I think I would go with a sage green to compliment the painting and go with the rug. The light green will also work well with your dark furniture pieces.

A blue gray might work or a medium gray

Although you have many options on wall color here, the painting has some neutrals in the top right section that look warm gray or green-gray, which would allow the other colors in the painting to stand out, especially the teal ocean waves. Dark brown-black furniture would look handsome as well. Complement the room with more blues and teals to pull it all together. A few touches of soft yellow in cushions would lighten things up & complement the soft glow of yellow in the art.

Hi, I think I would choose to go with a shade or tone of the center portion of your painting - where the clouds are? From the photo this looks like a cream - khaki color to me? This will give you a very nice, clean edged look, and will soften the heavy furniture? To bring all the colors together, I would then paint the ceiling a very soft light, dove grey color? NOT white! Also, adding some trim around your room and bathroom, will actually make the room look more polished. You can purcahse trim already primed and ready to go, I would paint the trim - the same color as the walls, but in a different finish - like Satin - which will only slightly change the color - but will not break up your space by outlining around your room.

To break up the heaviness of the older furniture - and the antique looking picture - I would do a more modern window treatment - using a heavier substantial drape rod - to balance out the heavainess of the furniture - hanging this at least halfway between the top of the sliders and the ceiling trim? Always purchase 2X the width of the window in drapes or fabric for a fuller look - But I would definitely keep the window treatment simple - like some lovely lined linen drapes with gromets? This will give you some great layers of texture & add dimension to your room.

I always suggest looking at the Pottery Barn Catalogue (or on line) in the drapery section - for ideas and you could always order these if that works for you. They have TONS of different styles, and textures - I would also do this on your single window as well.

I think trying these simple steps - will bring everything in your room together with the underlying design princples of balance and proportion. If the setting is right - then everything works! I have not seen your bed - but would add at least one pillow which is the same texture and color as your drapes, and then add other textures and pull in some other colors in your painting for layering.

Please let us know if this helps. Since the furniture is heavy and dark - I would definitely choose the lighter cream/khaki colors, with the light grey ceiling to make this all come together.

:-)

I am not designer but I would use blue gray too in one wall and another wall I would use soemthing off white,gray very very light...

I think a khaki or tan colored wall would make the painting stand out! If you go with the blues and greens, it would just blend in. Use your blues and greens in your pillows, window treatment and bed linens instead.

The painting is lovely btw.....glad you appreciate your art!

Have you thought about reframing the painting. The frame looks a little ornate for the subject of painting and also with the furniture. A soft gray (leaning toward the brown tone of gray) would give you a neutral updated look for furniture and accent colors.

Lovely Painting and Furniture, this will be very ZZZZZZZEN!:)

Here is my take on the paint and some accessories to go with your furniture. I take it the gray carpet is staying as well?

BM Himalayan Trek

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Look At BM AF 575 Instinct. It is not gray, not blue, not purple, but a combo of nature. I would like to see a color on your walls that isn't exactly in the painting and will also compliment the dark bureau. I would encourage you not to paint the wall too light, whatever you choose, as a darker color will frame your picture and make it stand out.

Thanks for all the input. I have lived with white walls for 30 years and was hoping for some color on the walls! I do like the sage green or khaki color choices and the light silver on the ceiling (and maybe in the bathroom?) was something I had not considered. The bedroom set is a five piece set and has to stay. The carpet is staying for now as well. I like the addition of the soft yellow accents. Would that be too much for the drapes?
I thought about reframing the picture but mostly to get rid of the gold metal accent frame and not change the wood which is a white washed gray color and goes really well with the painting. Would crown molding be a good choice for this room or some other wall moulding? Or, is the furniture too heavy for more wood?

Pull a soft blue green directly from the painting and use white liberally for furnishings and bedding for a coastal cottage look.

Here's a more dramatic idea--

This is a softer idea-- I like the shades in this room. Very livable--

Another idea based on the blue theme--

Here is an idea file of Blue Rooms -- http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/4682409/thumbs/Blue-Rooms

Another idea--

Another color idea to work around the shades in your painting-- http://www.houzz.com/projects/29812/Baldwin-Residence

I'd choose one of the off-white-grayed neutrals from the painting for the walls. Since the painting is over the bed, the entire bed area should enhanace the painting. The lamps on the night tables should be matching large lamps with ceramic or metal bases in the same gray tone as the frame, Take the frame color with you when you shop. (see below, but you can probably find a better color than this). The bedding should be solid mid gray with one throw pillow in the center of the bed that is the same color as one of the more vibrant blue-gray-greens in the painting, but a more dull blue-gray-green so as not to upstage the art.

I like justdebi's idea! or a soft gray, but the first color I thought would look lovely with your painting is blue green or teal.

Dear VJ: I suggested that you add crown - will provide the final finish your room requires.

I have also suggested that you pull one of the colors from the central portion of your painting where the clouds are for the wall color???? Take the painting with you and find PAINT CHIPS and match them? IF you will go to the Home Depot or Lowes - you can also RENT the paint wheel colors and take them home - to find the perfect color.

I am worried twith your GREY CARPET - if you do a grey or grey blue on the walls it will be too much. I think a beautiful creame color or a soft yellow would really make your room come together - OR if you prefer the correct blue to balance your carpet. These two tones will have to be the same - i.e. TAKE the paint color selector home with you? Personally, I do not see green with Grey carpet - I think this is too much of a stretch. But that is me.

If you can do a tone of blue, or creame on the walls - then you can pull in a lovely yellow for your drapes - and accent colors.

IF you do blue walls, then would suggest a soft creame from the painting for the ceiling OR if you do creame walls, you can choose a softer dove colored grey for the ceiling - carrying over the grey into the bathroom.

In the bathroom - depending on what your fixtures are - you could go for a deep slate grey for accent to provide some dramatic focal points OR use the deeper slate grey in towels, rugs, etc. It would then tie your entire room together.

VJ - what LOOK are you going for - a more moderated updated look, OR something truly traditional?

For a simpler modern update - the suggestion for the linen drapes would be fabulous - but if you would like a more traditional look - billows of beautiful sheers would be FABULOUS. Sheers are no longer what they were. IF you have the time and the access - a high end fabric/design center will carry all the newer lines of sheer fabrics and they have decorators to assist you. You could even get some sheers made - which have embroderied designs on them - like beautiful yellow (small) flowers, etc. Always check the "back-room" for discounted fabrics and the ends of rolls - great for pillows, shams, and sometimes enough for draperies?

For your one smaller window - don't forget to extend the rod beyond the window at least 6 inches on either side - hung high between the upper frame and the celing trim - to make this window look larger. This will balance out the weight of your lovely bedroom suite and provide a visual balance to the sliders on the other side of the room - where there will be a lot of focus. Finials on the ends of your drape rods will also help substantiate balance.

LASTLY: YOU CAN purchase metallic rub on finishes to change the color of your picture frame. Look on line at: Vandykes.com (Van Dykes Hardware) - they have every single thing in the WORLD - from old fashioned milk paint - to door knobs and plumbing!
Martha Stewart at HOME DEPOT has an entire line of metallic rub on paints and finishes - you would NOT have to get rid of your frame -

PLEASE let us know what you decide - we will look forward to seeing your beatiful room.

:-)

Thanks, fife 2. I think you hit the nail on the head with what kind of look are we going for. The bedroom suite is very colonial, the house is a western ranch house with little character inside. My personal taste would be very modern but that is not a possiblity for here.
I am glad you mentioned the green and gray carpet. I was leaning toward the green but something keeps pulling me toward the tan.
Curtains are a problem for us since my husband is very allergic to dust. We have always had vertical blinds which I have learned to really dislike.
I would like to put large tile down on the floor but that is a project for another time. Even then, it would be in the gray marble tones. I do like gray.
Again, thanks to all of you who have chimed in on this. I have never had a room that looked like anything but a hot mess. :-)

Dear fife2,
Would you paint your trim the same dove gray as the ceiling? Or paint it cream like the walls. I am not going to go with blue. Not my favorite color. I had thought about sage green but am thinking the cream will work better with the painting.

Thanks for everything.

VJ

I would paint it the same color as the walls. The trim is always the dividing line - and is in the line of sight of the facing walls & not the visual space of the ceiling. I had to learn this the hard way, as I have an old house, with picture rail - with about a foot between the rail and the ceiling trim - unless you have a very large room, with very high ceilings - it ends up looking like the room was outlined - I did several paint-overs :-(

I would suggest that you use the SAME color for the trim - just a different finish - on the paint - your walls will be flat and the trim is best served in something like a Satin Enamel finish - not a gloss. This will make it only slightly darker than the walls - but it will blend beautifully - as to be un-noiticed. You could also paint the back of the doors in this Satin Enamel? (the doors with their face INTO the room). This will provide you with a continuous visual space. Don't forget the trim around the carpet also - so probably two gallons (2 coats) if you do all of this?

VJ - since your husband IS allergic to dust - I would suggest doing SHEERS! This is such a fine weave - it is NOT usually a dust collector. Do you have an AIR purifier in your bedroom? A hepa-filter on the HVAC? Also adding a humidifier to the HVAC or a room unit will keep this at bay? I would highly suggest getting a stand alone air-purifier for your bedroom - check out Target, Sears, Home Depot or Lowes? This makes SUCH a difference - especially if one cannot afford to update the HVAC.

I also purchased the "Bissel Little Green Machine" - this great for freshening up sofas, etc. I AM the one with the mold and dust issues - especially since we have accidentially added another rescue to our household. :-) Would not trade her for the world - but sheds really fine short hairs. We also have a cat.

This what I DO: My house is old and is IN constant project mode (was a victorian cottage divided into duplex) - something IS always sifting through the ceiling (orginal toungue and groove - some we are saving - some cannot) - along with being on a very trafficed 3 corner lot -with VERY old windows: SO . . . I take the draperies DOWN on a regular basis and throw them in the dryer with dryer sheets - (these also come NON-scented) - it takes the dust and other stuff OFF! Actually, just this day - I put all of the sofa pillows in the dryer to do this.

But here is the better news - with sheers you can wash them freguently and just hang them up to dry while they are damp? YES - you can have BILLOWS of drapes. Get that room purifier and sheers with a lovely design or embroadery - (SP?) and have the bedroom of your dreams. Get pillows for your bed and put them in the dryer every week or so. IT does work and my friends ALWAYS tell me - my house smells great -

AND you can mix your traditional style with more modern updated feel in your bathroom: Do your grey tile that you love and add some modern rubbed bronze fixtures or antiqued brass? I think this will provide the mix you desire.

Best - and let us know. Love that you have chosen the creamy color - it won't be such a shock after years of white!

Just wanted to let you all know that we chose Satin Quiet Veranda for the walls, flat Sterling Gray for the ceilings, satin sterling gray for the master bath and hallway, satin white dove for the trim and flat white dove for the closet and room doors. The Quiet Veranda and Sterling are from Behr the Dove is from Glidden.
We haven't put the room back together yet, but it looks great so far.

Next question: In our guest bathroom which is more narrow than wide we are thinking about using a dark gray for one wall and sterling for the other three. The dark gray wall is basically an empty wall which faces the sink and toliet on the long side with the tub at the end of the wall opposite the doorway.

Is painting one wall one color and the other three the same out dated? Any suggestions would be great!

VJ

How about a nice tan color or a nice blue-grey for the walls.

If the room is narrow - and long - you want to paint the odd wall at the end of the room - to bring this space forward - not the long wall leading to the end wall - make sense. The darker color or accent wall will become more in focus with the rest of the room, and make the room look shorter.

Am really excited to see your space - when you are done - don't forget to send pix?

What did you decide about the drapery situation and the air purifiers suggestion ?

If the room is narrow - and long - you want to paint the odd wall at the end of the room - to bring this space forward - not the long wall leading to the end wall - make sense. The darker color or accent wall will become more in focus with the rest of the room, and make the room look shorter.

Am really excited to see your space - when you are done - don't forget to send pix?

What did you decide about the drapery situation and the air purifiers suggestion ?

Thanks for your suggestion. The end wall is the shower and is tile most of the way up with a window and about a quarter of the wall drywall at the top. I love the idea of the sheers but it is a hard sell with my hubby. When we have the room back together I will take a photo and post it.

that's OK - you can still paint this your accent color and use a shower curtain which will also bring this end of the room forward. If you cannot find one you like - you can make one REALLY easily - and use of those fabric style hotel shower curtains behind it.

I am telling you - get the man an AIR purifier for the room - it will make him feel really special.
there are so many new options for rooms these days. Also, if he is SO worried about the dust - make him get you those new wood floors - there is nothing worse for dust allergens than carpet! yes? :-)

BTW - What about if you just GO OUT and get the sheers and have them hung up when he gets home?

My Mother wanted a new kitchen for years. One day - when my Dad came home from work - all the cabinets (old metal); broken dishwasher - well everything in the kitchen was sitting in the front yard! She and her girlfriend had taken the entire kitchen apart and well - WE DID get a new kitchen and not another word was said. Sometimes - one has to take the bull by the horns - don't YOU live there too? :-)

BTW - What about if you just GO OUT and get the sheers and have them hung up when he gets home?

My Mother wanted a new kitchen for years. One day - when my Dad came home from work - all the cabinets (old metal); broken dishwasher - well everything in the kitchen was sitting in the front yard! She and her girlfriend had taken the entire kitchen apart and well - WE DID get a new kitchen and not another word was said. Sometimes - one has to take the bull by the horns - don't YOU live there too? :-)

Stick to what NextTrend Design suggested but instead of going with yellows, go little with darker browns to compliment your darker furniture. CROWN MOLDING would add many riches to this room...nice simple white crown, white drapes, grey/blue walls, sheets matching painting colors, lamps matching painting colors, and rug. Colors of wall names: go with Puritan grey 164 by Benjamin Moore.
Hope this helps.
Good luck

That is pretty funny fife2. My problem is that while I can certainly by the sheers I cannot hang them. Hmm, maybe I could draft my son for this. As for the bathroom, there is a tub/ shower with a shower door at the end wall. I hate shower doors too but that is another issue. Thanks for your wise insight.

HEY whatever it takes - call in the troops! Once done - I am SURE he will get over it and actually LOVE it. I have discovered that most men DO like romance - hard to get with wooden blinds - make it the space he never wants to leave. Hang some pretty tassels on the ends of the extended rods. Here is what I have discovered in my 5 long years of marriage (pretty funny huh?) My husband has NO idea what he wants because he does not know what is missing. I do ask about colors - and that is about it - some variation thereof. I am sure, unless he is very unusual - he does not sit around looking at drape and window design in magazines - or how to extend the width of a window with design techniques.

They also have PERSONAL air-purifiers - add another one next to his pillow - one at the far end of a dresser? IT WILL be the cleanest room in the house.

Just make sure you have all the stuff at hand, get them done - so it is a completed surprise - and it will be beautiful.

I always say: "Honey - look what I did for YOU!"

BTW VJ: the funniest part of the "kitchen removal" tale - is where we lived: The Chaplain General for all of the US Armed Forces lived 2 doors up the street, the Pastry Chef to the Kennedy White House, and Florist to the Kennedy White House - all lived as neighbors -
I don't think any of them had ever met a true Texas Gal - quite like my Mom! IT certainly WAS the talk of the neighborhhod for some time. :-)

I thought you might like to see the AFTER photo. The room is not put together yet but you can see the wall color with the painting. The actual color is a bit more mustardy than in the photo but it goes perfectly with the center of the painting. The ceiling is a light gray. Thanks to all who helped. I have another question coming up about how to coordinate an 1000 square foot great room.

Very nice.

PERFECT! It makes your beautiful picture completely outstanding.

DRAPES ?????? Sheer's????? Can't wait to see.

I would go with a blue gray or gray green. Something soft and muted (not too saturated) but that brings out the colors of the ocean in the painting. It shouldn't be too matchy matchy with the painting, but if you pick an accent color (like the darkest colors of the ocean or the highlights) that would work.