because of the maple cabinets, I'd definitely choose a gray with some yellow in it. If you don't want a gray hallway, choose a bright color like coral for total contrast.
OPTION 3: BEIGE w/ CONTRAST
Go with the beige paint strip, but do the foyer in deep plum (opposite on the color wheel). Consider filling in part of the kitchen (wall under the top cabinets) with a lighter but still vibrant shade of the same plum. You can even do an accent wall in the living room that's the same light plum to go with the light beige.
OPTION 4: COME BACK IN AND PAINT IT OUT
Choose the largest piece of decor that you intend to keep, but that you want to "knock back" so that it doesn't visually dominate the room. The wall behind that piece is the color you need to visually eliminate it. If that's black, run with the gray color scheme. Otherwise, use that color as your starting point. If the strip doesn't quite go with the kitchen cabinets, choose a second paint strip that goes with your favorite accessories, and use one of those colors in the kitchen. Again, bright or dark goes in the foyer.
OPTION 5: INSPIRATION PIECE
Choose something as your inspiration piece and find the paint strips that include its colors. Pick light and medium off one to go in the living room and kitchen, in that order. (I would aim for using the more neutral colors of the available choices.) Choose dark or bright off another for the foyer, and here you don't have to be neutral.
sasha, how do you have time to give advice what with the olympics and all your performances in torino? i agree with maxwell's advice about dark entry into light main space in an off white, all colors should be tonal in a modern space that does not have doorways. I think the photos look too bright because of camera flash and makes the room look flat and too white. i'm sure it looks much better in person. Also halogen uplights throw too much light on the ceiling and makes a space like this seem empty and cold. stick with lamps and down lights all with dimmers.
Thank you all for such great ideas and inspiration. We've got our work cut out for us. I guess we missed the fall colors special, we were probably too busy packing for the move. I'd say we tend to gravitate towards earth tones, etc.
Good suggestions re: window treatemnts. We definitely need shades down in the evenings for privacy, but I don't mind letting the sun shine in during the day. And I too like the idea of drapes in the kitchen area.
And rest assured, as for those couches, they'll be going soon. Furniture is on our to do list... we've got a whole apartment to decorate.. so it's going to take some time. Stay tuned.. and keep those great ideas coming!
Annemarie