Winter always temps me to play with color and our living room needs a face lift, it's been 3 yrs. since it was painted the coffee with cream color and brick red, which I was happy with till now. Note to self: never use flat paint with big sloppy dog! I painted every room before we moved in, and that's my excuse but it's a pain to clean so my winter project is giving this space a upgrade and trying to restore the bungalow feeling it never had! This poor house has been neglected for many years, if only you could see the state it was in when we bought it, every room was white, and dirty! The only thing I haven't painted was the ceilings, I hate them, and one day, I will come up with a fix for them! The red wall behind the couch will either get painted or papered, which might be easier than painting over the red and wall paper has made a comeback! :)
My hope for this good size room, which is open to the dining room ( that is brick red on one wall and coffee with cream on the other) is to make it lighter, with only the one window plus door light, it's not very bright in here. I'm thinking a lighter cream color maybe? Any ideas? Most of my furniture is black with other black accents in both rooms.
If you know of any cottage decorating sites that might help, let me know and please feel free to offer any ideas that will help make this space lighter and more cottage-ish. I'm especially interested in changing the look of the leather couch, something to tone it down a bit? So, now you see it, hopefully in a month or so, I'll have a after tour and a bungalow that no longer begs for attention!
Since Black is the main base of your "things" a lighter creme would look nice and still give it a homey feel. maybe do the walls a shade darker than what you could paint the trim... Thats the beauty of paint you dont like you can always paint again(I have been known to do that when a color didnt turn out as I thought it would on my walls and natural light...
ReplyDeleteOf course, my first thoughts would be to add touches of green....A beautiful sage color green would look great with the walls....I too have a LOT of black in our home and the green just has a way of lighting up the room...
ReplyDeleteWhatever you choose to do, I know that it will look great when you are finished...
hugs
I think it is beautiful the way it is but I understand your desire to lighten up a bit. My first thought to cottage is white white white for the furniture, maybe you could slipcover the sofa. Burlap would be cute in pillows, tableclothes etc. Can't wait to see what you do!!
ReplyDeletePam
Hello Sue,
ReplyDeleteYour new 2012 blog look is wonderful!
Your room looks good to me. My sister has her living/dining painted almost exactly the same. She has a cream colored couch and it lightens it up.
If you are going "cottage" style, I agree with you to lighten the walls with light creams or a parchment color. It would definitely brighten the room and make a great start. Then maybe once you see the new wall color you will be able to get a good idea for the rest.
It sounds like a fun project!
Best wishes.
Hugs,
Terri
Love the way your blog looks, Sue! And I think your living room is so pretty, but I understand the need to give it a lighter look. I'll agree with the others on a lighter cream color. I'm like you--I'm so glad that wallpaper is making a comeback~so that is a good option for the wall, too. Like shug, I'd add a little bit of green somewhere, too. I'm anxious to see what you do to it!!
ReplyDeleteSue, Country Living magazine usually has some great cottage decorating ideas.
ReplyDeleteAs you know there are many variations of the colors creme or white. Living in a darker house myself, the lighter the tone of the cream color the better. I don`t like the starkness of plain ol` white. I have 3 big dogs and semi gloss was the way to go for us. Much easier to clean.
There are new paints now that will cover the red paint in two coats (or so the manufacturers say). I have my doubts.
Go to Pinterest honey!!! :) Pastel beachy colors would give it that cottage look and feel!! I really dont think they would go well with the black though....so the cream sounds really good and maybe you could paint some of the paintable furniture too. Good luck!!
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