[lmtoth2]

We are planning to repaint our living/dining room this summer. The color from the living room continues up our stairs so we need to have something pretty neutral. Currently we have yellow walls with a dark blue accent wall (this wall is shared by the living room and dining room. My husband loves the accent wall idea so I'm open to keeping it However I would like to 1) have the main walls some sort of beige/tan/neutral and 2) have the accent wall be a more neutral blue (much less bold than what we have now) or another color that would work with our furniture.

Does anyone know of any good sites where I can find photos? Anyone have any color suggestions/photos (from your homes)? I am challenged in this area.

To give you an idea of what we currently have...p.s. I also cannot wait to change out that dining room light...

Thanks for any ideas

 

[annabelles mom]

I would pull the blue out of the livingroom chairs or the gold out of the rug

 

[FoodLady]

Leslie,

Wish I could help with a site for choosing paint colors, but I've tried myself! I do have a book called Color Harmony for Interior Design that helps in chosing contrasting colors in the same family. You might want to see if there is anything at the library or bookstore that could help.

The attached picture (not very good) is of our newly remodeled lower level. The walls are two shades of green -kinda sagey- and look fabulous.

This was taken shortly after it was finished and we are slowly adding artwork, et.al. We painted the concrete floor a warm umber and somehow the garnet Henry Miller sofa/two shades of green walls/umber floor work!

 

[CherylB]

Maybe you can soften your accent wall by going a little more blue gray? Our bedroom was supposed to be a bit darker, with more gray but they mixed the wrong color and we didn't have time to change it once we figured that out...

Your other walls don't look that "yellow" in the picture to me though. My bedroom is the darker neutral that we used in two rooms in my house - and the rest of the house is just a hint lighter but still extremley neutral and mixes well with whatever colors we use in furniture or accents. Ignore the empty walls - we just moved in so we still need to decorate.

Please excuse the "dirty" lens that is so obvious in the bedroom picture. My son woke up in the middle of the night and took pics with my camera - I guess he touched the lens...

Here's a couple other rooms - that show the neutral base colors. The first one is the lighter color and the second is the same base that is in my bedroom.

 

[Ronnie]

Benjamin Moore has this really cool feature where you can try out all of their paint colors in any combo. It is called Personal Color Viewer at
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/po ... el=fh_home

 

[MaxandMe]

Sherwin Williams also has a color chart that has all different rooms/set ups that you can put the colors in http://www.sherwin-williams.com/do_it_y ... /index.jsp

Leslie--- pulling a the gold or yellow tones from the chairs can possibly brighten the room, show up the blue as well as richen the window treatment you have up.

PS I LOVE everyone's pics of their homes and the color choices

 

[gene]

I love green, so I would pull the green from the chair and the center swirl green in the rug for the accent wall, then maybe a light gold tinged beige on the walls.

 

[lmtoth2]

thanks for the great ideas I never thought of a gold tinged beige...I have to get some samples. I definitely want the main walls to be more neutral...we have a lot of color in our house (sage in the entry way, and a bright fun mango in the kitchen) so I want the room that connects it all to be more mellow. I like the green idea too (would tie into the sage)...my husband's friend from work brought us some samples that are a greyish green - I have to take a look.

Thanks for the photos too...I am having such a hard time finding many accent wall photos online - I like to see the colors in a real room rather than just a sample in the store - please keep the ideas coming

 

[Guest]

Great colors everyone!
Leslie, Pottery Barn has their new colors out for the year in their catalog. Even in past years they had color selections that would work also. They use Benjamin Moore and you can get the tiny sample jars at the paint store and small 1 foot squares of bord to test it on. I would paint a few boards in colors you like, then move them around the house and see what you think. Take your time. I painted about 4 boards for every color chose. I did a main color in the living roon, family room, foyer, steps and hallway. The rooms that got a bold color were the kitchen, dining room and bedrooms. I like the idea of the greens, you coud pull the light sage green from the chairs and accent the wall with the dark sage green in the rug.
Pottery Barn/ Benjamin Moore colors:
http://www.potterybarn.com/stylehouse-- ... ndex.shtml

http://designhole.blogspot.com/2008/01/ ... -from.html

My kitchen is the semolina yellow color. I love it! I don't know the name of the neutral taupe used thru out the house, but I love it, too. I'll try to find it.

 

[annabelles mom]

If you are having a hard time deciding, I would pick a green, a blue and a goldy color, warm colors since you want the room to be mellow (since those are dominant colors in your rooms), get a sample can of each color (usually a pint or quart) and a can of kilz; paint over the blue wall with kilz (you'll need to do it anyhow) then paint a section of the wall with each color (leaving a large white space in between them so not to distract from each other). live with that for a week or two, will give you an idea of what color you would like

If you end up not falling in love with any of the colors, kilz over them and try new colors

It really gives you a good idea of what it will look like. Room views on line are a great source but it's always nice to see the color in your actual room with the lighting/furniture/rugs in your own home

 

[Guest]

I would do your molding in one of the Benjamin Moore whites, too. The White Dove would look good with greens, it has a gray undertone that goes well with greens. Linen White has a yellow undertone that is very warm. Navajo White has a peachy undertone that looks good and Atrium White is a clean white with a slight pink undertone.
I would paint the molding on the ceiling between the rooms, the one that is stained.

 

[Guest]

Mary is right about seeing the colors in your own house. The sun light that the room gets or does not get has a big effect on the color. I know the taupe in my house changes as the sun goes up or down.

 

[lindamarie]

I work with staging some homes and advising on paints.
I have found that Benjamin Moore has the BEST paints in their Historic selection. For example, a regular yellow in the normal section becomes a beautiful historic yellow in the Historic section.................so do the blues, sages etc.
Try Benjamin Moore!

 

[Guest]

Linda, I always thought that would be so fun!!!!
Leslie, For some great color choices that go together you could check out rugs. Home Decorators Collection has a great selection. Look at the sakura, Ogee, Starburst, Stellar and Rhymes. If you are not too attached to the DR rug, you might consider changing to one with the greens/blues in it. I really like chocolate with those colors, maybe a chocolate accent wall would be striking!
www.HomeDecorators.com

 

[annabelles mom]

Chocolate is beautiful - Shelle & Mike have a sitting room off their foyer, Shell painted it chocolate brown, white trim and DH and M built built in book shelves on either side of window OMG it is gorgeous. The choc brown showcases art beautifully also

Nice idea on rug color change also Linda, would pull the liv/din rooms together nicely if rug were same color family as furniture - I have seen some gorgeous room rugs in those colors

So many choices Leslie !

 

[Guest]

I figured out how to bring over the rug pictures:

I LOVE the first one, colors are great in the second and third one too! Maybe I like the second one best!

 

[lmtoth2]

oooh..thanks Linda I love those rugs - I think I like the last one best.

I spent all this time on the Benjamin Moore virtual paint thing today...I found a room where you can change the background wall to a different color so I've been using that one. Linda and Linda - I need to get you here to be my interior designers

I watch HGTV a lot and love their staging shows (designed to sell)...it's amazing what some people's houses look like when they're trying to sell :shock: and they spend very little money to make them look so much nicer!!

My husband told me to get to the store and get some paint samples...it took us several months to decide on our kitchen color last year and this will be even worse At least my husband has a good eye for color so he can help...

 

[bob]

A little more subtle and extra cost, but you could put up crown molding and paint that your accent color.

 

[Guest]

teehee Leslie! I love trying to pull rooms together.
Bob! great idea. I will take some photos of some great molding we did in our foyer, stairway and dining room. It is kind of 'fake' picture frame molding. We put up the picture frame boxes on the lower half of the room and added a chair rail, then we painted the entire lower half (which is actually now just drywall with squares on it) with the white trim semi gloss paint. It looks great and you can really do all the walls in a room a dramatic color because you are only doing half the wall.

 

[Sammy-Doo's Fam]

the HGTV site has a lot of ideas and also a forum where members post what they have done to rooms in their houses