apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Maybe a Dark Navy trim? It hard to tell about the walls because there the white walls (I think they are white anyway) could have the pinker tones in it so you may still have a problem. I would also try different lighting/lightbulbs perhaps even before repainting anything.

I think you need to repaint. (sorry!) I'd go for the creamy white in the painting (or the rug), with the trim 3 shades darker (buttery cream). It'll make the sofa pop and look good with the blue in the painting and in the rug.

You could try picking out a tint or shade of one of the warm neutrals in the the painting or the rug. It also should be a color that works with the wood stain of the floors. You may need to paint the walls as well with a color that goes with the trim, otherwise it may be difficult to get a trim color that goes with the wall color.

i'm going thru a similar issue - a budget remodel of my bathroom, which has a lavender tub. and while i could spend a few hundred on refinishing the tub in another color, i decided to work with it - with the extra challenge to make it more gender neutral. so i'm going with a dark charcoal gray, with one wall in a silver and charcoal gray ferm wallpaper.

ANYWAY - i'd recommend a light- to medium-tone gray. which also looks brilliant next to white trim. just be careful that it leans towards blue, and that there's not a drop of red in the gray, or it'll go taupe-y straight away.

here are a couple design sponge images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91491847@N00/15662044/
http://static.flickr.com/6/85248537_5c8b25ef03.jpg

good luck!

I know you're trying to avoid painting, but I'd repaint the trim white and go for a gold/yellow/tan color for the walls (like the color in the painting). Or just repaint the trim white and use that yellow color in throw pillows or some other accessory.

Pick one of the great colours out of your painting. I'm diggin' green (lime, maybe?) with purple these days. Very invigorating!

What if you painted the trim the lovely golden orange shade of the towers in your painting?

I have resigned myself to having to do the walls. UGH!
No one has mentioned but I was thinking last night of a pale ice blue wall (like in the painting where the sky meets the buildings) but once again am stuck on trim.
I do prefer a cool color rather than a warm tone in the brown family.
-jenn

I would paint your walls darker than what they are now, and your trim either ivory or white.

I agree with the posts above that suggest a warm cream or buttery color-- the other side of the color wheel from the cool purple will help to balance your color scheme.

In my last apartment, I had medium grayish olive walls (think old Boyscout tent), with my deep eggplant purple overstuffed chair. Looked great.

We had a similar problem in our small bathroom-- our lovely taupe turned strangely lavender once it was up on the walls. It was the last room we painted in our total house overhaul, and we were too exhausted to repaint, so we decided to try changing the lightbulbs instead. It actually made a big difference.

I agree with most that a cream colored wall with a darker beige trim would work well with both the painting and the rug...but...I have to tell you honestly that I don't like the painting and the rug together. The rug is much more geometric and more modern and the painting is more poetic and organic. Maybe it's just me, but they don't hum the same tune.

Better lighting and some table lamps/floor lamps would have a great effect on the room's energy/vibe as well. Also, if you got a nice crisp window shade the same color as the trim you choose (like Smith and Noble style - something clean like a honeycomb with top down option or a nice fabric pull down shade) it would clean up that media nook as well. For pillows, find a fabric that incorporates the room's 3 main colors that you choose to bring it all together, justifying the color scheme (suggestions of fabrics that would go with painting, for example - http://www.reprodepot.com/eastssd.html, http://www.reprodepot.com/crlsfq.html,
http://www.reprodepot.com/nvclfl.html).

Also, why are your couches eating your coffee and side tables? You have huge couches and tiny side tables. The room needs a happier medium there.

Sorry for going off on a few tangents - hope it helps!

It looks like Jen is getting turned about by overcommitment to 'matching.' The wall colour, trim colour, artwork colours, sofa, and rug cannot (and need not) all match. Choose the one thing in the room that is most important colour-wise and choose colours that *harmonise* with that element - be ruthless and unsentimental about changing everything else. IMO that painting is problematic as an inspiration because it has both strong cool tones (blues and purples) and strong warm tones (orange and coral) - what's energetic and lively in artwork can translate as clashing and disjointed in a room decor. Decide if you want the room to be warm or cool. The warm rug and cool sofa are never going to play well together.

Why not slipcover the furniture? Then you need only paint the trim, and your purple problem is solved.

Jen, it's funny: I've decided to paint my living room a light sage green and am looking furiously for purple couches exactly like yours and cannot find them anywhere. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get them?

And it does sound like you might have to repaint. Good suggestions here.

@boolise
I got the couches at Jennifer Convertibles in October 2004. They were floor models so I feel pretty safe in saying they won't be available any longer. But JC might have something in a similar color? Good Luck!
-Jenn

Thanks, Jen! I got my couches at Jennifer Convertibles about 100 years ago, and while I love them, they are very ready to be replaced. I appreciate your quick response!