# Decorating HELP!



## jkrodger (Jul 10, 2007)

My husband and I just moved into our first house and painted this weekend. I had a beautiful vision for the living room with a beige color on the walls with an accent wall, our new couch (in a variety of browns), etc, etc. Well when we went to buy the paint, my husband picked out a color that was different than what I originally wanted. We squabbled back and forth because I wanted to go 1-2 shades lighter than what he wanted and finally I let him win.

And I was right, the color my husband picked out for the living room is WAY too dark. Our master is a nice brownish color and I hated it at first but think that with our safe green and white comforter and light curtains it will be workable. However, now our entire living room is a warm brown with white trim and our beautiful oak floors. I HATE IT! I was almost in tears because the beautiful plans I had for the living room were being destroyed. 

Ok, here's part of the problem, My husband loves the color. It's going to completely clash with our current furniture and it won't look very good with the couch we were wanting to buy either. He's fine with us repainting it but I really don't want to completely repaint the whole room, or eliminate the color that he likes (even though the presence of that color makes me now hate our master). Anyways, I was thinking of keeping one wall that color as our accent wall and painting the other 3. So I have 2 questions: 

1) What color should I coordinate with the med. brown? 

2) Which wall should I leave as the accent? 


A brief description of the room. The room is 17 x 13 (I think). The first wall has the front door and a window. Next to that is a wall with 2 windows, side-by-side. This wall is where the couch will go (actually, if we get the sectional it will go in the corner so it will be on both walls mentioned above). Next to that wall there is a door to the kitchen right in the middle. When we do our remodel, we plan to create a bar here in between the kitchen and living room by making one of those walls a half wall and putting a counter on it. Finally, the other long wall (where the TV will go) has got a coat closet and a door leading into the office. 

The previous owner did two accent walls (the couch wall and the kitchen wall) in dark red and the other 2 in grey. I would post pictures but the movers packed my camera cord and just called to say they'll be a day late!

Please help!


----------



## jkrodger (Jul 10, 2007)

*found some pictures!*

ok, here's the kitchen wall and part of the couch wall in her red color.










here's the LR when it was grey, this is the front door wall and to the left is the couch wall again.










also, the color my husband picked was Behr's Toasted Wheat.

I'm thinking a light blue on 3 of the walls...but which wall should be the accent wall?


----------



## cibula11 (Jan 6, 2007)

We have accent walls in our house and they are shades of the same color. So take whatever the current color is on the wall and find a color that is 3 or 4 shades lighter and paint it that color (colors on the same swatch) That way you will have no doubt that the two colors will blend nicely.


----------



## fierysun (Aug 2, 2007)

You might want to try buying a sample can of the paint if your paint store does that. It's usually between $3-5. I know Sherwin Williams does this. It's a joke in my family that my Mom is trying to set the record for number of sample cans of paint purchased at one store. She's on 22 I believe. One of the rooms in their house has a bunch of painted squares as you can imagine.

Also, take a look at the Color Calculator Flash application on this site. When you launch it, one of the features is to change the triangle configuration to complimentary. This might give you some ideas for color combinations.

Good Luck


----------



## jkrodger (Jul 10, 2007)

cibula11 said:


> We have accent walls in our house and they are shades of the same color. So take whatever the current color is on the wall and find a color that is 3 or 4 shades lighter and paint it that color (colors on the same swatch) That way you will have no doubt that the two colors will blend nicely.


Yeah, the only problem with that is that the color isn't super dark, just too dark for the room and the look I was going for. I believe he chose "Toasted Wheat" from Behr. So 3 shades lighter is going to pretty much be an off-white.


----------



## jkrodger (Jul 10, 2007)

fierysun said:


> You might want to try buying a sample can of the paint if your paint store does that. It's usually between $3-5. I know Sherwin Williams does this. It's a joke in my family that my Mom is trying to set the record for number of sample cans of paint purchased at one store. She's on 22 I believe. One of the rooms in their house has a bunch of painted squares as you can imagine.
> 
> Also, take a look at the Color Calculator Flash application on this site. When you launch it, one of the features is to change the triangle configuration to complimentary. This might give you some ideas for color combinations.
> 
> Good Luck


Thanks, we're definitely going to buy a sample can(s) before we paint next. We were on a tight timeline and wanted to buy all the paint and supplies at once (10% off coupon for Home Depot).


----------



## kberk (Aug 6, 2007)

*Decorating ideas*

I just wanted to share a place to get some GREAT decorating ideas..

www.athome.com/kimstevens


----------



## jkchapp2 (Aug 28, 2007)

I suggest leaving the darker color on the wall where the t.v. will go and the other three two shades lighter. There is a technique that you could use on the darker paint if it really is unbearable. With a white rag, dab on glaze in a "Buff" Color. There are actually various diferent ways to apply it, just suggested the simpliest. This will tone-down the color. This is NOT sponge painting!


----------



## Kathleen H (Sep 21, 2007)

Choosing the right color scheme can be a difficult task, sometimes the color looks great on the color chart but it can be an entirely different story once it gets painted on the wall. Also sometimes it may be necessary to mix two different paints in order to get the desired color that you are looking for.

Kathleen H
how to get the perfect


----------



## rk_king2004 (Jun 23, 2006)

Let's face it; we've all got to start somewhere when it comes to home decorating ideas. If you’ll on a limited budget, you can start by looking through magazines, and catalogs. 

Home decorating ideas often use elegant materials like marble floors, formal fabrics, and polished wood, such as mahogany, teak and oak. From the family room to the bathroom, your guests will be impressed with your home decorating ability.

You can find a lot of home decorating ideas at this site

____________________
interior decorating ideas


----------

