SFGate

LB Interiors I'm sorry to say that the gray inside the two side areas is too dark for those spaces. The dark cabinets make it darker yet. The lightest color in the room would be best in these side spaces. I would paint the inside niche areas white like the fireplace. Add glass shelves above the cabinets. Place books, sculptures and large pieces there.

You could also have mirrors cut to the size of each wall and place above the cabinets. Add the glass shelves also. Place colorful vases or collections on the shelves.

Is the sofa gray or brown? I like the camel color of the pillows. Use a similar color on the other walls. Accent with some colorful artwork and accessories and window treatments. Purchase a long sofa table and potted plands behind the sofa. Camouflage most of the width of the sofa back. If electrical is on the floor under the sofa. Place two lamps on the sofa table for reading.

Purchase 2-3 double seat storage ottomans at the triple windows. Provides extra guest seating and toy storage for the kids or handy for blankets.

On left wall, photo foreground, place another corner floor plant. Fill the wall with an oversized artwork. The bottom of the artwork to be 18"-24" from the floor. It could also be a gallery of family photos or any art subject.

Walter Frazier I agree with the above comment. Add base cabinets and shelving (maybe wood though) in the recessed areas and paint the whole thing white.

catditad The sofa is brown, the current wall color is khaki crisp i believe, thats the color of the entire house which i really would like to redo. Its too khaki for me. I just dont know if i have the time to do all these things, with a 2 year old and a 4 year old with autism :-( If i keep the gray and the cabinets as they are, should i just paint the rest of the room a cream color to lighten it up, and then maybe something else for the window treatments? I also need it to be kid friendly because my 4 year old like to climb up he cabinets, take off pictures off the wall, which is why the room is so bare right now. But i still want to make homey and calm and just to have a space i can just enjoy :-)

catditad Also, the pillows are not camel color, more like light brown and it does have an ottoman of the same color.

tennisanyone I think the tv should go on the wall with the pictures either on the left or right and I would put the couch under the windows (does it have a chaise?) and get two chairs and a coffee table too.

LB Interiors Keep the cabinets but the gray in the niches is not doing anything to keep the the room bright and cheery. The cabinets are lost. The spaces look like an afterthought. Those areas need a purpose. The cabinets look like they were just stuck there (my opinion). I still like the idea of glass shelving with the cabinets and mirror backs to reflect more light from the large windows. I would still paint the niches white. Makes that area come together and seem as one because it ties in the fireplace.

I think white walls can be a little boring but also depends on the room and many other things. I like white in certain situations. I really like the Khaki walls. It's warm and works well with the dark furniture. Cozies up the room.

Another niche idea might be to create the illusion of more windows by installing rods and an opaque contemporay print with some color. Use on both niches. Hides everything. Use the space for toys, blankets and other household storage if you need more room for stuff. You must add side panels to the large windows also to give the illusion of niche windows. (In this case) you wouldn't have to re-paint (saves time & energy) but, you still need simple shelving for storage.
Window Treatments 1 Window Treatments 2

Imagine the drapes closed in the below photo. Niches behind.
Washington Park Residence 09

Molly I love the idea of changing the wall color in the niches. If your worried about your child climbing and pulling down or prices of finer wall hangings...the antiqued mirrored tile squares could be put on the back of the niches. you could attach those inexpensive silhoutte wall clings ( at craft stores, Joanns, Michaels, etc.) Say a dark brown silhoutte of tree branches or flowers on the mirrors or white niches. This way there's nothing to pull down but visually it's filled.
The idea of storage shelves hidden with attractive opaque printed curtains is a wonderful idea. Be sure you love the print and keep in light in color coordinating with the white fireplace and the couch.
Dont forget wall paper can be totally cool. Niches or that left wall. keep it as an accent though, not the whole room. A cool print can be funky or traditional and fill up the space visually too. A great storage padded bench is great as an ottoman or under the window. Possibly behind couch if your worried about the sofa table being dangerous. ( although the table would be my first pick) You do need to distract the plain couch back . Also... if you ever see a hanging light fixture you love (remember the tv viewing though) that will add alot to the room. P.S. I have a PDD child...it gets better with "getting into things" just a VERY LONG training :) You can have beautiful things, just think outside the box!

catditad Alright ladies! I'm repainting the niches white as the fireplace. I dont know the color name of the current color on the fireplace so i will buy a new one. I will still need to repaint the khaki wall because the previous owners painted them with flat paint. I need a satin or semigloss since I have finger prints and all kinds of kiddie dirt that get stuck on them. Sadly, they painted most of the house flat except for the kitchen and bathrooms. I have a lot of work ahead of me. So, I will stick with something khaki on the family room but then what about the rest as my main color?

catditad @LB Interiors, i really like this one that you sent me :-)

catditad I love these color palettes.

Dar Eckert Its hard to tell what color your room is because in one photo it looks very yellow and the carpet stone color and the next photo has a rosy hue to it. I don't find the rosy hue with khakie walls very appealing. If the rug has a rosy hue go for more greenish or warm gray. If it is more stone color add warmer colors like red ocre or terra cotta. But that's just my opinion.

Jean Tuck Love everything in living rm even the colors.
Family rm ok

catditad The current wall and the rest of the house is called
D "khaki crisp" by frazee paint. The carpet has no rosy hue, just a stone cream color :-)

Jennifer Hogan About 2 years ago I got some advice from Gretchen at Devine Color and finally found my way.

Step 1 - determine what must stay. For me it was tile floors, kitchen cabinets, deep green countertops, most of my furniture and my deep green living room and bedroom carpeting. (Very tight budget).

Step 2 - look in my closet and my art and the things that I own and identify the colors and color combinations that I love.

Step 3 - Lay the colors that I cannot change going in a pattern from room to room and then lay out the colors that I love and want to have in my final pallet.

Step 4 - remove the colors that don't work at all.

Now I was left with the Colors that were in my home and couldn't be changed and a few colors that I love that I wanted to incorporate throughout my home.

From this I created a whole home pallet. Because I had a lot of tile that had a pink undertone I selected a taupe for my base wall neutral. My honey maple cabinets did not work great against the taupe, but a deep wine red worked with both. So my kitchen and the common wall into my family room are deep wine red. The taupe is throughout the main part of the home and the bedrooms and bathrooms bring in the other colors that I love.

Once I figured out that the colors had to flow from one room to the next it was so much easier to figure out what I was doing.

Do you have enough gray in the rest of the home to pull off the Elephant/Lime/Tangerine pallet that you love or will the room stick out like a sore thumb?

My paint pallet is below. All colors are from Devine Color.

catditad Here's some pics of what colors i have in the house.

catditad Obviously I will keep the furniture, the bigger wall art, and my kitchen cabinets will be the same since i dont know when i will have time to repaint them. I have a lot of browns and greens...like the 2 chairs i have in he formal living room/piano room...

catditad Obviously I will keep the furniture, the bigger wall art, and my kitchen cabinets will be the same since i dont know when i will have time to repaint them. I have a lot of browns and greens...like the 2 chairs i have in he formal living room/piano room...

catditad Obviously the furniture will be kept because of budget. I have mostly dark wood furniture, except for my kitchen/bath cabinets. I have a lot of browns and greens :-)

catditad Carpet/tile flooring and granite kitchen countertop

catditad Jennifer, what do you mean by citrus colors? Like orange but deep orange okay? Sorry, im new at this :-)

catditad I wish i can afford a designer to come by and just tell me which paint color to do in every room and window treatments, etc. lol.

A Class Above Home Rehab Here are some ideas I think would look great in your space!

A Class Above Home Rehab I would really suggest adding trim to your room. It adds so much character and can bring out your existing colors. If you chose to keep the dark grey, adding colorful and light colored decor can make it pop.

Jennifer Hogan I feel your pain. I couldn't afford an expert - got exasperated and finally hired one who's only answer was to replace all my tile.

Gretchen saved my life. Told me what to do and gave me suggestions. She didn't charge anything - just answered a fb post to her page.

I have devoured her articles and have learned so much.

I am not an expert, but I am seeing that everything in your home flows together well and then we hit the room you are looking at and the large purple gray couch. Doesn't flow with the rest.

Not that it can't be brought into the rest - just has to be tied in somehow.

I do love it next to the sage green carpet. The tan on the walls seems a bit yellow to go well with both the carpet and the couch.

Look at Devine Latte as your neutral. Order a 81/2 x 11 sample sheet. Take it from room to room and see if it works. It is hard to guess from pictures as undertones in color can be very subtle and make a huge difference.

I wouldn't pull more gray into the room. I might add some of the sage green to the back of insets.

The deep orange that I had in my mind was before seeing your couch. Not in that room. But if you want to add drama and color it could be used in the formal living room. Devine Orangutan is what I was thinking of with your greens, tans and browns. Pictured below with Latte in the entryway.

catditad The couch is not gray, its light brown and the wall color is really khaki. I think its the pictures, they arent capturing the true colors :-) This is a pic of the house when we moved in and heres the paint color according to the previous owners.

catditad @Jennifer, what sage green carpet? I think my camera is not showing the true colors :-(

Jennifer Hogan It must be the lighting and different computer monitors.

Wish you lived in the San Diego area - I would bring my collection of samples over and help you! It is so easy when you have the samples and the colors and fabrics together.

I've helped so many of my friends with these issues, but always in person.

For my own project I took a drawer from my kitchen cabinets, a tile, and pillows and arm covers from my furniture and put it all together outside on a white sheet and took pictures. Then I could see the colors next to each other - less change due to lighting differences.

Budget Blinds When it's time to order...we provide free in-home consultations http://www.budgetblinds.com

catditad @Jennifer, I'm actually in Temecula :-)

Jennifer Hogan Wow - I'm in San Marcos - will gladly come up and help. We can have some fun!

catditad I will go ahead and paint the niches white and the fireplace to make sure they match exactly. I love the sage green color so i would love to use something like that in the family room. I painted the dining room martha stewart bayou. Heres the color. Do you think that might be too much green if i were to do another green color in the family room?

catditad You are not that far :) i will call shortly :-)

Jennifer Hogan Don't think it would be too much - but you have a common wall to the kitchen and I don't know where you could make the break.

I am serious about meeting you and helping. I love playing with color and design and think the tools that I have gathered can help you. I have the entire collection of Devine Paint colors, so we will have a great tool set to work from.

I would like to build a business helping people with color, but I need experience. Call me if you are interested.

gillianlf I think a smoky mid tone blue would look good with the browns in the room and would keep it from looking boring and monotone. Sorry, I'm not a designer so I don't have specific paint chips to recommend.

LB Interiors I love your home. Punch it up with the lime and/or orange, if that's what you like from the pic you posted. I'm sure Jennifer can make great suggestions.

slaah The left wall panted in orange cloure others should be pented very light yallo paint

LB Interiors Thanks Molly

Modern Age Designs, LLC Hello Jennifer
Does your friend Gretchen know about Maria Killam. I think I have read some comments posted by Gretchen. If you would like to make this a career I would suggest you attend one of Maria's Workshops on how to become a color expert. It's totally worth it. I have her eBook. A life saver. I read her blog every day. learned a great deal from her. She is my mentor.

Modern Age Designs, LLC Catditad - how about painting that cement gray throughout the house. Make the niches a glass wall go with the glass shelving as one of the commenters suggested. Add lights at the top of the ceiling for the niches so it is highlighted. And accent with bright colorful objects. Paint the kitchen cabinets an off-white shade which will not clash with the granite countertops, backsplash and the floor tiles. Will also work with brown sofa since its right in front of the kitchen. Brown and gray will look good together. No worries there. You can change seating and cushions on the sofa a creme color in microfiber and has scotch guard applied on it. From the pictures it seems like the seating and cushions are not fixed to the base so changing out the fabric should not be hard. you can then add pops of color to the sofa with throw pillows continuing colors from the accent pieces in the niches. It will look very nice and give a fresh new look. I do agree to add the trim in white which brings character to the house.
Add soft white stationary panels to bring in some softness to the gray walls in the family room.
I hope this helps.

LB Interiors Thanks catditad for all the "likes". I appreciate the feedback. Thanks again. Happy decorating!

Jennifer Hogan Modern Age Design - Thank you for the suggestion. I don't know if Gretchen is familiar with Maria Killam, but I actually sought Maria's advice about 2 years ago when I decided to paint my home. I had a classic design dilemma - pink undertone tile in the midst of the beige and white trend. On top of having 1200 sq ft of pink undertone tile my kitchen cabinets were honey maple. My countertop and carpets were a deep forest green.

Maria did explain undertones and I love reading her articles and blog posts. But, her advice was to leave my walls white or change either my wood or my tile - preferably the tile. Got the same advice from about a dozen other color consultants and experts.

Gretchen was far less concerned with current trends. She explained that pink, yellow and purple can be beautiful together - think of a spring bouquet - and suggested a purple based taupe "Devine Bavarian". I ordered a sample and as soon as I got it I had to send her a picture of the print that I have had hanging in my family room on the wall closest to the kitchen. I always loved the picture in this space. The deep green, honey maple and purple taupe were all in the picture.

I will continue to devour the information from all the color experts, but I am really impressed by Gretchen's process of choosing the colors that you love rather than sticking to the current trend.

Modern Age Designs, LLC True - you have to like what you put on your walls.
I also dont follow trends as much.
Just has to look good to you. I'm working with a client who
loves browns and would like to incorporate those
In her space. I'll be posting pictures very soon on houzz.com
So feel free to check out what I did with her rooms.
I will be posting before and after pictures.
You can follow me on here.
Thanx

LB Interiors Thank you all who "liked"