apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I feel like a chocolate brown in here would really fight with the floor. What I would do is make the far left wall an accent wall and do maybe a sage green and then put the art in big matching frames so it pops against the colored wall. I'd then paint the wall behind the sofa a lighter shade off the same paint chip to make it all feel like one room. Some chairs or something across from the sofa might help it feel like a separate area from the kitchen too. And is that thing hanging down over the sofa some sort of beaded curtain? What's the story there?

My basement rooms are a dark brown paneling (yes, the 70's are alive and well down there) and it is really dark. Really, really, dark. You need to have a great light source if you plan to go dark.

Dark brown can feel warm like a cocoon, or dark like a coffin. In a basement I'm afraid it would feel more coffin-like than cocoon-like...E

Contrary to the posting above I think dark brown would do the floors good - I'm not sure if this is true or not, but it seems like an interesting floor that is lighter in color than the walls stands out more. But, I think that using dark brown on both walls in the picture would be too much dark. I would do the couch/fridge wall with a lighter brown and picture wall with a dark brown. Or vice-versa.

I would say no to "chocolate brown", but maybe pull a warm lighter brown-ish tone from the floor.

Maybe you could risk the chocolate brown, as you describe, up to the kitchen area. You can always change if it doesn't work it would look cosy with your sofa and orange throw and cushions.

I live in a basement apt and I don't get much direct light. I painted my room, what appeared to be a champagne color in the can and in the store, but turned out to be a darker beige almost brown paper bag color on the walls. It was okay, but only after I changed the color to a pale light lilac did I realize how dark and cave like that color was. Maybe to create a separate area, move your couch to where the refrigerator and kitchen is behind the couch and use the rug to define the space. Maybe paint that part of the ceiling with the spotlight near the fridge the brown you are wanting so you have a pop of that color without being in a cave.

Would have to see the basment to be able to say "yes". My first thought after reading your questions was NOOO... too coffin like as Elle B said.

I would use the brown in strong accents if you like to color to be present - but I fear you may cave yourself in otherwise.

For all that is holy and decent - No!
I don't know what that space needs, other than a different floor, but brown is not it.

Good luck!

I think brown is too dark. a soft yellow would open up the room and play nicely with that floor -- as well as transition into the kitchen well. benjamin moore creme fraiche would be perfect.

why would someone paint a cave brown? Save your money so that you can eventually move to a better apartment.

How about an accent wall with a color that is "colorful" in the sense of bright? Please put in as much white and as many mirrored surfaces as possible. You need to use the little light you get to MAXIMUM effect. If you don't have dogs or kids over a lot, get a white rug! Pop the place for color with accessories like pillows and throws.

I love painting with dark colours, but personally would not do so in a basement such as yours. Plus, with such a dark colour, it would look very strange to just stop it at the fridge. Hve yout thought about colour blocking instead?

If you like claustrophobic feelings, then by all means. Personally, the idea of being in a dark brown room underground would almost give me a burried alive or bear cave feeling. If you want to use dark brown, why not just create a chair rail and paint just the lower half brown and go with a nice pale green or blue for the rest of the walls?

Dark chocolate brown is very much the color of the moment, and it looks great, and is very much not going to be the color of the moment about a moment from now. And about two-thirds of the people who are now putting it on their walls are going to wake up and say to themselves, "This color is great, but what possessed me to paint _________ dark brown? It's not right for my space at all!!!" Don't let that be you in 6 months.

Ditto on the yellow suggestions, and the rug suggestions. And ditto on the what is that trailing trail of traily stuff running from window to seat cushions?

just got done painting over my loft master bedroom that was previously chocolate brown thanks to a previous owner. It's much better now--I suppose there's a 'Willy Wonka' lesson here
...just as Augustus thought, chocolate can be delicious, but found out quickly that you don't want to be swimming in a river of it...no sir, you don't.

I think chocolate brown walls would look nice if you did the following:

1. Cover the floor completely with a close-to-white finish. Consider carpet tiles, since they are easily removeable and inexpensive.

2. Ditch the couch and get a bright color like yellow, chartreuse, light blue/turquoise or pure white. Accessorize with white chairs like the Saarinen tulip chair.

3. Accessorize the space with bright colors like red and orange, and materials like stainless steel, clear lucite, glass, maple wood, etc.

4. Large black and white photographic artwork.

If you leave everything the way it is now and paint the walls brown, it's going to be way too much brown. Everything in that corner is a neutral-to-brown color already...

What I would do is to get that new rug you're planning on, and also get a new slipcover in a non-brown color.

The curtain is a chain-link bamboo curtain from Ikea, and I've since fixed it so it doesn't hang down over the couch. The floors bug me as well, which is why I was planning on getting the area rug to cover the whole living room space. Also, while there is not much natural light, with my lamps and the recess lights, the place is pretty well lit and doesn't feel super cave-y. Thanks for your input. I do like the one suggestion of maybe just painting the picture wall brown, and getting picture frames w/ white mats to pop the pictures. How's that?

What about a nice tangerine orange, like the throw on your sofa? I would put a divider / screen between the sofa and the fridge, also.

The down side of painting the picture wall chocolate is that it'll make the wall seem to be coming at you from the other side of the room, so the sitting area will look even more meager. You don't want meager. You actually want a little cave, but in a cave-of-treasure way, not a buried-alive way.

Paint the wall behind the sofa in tangerine. Paint the other sitting area walls in a neutral golden beige compatible with your sofa and floor, so that you're embraced by a warm, glowing space. Frame the art to a larger, matted size with richer-looking frames and move them down on the wall.

You're on the right track with tangerine glass accessories, but you also need just a tiny bit of turquoise to unify the scheme.

I think you could add chocolate brown in as an accent color- maybe a horizontal stripe, 8-10" wide, 36" off the floor? Sort of a painted chair rail feel. That way it would give your walls visual interest without adding darkness and fighting with the floor.