ok. so not a parenting question, but i want to change up my living room colors. however i am having a hard time choosing the colors. the couch is black and the floor is a dark cherry hardwood. the saltwater stand is black and a permanent fixture. and these items i cannot change.
what color should the walls be? the trim is a dark oak stain, and blends well with the black and flooring.
right now they are a terracotta orange and a muted mustardy yellow ( dh chose and i have always thought ick)
the room butts up to the tan walls of the hallway.
ideas? suggestions? i want a teal or a blue, but dh said the teal color combo i chose would be better suited for the bathroom. the other rooms in the house are all a different color ( dd room violet, ds room bright blue, kitchen is yellow and grey, master bed is green.) i am needing to paint i have no choice on that. but i want new colors to make things different!
there is a salt water aquarium with pretty corals in it, which is why i think a teal would be nice. but i am having trouble finding colors that are perfect with the black furniture and dark flooring
I will check out the Benjamin Moore website that should help. The living room opens up to the hallway. The saltwater stand is the custom cabinetry built to house the saltwater aquarium. It does not move. there is little wall space so adding artwork is difficult and curtains will be made to match the wall colors.
We don't have space for tables, there is one lamp and it's a vintage oil lamp on a shelf in one corner. it's such a small room that adding pillows and other items will make it appear cluttered. So I use wall colors to keep the house from feeling neutral and drab.
Google "blue living room, black couch". I just did this and found some really nice ideas (search images). Black and white living rooms are super in right now...with a black wall even. Lots of white too. With all black and white artwork. It looks cool. You could do some pops of blue/teal...a lamp, pillows, one wall frame.
I tend to prefer more neutral wall colors (although I admit my morning room and powder room are a red color) I like bringing color into the room with colorful art work but I’m an artist.
Sounds like you have a lot of color going on in the house. Is the room open to the kitchen?? If so, I would go somewhat neutral with your paint color. Maybe a pale, warm grey, taupe color on the walls and then bring in accessories in colors that would tie in with the kitchen colors and your teal or blue. You can add a few blue/teal dishes or bowls or jars in the kitchen. And then In the living room pick up some of all the colors in a subtle way in your pillows, throws, rugs, vases and florals or shelf and wall art. You could even add some of these colors to the tank. Don't go too crazy or your room will be too busy and not very relaxing. Add neutrals to your accessories, too, like creams, greys, taupes and wood tones.
For dark colored wood - red can really stand out.
Blue could work too but there are so many hues to choose from.
Too dark and it won't stand out against the other dark colors - too light and it will look washed out.
i love that your house is so full of color!
it's hard to say without seeing it, of course, but neither the terra cotta/mustard nor teal sound right to me.
with the rich colors in the rest of the house, i think i'd rock the neutrals already in place in the living room and go with a very pale misty grey, or even a bright white and bring color in through art and throws and pillows and so forth.
but then, i don't get a say in the colors of our house, other than veto power if i really dislike something. my husband has a much better eye for this, so i've surrendered. when the kids were small and i was more insistent we had one room with orange and black tiger stripes, and another with turquoise walls painted with gold and silver fish. so what do i know?
:D khairete
S.
I would think a gray color would look good with black furniture and reddish floors.
I haven't read through the other responses, but I'm a decorating show fan and I tend to go with the whole neutral wall thing myself. I do love color, but not on my main floor. I save the color - and I love what you describe (from your aquarium) for my bedrooms. That whole seaside/water theme - is our kind of bedroom scheme.
Our main space is all neutral. In this day and age where a lot of rooms run into each other with open concept or you can see down one long hall, if they don't flow, then it chops it up and looks smaller than it is. So my personal thought is - if it can't all be the same color throughout (like a a neutral - to tie it all together, and the lighter the better to brighten it up) - then shades of the same family works really well. what's your favorite room? Is it the kitchen? If so, then if you could bring some of that in - like the grey? and then swap out some of your cushions (or just make/buy a few toss cushions in the same yellow as kitchen) to bring it together.
Terracotta and mustard look lovely in some homes - we had in our last home, but if you're looking for fresh - especially where you have the dark floors and couch, I'd go light.
If you want ideas of what looks good for paint - you can go to Benjamin Moore website, and they have a tool - and you can put in a color (doesn't have to be a wall color) but say black - and they will tell you what looks good with it. They'll even give you a trim color, etc. We did that our whole home. Worked very well and then - you can pick shades that go with the colors you picked, in the same family, if you want to carry the look throughout etc. It makes it easy without hiring a decorator. Or just use it for ideas. It will show you what a color will look like in a bathroom, a bedroom, living room, exterior, etc.
Good luck :)
It sounds as if I think like J C. Personally, I am very traditional/conservative when it comes to wall colors, I prefer to bring out the colors with accessories (vases with flowers or paintings), which I can easily change up if I get bored. Painting an entire room, while doable, is so much more expensive, and a pain, as you'd have to move furniture out of the way and use painter's tape on the molding and trims. You can also add color with couch throw pillows or an area rug.
I think a light color will contrast nicely with the dark furnishings, and the brightly-colored corals, plus it will make the room look larger, but again, this is a matter of personal opinion. I'd do something like this: http://www.naviratous2.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Bre... If you're dead set on a blue color, maybe you can have an accent wall behind the aquarium with that paint color, or just hang something like a painting of the ocean.
What is a saltwater stand?
I'm more of a neutral person. I'd have a hard time with a teal room, especially the color combination of teal and coral - very 80s. Personally, I'd be looking at a light slate grey or beige.
I think teal would be nice with those dark colors. I think you should definitely choose a teal color. I painted a wall red once next to some very dark shelves, and I have always thought since that some kind of blue would have looked much better.
So I vote for the teal. Just try out a bunch of swatches, because you probably want it to feel calm and not garish. I agree with B that "Too dark and it won't stand out against the other dark colors - too light and it will look washed out."
Maybe a blue that has grey undertones...
