# Help with paint color ideas!



## Blondesense (Sep 23, 2008)

My best piece of advice is to get some magazines, (or a website with lots of pics) page throught them, and see what you like.

And FWIW, adding some pics to your post is a good way to get the discussion flowing.


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## mdbutterfield (Sep 5, 2012)

Here is a picture of our couches ... and carpet color ... Not the best picture but it will have to do for now. Below are pictures of the layout.


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## mdbutterfield (Sep 5, 2012)

I found some very old pictures from when we purchased the house ... The carpets, wall colors and front door are different but layout has stayed the same! 

Any color ideas on how to make the kitchen and living room flow are GREATLY appreciated!! I am SO unsure of what I want to do!

The kitchen is currently yellow and the livingroom is a sage green (2 walls) and beige (other 2 walls) ... I currently HATE it! 

I am planning to re-do the kitchen cabinets espresso ... but would cosider white if I find the right color ... 

Thank you everyone!!


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## KevinPh (May 25, 2012)

For continuity, painting all the walls the same color is best. Many exceptionally designed homes have the same paint color in almost all the rooms and use the color of furniture, accent pieces, pillows, window treatment and artwork to bring out the color differentiation. Sarah Sasanka, architect and author of The Not So Big House and many others, often uses light beige walls throughout the home, but other wall treatments to provide the drama. For instance, a faux-stone or faux-brick wall in the kitchen or on the half-wall would provide a great contrast. I often scour through her books for inspiration.

To decide on the right shade for the wall, many paint companies have on-line programs where you can upload a photo and then change the color of the wall to determine your preference.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

I do not wholeheartedly disagree with Kevin and if you are not sure, using a single neutral color on walls and ceilings throughout a home will certainly not get you in trouble. And as suggested, use color accents in pillows, art and things to make changes. Then take a nap because it does get BORING.

I could make your rooms seem much larger just by playing with color flow and much bolder values of color. I might have to change at least some of your ceilings from white to something else. Depending on how tricky I wanted to be and how much I also played with lighting? That ceiling fan, for example is really reinforcing your low ceilings to an uncomfortable point and those lights on it in the center of the room are doing no real good. You could distribute the light where you could really use it with some floor or table lamps or even a clever sconce or something. 

White ceilings and an elaborate multi-bulb ceiling fixture right in the middle of the room really date back to the days of gaslight fixtures when they had to be there less you burn the house down. And you needed as much light reflected from them on a white background as possible. Nothing in a home makes less sense with the exception of perhaps the evolution of the old icebox. You open a humungous 9,000 cubic foot thing to grab a can of soda. Why not have smaller distributed refrigerators? How often, for example do you open yours for meat compared to milk or something to drink? Let's move on please. 

I could make your living room look 400x400 with a glimmering hopeful bedroom off of it. Just playing with paint. And if you were a client we would talk about when and how you use the different rooms so I knew about color of light and your color rendering index for the times you are in the room. 

The idea to take some sharper pictures and color correct them is great. Then do put them into one of the simulators. I use Benjamin Moore's the most but they all work the same. Color Impact from Tiger Color in Oslo is my fave go to exploration tool. And of course www.easyrgb.com is free and great if you take Blondsense's advice and scour magazines. Pick a color pixel from a photo you like, run the rgb code through easyrgb and it will kick out the four closest paint names, swatches and numbers from the company whose virtual painter you are using. 

And if you are not sure? Try one of those paint samplers or a quart of something. People like me and interior designers can get you large 8x8 swatches of things for free. A real paint store will sometimes order them for you too. I have a masters in fine arts with a concentration in theoretical and applied color theory and have been working with it for decades at times to make a living. I cannot make a decision based on those tiny strips and chip things. And those who think they can pick colors in the store are absolutely psychotic and delusional. You have to take some home. And you know, a better idea if you shop at a real paint store is to borrow the whole wall full of color in the form of a fan deck or two. They will gladly lend you one. 

Think about working with an interior designer. They are not just for the rich and I have enjoyed all that I have worked with and especially those who helped make my interiors special. Most work mainly off commissions of wholesale things they buy for you and I have always ended up cheaper than if I tried to buy retail myself. Of course in color consulting they and architects are my clients so it works out. 

Have fun. Sometimes small little houses like yours are the most enjoyable. I always loved working on them.


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## mdbutterfield (Sep 5, 2012)

KevinPh said:


> For continuity, painting all the walls the same color is best. Many exceptionally designed homes have the same paint color in almost all the rooms and use the color of furniture, accent pieces, pillows, window treatment and artwork to bring out the color differentiation. Sarah Sasanka, architect and author of The Not So Big House and many others, often uses light beige walls throughout the home, but other wall treatments to provide the drama. For instance, a faux-stone or faux-brick wall in the kitchen or on the half-wall would provide a great contrast. I often scour through her books for inspiration.
> 
> To decide on the right shade for the wall, many paint companies have on-line programs where you can upload a photo and then change the color of the wall to determine your preference.


Thank you for your advice! I have considered doing one color throughout the house simply because I lack any kind of decorating skills and I am scared of making the same mistake I made when we first moved in ... choosing hideous paint colors that just made the house look worse!

I appreciate your advice


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## mdbutterfield (Sep 5, 2012)

sdsester said:


> I do not wholeheartedly disagree with Kevin and if you are not sure, using a single neutral color on walls and ceilings throughout a home will certainly not get you in trouble. And as suggested, use color accents in pillows, art and things to make changes. Then take a nap because it does get BORING.
> 
> I could make your rooms seem much larger just by playing with color flow and much bolder values of color. I might have to change at least some of your ceilings from white to something else. Depending on how tricky I wanted to be and how much I also played with lighting? That ceiling fan, for example is really reinforcing your low ceilings to an uncomfortable point and those lights on it in the center of the room are doing no real good. You could distribute the light where you could really use it with some floor or table lamps or even a clever sconce or something.
> 
> ...


 
WOW! Thank you SO much for your advice! It was VERY helpful!

I get so overwhelmed when I start grabbing those little paint color cards ... Our home was built in 1924 so it is definitely very dated! I wish we had the budget to re-do the light fixtures! The sad thing is ... I am pretty sure the ceiling fan and two of the four ceiling lights were put into the home before we purchased it! It was a "flipped" home. I find it funny that you mentioned that the ceiling fan "is really reinforcing your low ceilings to an uncomfortable point" because people are constantly hitting their heads on the pulls chains and sometimes the actual light casings! Yes, it is THAT low! 

This is our first home and I want SO badly to enjoy and be proud of it! When we first bought the home I immediately ran to home depot and bought two colors (sage and beige) for the livingroom and bright yellow for the kitchen ... 

I am going to take your advice and ask a paint store (Sherwin Williams probably) for a fan deck of colors. I plan to purchase a color for one room at a time so that I can be sure that the colors "flow."

I wish I had your expertise to help me choose colors to open the rooms up! 

Do you mind me asking if you still do color consulting? I noticed from your profile that you are in the Oregon area. I am in SW Washington!

Thank you again for your help!


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