apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Best results, colors. Two walls painted bright orange in the living room (once that walls were dark red for a few years, then siena, and finally orange). Black, white and wood in the bedroom, turquoise in the laundry.

And by the way, I think many of AT readers have enough cojones (courage... or something like that...) when it comes to design, but certainly we all need some extra cajones (drawers), since lack of storage space is an eternal issue...

Ha ha - thanks, Gaby_S, for the spelling correction. Will fix it. :)

- Susie

I painted 2 walls in my daughter's room bright fuschia, and my son's room black. Also, I made our entry deep oxblood, and a wall in our living room dark, dark greenish brown. All very strong colours, but all worked out well!

I ripped out my never-used dishwasher and, in the resulting nook, placed a small chest of drawers (rescued from the curb and repainted) which holds my kitchen linens. Friends were aghast, but I'm happy.

I painted my master bedroom wall the darkest chocolate brown - everyone thought i was mad but now they all love it -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebeautyisinthedetail/3456138466/in/set-72157614218932119/

I also used a vivid pea green and silver wallpaper in our dining room -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebeautyisinthedetail/3299933625/in/set-72157614218932119/

What do you think?!

Shelley
x

Shelley, I think your bold moves are great!

My boldest decision was in my first home, back when bold wall colors were a little more shocking. I painted a large accent wall, first thing you see when entering the house, dark aubergine. I loved it so much that I've used the same color in my two subsequent homes and still love it today. It's my signature wall color!
http://inspiredroomdesign.com

I painted my kitchen ceiling a color instead of the walls, hoping to draw attention upward and make the ceilings seem even higher. My walls are white and my ceiling a vivid sunset orange. I would say it's a success because when lights are on it reflects a warm light back into the room, and I get comments all the time on the great idea! I love my kitchen.

@Shelley: That wallpaper is gorgeous!

The one wall that stretches from front to back in our house is painted a very dark "turkish coffee" brown, our master bath is a rich red, our guest bathroom is a lush orange, and my office an inspiring apple green. I'm more muted with my wardrobe, but seeing dramatic colors on the walls makes me smile. I think wall paint, and accents like the curtains above, are one of the easier things to change and can make a real difference.

Go bold!

Deep blue-gray walls and full on, dripping with Swarovski crystals, chandelier.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u195/cdvax11/DiningRoom003b.jpg

No wall painting walls for me in apartments. However, a coffee table that I'd planned to paint black, I painted bright red instead and I love the way it came out and that I gave the old piece its third incarnation.

my living room is ICI/Dulux African Tulip - i LOVE it!

i would feel better about painting my kitchen a bold color instead of putting a washer/dryer in it.

I just painted my kitchen dark blue, it was yellow from the previous owners, and people raise their eyebrows when I tell them what I did, but I love it and it makes me smile whenever I go in there. I can't wait to show it off to my friends :)

Don´t worry, Susie, you made me smile, and I´m sure that many readers would rather have more cajones (and shelves, closets, cabinets...).

Another good decision: no curtains, only planters and green in the balcony. Of course it depends on the views, the orientation, the sun, etc., and it´s not really a bold move, but I`ve had a lot of critics first, and in the end it turned into a great success.

lol tasharoe i thought the same thing, the washer stands out to me more than the red!

in a small space, sometimes there is really no other place for laundry than the kitchen. with the rise in popularity if washer/dryer combos, i think you will be seeing them a lot more in kitchens, since they are small enough to blend in with other appliances. my only complaint with mine is that its not stainless like the rest of the appliances!

We have a small room downstairs that we use as an office. It's the perfect room to take some chances, so we wallpapered two walls in a very large black & white damask pattern. I absolutely love it!

The washer/dryer in the kitchen is very much a staple of British houses which are too small for a separate laundry room. You get used to it. I'd rather that than have to lug laundry to a laundromat any day.

well.. urm... my husband accidentally bought a loud Dodger blue colour for our home office, instead of the soft calming blue I thought he would buy when I said Light Blue, so we have one room VERY different from the rest of the house! :D

I, too, painted 2 walls in my living room a dark dark chocolate brown. I get the most compliments on that, so far I still love it and it's been almost a year.