apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My immediate thought is to grab a five- or six-color paint chip that includes the color of the linen sofa. Match the sofa in the living room or go a *definite* tone darker or lighter (you don't want it to look like it just doesn't match). Go with the middle of the strip for the kitchen, one of the darkest two shades for the foyer, and the lightest shade for the hall leading to the bedroom. It all coordinates but gives distinct spaces. (I have a prejudice against eye-catching kitchens, bear in mind -- so I'm visually making it LESS conspicuous. That's me.)

Then do something completely different for the bedroom -- a color-color -- so that entering the bedroom is entering a different world. Just grab the chip from a segment of the rack that's in the same family of "muted," "clear," or however the brand sorts itself.

pickup truck blue from benjamin moore for the living room! see if you can add crown molding!
sawyer's fence from benjamin moore for the entry way and kitchen!

the living room shot made me think -- this is a job for blik. some subtle, rich color and fanciful shapes would give the room some sprezzatura to compliment the solid dark woods and the elegant linens.

i think this esp because there are some odd negative spaces -- above the tv, above the bedside lamp. the picture above the bed seems too tiny, but only because the rest of the space is blank.

this is unsolicited but there are so many elegant touches in the room -- the sofa, the vase on teh floor with the (pussy willow?) branches -- that the messy fridge door seems jarring. but i hasten to add that i view the world through fridge-collage-obsessed eyes and others would no doubt feel differently.

well i'm not sure about color right now, but i know what i'd do first off. i think floor-to-ceiling curtain panels should go on that far wall with the window AC unit. maybe another matching panel could be hung in the pass-through to the kitchen to obscure the fridge from sight when relaxing in the living room. i am all about 'hidden kitchens' lately. the whole 'open concept' with the kitchen mess visible from every room is over-done for me. i like my dirty secrets to be tucked away personally.

Another thought if you don't like beige or find it blah as a background color is to choose one of your existing colors that excites you more, match that on a chip, and then go with the same logic --

LR: light but not lightest
K: medium
Foyer: dark
Bedroom hall: lighter than LR

Using the orange from the painting would thus probably give you a more sophisticated, 21st century look.

I lived in my apartment for 8 years before I picked a color. My decision to paint was hastened by my realtor who picked the color out for me 2 weeks before I put the apartment on the market.
My advice is to pick a pleasant neutral color (even if linen white) because you'll see some improvement and get to enjoy it for more than a few weeks.

First, go to the hardware store and you can "borrow" the Benjamin Moore color wheel for a $10 deposit (you leave a deposit and they give it back when you return it).
Second, in your LR, I would pick a color from your Matisse Picasso print, that print is great and justifies the linen couch, the orange blanket, the purple rug and all the other colors in the room. The color you pick should be in the matisse picasso poster and in the same family as the couch/rug/blanket color.
Third, for your bedroom I would do the same thing - find a color you like from the print over your bed and choose your wall color accordingly to make the print and the wall pop.
Fourth, once you have picked colors you like, return the wheel and buy the small containers of paint swatches and paint 1x1 squares of the top contenders all over your wall.
Fifth, live with the swatches up on your wall, for a least 2 weeks or more, see which one seems to call out to you the most...which takes in the light best... which is soothing to the eye...
Sixth, pick a color and go to town!
Good luck and take pics.

My first impression is to go brown - pick a shade that's right for you, but probably a light to medium shade will be best. Though a darker shade would contrast nicely with your light colored sofa.

Also, you might liven up the kitchen area by installing a colorful tile backsplash.

I think you should go a shade of orange....I know its a bold color but it would pop against its opposite (purple rug) and you could put some cute orange pillows on the couch. Maybe some white moulding at the ceiling. It would make it warm.

i love the idea of using that matisse print for general inspiration. matisse wasn't afraid of unexpected bright colors, and you shouldn't be, either.

if i had my own show on HGTV, i'd call my vision for your apartment "The Fauves".

you already have the beginnings of this going on with your deep purple rug that matches the purple shades in the print. in the living room, i'd stay relatively neutral, possibly matching that yellow which appears only a little in the print. you need something that is going to pop off the wicker, the dark wood, the print, AND the couch, but not overwhelm. this is probably the hardest room of all. maybe a wheaty golden beige.

in the kitchen i would go warm. your kitchen looks really cold over there in comparison to the rest of the apartment. i would take the yellow stripe of the woman's dress for the walls, and i'd go deep brown, wenge or espresso, on your cabinetry. if you decide to go wheaty golden in the living area, i would choose a more saturated yellow from the same chip.

for the entryway, i would pick one of the deep almost-brown oranges of the woman's skin. something that will pop against the yellow and espresso of the kitchen to help the view from the living room. the wheat, yellow/espresso, and deep orange should all work well against each other.

in the bedroom, i would pull the cooler blues or purples, perhaps a toned down version on 3 walls and then a more saturated accent wall behind the bed, echoing the neutral living area and kicked up kitchen. again, you want to make sure it pops against the dark wood of your bed.

also, remember your window treatments! i don't have particular color suggestions here, but i'd pick things that are substantial and textural which work well with the furniture colors in each room (dark woods, rattan, etc.). in the living room, i think the windows are the focal point of the room (or at least they want to be), so you could go with something really dramatic there.

good luck, and have fun!

Because the violet carpet is more red-violet than pure violet (at least according to the photo), i'd opt for a wall color that lends itself to bringing nature indoors. I'd add green to your walls. Nothing dark or overpowering, I'm thinking more of muted soft green, a yellow-green would be lovely since that is a complement to red-violet. Think of nature. A flower with a green stem. Brown bark on trees. Blue sky. Stick to colors found in nature for this design, and I think you'll love the results.

Holly

Alicia -

I have the very same colors (Linen dining room chairs, eggplant velvet sofa, and dark (walnut stained) furniture and just had my place painted this week!!! I chose Benjamin Moore Powell Buff for the living / dining area to go with the linen color. Carrington Beige also works well. You can large paper samples of these colors at Janovic. The Powell Buff works well with accent colors such as white and orange and looks good with stainless steel and silver. I have dark furniture and white linens in the bedroom and chose to paint two opposite facing walls Ruby Red to make the dark furniture really pop out. The other two walls are white. The red matches the red in a painting that will hang in the bedroom. Red is a bold choice, I know, but pick a favorite color for the bedroom that will make the dark furniture pop. Your simple white linens will stand out as well. Have fun!!!

LIVING ROOM FACING WINDOWS:
You could go with an accent wall of orange on your windowed wall, and a fresh coat of a bright white (super white) for the walls. I'd then use a gloss white on the ceiling to reflect more of the light into the room (if the ceiling has many imperfection, then just use semi-gloss).

http://www.awardshow.name/temp/color_pic_01.jpg

LIVING ROOM FACING INTO APARTMENT:
You might then want to repeat the orange in a mini-accent on the small wall behind the breakfast table. Then, if you wanted to be a little more adventurous, you could go with a blue entry-hall including the lower ceiling. Continue the blue into the kitchen, but only on the ceiling. Use semi-gloss white on the kitchen walls.

http://www.awardshow.name/temp/color_pic_02.jpg

If the blue is too much, you could do the same thing with a rusty brown.

http://www.awardshow.name/temp/color_pic_02b.jpg

And clean the nic-nacs off the refrigerator. It's too visible from the living room to use it as a bulletin board- makes the room look messy.

Best of luck with your project.

The blue and orange are great compliments, but your place is a little too conservative for that bold a move. Stick with the rusty brown.

I appologize, I thought the link was to the West Elm site. This IS your beroom. My bad.

Dang, just posted a reply to the wrong thread, let me get back to jess on the open thread, please disregards my last post here. (My double bad)

i agree with tony the window treatments are the first things i noticed. i would try roman shades on these windows that matched the color of walls. this would continue a horizontal line for that wall helping the room look wider. for the walls i would stay neutral and let artwork and accessories provide color. as for the kitchen keep those two walls white to match the appliances. for color inspiration try visiting stores and galleries. for example i always liked the color of the walls at duane on duane street now if i only had the nerve to ask about it.good luck.

My first thought was "apple green" so decor8 Holly and I are thinking alike.

My second thought was the Benj. Moore software available for $10, I think, and which makes it possible to take downloaded photos of your room and "paint" them on the screen and play with color that way.

I think you should try lots and lots of possibilities and have fun!

I love (both) Holly's suggestion of an apple green. I think that would be perfect. You might also want to look at Benjamin Moore's Pismo Beach and/or Hot Spring Stone. Both would be pretty as more neutral areas. But go with green somewhere!

You have to ask yourself: do I like color? If the answer is yes, then you have to decide how much and over time will I grow tired of it. In a room full of bland, the purple rug is the key to your personality. I'd suggest colors like: ripe mango or tangerine for the living room; paprika for the kitchen; curry for the bedroom; and I'm undecided on your entryway. All of these colors work well together, so you can have accent piece splashed throughout opposing room to make your home a cohesive, intentional unit. Good luck! Listen to jazz.

can i just counsel against having lots of bold wall colours, especially a diff colourway in every room? in the house i bought a year ago, every room was a different violent colour, and the house felt jarring and schizophrenic -- no cohesion or flow (or peace). i have only recently finished painting over everything a beautiful warm cream, with colour only in my entrance foyer, and in my laundry (which no one but me sees!). i draw in the colour instead through my furnishings/soft furnishings, which i can easily change when i'm tired of burnt orange or the fashion for chocolate changes. i love colour, but i seriously warn against something different in each room.

Chris,
How did you do those pics??

Photoshop

if you want a sublte off white that's similar to linen white but with a bit more of a kick to it, try Half 'n Half from Pratt & Lambert. It's a very very very white-ish orange; linen white tends to look more yellow. 90% of my 600 sq. foot apartment is painted with it and i love it.