apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If this is the combination you are set on...go for it. I can't help but think this combo is about to look very "5 minutes ago".
Color is such a personal thing, but this is such a trendy combination, I'd hate for anyone to walk into my home and say...."Mmmm....lovely, 2005 was a great year".
You can't go wrong with neutrals, then adding color in your accessories.

I'm doing the ice-blue brown and white/cream scheme in my new living room. I'm going for a walnut simone daybed from Crate and Barrel
Three Nastved rugs in light bluefrom IKEA
Two Isig cushions in brown for floor pillows from IKEA

I'm not allowed to paint, so all of my color has to be in furniture and accessories.

I'll be getting an espresso coffee table with glass or mirror accents and a tv stand painted in the blue.

For the wall, I'm going to paint four canvases in varied colors of ice blue and light turquoise with a round mirror in the center to offset it all.

Oh, forgot, the color of paint that I'm basing my decisions on is Prussian Blue by Ralph Lauren

I'm lately loving Gossamer Blue and Ocean Air, both grayed ice blues from Benjamin-Moore.

But start with bedding and textiles, as it's easier to find those things first and match paint to your finds.

My bathroom is pale blue and brown. The walls are blue and the textiles are brown (which makes it easy to change things when I get sick of this scheme). The paint is called "Watery" and I think it was Sherwin Williams. I love it.

Hdtex--

Brown: neutral.
Ice blue: color.

What's the problem?

Check out Domino Magazine (or its website) for paint colors. Blue and brown is their favorite combo, and it always looks pretty. But I agree with the commenter who thinks brown-and-ice-blue will look dated soon.

I third the dated thing. I was watching tv and ended up on HGTV (which is horribly midwestern looking in only the worst ways these days, if it hasn't always been) and they were redoing this bedroom in chocolate and a very similar blue and just thought to myself, "again?!?" I'm so tired of it. Same with chocolate and light pink goods that seem to flood the aisles. I think designs like this combination of chocolate, white, and metallics are far more original:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2007-entries/east-semifinalist-1-rons-hotel-sweet-022909

One of my favorites from the smallest coolest contest before. I think it's just too late to jump on the band wagon, and soon people will be repainting in droves.

I partly retract that last statement. I just saw Small Space Big Style on HGTV and it wasn't bad at all. Perhaps they're stuck appealing most the time to a sort of half modern half country 1990's look, but there seems to be progress. God d*mn the midwest affect in television. And that's no hate towards the midwest, as I'm a Kansas boy originally :).

IMO, blue of any shade (especially sea and sky tones) paired with rich natural browns is the best color combo ever. Greens, pinks and purples are great with brown too. I don't even like pink but when paired with brown it does something to the eye. It's true that it can appear trendy and "5 minutes ago" but try stenciling your favorite patterns sparingly in blue on a solid brown wall or vice-versa and it won't matter.

I agree that this color combo DOES and will look dated...Maybe try a slightly darker shade of Blue and a lighter shade of Brown!

Garrett, I see what you mean with HGTV. But then again, I think they rerun a lot of vintage episodes of their older series. Imagine my surprise at seeing a young, calm Ty Pennington as the designated carpenter on Trading Spaces recently.

I happen to be a very big fan of the blue and brown combination. I tend to like a greenish blue (like Tiffany) along with an almost grey brown. It works well with silver, cream and even orange and yellow. It's safe, but colorful at the same time.

HGTV isn't really midwestern. It's Canadian. A ton of the shows are shot in Vancouver and Toronto, with all signs of Canadian-ness removed for an American audience. (If you're savvy, you can tell by the homeowners' accents.)

Whilst I agree that this combo may be considered dated by some it also happens to be quite classic and timeless - I'm doing an open concept living/dining/kitchen condo in a similar scheme - and the classics really never go out of style. I always feel that when folks are quick to label something as dated its just like their saying that they are only into whatever is trendy.

My home office is done in BM's Caribbean Teal which goes perfectly with the dark wood moldings and I'm using Crystal Lake in the condo (its an Ace paint/shade but I'll have it matched in BM).

FYI in the past week or so there was a Color Splash, Divine Design (2), Get Color AND a Design on a Dime that all used this combo. But don't let that stop you!

Icy moon drops... BM.

I think it CAN look dated but not necessarily so, coming from someone with dark chocolate brown walls and aqua accents. I say go really dark with the brown and really ice blue with the blue. That way it won't be so obvious. Think BM Bittersweet or I used BM Fresh Java. I also used BM Gossamer Blue in my kitchen (right next door). I don't think it looks dated at all. I think maybe use BM Ocean Air with it (it's lighter and more icy since you'll be using them in the same room together).

This photo shows how the colors go together (Gossamer Blue & Fresh Brew).

http://flickr.com/photos/lorie09/2066393936/

Brown: neutral.
Ice blue: color.

What's the problem?


If you read the post, she's wanting to paint 3 walls blue, and 1 in brown.....not a problem, but not neutral either.

Lorie09's combo is nice, and doesn't look at all dated. I think problems with this combo arise when people get way too matchy matchy and suddenly everything in the room ends up the same blue/brown color with bits of white thrown in. If you go this route, I suggest adding accent colors to the room in the form of accessories, bedding, art, and the like.

I'm painting my bedroom in Borrowed Light by Farrow and Ball - all of my furniture is dark brown, and I think it's going to look fabulous.

i painted my bathroom silver sage from restoration hardward and my cabinet is espresso (not quite chocolate), my shower curtain pairs the colors together and to me it's a very pleasing combo. altho i would not want it in any other room besides my bathroom.

Lisa Hunter, this Canadian takes umbrage with your tar brush. On HGTV Canada we get an awful lot of "imported" U.S. shows and that's where we see the bulk of design crimes described here. If Sarah Richardson or Debbie Travis (Go Canada!), did a room in chocolate brown/ice blue it was a retread from the earliest seasons--those gals are stylin' and FUN!
Have to agree with Garrett, too, that Small Space, Big Style is pretty entertaining and generally well-done.

Not picking a color combination because it's trendy seems just as bad as picking one because it's trendy. The question is: do you love it? Really love it? Personally, I love red with all my heart. One of my favorite paintings is Matisse's Red Studio - a whole room just infused with red. So I need red in my rooms to feel at home. I've paired red with pale greys and black, with rich golds and browns, with sky blue. I just painted my new living room a muted turquoise - a rather trendy color, I suppose. But it's going to rock my red. If in a few years I'm tired of it, I can move on. Paint is easy to cover. Just be sure that 1) you love what you choose, at least right now and 2) you don't, as one of the above posters mentioned, get too "matchy-matchy." If everything in a room matches precisely, it's not just going to look dated, it's going to look bad. Period.

Chris Toronto:

My comment wasn't intended to be a tar brush at all. I was merely pointing out that the reason HGTV seems "midwestern" is because it's set in cities that aren't identifiably NY, LA, etc. People see a city they can't identify -- and which clearly isn't Southern -- and think, "Oh, that must be someplace in the midwest."

Me, I live in Montreal (A UNESCO Design City). And I left NYC to be here. So let's not fight about U.S. versus Canada. Let's save our animosity for Toronto/Montreal rivalry. :-)

A bunch of the HGTV shows are in California, especially the ones where they are making over someone's home.

So, can someone identify the desk? Thanks!

Lisa Hunter: Good to know you're not Canada bashing. We can't be rivals, Montreal kicks Toronto's ass!

We found a huge can of Behr (I think it was egg blue something) stashed away at Home Depot. We had some dark chocolate paint already, so when we moved a couple of months later to a new apt, we decided to use them (last year). We mixed half/half blue and dark chocolate to get something kind of... Nesquickie, milk chocolate that looks YUMMY, painted 1 tiny wall with it and the bottom of our fireplace. Above the fireplace and a big square on the dining room, we painted that blue. We also painted two doors fire-truck red, so it doesn't look so cliche' and everyone loves it. Not too dark, not too trendy, and not expensive at all. Plus we recycled the paint we had, so earth/ budget friendly. :)

Hi All,
Thank you for the great great suggestions. After reading all your posts, I am wondering if it would be better to paint the whole room a bluish gray and use chocolate brown accessories. That seems like a better idea than an accent wall.
MN

If you're looking for a "bluish gray" then you must, must, must see Farrow & Ball's Light Blue. Don't let the boring name fool you, the colour is serene and silvery and simply marvelous! F&B's Blue Gray is too gray, but Light Blue is stunning.

If you like the blue/brown combo, then go for it! It has been done quite a bit, so I can understand the comments about it looking a little dated.

However, I have always found this slideshow on Domino inspiring.

http://www.dominomag.com/galleries/paint/slideshow_paintpalette

Even if you don't go for one of the suggestions, it may inspire you to try unexpected colors together, and who knows, you may just end up with a spectacular combination that doesn't feel cliche.

I really like brown and blue too. I highly recommend being careful about the amount of brown that you use. For furniture and accessories it is great.

I made the mistake of painting the walls in my bathroom brown. I was thinking chocolate... but in a bathroom ... well it just looked like "poo".