apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

What about a light gray? Or what if you paint one wall a bold accent color (red perhaps) and leave the other walls an ivory or cream color?

I like the idea of a bold accent color. We have the same color scheme -- chocolate leather couch,and a TON of wood trim in the same honey-esque color as the C&B basque collection. so far we have greens and blues, but they look pretty washed out.

I'm not sure why you don't want yellow since the rooms are open to each other... by tying them together it would make both spaces visually larger... Personally, I'd say pick a color 2-3 shades darker than the kitchen or vice versa.
but, if yellow isn't your thing....
what color is the floor? ceiling color? mouldings?
any picture rails/chair rails?
new construction, older, or victorian?
what sort of feeling are you looking for? calm and serene? warm and inviting? energetic and fun? restrained and formal? laid back and casual?

ever watch the show Get Color? The hostess does an excellent job at getting people to understand how colors work together to achieve the results they're looking for. many times the clients are amazed by the colors they end up choosing since those colors are not in their "comfort" zone.

Depending on the shade of yellow in your kitchen, what about something in the ocean color scheme from Restoration Hardware?

http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1048013&navCount=2

I still can't get enough of the brown/blue phenom...I think it would brighten up the room and then you could accent with the latte color and whites...

I second the blue. Like a bright ice blue maybe...

I understand that you want a visual separation from your open kitchen, but why can't you use the same color as your bedroom? It could tie the space together to use the same color. If your space is small, lots of different room colors make it feel even smaller.

I found so much great info on this site when I was redecorating. My living room, dining room and kitchen are all open space with bleached oak wood floors as shown in the photo. I painted the 12 ft ceilings and walls BM Barley (yellow). It was quite a risk for me to paint those ceilings the same color as the walls but I love it and carried it through the rest of the house. In the living spaces I have dark wood furniture and chocolate leather with some interesting old pieces covered in vintage fabric. Lots of red accents. I love the downstairs living space of my house. My downstairs master is now BM Santorini Blue (hate it - too intense and wish I had gone a robin's egg or lighter blue - I kept thinking it would grow on me but it is too dang much). Flows into a staircase painted BM Lenox Tan. I love Lenox Tan although I suppose it was not very imaginitive and the most overused color in the universe. Despite that I did the open media room upstairs Lenox Tan and two offices BM Dark Brown which I love - ceilings and walls. Upstairs bedrooms are BM Grecian Green, Behr My Fair Lady and a RL yellow. I wanted the colors to flow and am pretty much happy with my choices except for that wretched blue and it will be gone shortly. It will be hard for me to ever have a white ceiling again. This concept changed the look of my house totally.

Good luck and have fun painting!

How about a nice deep turquoise? Or if you're not feeling as bold, a lighter blue...I'm really into the brown/blue myself, though I have mint-green walls!

I agree with other posters that it could be nice to continue the color hues from the kitchen into the livingroom. But yellow is a pretty stong color. It would have to be a toned down a version. I would suggest going into the more subdued colors of blue/green. This is a very current decorating color.

My suggestion would be kind of a smokey green/blue jor blue/green color. I think these colors would work lovely with choc. brown. Take a look at Benjamin Moore's Whipple Blue and Restoration Hardware's Blue Sage and Silver Sage. Some orange or red accents would really pop with these colors.

I just finished remodeling my house, and I am real happy with the paint colors that my sister-in-law and I chose. It was all Sherwin Williams paint. I used "Worldly Grey" in the living room. It's a real light grey that feels real warm.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16898537@N07/2181926643/in/set-72157602792528563/

I used "Aloof Grey" in the bed room with "Tradwinds" on the back wall where the headboard will be. I saw something similar in Elle Decor and thought I would try the same. Aloof Grey has a hint of more blue to it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16898537@N07/2182713270/in/set-72157602792528563/

I was a skeptic of "grey" being able to work. But trust me, it really does feel great in the space. It'll definitely work with yellow hues.

-HF Guy
http://www.highfashionhome.com/blog/

i like the idea of using a blue, but would also like to suggest something in a light pinkish/coral range

yellow and brown? not my first choice.

Red, yellow, and brown are tired and boring since everyone jumped on the cliche, modern france train a few years ago. (think old french wine ads and hokey "Paris" signs)

Blues are also tricky because not only do you need the right shade for your furniture, but you also need the right shade for you. Depending on your skin tones, different blues can wash you out, make you look sickly, or just depress you if you're the least bit ridden with SAD.

I've found a wonderful shade of muted purple by Ralph Lauren, Lavender. It offers the cool, mellow vibes that blue has but presents it'self as less common and more interesting; it reminds me of lavender at dusk or dawn. The thing with painting with an obscure color is that you may want to paint just two complimentary walls so that you get the punch of a statement but it's not overwhelming. Leave the other two (or however many) walls a neutral, complimentary color.

Lavender is the color of my living room and looks fabulous with my black furniture as well as my brown accents. You can also add a little gold, green, or silver accents to contrast the color scheme.

I wouldn't do sage next to your yellow kitchen--seems a bit too much like spring. Lavender combined with the color of your kitchen would make both colors just stunning. (Think Van Gogh)

pumpkin