apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Chocolate brown will make a big wall less imposing and feel more cozy, speaking from experience.

My own condo has a wall that's over 20 feel high in places and goes all the way from one end to the other (from the living room up the stairs and through to the master suite with no doors to break it up).

I did that wall in Devine "Cocoa", and the other colors I used were a taupe (Devine "Filbert") and a wine color ( Devine "Sangria").

That said, chocolate brown and light blue "can" work well together. That's a trendy combination right now (which means it might not be in 5 years ;->).

Don't be in a hurry to get it done. Go buy some magazines and maybe a couple of books and start tearing out pictures and you'll get lots of ideas.

When you think you've settled on a combination, get some samples and paint some 3x3 sections of the walls.

There's blue and there's blue.

Some blues are icy or grayish, so they're cool to the core.

Some blues are more like sky blue, with a hint of yellow in the base. Using this blue will be cooler than painting the room orange, but warmer than painting it gray-blue.

Brown makes total sense as an accent with blue. Why? Because many color schemes are improved by a touch of the color's opposite on the color wheel. Blue's opposite is orange, and orange darkened and toned down is brown.

Because you're talking huge expanses of wall that are difficult to paint, though, you'd better really, really like blue. There's a reason these big spaces tend to end up with walls in more neutral colors.

Hi Noela,

This layout looks very familiar... this wouldn't happen to be in No. Carolina would it?

This is just a example of blue paint.

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/04/house_of_the_da_297.php

more photo
http://brownharrisstevens.com/detail.aspx?id=590218

I'm not sure what shade of blue paint you are looking for. But it might give you some idea.

I think too much is made of the warm/cool colors thing. Yes, there are blues that will make it seem you're living in an igloo; there are also blues that will invoke the Mediterranean (even if you don't have Mediterranean sun)...

There's a great decorating book called Choosing Blue. It breaks blues down into families, with great pictures, and paint references (usually Benjamin Moore, but not always) so you can find the right color.

Why not an aqua-ish blue? Something with a base hint of green. That would be warm.

The blue in the photo posted by len is icy. Very cool. In your space this blue may make you feel like you are inside an igloo.

Here's an example of someone using a warm blue on walls similiar to yours. She chose a deep red for her accent wall, though. Maybe a good choice, maybe not.

http://moderninmn.blogspot.com/


Chocolate brown in a space like this may be just a bit overpowering. The green from the living room (assuming it is in the same tone and warmth though it could be lighter or darker) would be less jarring.


Good luck.

len- I love that color of blue. Any idea what paint it is?
For a second, I thought a broker posted those links, but the townhouse appears to already be in contract.

I'm deathly afraid of blue walls in that space. Methinx 'twould inspire cries of "Attica! Attica!" I'm sorry, but I think that if you're looking for something safe, and vaguely cool, then the sagey green that Restoration Hardware sells AND paints the interiors of their stores with, might be a much better answer.

The style of your railing does suggest something vaguely historical, which is one reason why I think that would work.

homeboy-sorry, I have no idea about the paint. I just remembered the discussion about the house on brownstoner a while ago for the blue painting. Even I personally don't use the blue for my wall, I think it's a beautifully done example.

This sort of space is awkward to paint because it is not a simple volume.

One suggestion is to use moulding to break up the space at the level of the mezzanine. That might even allow you to use more than one color--carefully.

You might also consider choosing one full two-story wall, one that is relatively rectangular and monolithic, such as the fireplace wall or outside wall, and paint it a color while leaving the rest of the space white. This would also make changing the color every few years less difficult, and make choosing a trendy color more practical.

Being in a blue room can seem like being in a swimming pool or ice-cube if you pick the wrong color.

Another problem the room has is the "black hole" effect at night on the curtainless windows. You need some kind of simple window treatment, such as a shade, that is the same for all the windows.

Dark colors such as brown are okay in a room used primarily at night. Otherwise, they can be depressing.

The bed room in the apartment we just bought is entirely robin's egg blue and has 14 foot high ceilings. It is very cool (so much so that we are repainting in warmer colors), but it does make the room seem very airy. It looks good. It's just not our style.

Funny that I was intending to reply to this thread talking about how I solved some of the same issues mentioned and I see someone has linked my blog (Modern in MN) in a prior response.
I completely feel your pain. In my case, this was the one and only time I've ever had to resort to both a do-over AND a test swatch on the wall to be able to choose a color.
Originally I had started in with a pale-ish neutral gray, but realized in short order that, while it served the smaller upstairs space well, it was horrible on the larger open expanse of wall.

Anyway, I agree in theory with what Maxwell said first about dark colors over your head feeling weird, but find that the dark blue (BM Naples Blue) is very successful on my giant wall because A. the room gets TONS of light, and B. it's great at night BECAUSE it brings the height down and makes the living room seem cozier.

I am a color-lover, but IMO, the larger and brighter the room, the more it needs deeper or more intense color on the walls. A pale color reads white in a very well daylit room, and this would be even more true in a high contrast combination like pale blue and chocolate brown.

I would start by considering different values of one color. And definitley dont' be afraid to swatch and then live with it for a while to be sure...

Bklyngal, nope this house is in North California:)

Thanks everyone for your comments, they were a big help! I've decided to paint the center wall in a pale steel blue shade, and accent the wall behind it (on the stairs) in a shade a couple of shades darker. The rest of the space will be left white except for one wall in the upstairs loft that is opposite to the wall that will be painted steel blue. This wall will be painted in the same steel blue shade. Will post pictures soon.

Aren't paint questions for gigantic suburban houses a little outside the scope of Apartment Therapy? Maybe you need an AT:Exurbs version.

I have to agree with superbad - one of the reasons I love AT is because of its focus on apartment living, and that it doesn't view apartments and small houses as inferior to suburban McMansions.

Hi Noela, here in Australia the new thing done is to paint a feature ceiling. For example i have seen a gorgeous display house that had a very big lounge room, to make it more cosy they painted the ceiling a moccha/brown ( not too dark of course) colour and the walls a very light shade of the same colour eg 1/4 strenght of the ceiling colour. It make the room so inviting and i think that would help with your ceilings being so high. Let me know what you think of that idea? Try some fabric wall hangings as well. See my website for some inspiration
http://www.kimtdesigns.com