apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'd do exactly what Maxwell says, but add one thing. Find a golden-tan paint based on the color of your dresser (match the dresser on the paint strip, then go lighter if you like) and put that on the other three walls. The room will seem more comforting, and the different woods on the dresser and the bed will settle down together.

I'd take out the gym and use this room for its intended purpose. Sleep experts would agree. NYSC is having a deal at Varick/Houston (new location). $59.00/month for a passport memebership (can use all the others).

I know you said you love and are finished with your living room... but you need a rug in there.

Also agree with some form of separation between the sleeping and gym areas of the room. But i'd opt for ceiling-mounted hospital track.

If you really want color, just paint the room. Don't worry about how it works with the living room, unless there is no good stop/start place for the paint.

Your taste in furnishings will be enough to link the two rooms.

But if the whole room is too much a commitment, I agree with the headboard wall being the color accent wall. Either that, or a ginormous upholstered headboard, in a dusky slate colored microsuede. Then paint the ceiling that same color only lightened considerably.

In addition to paint and art, I think some curtains would really help to soften up that end of your bedroom. As it is, all that equipment next to a big naked window looks a bit stark. I nice set of drapes might draw the eye up and away from the workout gadgets.

** "A" nice set of drapes. **

Also, and this is a stab in the dark because I don't have a strong idea of the dimensions of the whole room, but maybe you could switch the placement of the bed and equipment, so the bed is closer to the window?

I'm assuming the photo was snapped near the entrance. If so, then it seems that switching things around would make the bed & window the focal point instead of the workout stuff. Might make the room homier, if there's room to do that sort of swap. Maybe.

I posted a similar question on Friday's thread but no takers yet. So, I'll repost here hoping for some much needed help.

Advice needed from fellow ATers on LR/BR paint color selection.

Both my LR/BR have a brick wall. I chose/applied below BM samplers and need some input before i make a final selection.

I'd also welcome other color schemes that go well with brick.

Click on my name to see them

top - Blue Spa
bottom left - Shelburne Buff
bottom right - Bennington Gray

thx!

Geraldine, is it possible for you to add photos that show more of the brick and more of the room? Despite being endlessly opinionated and always far too willing to share, I didn't register an opinion (the gray!) because of lack of context for how the walls will interact with other stuff.

i agree with both wende and p2 here.

firstly, i would get a rug for the living room. something warm in the beige/tan/light brown spectrum, perhaps a shade or two lighter than the tan slipper chairs. i'd choose a dark grey-green or smoke blue for as an accent wall in the bedroom, per p2. a rug wouldn't be a bad idea in there, either.

i also agree that the window acts as a de facto focal point in the room, so the best way to emphasize "bedroom" and de-emphasize "gym" would be to create a really lush window treatment (even bamboo blinds would be a good change) and then move the bed over to that part of the room. you could also hide the equipment behind a screen (or system of screens) if you want to be able to walk into the room without being confronted by ugly gym equipment.

i also think painting the rest of the space (aside from the bedroom accent wall) a warmer white would help.

oh, yeah, and geraldine, i like either the spa blue or that celadon shade against the brick -- the greyer one looks really cementy. unless you're going for an industrial look, in which case the grey one, definitely.

along the ceiling track idea...hanging panels of fabric or decoration from the ceiling to seperate the workout area from the bed area..if you do that you can use the panels are you're "punch of color" and then keep the stark white wall and dark trim thing you have going on in the living room. then maybe carry the color you chose for the panels into your bedding to tie it together? it does kind of look like you need a rug in the living room.

I'd paint the wall in the living room with the shelving a deep color - like an rust-orange or something - it is still too neutral for my tastes.

Also, I would try to hide the gym equipment. Why not get an interesting looking screen or room divider of some kind? Either take the suggestion to move the bed closer to the window, or use a screen that is high enough to block the view of the gym equipment, but low enough to let in light.

I'll add more pix tonight.

Well, hiding the gym equipment is one way to go, but I think that if it was really purchased because of a serious commitment to fitness and wasn't JUST a 3am infomercial impulse, then work the gym equipment into the design in such a way that does NOT hide it.

For instance, I see black vinyl on the gym equipment. Do a head board with black vinyl in a pattern of rectangles that imitate the proportion or actual size of the upholstered parts of the equipment, and do some bolster pillows that pick up the shapes in it.

Work in some disk shapes somewhere into the look of the place to integrate the dumbbell things into it.

Take the angles of the supports for the equipment and look for other furniture pieces or wall treatments or art that imitates that angle. Instead of literally hiding the equipment, it will sort of be camouflaged.

And why not actually work out together and not necessarily have to thing of the bed and the gym as so completely separate; have a little bit of fun with it. It's decadent to have enough space to have gym equipment in your home, but it's a crying shame to have it and not have as absolutel much fun with it as you can. I don't think you should hide it behind curtains.

Color-wise, I think for the peacefulness of sleep I'd go with whatever bluish green you have on those bottles on the dresser somewhere; it will transition the gym idea into a spa idea and that will lead to a peaceful rest idea.

I think a mural would fantastic in there, even it were just kind of abstractions that incorporated some of the colors and angles I mentioned. If it were actually on the bed wall, itself, it wouldn't be all that distracting while you're in bed, but would seem KIND of like a headboard.

I kind of like to see things not just coming from a floor, but also from a ceiling; like maybe some of the lighting? Or maybe just even MORE equipment?

That was a MUCH longer post than I meant to do.

Ah, NOW AT's back to its former shining self. Curtis has jumped in again with both feet.

wende in san francisco & to all who have just read today's thread...

I added some more pix of the apt. Basically, I'd like to repaint the BR (bored with the light yellow) and do away with the off-white of LR/hallway.

thx!

Hi all, Shannon here! This is our place. Big thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions. We definitely got some good ideas and we're excited about putting them in motion!