apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

What color is the couch? I looks olive on my screne. If you're going to have an olive green couch, I think you're going to have to get rid of the green walls.

I love the color green you have, I think I would buy a larger simpler rug within the same color family as the one you have now, that will mellow out the room, there is a lot of texture going on with your beautiful wood floors and the rug you have now. Perhaps take away a few pillows and go for a lighter shade. Think about maybe reframing the photos into wood frames, I really like the classic look the photos have now but I think the contrast of black frames with the white mats make the wall look really punchy.

Oooh, I didn't catch the first time around that you bought that olive couch, I would rethink the green walls..

I would also choose another color for the walls, preferably a color that is lighter than the furniture. I would avoid green altogether.

From looking at the images you included, the couch on my monitor here at work looks to be a dusty gray brown, if so, may well not work with the green you have now since the intensity will be awfully close. Green with brown works but I'd go lighter on the green, shade I'm not sure of what to suggest but definitely lighter and perhaps a bit softer in intensity as well, perhaps a celedon green or something similar, or perhaps charteuse, which has a bit of yellow tinting in it will work with your neutral furniture pallate. Just thoughts here.

I'd also go looking at the color casting of the wood to be used and see what clues it may give as some wood tones work better with some colors than with others.

Good luck!

The green wall looks fine with the beige sofa and loveseat. They look to be in decent shape. Could you keep them and return the new olive sofa?

Warm, woodsy colors (like your floor) look good with green walls. I'd steer clear of adding anything else green. I wouldn't use any yellow either.

i really like the curtains you have - where are they from?

I also think with the new couch you might want to re-paint. I have dark green walls and just went the a lighter couch from a grey one and the contrast has made a HUGE difference.

The sofa looks like the color mauve.
What color is the sofa?

You definately have a surplus of green happening...

...try injecting some red and orange pillows, throws, lamps, curtains and accessories with your existing neutrals - they will enliven your space.

You should also consider a larger rug - the one you have now is floating in the middle of your living room like a lost island...
...and perhaps a coffee table that you can see?

I'm not crazy about the green, but if you wanted to go lighter, I would choose a charteuse, cause you already have that color in one of your pillows.

Yup, those green walls are going to have to go...they just aren't going to work with your nice new olive couch. Hard to say what color without seeing the rest of the space but I would probably go lighter and cooler in tone.

The color is called "stone". It is kind of a light cafe color with a slight olive cast. Depends on the light.

It makes me sad to think of eliminating the green but I will if I have to based on the couch color. Everyone says "tranquil" and "restful" when entering the room so when I tried orange and red about 6 months ago it was BAD. I prefer a monochromatic or analogous color scheme.

I am also not a fan of the green, especially with your new (lovely) sofa. If you want your sofa to pop, I'd suggest a warm, off-white or cream color that would also complement your curtains nicely. Could you still keep a green accent wall in your dining room?

ALL of the walls in the main living/dining/hallway are this green color so does that mean if I change the couch wall, ALL the rest of the walls should follow suit?

Do you like the green? I say leave the green on the walls and try it out with your new furniture. I think your new couch - even though it's olive - will work much better with than the seating you have right now. Maybe they look different IRL, but in the pic, the loveseats give off a pinkish hue and that's too much of a contrast. I think your instinct to stay away from red/orange tones is a good one.

Ways to tone down the green -

Supplement the curtains you have now with even more window dressing. Go for extravagant yardage of white or cream curtains. Make sure the material doesn't have pink or red tones.

Cover more of the walls. Replace the picture collage with one huge image (or at most a triptych) in white/wood/natural tones. That way you'll only see the green at the wall's perimeter.

Give in to the green. Go for a variety of green shades and tints in your accessories. A pale celadon area rug might be fun.

Oh, I love the green walls! Please keep them! That [new] couch will look lovely with it (when accessorized properly). I have four things you may want to consider, though.

One, if you feel you need to paint, I think you can get away with a beige-y color just on the long wall (think Behr "Indulgent Mocha"). Then it's a nice neutral color, should you want to use something other than green in the dining room.

Two, whether you paint or not, I think you should entertain getting a larger area rug. If you wanted to paint all of the walls a neutral color, Pottery barn (what!) has some great rugs right now (some with a similar color to your green walls, so you could bring the green to the floor instead of on the walls).

Three, as it is, I love how your salon style collage pops off that green wall. I'd really consider keeping it green. That said, if you keep it green with the darker couch, you'll probably want to get lighter accents in there --lighter accent pillows, a bigger/lighter rug, etc.

I don't know the layout of the room (and how much space you have to work with), but you could also consider not putting the new couch against the green walls?

And finally, you may want to add pops of color(s) with things like end tables or lamp bases, etc. You could even entertain getting a couple great chairs that are lighter.

(Semi-unrelated: I love that coffee table(!); however, the scale of it looks far too small for the room.

i think i remember this apt from the Colors contest...

definitely re-paint the green walls.

I would repaint the walls a light but warm neutral colour, and keep the green curtains and throw cushions as your touches of green.

Your existing wall colour just doesn't seem like a rich colour to me, especially if you love the colour scheme in that house tour. (I also love that tour, and coincidentally have a similar scheme!) If you want to do an accent wall, there are a lot of really nice grays-with-a-hint-of-green paints out there. Perhaps that would look best on the short wall facing the windows? (I'm guessing that's your configuration?)

If you're going to repaint, please hang those pictures level next time. I feel seasick just looking at them.

Ok in defense of the whole picture leveling thing: For one, the shot is at an angle, not straight on, and the camera also bends at the corners so it wouldn't really matter how level I got them, the camera would still distort them. I personally cannot stand crooked pictures so I always get a level out. I understand the seasick feeling but the pictures were perfectly level when I took the shot. I know people are entitled to their opinion, but I think this observation/critique is annoying because I see it often on comments and, at least from my experience, I don't think it's valid because it's a camera problem. Not my fault. Now, to those people who willingly take photos of their places with crooked pictures, THAT seems silly. I'd be embarrassed to do that. I guess the comment-ers wouldn't know whether or not it was intentional or a camera thing. Ought to keep this in mind though. No biggie though Palmetto.

I appreciate everybody's comments. The sofa was ordered from LA's Custom Sofa Design so I will definitely be updating AT LA when I get them .

The room looks quite dark to me and will look darker with the new sofa. If you love green (I LOVE green!) perhaps consider a light-to-mid, warmer, much more neutral green on all walls to go with the olive, perhaps with a slightly darker shade on a wall in the dining, similar to the bathroom shot in the house tour you name above? I think that would look great with the browns, blacks, and whites in the photos above.

You said you like an neutral scheme, so I think keeping the creams and adding in some lighter greens as accents will keep the whole thing unified. I'd be tempted to toss on some teal pillows or something, but I like contrast.

Maybe keep the stronger, yellow grass green you like in the hallway or, you could use that as an accent wall in the dining?

Kinda like this Acacia Tree colorschemer scheme?
http://www.colorschemer.com/schemes/tags/butterscotch

Try to create some magic with mood lighting....lighting is a good option and once set gives totally a different shade of the same colour! Make use of the available day light to brighten up the room by placing your new sofa in front of the window (to avoid merging with the green wall) and try a bit of orange between your existing creamy curtains. Change the rug and new accessories matching the curtains. One or two photo frames or pictures could be in orange..

Have you thought of doing a special finish on the walls to tone the green down? You could pickle over the green with a more neutral shade or do a comb or linen effect so that the green shows through something more compatible with the rest of your palette. I also like the idea of re-framing or re-matting your photos to get rid of some of the starkness that makes the wall pop.