Home of the San Francisco Chronicle

Subscribe to the weekend Chronicle

powered by
Discussions
Photos
Products
Ideabooks
Discussions
Professionals
Users
by kennadysmama
3 months ago in Design Dilemma
Paint Ideas Please
Hello,
I am looking for an idea to paint my formal living room/ dining room combo in my house. Attached is two pictures of my space. The third picture is a picture of the other colours in my house. The green is my family room and we will be choosing one of the other two neutrals shown for my kitchen. Do anyone have any suggestions of a colour for my living/dining combo room? Thanks in advance for your ideas! :)
Share:
 
Dytecture I like the contemporary furniture you have, instead of painting the walls in brown tones, consider going towards a gray color family.


3 months ago · ·
kennadysmama I am so glad you said grey. That is what I was thinking. Originally I was thinking a slate grey (I love bold colour) but I was afraid it would be too consuming. I love this one picture I found but no one is sure of the paint colour. I thought something like this colour may look good in my space. What do you think?
3 months ago · ·
putter2 I'd paint the living room white/off-white, along with the trim around the arched window, and change the lamp shades to a color...red or deep orange. They'll pop, and give a splash of color to the room. I'd add a fun rug in the seating area.
3 months ago · ·
blindsdirectcanada I would recommend either Silhouettes or Shutters depening on the look your going for .They would both look great in the space.

http://www.blindsdirectcanada.com/blinds-toronto/hunter-douglas/silhouette-toronto.html
3 months ago · ·
7lexi7 You may want to start with a rug and take it from there.
That said I also thought "grey". Check out BM Revere Pewter. You will probably want to paint all the trim around the window. I think the Grey will be nice and "fresh" with your light colored furniture and light lamp shades as well as with your darker furniture, and it will work with your floor. You can easily add color using fabric, pillows, and a rug.
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design What direction does your rooms face? North light is cooler and South warmer, if going grey would need to know this first or could create too cool of a room.
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design Also what accent colours would you like to add for cushions and things, as choosing the paint with the correct undertone will make these colours pop too.
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama Our Room is South Facing. :)
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design Ok good, so that is a warmer light, if you do a warm based grey it could go beige, so a grey with blue base would look better. Here is where your accent colours come in, to make those colours pop you need an undertone that is opposite. Do you have a colour you would like to introduce as accent?
3 months ago ·
Welcome Home designs Do you have a photo of your kitchen?
3 months ago ·
greenthumb2 you may want to grab a grey from your external environment. tree bark grey. cool if you want the room cooler, warm if you want a warmer feel. also, determine which of the grey's responds well to natural and lamp light, as well as how your paint and light reflects your taste in art objects. enjoy!
3 months ago · ·
kennadysmama I would like to use the green that is going to be my family room as an accent colour so it helps make everything cohesive :)
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama I guess I should say, I would like this to the accent colour...but I am open for ideas!
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama My husband likes these. :)
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design What is colour name? It is not showing well for me.
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama "Deserted Island" by Behr UL190-2
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design Hmm, I find it a bit muddy. Could you post a picture of the family room.
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design I like your cushion choices, they would work very nicely in your living room. Not just for colour but the print is very appropriate.
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design Without seeing the family room, I would suggest a green that is a bit fresher looking, especially in combination with grey.
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama Here is my family room. Please excuse the paint swatch taped to the wall, my dog bed which does not belong there and my daughters princess chair...also does not belong! lol But this gives you an idea.
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design That's what puts the family in family room! Can you take a close up of the tile around fireplace? Thanks!
3 months ago ·
Edits! Interior Styling kennadysmama, I really like what you have going on. I love the grey in your photo. It would be super sophisticated with shimmery silver linen pillows or more casual and just as great with the pillows your husband likes but those read a little more casual to me. I agree that a more vibrant green would be better for the family room. Think mint, sea foam or green apple. It would work well with the leather sofas too. Maybe add the grey and green pillows there.
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design I like Coventry Grey by BM for your living area, and perhaps Sabre Gray for the family room. The Sabre has a green undertone that would work with the woods and the leather. Coventry has a cooler undertone which would work very well in that Southern exposure. Whatever you do though, get some small testers and paint a 12x12 card and tape to walls and view at different times of day to see how you feel about it. If you like the colours you may want to go up or done one as well and try them too.
3 months ago · ·
kennadysmama Thanks for all the help! :) This is the close up of the fireplace. Also @Edits! Interior Inspirations- which grey are you speaking of in the photo? There are a few and I just want to make sure I am looking at the right one.
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design Those tiles have some browns and what is the other colour? Is it a dark grey? I also see a creamy white?
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama There are different shades of brown and cream glass tile and there is also slate tiles- so many have a blue or grey colour to them but there are also some rust coloured pieces as well.
3 months ago ·
Tres McKinney Design The green paint you chose for the family room is almost a warm gray so if you prefer that direction then go for a gray green. You just need contrast for the white furniture in the living room and the walls need to have a haromoious flow from room to room. Choose any accent color you like for pillows and fincd a large scale painting in colors you like for the windowless wall opposite the entry in the room. Back to the family room. It is hard to see in the photos what the fireplace tile surround is. It looks like gray and white speckles. If that is true then you need to rethink the green color pallette and go with a warm gray color. I would also consider painting the fireplace off white or gray. Better yet have a more contemporary surround built. The natural colored wood and traditional stying does nothing to carry the contemporay direction of the living room into the family room. I agree that plantaion shutters on the window would look great. We do not see the dining room in any of your photos other than the chandelier which I recommend you change out to a more contemporary fixture as simple as a drum shade and hanging lower over the table (the bottom of the fixture 36" off the top of the table).
3 months ago · ·
Tres McKinney Design PS - change out those 6" recessed cans in the living room ceiling to 4". An area rug would anchor the seating area in the living room and give you another opportunity to add color.
3 months ago ·
Susan Mills Design Kennadaysmama, did you want other advice besides paint colour direction? Please let us know what other areas you would like help with.
3 months ago ·
Edits! Interior Styling kennadysmama, I was speaking of the kitchen with the grey walls and tile. I also like coventry grey that Susan Mills suggested, it is lighter than the kitchen grey. People have lots of different words to describe paint colors and it gets confusing if you are new to this. I think a good rule of thumb is to match tones in wall colors so you wouldn't use the warm green you started with in a room next to a cool grey generally speaking. So if you love that green, it would be a great match with coventry grey if you like the idea of a cool grey then a cool green like a green apple would be a better choice. I was thinking cool because I thought it would be great with your living room furniture. Hope that helps.
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama OK great Thanks!
@ Edits! - Thanks for clarifying :) That makes sense to me. I am very new to this so even the idea of warm and cool colours is a new concept for me. So thanks very much.
@ Susan Mills Design- I am open to any suggestions. I know my house needs some direction. The only thing we cant do is paint any of the oak (trim/floors/etc.). My husband adores it, I don't mind it -and we have decided it is going to stay. I know it isn't the most contemporary, but its what we have decided to work with! :) Also thank you for all of your ideas so far. I really appreciate it!
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama As for the other colours in the house- I am lucky in the fact we are painting everything. So I really do not have any other wall colours I have to 'work with'. As for the neutral we were going to pick for the hallways, and up the stairs to our second floor- we were thinking either 'vast desert' or 'nile sand' both by Behr. I have attached a photo of both! They are also the two on either side of the green. :) We currently have a light tan with yellow and almost pinky undertones...and I hate it, so I wanted to go a different direction with that.
3 months ago ·
kennadysmama Also- I guess I should mention the other colour we were thinking of for the dining room/ living room combo was "Slate" by restoration hardware - but by the feedback giving so far, I am going to assume that may be too dark? Attached is just some photos of the paint- but as you know- its so hard to know what it would look like in your space with your lighting.
3 months ago ·
danstef2012 We have had both darker grey and lighter in our living room, and preferred a slightly lighter shade such as this one. Benjamin Moore Stingray

3 months ago ·
Sign Up to comment
The content on this page is provided by Houzz and is subject to the Houzz terms of use, copyright and privacy policy.
Copyright claims: contact the Houzz designated agent.