apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

In my last apartment I only had 1 window in my living room and it was a cave. it was very dark and gloomy, especially at night, just like you all.

The color i painted it was called Torchlight by Bher (i think). It was an awesome change. it was just yellow enough to be bright, but muted enough to glow at just the right amount at night. I dont know how to post pictures, but i have some if you would like.

If you're a fan of color, maybe do walls in a medium tone, and trim in a light white/taupe/beige etc. I always found lighter colors to bring more personality to a space, though I'm extremely intrigued by MFlick's color suggestion!

I love light blue, and my favorite for the last couple of years is a Ralph Lauren paint @ Lowes called Blue Mesa. I actually take the chip to a Benjamin Moore dealer and have them match it, no reason other than I'm addicted to their paint. We've used this color twice in two homes in the past few years and I think it's fantastic because it looks great both in natural light at artificial light in the evening. This can be a tough thing to accomplish. Maybe you can paint a 4 x 4 test square on a wall to see if you like it. I always feel good when I'm in the room painted this color.

My favorite nice, clean white is White Picket Fence by Martha Stewart, also at Lowes.

Painting it white isn't going to make it any less "Cave"-like - it will just be a bland cave...

...I'd choose a bright color - like Benjamin Moore's "Ocean Blue"

Thanks for the feedback guys. Ultimately I'd like a color that looks lighter during the day and darker at night (they're all like that, right?).

Usually I'm so against blue since shades of blue tend to "date" very quickly, which is why I'm curious about the super light blue.

Has anyone painted with a color as light as "Basalt Blue"?
http://www.ralphlaurenhome.com/rlhome/products/paint/items.asp?haid=121

Thanks again for all the feedback!

Rachel, my kitchen is painted a very, VERY pale blue (BM Sea Foam, actually part of their whites collection), and at night it actually tends to read more as white than it does in daylight, when it appears obviously blue. It's a very similar shade to the RL Basalt Blue you linked to. There are some pics of my kitchen here. I think the blue reads as very sunny, fresh, and airy -- exactly what I wanted for the kitchen. The rest of the house is a warm white, and tends to feel a little more intimate.

Sherwin Williams 6687 Lantern Light, I swear, looks good with every other color, therefor coordinating with your furniture and accents. It emulates sun up and sun down, but most importantly it flatters skin tone like a perfectly lit bistro.

I also recommend dabbling a little bit with feng shui color choices...i.e. energy colors in room with "activity", calming colors for rooms with tranquility.

Thanks for the pics Anna! That's really simillar to what I'm aiming for. (Lovely place by the way!)

Now to head to the local home store in Czech Republic to see what colors are similar here. :-)

My last apt was definitely cavelike - the lighting for the living room came from the bedroom - which was separated by a set of french doors.

I ended up painting it a very dark blue/charcoal color. Much to everyone's surprise, the dark color drew my furniture into the room, and didn't look like I was desparately compensating for a lack of natural light. And seeing as it only received tiny slivers of sunlight for about 45 minutes on a sunny day, it took on a nice drawing room feel during the day.

when I looked at the room, I thought it seemed familiar -- we just drove back from Prague last night, and it has a very Czech feel!

As for blue, the only concern that I have with it is that pale blues tend to go very "icy", and as someone mentioned, they fade at night.

Funny thing, there is a post today with just the right shade of blue for you I think -- here it is:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/paints-stains-finishes/ny-good-questions-what-color-is-this-paint-050663

I think it might be No. 15 c'est un garcon, but I would check with Emery et cie to make sure...

Being an Emery et cie paint, it comes from Belgium. At the very least, you could order the shade card from them, although I would be tempted to order the paint itself. All EU, afterall.