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maddybeagle

Bungalow color rescue: the living room project

maddybeagle
12 years ago

Forum friends, I've just bought a 1923 bungalow that's painted the color of a bandaid on the outside and a different nasty shade on practically every wall inside. Lots of fodder for the decorating forum! Here's the bungalow:


and here's the kit-house plan from which it was built, which will help orient you to the layout:

As the plan suggests, the living room spans the whole front of the house and is quite large (23'x13') � though since there's no separate entryway or hall closet, entryway clutter will need to be accommodated in the design. More about that in a future post. Color is the immediate concern. Here's a photo from the house's real estate listing that shows you what I'm up against:

Everything about the house, including the heap of paint cans under the back porch, suggests the previous owners got whatever paint they could off of Craigslist, or maybe off the back of a truck. Goal for the living room: pick a new wall color that will make this room a wonderful place to be, and choose fabric in which to re-cover my sofa.

Starting points:

Just before my last move, I reupholstered my comfy chair and ottoman in a sunny yellow fabric:

I have a pair of small-scale chairs in the same raspberry-sorbet color that's in the pattern on the yellow chair:

I also have a flat-weave rug with the same pink in it, which could be used in that room but might be a bit much.

As you can tell, I also have black dogs, which is a consideration in choosing a fabric for the couch. The puppy has now grown up and learned not to get on the pink chairs, but I can't guarantee he won't get on the couch, so if I go with a lighter shade for that, it needs to be a pretty bullet-proof fabric. The couch is a large, clean-lined Mitchell-Gold sofa. There's some aqua-y blue in both the rug and the yellow fabric and I've been toying with the idea of picking that up somehow, but I worry that might end up being too much.

Other factors: the living room faces north and is completely shaded by the front porch, so I'd like to choose a wall color that will make it feel as light and airy as possible given that it...isn't.

Suggestions and inspiration welcome!

Comments (54)

  • forhgtv
    12 years ago

    LOL, re: the dog hair. I thought about that when I suggested a dark ivory, but I figured if you chose a fabric that didn't hold onto the hair, it could work. As for dark colors making a room dark, I find that not to be so true when you have a light ceiling, large windows and several light sources. Of course, I spend most of my time in my living room at night, so maybe that makes a difference, too. The light for every room in every house is so different. It does take some time to see how various colors appear.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I'm open to dark-colored rooms in principle (see my other thread here), but this room is one where I propose to sip my morning coffee and try to come awake, and it won't get much sunlight, with the deep porch and the houses fairly close on either side. I know I'm really sensitive to light, so for this room I'd like to go for a light overall feel, with maybe some dark furniture, rather than the reverse.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Another thought: When you approach this house from the street, it looks tiny, which it is, and sort of low and sheltering, but when you step inside it's a real surprise how high the ceilings are and how spacious the living room feels. I'd like to preserve that feeling in the color choices, so you come in and sort of breathe with how light and airy it feels, after the shelter of the trees and porch out front.

  • trailrunner
    12 years ago

    Look at Aunt Jen's colors for inspiration. I would either do the plum on the walls or the green I see as the border on some of the chair design. I really don't think that the dark colors swallow a room . I have a navy one and a chocolate one and my kitchen has NO windows and is dark thyme green. So go for it...think stunning and riveting and vibrant...you are so lucky to have such a great palate to start with.

    For trim color I melted Blue Bell vanilla ice cream and had them match it. A rich cream with the raspberry and turquoise...oh yum. c

  • gwbr54
    12 years ago

    For the walls, maybe a pale, dusky violet? Dark neutral on the sofa, with colorful throw

  • bestyears
    12 years ago

    I found this house on houzz, and it seemed both in keeping with a bungalow style and 'light and airy'. I realize the furniture colors are different than yours, but there is something similar about the overall feel to me. Perhaps a cream wall with white trim as in this photo, or even a pale, silvery blue on the walls?

    [traditional spaces design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-home-design-ideas-phbr1-bp~s_2107) by boston interior designer Su Casa Designs

  • wantoretire_did
    12 years ago

    I don't have any color suggestions (to each his own, I say), but do check out the second post at the site below. It's Zuzu's room, which is a classic here. Looks like a long narrow living room, with a fireplace at one end, very much like yours.

    Here is a link that might be useful: ZuZu's room

  • lesterd
    12 years ago

    Awesome house! Is it a Sears, Aladdin or other kit home?

    Is there any possibility that you will be stripping the paint off the living room woodwork? If you think you'll be going that route, I'd deal with that first and put wall colors second.

    By the way, our bungalow's floor plan is almost exactly like yours. Our front door is a bit to the left of how yours is situated. We have found that deeper colors, even with north facing rooms, creates a sense of warmth and comfort in rooms that is much better than light colors. I'd encourage you to look at books and the interiors of other bungalows near you to get some ideas.

    One thing we've learned about bungalows, though, is that with a bungalow, smaller furniture is better. The smaller room sizes are much more manageable with furniture that isn't too overwhelming.

  • loribee
    12 years ago

    Darling house and I love your current furniture.
    What about taking the creamy color from the vines for paint?

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Trailrunner, I *love* Aunt Jen's colors - just wait till we get to my kitchen! Wantoretire_did, thanks for that link - that layout is very similar to mine, and that mantel+built-in combo is so pretty. And that's making me think I need a round coffee table like that, whatever palette I end up with.

    gwbr54, you're a photoshop wizard! And bestyears, I love the print on those chairs in the foreground. I'm really taken with the idea of a coolish background to set off my hot pink and yellow. OK, let me attempt some gwbr54-style photoshopping and see what results...

    I think I was originally picturing this sort of palette, with cream walls and the furniture supplying all the color, and maybe the sofa in a complementary color to the chairs:


    But that's sort of meh. Not coherent.
    What if we add pale blue on the walls? Pretty, but doesn't really wow:

    In this one, the blue is too powdery-pale, but it does suggest a chocolaty brown would be great with the chairs, as forhgtv suggested. (Note the ottoman.)

    But then look what happens if the walls are slightly stronger and more aqua than powder blue:

    I think the stronger color on the walls really makes everything pop. What do you all think?

  • User
    12 years ago

    Oh man, I love bungalows and you've got yourself a real jewel. Our living room is 23 x 12 with a similar problem in regards to entries and windows.

    In regards to colors, I don't really have a suggestion except to keep it light. However, our house was full of dark ugly colors as well; the halls were actually very similar to that mustard color. A helpful tip we learned after applying about SIX coats of primer & paint to the cobalt blue kitchen/dining area is to have the store add 1 oz of black to the white primer. It covers the dark colors in one coat and keeps it from bleeding through to the new lighter paint colors. Worked like a charm!

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    lesterd, it's a Standard Homes Company kit. I don't think I'm planning to strip the woodwork at the moment. My previous house - just visible in the yellow chair phot at top - was a 1925 Craftsman foursquare with gorgeous unpainted dark woodwork. For the moment, I'm happy to live with painted woodwork in this one for a contrasting experience, though in a few years when I'm ready to tackle the mantel and a major kitchen remodel, I can see restoring the woodwork and bringing in more authentic bungalow notes. For the moment, I'm happy to choose colors according to whim rather than period, at least for the interior - though I may use one of those great bungalow mossy greens in the dining room, where I'll have a huge, mission-style oak sideboard. And yes, I'm afraid since my last house was the same period but BIG (much cheaper real estate market!), I have a lot of pieces scaled to that house, plus large things that came from my grandmother. I'm definitely trying not to *add* any more pieces, and certainly not any big ones, at this point. An advantage to this layout, at least, over some bungalow layouts I've looked at, is there can be a generous seating area in the living room without traffic having to go through it, since the front door is way to the side of the living room.

    loribee, I think my last post crossed in the ether with yours. I haven't ruled out creamy paint, but I'm thinking if I did that the room would have to be pulled together with a strong punch of color in the rug - which wouldn't be a bad idea.

    lukkiirish, thanks, and great tip for covering the dark colors! I'd been dreading that process.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Also, lesterd and lukkiirish, do you have any suggestions for managing entryway clutter when your front door opens right into the living room?

  • mjsee
    12 years ago

    I'm heading a completely different way than most of the posts with color...

    Take a look at the Ben Moore affinity color 'subtle' in some lights it reads a rich cream, in some a subtle yellow...I love it. Affinity 'mascarpone' fot the trim. Light, bright and airy! I'm sorry I cannot give you the color numbers...I'm traveling without my paint fan.

    If you wanted something richer than that...take a look at ben Moore Berkshire Beige. Another versatile color.

    And for your first exterior project---rip out those over-grown shrubs in front of the porch. Let that poor house (and hte siding!) breathe. You can see by the "kit house" photo you don't need shrubs there to ground the house. Live with it for the summer with nothing 9or a few annuals in the front bed) while YOU choose what goes in there this fall. (I'm seeing a weeping japanese maple and some other interesting low-growing plants...but I've no idea what your ag zone is.)

    GORGEOUS place. Have fun bringing it back to life!

    melanie

  • trailrunner
    12 years ago

    I like the darker blue the best and the crown mold as darker also sets it off in a frame, if you will. I would go with the turquoise color in the chairs. Can you see a trend in my suggestions :) ? I like the richer colors. I don't think that light is going to do it. Just my .02

    Photoshop is your friend. I would keep trying different colors from the rug and the print chairs till you get one that works. Make sure you have a nice contrast with the crown and voila . c

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Melanie, agreed about the plants. I plan to just do a cleanup and then watch what develops through the season so I can see what I really have. I'm in zone 7, btw. A Japanese maple would be great, though the old holly tree in the front yard is such a feature, I wouldn't want to compete with it. Anyway, I'll be too busy painting to make any hasty landscaping decisions!

  • User
    12 years ago

    I doubt my solution will help you because we have an attached garage with an entry door. I converted the hall coat closet into a mud room and ask everyone to enter via the garage door instead. Our house is a center hall colonial. The front door is located at one end of the center hall and the garage door is at the opposite end. The mud room is in the middle of the two so the few times a visitor has entered using the front door, I've just directed them down the hall to the mudroom to hang their coats or put their stuff down.

    In your situation, I'd suggest a tree bench which I think would look darling in your bungalow. This site below has a nice selection that varies in scale.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Tree Benches

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    That makes sense. I'd been thinking of a tree bench or hall tree. A fairly small-scaled one should just fit behind my front door. I'd also thought of looking for one of those wonderful craftsman sideboards that could sit to the left of the door, with its back to the seating area, and be a sort of screen for the entryway and a place to put down mail, keys, etc.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Craftsman sideboard

  • Happyladi
    12 years ago

    How about Ellen Kennon Buttercream? It's full spectrum paint, look it up if you aren't familiar with it. My daughter has this color and it's wonderful. She has lots of great colors.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I'll check it out - thanks! I've currently got about two dozen paint chips strewn about my room :-)

  • forhgtv
    12 years ago

    I added in your rug. I like the blue, but I like it with the light sofa. I tried it with a brown sofa and didn't like it as much. Is there a chance that you could use the rug somewhere else? It definitely limits your choices for other elements in the room, especially when combined with your existing fabrics.

  • lesterd
    12 years ago

    carinr, I love that sideboard! For coats etc, I was going to see a coat tree or a coat rack like the ones in the attached picture. We have a built in coat rack with full mirror below it - I'll attach a picture later. Ours faces you when you step into the door but it would work next to a door as well.

    Check out Sherwin Williams "Hubbard Squash" from their Arts and Crafts Palette. It's a gold color that works really well in varying amts of light.

    What about looking to darker reds for the wall paint? Check out Rembrandt Ruby - again SW Arts & Crafts.

  • nanjean68
    12 years ago

    This house looks exactly like the one my grandfather built on Long Island, NY probably around 1920. The outside columns of their house were stone as was the fireplace inside. Your house is a gem and I hope you can make it everything you want it to be.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Nanabella, cool, and thanks! So far I've found four other ones in of exactly the same design in nearby neighborhoods here.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    forhgtv, you're right about the rug being too much with the chairs, I think. It can definitely be used elsewhere, or I might decide to use it in the park of the living room that you'd walk through from the front door to the dining room, but not as part of the seating group by the fireplace. That way it would pick up the pink and (maybe) aqua that are in the room but would be a good 15' away from the yellow chair and so would not compete directly with it.

    lesterd, I will definitely have to go visit SW's A&C palette in person. I didn't know about it. Thanks! On darker reds, I'm not a fan just as matter of personal taste, and red plus the pink chairs would definitely not be a good thing. I *am* thinking of using a really RED red from BM's new full-spectrum line in my study at the other end of the house (i.e. the back bedroom). I'll keep you posted on that.

  • User
    12 years ago

    Those side boards are beautiful, love the craftsman style of the one you linked to. Gorgeous. You must be so excited, bungalows like this just oooze with potential. LOL

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I know! I'd hoped to find one with more original detail surviving, but it's also fun to be able to bring Craftsman details back into it.

  • bungalow_house
    12 years ago

    I have no advice for paint color here but I wanted to chime in about the layout and entrance. I had a similar room in a previous house. I had the couch floating facing the fireplace with chairs flanking the fireplace. Behind the couch I had a desk (which was really just a table). That was my landing place for keys, mail, etc. and it worked beautifully to separate the traffic from the conversation area and created a sort of hallway through to the kitchen. I also had an antique dresser to the right of the door as you walked in to hold mittens and such. The desk could get cluttered if I didn't stay on top of it, but I lived alone and was anal enough to keep it neat. :)

    Oh, and I have a round coffee table in my current living room and LOVE it. It's an antique dining table that we cut down to coffee-table height. Lots of space and no shin-banging on corners and really accessible from the sofa and chairs.

    Have fun with your new house! :)

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    bungalow_house, thanks! I have an antique partner's desk that would work very well in the set-up you describe and I might try it there as a space-divider. Trouble is, I know I'm *not* anal enough to keep it tidy, so I think I still need something by the door with some visual screening as a mail-dump area. I have so many assorted case goods that I know I can try different ones in different configurations until I have a solution that reigns in rather than exacerbating my clutter tendencies :-)

  • lazy_gardens
    12 years ago

    WOW - that's my bungalow! I managed several of them at one time as a slumlord.

    First thing - paint the walls with "high-hide white" (it's a pre-mix by Glidden and some other companies) to cover over the baby-poop brown. Then live with the white a bit until you make other color decisions.

    Pale yellow or a pale peachy-pink would look great. One of the under-rated colors of that period was a silvery blue-grey. Do a slightly darker color for the woodwork.

    For the entry way stuff, a hall bench thing or a storage desk right by the door works well. I have one of those hybrid Victorian desk.drawers/bookcase things. And a boot bench on the porch for removing mucky boots helps the mud problem.

    Examine the area above the fireplace carefully. You may have the wiring for sconces there.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    lazygardens, great idea about possible sconces near the fp. They were there in my old foursquare...hmmm! And an architect friend has offered to be on the lookout for great Craftsman-style lighting fixtures and get them for me cheap. Oh, the shopping possibilities!

  • Jeane Gallo
    12 years ago

    I'm voting for SW Rainwashed. It is a light to medium turquoise. With a chocolate brown sofa.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Ooh, will take a look. My architect friend in the neighborhood just lent me his big box of large-size SW paint chips!

    I have been reflecting on how sensible it would be to have a chocolate brown sofa. There'd be lots of scope for throw pillows to liven things up.

  • mjsee
    12 years ago

    Zone 7? Give me a holler when you are ready. You can email me via my profile.

    I'm glad you are going to watch what develops in the yard... that's EXACTLY the advice I give people when they come looking for help at the garden center where I work. Live with it for Spring and Summer...plant in the fall. A small weeping JM would NOT compete with that stunning holly...but in zone 7 "fall is for planting." by then you should know what you have in the yard. Have fun!

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Good to know. I'm a native of these parts but for the last 15+ years have lived and gardened (in a limited way) far to the north of here, so I need to readjust my seasonal expectations.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    OK, jeane_gallo, I found the Rainwashed swatch. It's reading as very gray to me. Is it in real life? I find myself more drawn to SW's Tidewater. But of course I'll have to see larger trial patches in situ really to know.

  • Jeane Gallo
    12 years ago

    Carinr, I don't think SW Rainwashed looks grayish in real life. You'll have to judge for yourself, but a lot of gals on here have used it. Maybe someone else will voice an opinion of it....

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    People out there on the internet do seem to looooove their Rainwashed! There are practically whole fan sites devoted to it! I'll definitely check it out.

  • CEFreeman
    12 years ago

    What a wonderful house!! You are so lucky to have found it.

    I'm in 7b, too, and have a 120 Japanese Maple collection. I have no shade whatsoever due to 2 different tornadoes. If you would like suggestions on JMs, I'd love to help. They come in so many different colors and shapes, and colors for ever season! You can compliment whatever color you take for the outside.

    I've gotta check out that Rainwashed, too.

    I have a Queen Anne settee. It's raspberry. I have no idea what to do with it. It's not my color, nor do I want to compliment it. I think I'm living OK with the drop cloths and cat fur on it.

    Love your house!!!!

    Christine
    Formerly CFMuehling

  • yayagal
    12 years ago

    Take a look at BM Whythe blue, it's got a hint of aqua and is so soothing.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Christine, :-) re drop cloths and cat fur. I will definitely be in touch when I get to the ornamental tree stage. (Was just over at the house lamenting the amount of cleanup to be done.)

    Yayagal, thanks for the tip on Whythe Blue! It certainly seems to be a favorite around the internets, too. A lot of people are showing it with strong, complementary warm colors.

    These are from my3dogs, helpfully showing both a warm-colored carpet and dog participation - and a really lovely front door, which is on my shopping list, too:


    Here is a link that might be useful: Whythe Blue roundup from House of Turquoise.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    All this discussion has got me rethinking my sofa plan. I'd planned to re-cover my well-loved, large, comfy sofa to go with the new living room decor. But I've been reflecting on just how well-loved (by dogs) the couch is, and thinking maybe it makes more sense for it to live in the informal sitting room at the back of the house, where it would be used for its primary current purpose (napping). And I was thinking of lesterd's advice to use smaller-scale furniture in a bungalow living room. And then I stopped by Room and Board and saw this sofa (the Loring):

    Chocolate! And so pretty! What do you think? It comes in a 78" option, which is a nice, modest size, but still with generous seating area. New sofa for what it would cost me to redo the old one?

    Here is a link that might be useful: Loring sofa

  • pricklypearcactus
    12 years ago

    I love the look of the Loring sofa! In fact, I'm hoping I might find a way to incorporate it into my living room (either in the 78" or the 59" size). Your home has lovely bones and I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

  • bestyears
    12 years ago

    I love the Loring sofa! Not feeling the chocolate though... seems it might be too overwhelming for the beautiful fabric on your other pieces?

  • louisianapurchase
    12 years ago

    First, I will admit to not reading every post but just had to chime in and say that I love the house. Second, my first thought was a blue to pick up the blue in your chair fabric and after seeing that last pic you posted that is definately what I would do. I think it would look divine. The Wyeth blue would look great too. With the first blue I think I might would do a plum sofa. With the Wyeth either a darker shade of blue or plum for the sofa. Or maybe for the sofa a really dark rich purple.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks, all. I've ordered some swatches of various R&B fabrics for the Loring, including dark brown, a deep plum, and a variety of aquas. This weekend I'm hauling some of my rugs over to the new house to start seeing what will work where.

  • loribee
    12 years ago

    How exciting~~~keep us posted!

  • Pipdog
    12 years ago

    I like that R&B sofa. We also have dogs so we opted for a cheaper but similar-looking alternative to the Loring, the Chloe Sofa. It's a little different in that it has tufting but it has similar sloped arms to the Loring.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Chloe sofa

  • mjsee
    12 years ago

    LOVE both the Loring and Chloe sofas! R&B stuff is very well-made.

  • maddybeagle
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Ooh, pipdog, I am definitely gong to have to see if any of the Macys near me have the Chloe on the floor so I can check it out. I went to R&B yesterday and was disappointed to find that they had the Loring chaise but not the sofa on the floor. The lines and look and back slope of the chaise were perfect, but I'm reluctant to commit to a sofa without sitting on the piece myself. One concern after checking the dimensions is that it might not be as deep as I'd like. Pipdog, if you happen to be near your Chloe with a tape measure, would you check for me how deep the seat is, from the front edge where your legs hang over to the back edge of the seat cushion where it meets the tufted back? Thanks!

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