How would you paint ?

[shinysparklybubbles]

We bought a house 2 weeks ago and the inside hasn't been painted in a long time. We decided to only paint the family room and DS room since they were most important and then we would move in and slowly tackle other rooms as we can. DFIL just called and said as a house warming present he would pay for the rest of the house to be painted. In our living room, dining room, foyer and going up the steps we have chairrail and crown molding. I'm really clueless about colors. All 3 rooms flow into one another. Would you do all 3 the same color or colors that flow complement each other? I want all the trim and moldings white. Would you do the same color on top and bottom or like color on the bottom and then white on the top portion? We do not have any living room furnishings and nor dining room so that's not a concern when picking colors. The house has an older feel which we like. Anyone have an recommendations?

 

[FredinFL]

I would do colors that complement, it's too boring to me to have all the rooms the same color. I have green and purple in the kitchen, the same green in the living room on the bottom of the chair rail, off white above the chair rail, with a big wall and the hallway downstairs a dark red. The red complements the green and breaks up from it being TOO green.

Trim in the living room, chair rail white, bottom trim dark green. Trim in kitchen, windows white, bottom trim dark green.

 

[tlbwriter]

Using different colors can visually chop up the space. If it's big enough to handle that, feel free. If not, I'd use all the same color. (Actually, I'd use the same color either way, because I don't like a different color above and below a chair rail, but that's just my personal taste.)

 

[Agri]

If you have a lot of furniture and art to fill up the space, then use the same colors since the furniture will be the focal point(s) and break up the space. Our house is kind of like that, so we used the same paint - a very pale yellowy tan and a creamy white for the trim. Any kind of wood looks good against the colors and they're light without being OMG WHITE IN YOUR FACE.

I would not do a straight white for the trim. Trim gets dusty faster than you would believe and just being slightly off-white is enough for it not to look dirty two seconds after you dust it.

 

[golfgal]

I would spend the money to have a decorator come out for a consult. It will cost you $50-100 probably for an hour or so. She can look at your furniture/art, etc. and make recommendations. Since you aren't there she may need to come to your current home first and then go to your new home. Also, if you can provide pictures of the new house, that would be helpful for some online advice.

Also, it is FAR easier to paint before you have all your stuff in the house. You will REALLY appreciate this gift the first time you have to change the paint in your new house .

 

[lovesmurfs]

I'd do colors that complement. Our dining room and living room go into each other with crown molding -- we've got the same tan walls on both, but a darker brown accent wall in the living room and a mossy green in our dining room. The ceiling in both is a light beige and looks awesome with the bright white crown molding.

We used Sherwin Williams, and they offer for $5 or so a small sample (pint? quart?) of the paint -- while I was playing with the colors, I bought a number of samples to test.

Have fun, stay within your comfort zone, but try to be a little bold -- if I had it to do over again, I probably would have been gutsier and chosen a brighter accent color (maroon, maybe) in the living room.

 

[RadioNate]

It really depends on the space but generally the 3 rooms would be the same color. Something neutral that can go with anything furniture you buy. I hate white so I personally wouldn't choose that.

I'd do a top and bottom color a light/dark from the same card.

Pottery Barn does colors from Benjamin Moore. They are generally good at picking modern neutrals.

http://www.potterybarn.com/shop/accessories-decor/hardware/hardware-paint/?cm_src=productsearch

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Oh I didn't Think about hiring someone for a consult, that's a great idea.

I agree about tying to be a little bold, our last house we never painted because it wasn't going to be our forever home so we didn't bother. I want to be safe with the colors but not to the point of it being a waste that we had it done, if you know what I mean.

All of our crap is moved in, so that should be interesting situation.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Thanks for the pottery barn link! They look very nice!

 

[SC Minnie]

Personally, I would do white on all the trim. Since you just bought the house I would do a neutral tan on all the walls in the open space. After you live there a while and buy furniture you can easily repaint a wall or 2 a darker or accent color.

 

[zoemurr]

When we bought this house it had dark colors that we hated so we had no problem doing more bold colors. I had a decorator in (some paint stores have free consults) but it was ultimately my painter who picked the colors. "I've done this for a long time.. I know what colors look good." (He was right.)

He had me pick out some fabrics that I liked that complimented each other and he chose the paints from those. They were chili, ivory, sage and gold. We have ivory in the kitchen, and LR (they don't connect) chili in the FR (it's between) and sage in the foyer and the top of the DR and gold on the bottom of the DR wall. All white trim and doors. Drapes/curtains all contain these colors to tie it together.

Anyway, I would recommend starting w/drape fabrics that you love and have a professional help you pick colors from there. I love love love the dark red (chili) walls.

Good luck!

 

[bjscheel]

If they flow into one another, without a corner or something to separate, I would worry about the transition from one color to another- will they just have a line where the two colors meet? I would paint all one color to avoid that and to make it look bigger.

Colors are so hard to choose! We just redid the kitchen and I was thinking blue-gray. The local home decorating store lady came out for free consultation with her big box of samples and we went with a grayish purple instead! Then a raisin color for trim. It was definitely a big help for her to come.

I still have a hallway to do but it doesn't really have to coordinate with anything so I am going to do a neutral. Choosing colors for the kitchen was hard enough.

 

[disneychic2]

We recently had our home built and we (mostly I) painted every wall before we moved in. It was so easy to do when you don't have to move furniture. We painted most of our downstairs a rich light mocha color with white windows and trim. Then we added a dark rust colored accent wall in the FR. In the sun room I initially painted it the same pale yellow as the kitchen, but didn't like it, so just painted it a grey/green with a dark accent wall of a color called Murkey Sage. Prettier than it sounds! Then each bedroom and bathroom got it's own color. It really comes down to personal taste. We already had most of our furnishings, so that was a consideration. Our house is around 3000 sq feet, so the downstairs seems to flow together nicely with mostly the same color on the walls. Good luck! (And what a great gift!) Enjoy your new home!

 

[RadioNate]

Thanks for the pottery barn link! They look very nice!

On the Benjamin Moore site under 'For your Home' there is their color gallery.

If you view the options you can sort them by Pottery Barn colors or their best sellers. It is a good jumping off point.

I also agree. A good painter will have an opinion on what looks good and what doesn't.

 

[GinnyEmma]

I like color, and preferably complimentary. If not I'd go with shades, lighter to darker or the opposite. I hate neutrals. What a boring way to live.

So, you just have to figure out what you like! Good luck!

 

[NaLisa]

I like the idea of using the same wall color in connected rooms then using different accent colors to define the different rooms. I also like an off-white for the trim so it hides a little better than pure white.

I suggest not searching online for colors--a computer monitor won't correctly display the wide variety of colors available. Pick up some paint brochures from various stores and look for color combinations you like. Colors featured in those brochures are often the most popular because they're great colors that work well in various lighting.

Enjoy your new home with its freshly painted walls!