Large room with little natural light

14 years ago

I have a problem...I'm a paint addict! This forum is the first place I go for advice! Can you say constant lurker?? We are currently re-doing a bathroom/bedroom (well, completely adding the bathroom, and paint/renovate bedroom), but you know how it goes, you start one thing and it goes into another! Anyway, our living room is in the center of our very late '70's house and gets very little natural light. The current paint color is Gray Wisp (aka Silver Sage) and you can't tell what color it is! Amazing how the light makes such a difference. My question is, with this issue, should I go with a more saturated color (I'm not afraid of color) or with something completely neutral? My entryway is Valspar "Toadstone" which I love...and is very neutral, so I don't think that's a problem. There is a large stone FP at one end. I would like to get a new sofa, but the current one isn't that old and is a light gold (was a sectional until the dog ate part of a cushion....now it's separated! However, I love so many colors out there I am pretty open to whatever. We tried several different greens and they were terrible. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I may be able to post a pic later today if that would help. I nearly always use BM paint, sometimes SW; the reason I used Valspar was by paint suggestion in House Beautiful several months ago....love House Beautiful, and gosh I miss Domino!

Thanks!!

Kathy

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Comments (3)

parma42
14 years ago
Hi Kathy, I'm glad you came out of lurking, lurkdom?. :)

Pics would really help us!
postum
14 years ago
Hi Kathy,
I have a living room that gets mostly north light and it really drains the color out. Just plain white looks blue/grey in this kind of light. I would try some warmer tones - hard to know what to suggest without some pics. What color is Toadstone? love the name :-)
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gigi7
Original Author
14 years ago
Sorry I haven't been back for a few hours...had to go to my Mom and Dad's house to get bids on refinishing wood floors from the '50's. They died within 5 days of each other, so have to clean out and sell 56 years of life..but that will be another story altogether (and I will be back to ask for advice on that one!) Still waiting on daughter dear to help take a pic....yes, north is the exact key word here, postum....the doors (actually a wall of French doors on the South, but too shaded for sunshine) get the natural light and are just not a factor really.

postum: Toadstone is a celadon/beige...very pale, but still a lovely (with not much light!) celery-ish neutral. Yes, the name is fun!! Thank "House Beautiful" for the suggestion, I forgot which issue. Totally their suggestion. Need to look that up! My dining room, directly next to the entryway, is (grasp yourself) BM Peacock Blue..I need to say, that I have my grandmother's furniture that reads a pale celery color with gold rub....yeah, I know, I know....she loved the whole girly thing and through the years, the finish has probably changed a little...but with the turquoise and the room with the Toadstone, it works...did I digress or what??? Oh, well...I started this whole mess....does anyone sort of feel the aubergine or (can you say F&B Brinjal?) or BM Branchport Brown thing? I am wondering if I need total saturation since it's a huge room. I can tell you that I ADORE green, but every single color that I've tried (most from suggestions here from others) have not worked. ONLY due to the lighting, I'm convinced. No question on that! I'm not a purple person, but, as Greg Kinnear said in "You've Got Mail" : I think there's something.....there."

Translation: HELP!
Still trying to get pic help...and thank you for the replies!
kathy