white, silver, gray, black... maybe some type of faux treatment like silver lusterstone stripes?

I think greens would look like Christmas, blues would make your fireplace look like a third colour, and yellows would be too jarring. White isn't tying your room together now. So...

I would recommend Pittsburgh Paints 416-5 OYSTER SHELL which is a brownish/greenish/greyish colour that kind of picks up the grout colour in the fireplace.

The fireplace bricks would look nice and clean in front of it, and the furniture you have would be quite nice in there too. The red would remain a dominant feature of course (you can't hide that red) but the rest of the room would have enough visual weight to balance it off.

The look will be dark and rich, and you can enhance it with more lamps and colourful artwork, ideally paintings that do not have glass on the front (too reflective to see what the art is, sometimes). It would be nice if your new door is a french door (all or mostly glass) to allow in more natural light.

Other options are also to 1. Paint the fireplace and 2. Look for really large area rugs that are monochromatic and don't have a lot of movement. This will make the red look kind of like an accent border. Kind of like you meant for it to be there the whole time.

I would start at the FABRIC SHOP; look for some inspiration in fabric that incorporates your carpet colour and some of the beiges/taupes in the fireplace and furniture. Use this fabric for some throw cushions and a valance for the window.

Maybe you will choose a modern geometric pattern, a fun paisley or a stripe? My wildest idea is a tartan as there is often a red element in many of them. I imagine a rich and regal drawing room feel!


Whatever fabic you choose make this as your starting point to choose your wall colour as the paint stores can colour match paint to fabric.
This will make your room looked really pulled together and you can do your accents incorporating these combinations.

My personal rule has been get the fabric first, be it a bedroom or any other room cause paint is much more easily tinted that changing fabrics to suit a paint colour!

I would also paint the ceiling tiles, it makes them look so much nicer....

I wish I could go shopping with you!!

I agree with bonnielynn on just about everything but must speak up about the suggestion to paint the ceiling tiles! They are acoustic tiles and would lose their sound absorbing properties if they were coated in paint. Unless you also painted the support track you'd have a grid jumping out at you on the ceiling with the contrast in paint. So for those reasons, I would leave the ceiling as is. At night, when you're using this room, good lamplight around the room will draw attention into the room and you're not going to notice the ceiling, I think!

Love all of these ideas. Some friends offered ideas of a Khaki color on two accent walls...There are two large windows to the left of the TV but I was only able to upload 4 pictures. I looked up Oyster Shell and did like the color. Were you thinking for the whole room? or just a couple of walls. What walls could be the accent walls? I looked up lusterstone stripes and liked that as well. Would be easy as the walls are painted paneling. I get to attach somemore pics to this comment so you get a better idea of the stairwell issue. Like the khaki and Oyster shell colors but would that be too dark on stairwell?

bonnielynn, I wish you could go shopping with me too. I am so not good at this. Also, my name is Bonnie. :) Cynthia, I have never seen painted ceiling tiles that looked good, so that would be out with me too. Thanks to you both for great ideas.

Good questions, Bonnie... I would do all the walls in the OYSTER SHELL. You're looking to unify the space, so you need a strong wall statement to balance off all the red on the floor. If you break the room up with accent walls, then you're going to lose that unity. You do have a point about the stairway being a bit dark with OYSTER SHELL. You could use a lighter version, say 416-4 STONINGTON on the stairs. It will look like OYSTER SHELL but as if it had a lot of light shining on it!

And I wish I could go shopping with you ladies too! LOL I'd be looking for a beautiful rich dark print with greys, greens, creams and a bit of red for wonderful long drapes and for some large squishy cushions for the furniture.

Actually Bonnie, I see you're in London, not too far from me in Burlington. If you were to want assistance with fabrics, window coverings, pillows, etc. and you would like to work with an interior decorator, I would be happy to take this on!

Wow Cynthia, I think I need to check my Profile. I am in Michigan in the USA. Thank you for all of your wonderful ideas!

Oh gosh I must have clicked on one of the other people answering here! Oh dear... Well you're a neighbour but just a little further away from me than I realized... The offer to help still stands, though! :)

I think either a gray, white, black and red palette or a khaki and red palette would look good. Since there is so much red on the floor, don't do anything else major in red, just accents to tie the floor into the rest of the room. I think Cynthia's suggestion of oyster shell as a neutral for the walls would be a great choice.