If you have a "great room"-paint color choice?

[yoopermom]

We've been in this house four months, and the drab neutral color that runs the entire length of the living area/dining area/kitchen/hall/laundry room is driving me nuts! DH is more than willing to repaint, but insists we need to paint it all another neutral (like beige) since all of the "living space" runs together/can be seen from one end to the other. This same color would go around the kitchen cabinets, etc. He thinks we should save the "real" colors for the two bedrooms and bath on the same floor. (The floors are very light maple, kitchen cabinets and window/door trim are a warm hickory, if that matters. There is tons of natural east and southern light.)

I, OTOH, love color, but would be willing to go with something in the gray/green/brown family (aka fairly neutral, but still with some "life"). I love this palate, for example:
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/hom...-by-collection/color-forecast/2015/chrysalis/
or the "arts and crafts" section here:
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/hom...historic-collection/interior-historic-colors/

So has anyone painted a great room, or series of connected room the same color that wasn't beige and are glad they did it?

TIA!

Terri

 

[nkereina]

We have a great room and did a very light tan on all the walls except for one. The same light tan carries through to the kitchen and hallway, which share connecting walls so it would have looked odd if we did them another color. We did do an accent wall in our great room in a light blue color to break it up a bit, and then the artwork and throw pillows I purchased are also a light blue to match the accent wall. The accent wall is the same one our fireplace is on and we mounted the TV above it as well. Good luck!

 

[yoopermom]

Yes, an accent wall would definitely be a compromise, but even that would be tricky, since one "end wall" is the kitchen, and the other has french doors and wood stove on it, so very little to paint. That would leave me with one of our two "long walls", both of which connect to other areas, urgh....

It's hard to love color in a color neutral world !

Terri

 

[diznygirl]

We have a combination of a color that is similar to the Willow Gray in your first link, and the Cotton White - but with a smidgen of yellow. There is a natural break from the kitchen to the dining room where we used the white, and on a wall facing the family room. We had beige before this and it was just too light and blah. This is a little more grounded and works well with a lot of furniture.

 

[denisem]

We bought an existing house which was totally painted in a muted green/gray color. I wasn't crazy about it initially, but it quickly grew on us. Very soft and relaxing, looks great with white trim. (We did do the guest bath in "Paper Bag" - self-explanitory - and redid one bedroom in a shade lighter.)

 

[yoopermom]

The Willow Tree? Oooooh, that's my favorite! I would love to see it. Thanks for making me braver!

Terri

 

[Christine]

I think either of those links would work well. Both are very neutral-seeming to me. I am one to use a little more "bold" colors but I don't get a ton of light, so it's important that I have some vibrancy. I have a Benjamin Moore gold paint that runs through my family room into the kitchen (I had to have an interior designer pick it out because I have wood floors and you have to be VERY careful with light wood floors and tans/beiges/golds). A lot of my furniture and accents are black so wit works well and I've been happy with it for 10 years now!

Even though you have very little to paint on your one accent wall, I'd say DO IT. That's the place to really bring some color into the room without overwhelming it.

 

[Pamlur]

I used Sherwin Williams "Jogging Path" when we built our house, my daughter used it when she built hers, and I have in my office. I have heard it described as "the perfect neutral". One of my managers and his wife recently redid their master bedroom; his wife demanded "Jogging Path" for that room, so a lot of people like it.

 

[asta]

Our house has a very open floor plan. We have a two story family room that flows under an open staircase into a formal living room and dining room. The open staircase means the color carries into an upstairs hallway and overlook. It took me forever to commit to a color because it would be everywhere. I finally settled on Berkshire Beige by Benjamin Moore. It is a mEdomite beige with green undertones.

http://media.benjaminmoore.com/WebServices/prod/ColorSwatch/AC-2.jpg

 

[Neelloc]

My "go to" neutral is Behr's "Butter Cookie." It's a very neutral light warm yellow that looks beautiful in all kinds of light. We have our living room, dining room, kitchen, and stairway painted it. I've used accents of green, blue, and brown in the rooms and they all look great with it.

http://www.behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/ICC-41

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

My wife calls ours jade green. I like the look.

 

[NFLDERS]

My husband called the paint colour Tim Horton's Coffee (Tripple milk). He had combined colours, and that's what we ended up with. I called it dark beige..

We've since downsized no great room now.

 

[yoopermom]

Thanks everyone, I'm busy googling for images of rooms painted in those colors. Part of my problem is that I do NOT have white trim like most homes do, it seems like, so I have to picture the color up against wood, wood, and more wood.

Terri

 

[Neelloc]

I have some pictures of the color I mentioned up against wood trim. Check your inbox!

 

[minnie mum]

Thanks everyone, I'm busy googling for images of rooms painted in those colors. Part of my problem is that I do NOT have white trim like most homes do, it seems like, so I have to picture the color up against wood, wood, and more wood.

Terri

Yep. We were lucky in that our great room ( which is also open to the foyer and hall) has white trim. But I still had to check the colors against both the wood floors and my dining furniture. Because we don't get an overabundance of light, we went with a yellow based color by Benjamin Moore called Rich Cream. Its light and fresh during the day, but richer and darker at night.

DD has stained wood trim and oak kitchen cabinets, but have the luxury of lots of natural light. They went with a color very similar to the Willow Tree in your first link. Don't forget to check how the color plays off your large upholstered pieces, too.

 

[Kbee]

Don't just go by paint chips. Pick out a few colors and get the sample jars and paint on a couple walls, one that gets light and one that doesn't. We have a color similiar to Willow Tree in our bedroom, it may be that color I did get it at SW. It changes from looking grey to looking more blue depending on the light.
Dh has a nice taupe in his office, but sometimes it looks green and its not pretty.
I went with a golden yellow, like that colonial yellow in your link for my open living room, dining room and entry. I love it but for a brief period during the morning in the dining room it looks awful.
Lesson learned, next time I paint a room I'm not just going to pick a color from the swatch.

 

[ronandannette]

I like that look...seeing the feature colour from room to room. I have a true "great room" open plan with kitchen, dining room & living room and rear entry all in one space so I couldn't pull that off. What I have done is paint the 3-story wall that goes from the basement stairs to the 2nd floor (with an open-riser floating staircase) all one dramatic colour. On your 2nd link the feature colour would be similar to Rembrandt Ruby and our base colour is similar to Indian White. It looks fantastic.

 

[kimmar067]

We've been in this house four months, and the drab neutral color that runs the entire length of the living area/dining area/kitchen/hall/laundry room is driving me nuts! DH is more than willing to repaint, but insists we need to paint it all another neutral (like beige) since all of the "living space" runs together/can be seen from one end to the other. This same color would go around the kitchen cabinets, etc. He thinks we should save the "real" colors for the two bedrooms and bath on the same floor. (The floors are very light maple, kitchen cabinets and window/door trim are a warm hickory, if that matters. There is tons of natural east and southern light.)

I, OTOH, love color, but would be willing to go with something in the gray/green/brown family (aka fairly neutral, but still with some "life"). I love this palate, for example:
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-collection/color-forecast/2015/chrysalis/ ....

....I like that soft green - very pretty! Plus, it'd be a good color with which to decorate during the different seasons and Holidays!

 

[gracie1]

My "go to" neutral is Behr's "Butter Cookie." It's a very neutral light warm yellow that looks beautiful in all kinds of light. We have our living room, dining room, kitchen, and stairway painted it. I've used accents of green, blue, and brown in the rooms and they all look great with it.

http://www.behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/ICC-41

I love the butter cookie! I may have to paint my bedroom that color!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I used Sherwin Williams "Jogging Path" when we built our house, my daughter used it when she built hers, and I have in my office. I have heard it described as "the perfect neutral". One of my managers and his wife recently redid their master bedroom; his wife demanded "Jogging Path" for that room, so a lot of people like it.

Nice color. Putting that in my back pocket.