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wncang

Help with great room paint colors and window treatments, please!

wncang
10 years ago

We are buying a house in June, if everything works out. We have it under contract. We want to to paint the interior before we move in. Here are photos of the great room. The great room has maple floors. Currently, the walls and ceiling are painted flat white. The kitchen has maple cabinets and maple floors, grey counter tops and grey back splash. What BM color would you recommend for the walls? I would like a neutral color that will be fairly light, but still have some depth. Would you paint the ceiling also? It's an awful lot of flat white.
Also, the windows currently have vertical blinds with a valance. I hate those things. Any ideas regarding window treatments? Please ignore the furnishings, wall art, etc. Those belong to the current owner.
I'll have to post another couple of photos in another message, I can't figure out how to post multiple photos. Sorry.

This post was edited by ncangie on Wed, May 8, 13 at 15:39

Comments (14)

  • wncang
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    other side of great room

  • wncang
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    kitchen

  • My3dogs ME zone 5A
    10 years ago

    Here are your other 2 pics.

    Edited to add that I removed them when I saw that you have just put them here.

    This post was edited by my3dogs on Wed, May 8, 13 at 15:48

  • nosoccermom
    10 years ago

    Do you have any rugs or furniture that need to be incorporated?

  • wncang
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I have a couple of club chairs that will be incorporated. The chairs are a print pattern, cream color background with green fern looking leaves, and some brown and pale blue accents. Cream and green are the predominate color of the chairs. I don't have a way to post the chair photos. The remainder of furniture will eventually be purchased. Again, thanks for your help. I have a difficult time envisioning the look of a room.

  • Tmnca
    10 years ago

    We chose BM Mascarpone for our first floor stairway and hall - it is a lovely warm white! It is light enough to be fresh and bright (we have a townhouse so only windows on the ends of the long rectangle) yet it is not the flat boring dead white that it was painted when we bought it.

    Our place also had those hideous vertical blinds (PVC I think), we gave them away on craigslist and put ivory sheers up on the living room (planning to put bamboo blinds up under when budget allows) and white faux wood 2" blinds on the kitchen window, textured white curtains in the bedroom and natural unbleached linen curtains int he office.

  • joaniepoanie
    10 years ago

    My kitchen cabs are maple and my granite/floor are gray. We painted our LR in BM London Fog and I like it alot. Our accent colors are gold/tan, but you could pick a green that goes well with whatever gray you pick and do accent walls or other surrounding rooms. In my case (center hall colonial) we did the foyer/stairs/upstairs hall in a light gold/tan. The kitchen is a darker version of the gold/tan. The LR is light gray (London Fog) the DR off LR is 2 chips darker as is the FR--Plymouth Rock. The powder room is on same chip but darker--Waynesboro Taupe. I kept all the ceilings white as well as trim. I felt daring doing accent walls/different colors on same floor, etc...but it coordinates and came out great...I love it. Maybe start with the green in your chairs and then go around the fan deck and find a coordinating gray.

  • kimwebs
    10 years ago

    After agonizing for a year over paint colors to neutralize my red brick fireplace, orange Spanish Hickory wood floors, maple color kitchen cabinets, I finally went with Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige in the living/dining and Latte in the kitchen. Trim is Alabaster. Oh my goodness, it neutralized (in a fantastic way!) and made lovely all the wood tones and brick. The Sherwin Williams crew told me that the Kilim Beige color strip is the most neutralizing of all colors. I know the word "neutral" sounds so boring, but trust me, it is gorgeous! The alabaster color for trim seemed like a very "brown" white, but it is also perfect. My painter recommended it. Before, I had the stark white trim. My decor is fall colors - greens, orange, gold, brown.

  • wncang
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for your very helpful responses. I wonder if we should paint the ceiling as well. On Houzz, lots of ceilings are painted the same color as the walls. If I go with a lighter beige such as kilim beige or bm accessible beige, should I paint the ceiling the same, leave it white, or maybe go with a white that has some color, such as bm marscapone. It's nice to have so many options, but so easy to overthink.

  • kimwebs
    10 years ago

    I'm right there with you on the overthinking! That's what this forum is all about - helping when we have finally figured it all out! Definitely paint the ceiling the same as the walls! Painting both ceiling and walls the same makes the whole room feel larger. The only exception to this would be if you chose a very dark wall color, then you would go a couple shades lighter of that same color on the ceiling.

  • randita
    10 years ago

    A few other popular SW neutrals worth considering are Believable Buff, Macadamia, and Relaxed Khaki. Macadamia and Relaxed Khaki may be darker than you are looking for, but you could go up one lighter on the same strip or else cut them 50/50 with white.

  • randita
    10 years ago

    Regarding window treatments, for a casual look I think faux wood blinds or Roman shades would look nice. For a more formal look, a decorative rod with floor length grommet curtains would be attractive-maybe in a linen fabric. Bed, Bath and Beyond has a good collection of rods and grommet curtains.

  • wncang
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Gosh, thanks for all of the help. I am leaning towards faux wood blinds for the window. The wood around the windows is stained. Would white or stained wood look better?
    Someone asked me about any furniture I'm working with. The upholstery on this ottoman is a dead ringer for my club chairs.


    Again, I greatly appreciate your help.

    Here is a link that might be useful: [upholstery[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-living-room-traditional-living-room-chicago-phvw-vp~193251)

    This post was edited by ncangie on Fri, May 10, 13 at 2:37

  • nosoccermom
    10 years ago

    What about the paint color like the one in the photo you linked to?

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