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hippieindenial

Colour suggestions, please!

TheHostaCottage
14 years ago

Hi everyone,

I have a 1 1/2 storey home built in 1949. Our bedroom is on the upper level and is a pretty small space (pictured below).

The walls are currently an off white and the trim is white. What do you think would be a good wall colour for this space?

{{gwi:2078162}}

{{gwi:2078164}}

Thanks for your input!

Vanessa

Comments (28)

  • Shades_of_idaho
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Vanessa, From this picture it looks like you like blue. Are you wanting to start all over in a color or work whth the bedding you have?

    Heheheh we lived with our Tillie in a crate for a couple of years. She has finally decided her upside down four poster bed will work. As in a little drop leaf table for her hide away.

    What colors do you like and feel good in? Or I should say having around you. I am a green and purple person. Every one has their own colors that rock their boat. I would say whatever you do paint it will have to be all one color the way your ceiling is.

    AND I just have to comment I had the exact same dresser. I had to sell it to make room in our last small house.:^(((

    Chris

    Here is a link that might be useful: I Love this green and painted two houses inside in it.

  • TheHostaCottage
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for your reply, Chris. That is neat you had the same dresser!

    We actually don't have that comforter anymore and I'm not too picky on the colour scheme but I'm thinking a relaxing spa type colour. I am itching to buy new draperies and a duvet/duvet cover but am holding off until I choose the wall colour. The rest of the house was painted a really light green by the previous owner which reminds me of a spa.

    I saw BM Woodlawn Blue that I thought would be a nice tranquil colour for this space, but wanted some other ideas since I'm not too in touch with interior design!! lol
    Possible colours that I see in the space are blues, greens, beiges/browns, etc.

  • TxMarti
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I think a muted green, sage green, would look good with the black bed and is restful too. I also like golds. They brighten small spaces and would also look good with the black.

  • idie2live
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm another green freak. My new favorite is BM 'Baby Turtle'. On my monitor, the chip looks grayish, but IRL it is a lighter toned olive green. I also have a very soft, greyed down purple called 'Silverberry' by Behr.

  • teresa_nc7
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Love your bedroom, idie2live - very nice!
    Teresa

  • gardurnit
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I want to share something which I hope you all will pass to
    friends and maybe use for your work.

    I 've discovered that when you want to effect a change to a
    room there's one key method to follow. Just as when searching
    for an answer in science we use, what's called,the scientific
    method there is a method required to get the best results
    when making changes in the environment that you live or
    work in.

    Take photographs and work from them.

    I don't know how the human mind can overlook things when it
    lives or habituates in the same place day by day. But as
    it's easy, usually, for a friend to jump in and help you
    pick up when you hate to do it yourself it's the same kind
    of effect when you take a photo and see clearly for the first
    time what a room or area really looks like.

    So take plenty of digital photos from the vantage point of
    the places dear to you. If you're sitting down and want the
    area to look nice then take some photos where you see in
    the camera thesame scene you see with your eyes when sitting.

    Now in the above photo the first thought that came to me is
    this:
    You have a unique ceiling and corner. It might benefit by
    just lighting it from below with various types of light.
    I think it will open up the ceiling since it already slopes
    away from you the lighting will dramatically increase the
    apparant size of your ceiling.

    I doubt that you need this next idea but consider it.
    For $25 up to hundreds you can buy a wall washer of light.
    This usually, now, is made of LEDs in 3 colors and is
    settable as to the intensity and color. Nearly any color
    or changing colors can be made. I should think that a
    pale blue might be comforting.

    I know its possible to set some types of this kind of
    lighting to simulate the rising and setting Sun. The
    setting Sun's colors are the most invigorating to me.
    The deep brown/red/orange/golden colors at sunset are
    those I will remember best in my lifetime.

    HEre's a few links to the type of product I mentioned.

    Enjoy the fun of taking a photo and making changes to
    then shoot it again.

    This link takes you to google images:
    http://images.google.com/images?client=opera&rls=en&q=wall+washer+light+OR+lamp&sourceid=opera&oe=utf-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

    The rectangular device is for home use and ranges from
    $50 to $200 (about) I buy from China and get good service.
    Ebay seller from China are reputable just check their feedback.

    Look for
    wall washer*
    (include the * Asterisk)

    Or if that's too many hits of expensive items I found one seller listing this way for $100

    L.E.D. WALL WASHER FLOOD LIGHT

    They were in NY and their name is
    dennphil
    with 800 feedback and an amazing 100% satisfaction.
    price is $117 shipped or consider making him an offer although ebay doesn't provide that
    link. Sellers aren't unhappy if you're interested. Consider 10% or if you're very serious tell
    him and offer 20% less but find some way to make him happy. Consider looking at other
    items to buy or see what he's bought and if you can offer him something he's bought in
    the past offer it to him. Or ask him if he has a website. HE can avoid ebay fees if you buy
    from the website but don't ever mention that. Ebay looks for that kind of talk and threatens
    sellers. Just simply ask for a website where there might be a different price or different
    item at a different price.
    Also ask him if he has a video somewhere like youtube. IF so that shows you have a distinct interest
    in his products.

  • prairie-girl
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Vanessa,
    I'm a bit of a green fanatic myself, so I'm tempted to tell you to go green, but you need to figure out what will work for you.
    As it's a bedroom, you need to decide if you want it to feel warm and cozy (maybe if you live in a cool climate) or cool and breezy (if you live somewhere hot). You might want it to feel peaceful, or spicy - depending on your tastes.
    There are lots of sites out there that let you input your own picture of your room, then you can choose to overlay different paint colours to see what will work in that space. It's not perfect, but gives you somewhere to start.
    I have yet also to pick right 'the first time'. Usually I end up with splotches of different paints in different parts of my walls before I find he right shade.
    gardurnit has some interesting ideas with regards to lighting as well.

    Good luck! I love paint - it is so easy to do, and can make such a difference in a space.
    ~Missy

  • buddyrose
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My favorite color in my cottage is the blue in my powder room and dining room. I almost wished I put it in my bedroom.

    But I also love the soft green of my bedroom. I painted my ceiling the same color so the room would look larger.

    Both BM colors: Palladium Blue and Van Alen Green:


  • TheHostaCottage
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Buddyrose,
    I love both of your colours.
    I visited Benjamin Moore last weekend to get some colour swatches and will be taking the plunge next week.

    Here are some more pics of the upstairs rooms (which are identical but flipped around) and the hallway/stairs when we first moved in last November. The area has changed quite a bit since then in terms of furnishing but the wall colours are the same.

    {{gwi:2078167}}
    Spare room

    {{gwi:2078168}}
    Hallway facing my bedroom

    {{gwi:2078170}}
    Hallway facing the other direction

    {{gwi:2078172}}
    Stairs (hard to fit anything up them)

  • TheHostaCottage
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is how it turned out:

    {{gwi:2078174}}

    {{gwi:2078176}}

    {{gwi:2078177}}

    {{gwi:2078178}}

    The colour is BM Labrador Blue.

  • idie2live
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That is a beautiful color! Good job. Is that the original door on the right, or a replacement? I love it. I have those hollow core doors in my hall and I would love to be able to upgrade to something like you have.

  • TxMarti
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow! I love it. What color is it?

  • TheHostaCottage
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks!
    It's Labrador Blue by Benjamin Moore.

    That door on the right is a replacement. I haven't changed the door on the left so I don't know how original it is, but I like the old handle on it.

  • prairie-girl
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That looks beautiful, hippieindenial! Looks like a lovely peaceful space. I've always thought that pale blue and white together look so classy and calm. :o)

    Loretta, you can modify flat doors so they look like panel doors by getting creative with molding. You basically make a 'picture frame' (or two or three depending on how many you want) with the molding, and glue that on to the flat door, and then paint it all all the same colour. If you use caulking to fill any cracks before you paint it should give you a nice finished look.

    I couldn't find a tutorial for doors, but I found one for putting 'cheater panels' on walls. If you searched longer, you may be able to find an online tutorial.

    ~Missy

    Here is a link that might be useful: wall panels

  • idie2live
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Missy, you are not gonna believe this! Today I was in HD picking out molding to practice on my closet door! I actually had it all picked out, on my way to the checkout, then decided I wasn't in the mood to 'figure it out'. After seeing that webpage, maybe I'll give it a try next week.

  • TxMarti
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh duh! I saw it at the bottom of your picture just now as I was checking this thread. Sorry.

  • prairie-girl
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That's very cool, Loretta. I want to see pics. :o)

  • User
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I use almost all Behr paints, and have some favorites. The one in our Massachusetts bedroom is FRESH PRALINE, and it leads into the sunroom LILTING LAUGHTER --which is the softest color imaginable to use with white floor to ceiling sheers and white woodwork in the sunroom. Our living room, both in Alabama and in Massachusetts, is Behr's WARM TERRA COTTA. It is a flower pot color by day, and then a burnt red like an old barn by lamp light at night. With dark woods and white trim and green leafed big container plants, it is a very cozy comfortable hospitable space to sit with visitors. In our family room I again used white satin enamel ULTRA PURE WHITE woodwork, with MELTED CHOCOLATE (it looks good enough to eat) below the chair rail and ONLY NATURAL above it. That room is 34' long and has squares of picture molding in which I hung old classic travel posters framed, and in between there are swing arm wall lamps which brush the wall with light. It is a LONG room. I'm still working on it.

    Upstairs are two bedrooms which no one stays in, but one is called The Girls' Room, the other is Sister Anna's room when she comes to visit us from the convent. In between is a small bathroom. I painted both rooms Behr's THREADED GOLD, a very pale earthy ochre kind of yellow. I've even put it in an 8x9 study in my old house, over a white base coat I rag rolled one coat on, and honestly the walls sort of DISAPPEAR with this uneven paint treatment! Rolled or brushed on smoothly, it is like filling your room with molten sunshine. Nothing about it is a harsh yellow. In a semigloss enamel version, it is a great yellow for a kitchen. I also painted only one wall in a small bedroom a soft lavender, the wall opposite the windows, and a tint of it bounces back on the other surfaces.

    Sorry to say that for me, blue is nice for others, but for me it seems to eat up the light in a room, and can be very depressing. Green is okay if you find the right way to make it appear neutral. I like my greens in living plants. In our Alabama cottage, I painted Kilz over the avocado green in the front bedroom, and even with no further effort the room is much more cheerful and larger. Soon I will finish with the color coat, probably FRESH PRALINE since hubby dearly LOVES that color.

    I might have to try some of the Benjamin Moore colors being shown in this thread, because they do look great. Tiny bottles of paint samples are worth the price to test.
    I'm hoping I can upload photos of a painted room from hubby's home in Massachusetts (he is from there, I am from Alabama, we are married only 3 years now). Bringing that Cape Cod cottage into the modern era is a challenge I relish.
    [IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/rhs7xx.jpg[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/ohingp.jpg[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/292aa75.jpg[/IMG]
    [IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/fjgd9v.jpg[/IMG]

  • User
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    don't know why it did not work this time. I will have to try something else. sigh...

  • Shades_of_idaho
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    OH Vanessa your room turned out lovely. Sorry I did not post sooner my internet has been not playing nice with me. I love the crisp white with the cool blue. Looks so calm.

    I was going to do the door molding project at our last house and even saved the frames from behind the door mirrors I buy often and cut up for my mosaic. But alas we moved just in time to save me the effort and out roods here have a design already on them. I am considring it for our hallway. It is such a long hall and I thin it might make it look shorter.

    Loretta isn't it you that has the great chair rail in your bedroom? Was it hard to do? I was thinking chair rail with boxes /frames below.

    Chris

  • idie2live
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    moccasinlanding, it sounds like you have some beautiful colors in your homes. For me, picking colors is the hardest part.

    Chris, yes I have chairrail in both bedrooms and my living room. The hardest part was when I had to do a miter cut on the 15' wall. The corners were easy because I used the corner blocks.

  • User
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Chris says, "Loretta isn't it you that has the great chair rail in your bedroom? Was it hard to do? I was thinking chair rail with boxes /frames below. "

    Putting the molding below the chair rail is probably better if you wish to ever rethink the upper wall decor placement. In the family room that is 34' long, hubby put the moldings above the chair rail, without any placement being centered opposite the fireplace or windows on the fireplace wall, which is opposite. In placing framed art in the rectangular moldings (there are 5 of them) I had to consider their shapes...and ended up choosing some great classic travel posters. In between the molding frames, I mounted a series of 5 swing arm wall lamps which are plugged into the outlets controlled by a wall switch. (Why do contractors think that is a good idea. I HATE IT)....

    So what I am getting at is, put the series of molding "frames" below the chair rail, especially if you have little space for any furniture to block the view.

  • User
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ok, I think I solved the problem...was using the code for Forums and Message Boards, when I should have used the code for Websites! Who knew...


    The living room in WARM TERRA COTTA by Behr


    The study is a combination of LILTING LAUGHTER on top
    and FRESH PRALINE below, with woodwork in ULTRAPUREWHITE, all Behr


    LILTING LAUGHTER Behr in the sunroom is very delicate.


    The 34' long family room has Behr ONLY NATURAL above chair rail, and MELTED CHOCOLATE satin below but it is barely visible here. Note the moldings along the walls above chair rail. Bundles of Bellawood ash hardwood "seasoning" before installation. I'm almost done with the paint job.

  • idie2live
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    moccasinlanding, what a beautiful home! I have serious sunroom envy, lol. You have some beautiful color choices.
    The framed boxes above the chair rail are really nice. It takes a lot of effort to keep them level and square.

  • User
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Idie, thank you. I wrote one reply and GWeb ate it. So for my DH, I say thank you. He added this room on all by himself, except for the wiring. The electrician put the bottom plug of every receptible onto a wall switch, so DRATS, you encounter frustration every time. But I've managed by plugging all the swing arm wall lamps into those plugs. Before I learned how it was set up, I cussed every time I vacuumed.
    DH is an engineer, and a New Englander, and he likes the sort of Colonial styles, and he is learning that does not always mean formal.
    The old TV shown in this shot was replaced by a 37" flat panel HDTV Vizio, which we love. The end tables used as small coffee tables are gone, replaced with two wrought iron/glass Pottery Barn tables in the Tanner style.
    The sectional is second hand from our daughter; we gave her a new one in her family room, and opted for her old one. I have the cotton canvas fabric up in MA to make slip covers for it when we return there in May. Since he chooses to sell this house later on, we'd have no place to move a new sectional at that time, so this will do nicely. When it is covered, at least.

  • TxMarti
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, your house is beautiful moccasinlanding. I love your style and color choices.

  • idie2live
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Moc, do you have any more photos of the sunroom?

  • sherwoodva
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hippie, your BR turned out wonderful. I love the colors. Our 1938 house is VERY similar. Same staircase, same sloped ceiling on the second floor. No bath up there, so I use the room as my sewing/craft room. We even have the same "slanted" doors, which are for small closets where we store out of season clothes.

    Enjoy your "new" BR.

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