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Jo Hanna I think red would be the color with a picture collage of your favorite subject.

MAlps How about orange

Curtain Call Designs Red was the first thing I thought of when I looked at this.

Creative Colour Works I would add a large piece of art work on canvas with a mix of colours to include the turquoise , reds yellow oranges , the wall appears too large and empty and needs balance .

laurieeas My first thought was....what about flipping the spaces? What if the dining room table was in front of the window and the tv stuff was against the brown wall with the chairs on that side? (Hard to tell if that might work.) I also thought....it would be fun to do a modern stencil over the brown...using white paint and then finding a few affordable pieces of art. Also a mirror on the brown wall well placed would reflect the outdoor view again.

Jo Hanna Yipes on the orange.

txyellowrose I live in an old barn which is open plan. Your idea of brown and duck egg is great. Incorporate it into a large canvas (which you could do yourself) put a contrast of seat cushions on the chairs. Bring your table away from the door. Why did you get rid of the bookcase? you could have turned it on its side and made it into a buffet to house a nice display, not just with books by the way. Paint the bookcase!

txyellowrose m

bron1 Thanks for the advice and info everyone. I've added a couple of photos of the new table. I'm going to replace the cushion upholstery and I'm not sure if I will keep the large recent family portrait on this wall. ( not sure if we want to look at it whilst eating dinner ) I'm after a warm inviting feel and love Laura Ashley style and hate my modern boring ikea furniture.. The white bookcase was from ikea and I've put it in my babys room for his toys, as the table takes up more of the space and the babys high chairs sits in the corner. Any more ideas on the space would be appreciated, thank you

thefinerdesigner Now that you've posted more pics, I can get a better sense of your floor plan. I like what someone else suggested about putting the table in front of the patio doors. I'm not sure if that would work with your floorplan or not (doorways, etc that we can't see). I love the new table; however, the chairs are very dated. If they are sturdy and you intend to keep them, paint them (white and/or black) reupholster in either one or several coordinating fabrics (I'm envisioning a leafy green) and carry that accent color into the living area with toss pillows (repeat some of the fabric and introduce new coordinating ones). I've attached some things that match the color green I'm envisioning. As far as the kitchen, I love the clean look of white but it looks a bit stark and cold. Accent with some of that same leafy green (hand towels, a crock for utensils, even a wire bowl of limes or Granny Smith apples!) and consider glazing the cabinets (where stain only goes into the grooves) to give it a bit more character and would look great with the existing black tile trim. As far as the family portrait goes, it is a wonderful piece but I agree about not having it in your dining space. It is a great focal point for a living room or entryway though!

bron1 Thanks for the green info, I had thought of green and have lots of green cushions, vases, pictures etc from our old house which was modern and smaller. But I fancied a change, that said I keep coming back to green or blue..

It's a hard space to tie together, I would like to make the spaces work better for themselves and the previous owners fitted the kitchen it's Dulux hog bristle in colour and I think the walls are too, it all blends together too much and looks a bit bland. I painted the brown wall in the dining room because it was a horrid blue/green colour before. I would love to paint the kitchen walls and again thinking duck egg, but there is no divide between the areas I would have to paint the whole room blue and think that would be overkill?? Was thinking a lighter cream? And wallpaper the wall behind the sofa? wallpaper over the brown wall?

Great idea about moving the dining table to the living area, the two spaces are a different size and we couldn't fit the living in the dining area. Off the dining area is an office and then our bedroom via the wooden doors.

rtist9 Your house is fab. Add lavendars to your kitchen and purple to the other rooms. That purple will pop all the browns and creams. You dont have to repaint anything. I love the brown, add a flat screen to that wall. Really your home screams purples and lavendars and golds if you are daring.Purple is classy and sophisticated with cream. It is a outside the box color!

pinkturnip You've got a good basic palette going here with the brown and neutrals! I agree the family portrait needs to be in a den or bedroom area. I like the idea of purchasing a large blank canvas, (or stretch one yourself), choosing a group of three colors that inspire you, and create your own art for above the table. It can serve as your focal point and give you reference when you use these three colors sparingly throughout your living, dining, and kitchen areas.
You many want to paint the canvas white before you begin your splashes of color, and add some background elements on the canvas in the browns family to pull it into the room.

renostufftosell I agree with the orange/red combo and of color and I think it should be a very large and substantial image....have a look at these images - I happen to have a chocolate brown wall as well. Let m know what you think.

pinkturnip Here is just an example of what you might create. On this canvas there is your duck egg blue family, introducing the red splashes with yellows, all tied in with the brown foundational color.
You could do the same using the apple green as one of the colors if you are wanting to use some of your old green accessories. you could use the fabric suggestions from above for your pillows, repeating the apple green, (or blues) with a spot of red and yellow using vases, pottery, etc. Keep the color additions with accessories primarily solid in color and use a very sparse number of them around the room, creating the "Pops" against the browns. (Hate using the over-tired word "pop" to express the idea, but I haven't thought of another one yet. ;-)

bron1 Love it too I have painted the spare bedroom red, gold and cream and it looks very chic with dark wood furniture. I always seem to make the mistake of painting each room a different colour and a different scheme and this time. Want to get it right, but I'm not off to the best start as our room is blue and cream, the hall and recent bathroom Reno is cream, browns and white.. I really need to settle for one colour scheme and let it flow and pop!!! Throughout the house, ha ha
These are some of the images I like.. Any thoughts or ideas on these?

renostufftosell I like the collage of photos - you could have a lot of fun with color on that one - could be punchy or demure - I personally the minimalist style of that one as opposed to the other photos...every piece is showcased that way. Having said that tere are great individual pieces in each of the other photos,,,and I love the huge windows nand deep sills in picture number three.

bron1 Great idea with the canvas, I have one that size that I used to have in my new house in the UK it's green, grey and black in a retro print and doesn't look right in this house.. Thought about reusing the frame and finding a bit of fabric or putting new white fabric on and painting it instead of canvas to keep the cost down..

Carolina Photo To Go LLC The fabric idea would work. Why dont you also look on Etsy.com for artwork - photography or painting. It is a collection of "shops " from all over the world and you can contact the owners with questions. They have other home decor items as well. Just input what you want in the search engine. I have a photography shop, nancyhehmann. I like your brown wall. Photography of an ocean scene could add drama and color or some place you have been or dream about going. High def is very realistic and mood lifting. Once you have chosen artwork or photography, you can pull colors from it for use as other accent pieces.

bron1 That another awesome idea Carolina, I often look at the shopping website but never purchased anything before. If I go with the splashes of duck egg blue then I could add this landscape photo to the wall, it's the local beach 5 Kim's away :) photo coming up...

bron1 This would look great as a landscape sized canvas :-) thanks again for all your help and ideas ladies and gents x

Carolina Photo To Go LLC If it is your own photo file you can even have photography printed on canvas. I use a nationally rated photo lab that I have an account at. But, anyone can upload photography to Shutterfly.com.

thefinerdesigner To play off another's suggestions about a diy canvas - go to Goodwill (or other similar place) and see if you can find a cheap canvas (if it's already framed, even better). Buy some small containers of paints (pick two neutral colors and your one accent color) and let your kids help you make an abstract pic to hang over the table. To imitate the framed collage in your inspiration pic, you don't always have to frame photos. Frame fabrics, postcards, even scrapbook paper (you can buy it by the sheet at most hobby stores)! Walmart/Target, etc. usually have really cheap 8x10 frames (and even 8x8, etc.) that you can use and spray paint if necessary. A grouping like that can really make a statement. Good luck!

bron1 I'm in Australia and Officeworks and Harvey Norman are reasonably priced for canvas prints this size. Thank you -:)