Help choosing a color in our foyer

11 years ago

We're moving into our recently purchased home and are doing some painting. Our foyer is a very light cream/yellow currently, but we'd like a more rich color. It's a two story foyer, but not very wide (about 10'). It has some god light coming in through the 3 windows at the top of the foyer and through the doorway. We have natural oak hardwood floors and stairs and white trim (on moldings, doors and spindles). We're painting the hand rails to the stairs a mahogany color to contrast a bit more with the white trim.

Right now we're leaning towards Ben Moore's Wiliming Tan (HC-34). However, we're concerned that it might be too much color for multiple stories of wall without a lot of contrasting trim. We've heard that Shaker Beige is a better choice for a number of reasons, but it seems a tad bland for our tastes. Any suggestions?

Here are some photos of foyers we like, although ours is not nearly as large a space as the first two.

[houzz=

Laura Bendik · More Info

[houzz=

Traditional Entry · More Info

[houzz=

Craftsman Staircase & Millwork · More Info

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

PRO
Vikrant Sharma Homez
11 years ago
The third one looks the Best .
PRO
zapex
11 years ago
Did you consider some Faux finish for this area?
Related Professionals
Crestview Interior Designers & Decorators · Panama City Beach Architects & Building Designers · Troutdale Architects & Building Designers · La Verne Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Bend Furniture & Accessories · Carlsbad Furniture & Accessories · Jacinto City Furniture & Accessories · Pooler General Contractors · Barrington General Contractors · Jefferson Valley-Yorktown General Contractors · Middletown General Contractors · Modesto General Contractors · Westmont General Contractors · Palm River-Clair Mel General Contractors · Security-Widefield General Contractors
Aimee Welch
Original Author
11 years ago
Here is a picture of the actual foyer we are trying to paint.
creeser
11 years ago
I like the third photo as well. That taupe contrasts so well with both the white trim and the mahogany you're painting your hand rails. It's one of those colors that you can live with a long time and with the height of your foyer, you don't want to repaint very often.
PRO
Studio NOO Design
11 years ago
you need contrast, 3rd photo is better with taupe.
decoenthusiaste
11 years ago
How warm or cool are the rest of your furnishings? Is the remainder of the house to be warm or cool? You can look for pink, blue or yellow undertones in any beige/tan/taupe color, so be sure you are matching the tones of the rest of your house with this foyer color. Don't want to switch from one to the other once you leave the foyer.
PRO
Transforming Rooms
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
As a designer of 20 years, I can tell you that I love your idea of HC34, and I agree that Shaker beige could be "bland" as you said. The only thing you need to make sure of is how it looks next to your hardwood floor color. You could get $6 samples of two different paints, and tape up painted poster boards to be sure of the tone.

Below is a before and after photo - of a client that we talked into doing tan. You can see MANY more rooms with before and after colors on this web site:

www.transformingrooms.com

and the blog is www.interiordesigngreensboro.com.

You can even see the living room (baby grand piano on right of photo) and the sunroom (aqua & green tones - an amazing transformation) and their den area, all from this same client's home as the foyer shown below.

As for the handrails, you could do mahogany, as you said, or black, I'm guessing that you love black? (since there is a black in the magazine photo)