Unutterably Silly Help for a color challenged designer wannabe!

[vivaldirules]

And did I mention that it would go nicely with your orange carpet? How could you say no?

[Verencat]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

And did I mention that it would go nicely with your orange carpet? How could you say no?

No carpet, it's an orange carpeted vintage round seat! A masterpiece I tell you! My dad hates it and is so glad I have it now! Maybe he would do the work...

[Verencat]

Pev - no worries, the fun is in trying!
Pshrynk: SUmkIII is a wise woman...
Moejoe - that link is great! But I do love the browns...
Z and Patricia: I need to be trying colors now! I love them, I crave them, I want to revel in them! For once I have no controlling landlord nor roomates nor better half trying to limit me, I want to take the plunge! And Patricia, I didn't paint with the brown two brush strokes convinced me not to, but otherwise I would've follow your advice.

And I now give you the masterpiece:

[rlparker]

Originally Posted by Verencat

...And I now give you the masterpiece:...

Wow. I'm at a loss for words. Is that an heirloom?

[ruth1304]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i would paint only one wall with any of those darker / brighter colours, as an accent ; this way you risk less to get overwhelmed by it and start to hate it.

don't forget to think about the colour of the light where you live, because this will change the colour of the paint. in the north the light is probably quite blue, but if you will be in these rooms mostly at night you should take into account the colour from your lamps (depends on lightbulbs and lampshades). for instance, warm brown colours under blue light look like... what you said.

What she said, definitely.

Also the more light there is in the room the easier it is to get away with the strong colours.

A friend had a bright green wall, with the other three walls in magnolia. It was a room with big windows at both ends and light floors, so I barely noticed the green wall. The red curtains were more noticeable.

Which is the next point - furnishings eg curtains, cushions and rugs can easily be changed (and moved to different rooms) so maybe best to add colour with those things, particularly with the orange chair

[ruth1304]

Originally Posted by Verencat

Z and Patricia: I need to be trying colors now! I love them, I crave them, I want to revel in them! For once I have no controlling landlord nor roomates nor better half trying to limit me, I want to take the plunge!

Personally I love the summer plum, if you want colour. But if you like the browns have those - you're the one who has to live with it. We could tell you to get the room painted to match the chair as we don't have to look at it every day (which is quite tempting now I think about it )

Also, I think the right brown would look good with the chair and wouldn't be difficult to live with.

[Verencat]

Originally Posted by rlparker

Wow. I'm at a loss for words. Is that an heirloom?

Don't judge the chair, it's beautiful!
I love how people react to this! It's a piece my mom got through an old woman moving to a home, I think. Personally, I find that orange carpet upholstery is irresistible! Have you seen the wooden ends? Plus, it rolllllssss! What else could you want, I ask?

Ruth, you are 100% right, brown is better. The sun is setting now and the purple sample next to the orange chair is getting scary (although you seem to think the chair itself is scary! ). So now it's between brown tar and stem green. I think.

[ruth1304]

Originally Posted by Verencat

you seem to think the chair itself is scary!

So now it's between brown tar and stem green. I think.

It's not that the chair is scary, just the idea of sitting in a room painted the same colour

Both those colours are great, so just don't rush into anything - have a look at the samples at different times of day!

[Wetdogeared]

This is the only stem green library I could find. I also found a very nice green library chair.

Coincidently the library is only 150 km from Marc's place.

I like the green!!!!





WDE.

[Verencat]

Oh, I love that last chair! It's gorgeous!

[mklynds]

I voted brown. I like a nice natural brown. Supposedly the earthyness of brown makes the room more conducive to stability and such.... I am no psychologist or whatever but I think Brown and Orange and heck throw in some green accents would make for a great room to get some reading done in. I also have no talent at picking colors actually so..... Maybe just skip this post.

[kazbates]

When you are looking at the Benjamin Moore paint sample strips, remember to always pick a color at least one block lighter than the color you like the best. I used only Benjamin Moore paints in my house and used that rule. It worked very well. I tend to like a lot more traditional colors like a warm yellow gold, merlot and sage. I looked for fabric that I wanted to use to make window coverings and then picked the paint colors from that. Here are a few examples:

[Verencat]

Mike you're right - anyway, in what I'm picturing right now. Greens would come from the ton of plants I have everywhere. I have one called Goldfish plant, that would fit right in!




Kaz, your home is gorgeous!!! Now, before I talk colors, nosy me wants to know who's the person we see in the miror of the fourth picture!
I'm thinking the yellow of the kitchen is a lot like the one I'll have, and the color of the living room (beige or tan?) is really great.
Why do you say you have to pick one shade lighter with BM? Althought I'm already thinking a little lighter now since the browns now look almost black... but the lighter browns look blah during daytime...

Really thinking brown tar - the name in French is double chocolat, how can you resist it! One shade lighter would be saddle soap. Far less evocative, but kind of nice looking anyway.

[junkyardwillie]

Stem Green is the way to go, throw a couple of plants in there and BAM! its like you're in the rainforest

[kazbates]

Originally Posted by Verencat

Kaz, your home is gorgeous!!! Now, before I talk colors, nosy me wants to know who's the person we see in the miror of the fourth picture!
I'm thinking the yellow of the kitchen is a lot like the one I'll have, and the color of the living room (beige or tan?) is really great.
Why do you say you have to pick one shade lighter with BM? Althought I'm already thinking a little lighter now since the browns now look almost black... but the lighter browns look blah during daytime...

Really thinking brown tar - the name in French is double chocolat, how can you resist it! One shade lighter would be saddle soap. Far less evocative, but kind of nice looking anyway.

I had no idea I was in that shot!

I think the color in the living room is called Gold Finch. It's a paler version than the one in my kitchen. I also used a shade darker for the wall insets and on the inset in the dining room ceiling.

My mother was the one who taught me that rule about going one shade lighter. When you paint the whole room, the color is affected by the lighting and appears darker. By going one shade lighter, you actually get the color you are looking for. I bought the paint swatches fan from Benjamin Moore when we first moved to VA and pull it out every now and then when I think I want to repaint. The paint store here also sells BM paint samples for a few dollars which I have used several times to get the shade I want. Also remember that the darker you go, the more coats of paint it will take to get the color closest to the paint swatch. I used 3 coats of paint on the dining room walls, I think the color was called Plum Raisin.

As far as a beige/tan shade, I've only actually painted one room a beige and that was Zack's. We were going for a masculine/sophisticated look with beige, silver and black based on a beautiful geometric comforter I found. It was actually quite lovely when we first finished it. I would take a picture and post it, but the room looks like a computer bomb exploded in it now! By the way, here's a picture of Ryleigh's room. It took me two tries to get the pink and yellow right.