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laurahahe

15 years ago
How to Introduce Color to this Family Room!
Although you cannot tell from the pictures, I love color! I am struggling with how to introduce color to this room. The pink picture is not working. I like how the paint color works with the fireplace, so I do not want to change that. I would like to add color through accessories, but I am not even sure which colors I should try to add in here! Any suggestions?

Comments (32)

  • 15 years ago
    bump
  • 15 years ago
    Have you thought about adding a rug and then maybe placing the current rug you have now on top? (Yes, two rugs). You could then pull colors from the other rug. A dark chocolate accent wall where you currently have the pink art. Just a thought...
  • 15 years ago
    Check out Maria Killam's newsletter this month. I think it might help.

    http://www.mariakillam.com/docs/February2011Newsletter.pdf

    She says to add lots of white and cream along with the bright color and has pictures of brown with pink and an animal skin rug to boot.
  • 15 years ago
    Also, you need to repeat the brighter color throughout the room - I think The general rule is to repeat an accent color at least three times. Your coffee table could really pop in a bright glossy accent color (pink), or painted white to brighten the space, or the coffee table top upholstered with a bright coordinating fabric. Paint the mismatched wood pieces to unify them. White, with a touch of the bright pink, covers on the pillows finish off the look. And finally if possible remove as many of the small pieces of furniture that you can do without. These are just ideas to think about. Good luck. If you really don't like the pink (Pantone's color of the year) using a bright green or blue with lots of white would work too.
  • 15 years ago
    I agree with psanderson that it will help a lot if you repeat your accent color. That is probably why you feel the pink picture is not working; it looks out of place as the only colorful element in the room.

    This room doesn't really scream "pink" to me, though I'm sure you could make it work if you really wanted to. Perhaps mixing in some softer pink hues with the brighter could be nice.

    I think green could be a lovely accent color in this room. Mixed with the brown it would have a very earthy, grounded feel. An easy and awesome way to bring green into a room is with plant-life. You don't have to spend huge bucks on a tree. It could be a simple topiary or bonsai on your coffee table ( http://www.vivaterra.com/garden/plants/olive-bonsai-10-surcharge.html). Accent pillows, throw blankets, and art are easy ways to bring color into a room (and easy to change too).

    If you want to make more of a commitment to your chosen accent color and do something delightfully bold, you could reupholster your armchairs ( http://www.velocityartanddesign.com/plume-fabric-chartreuse-c-1418-p-4-pr-27978.html).
  • 15 years ago
    I think the main problem is all the furniture, colors and fireplace is going for a more rustic look but the painting is very modern... I would look for a more rustic (but colorful) piece of art work and then pull some colors from there... In this room I would probably be leaning more towards reds - red throw, pillows with red in the pattern etc. But really it will depend on the art work.
  • 15 years ago
    I like the variety of textures in earth tones, and there is opportunity for color. The furniture under the TV looks to have cloth panels on either side; these could be recovered to pick up color. Brown looks great with blue, turquoise and green in all its variations. A colorful lamp (see a recent post about lamps) and patterned cushion in that beige chair. The lamps don't seem to fit; too small, too short, forgettable. It takes time to find the right art, but a sculpture over the sofa could be interesting, perhaps something ethnic, or a floating shelf with photos in metal frames. I love white curtains, but bamboo shades or Roman shades in a color would add another dimension.
  • PRO
    15 years ago
    My first thought is that your room really lacks contrast of any kind. Everything is the same tone and it's making things look dull. The pink painting should go. That fabulous rug must stay! I'd paint/stain the coffee table black or almost black. Paint the french doors white or black. Put the two tan chairs side by side adjacent the sofa. As far as color I think punches of rich, navy blue and bright white. Get 2 bold navy/white geometric pillows and put one on each chair (or just make covers for your existing pillows). Cover the sofa throw pillows in navy velvet and add 1-3 more pillows in complimentary patterns/colors. Add some stacks of colorful books in the same colors to the coffee table. Spray paint the lamp bases an accent color...coral maybe? Move the tallish cabinet to the wall to the right of the french doors (you might have to move the TV console to the right a little) or to the left of the fireplace (but we can't see that corner to know what's there already. Place your topiaries on either side of the TV for balance. Have fun with the artwork. There's...my...22 cents. ;) (images from TwinkleLiving, TonicLiving, and PineConeHill.com)
  • 15 years ago
    Currently the brown color is too dominating. There are also different furniture styles. The pink painting looks lost right now.
    I would replace the TV table with a style that is similar to the living room furniture you have.
    Decide on a color theme not more than 3 colors for major pieces.
    Consider two large bold coloured side lamps next to sofa complementing color theme instead of that small lamp you have right now.
    Think about suzani pillows carrying pink. Here is a link to give you some colorful ideas
    http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/08/framing-suzani-pillow.html
    I am thinking Suzani pillows because your leather sofa is a rougher material and your coffee table looks ethnic to me.
    I would not see it with silk pillows or so.
  • PRO
    15 years ago
    To me the coffee table is the perfect candiate for painting. There are a multitude of options for that depending on what you do with the rest of the room. Arhaus often paints rectangles or squares on the wall and hangs a decorative item on this painted area. This might be an idea for your dream catcher. Also another way to bounce color around the room. Pillows with color and pattern will lead you in selecting other color for the room. That is where I would start. Find one or two pillows you really love and work from there.
  • 15 years ago
    All good ideas, but if you don't want to spend alot or do anything too permanent while you're experimenting, try this first. You do have an earthy, eclectic look so try medium green pillows with a print that has a 'touch' of pink (because you apparently like pink) and maybe try a painting above the sofa with alot of greens, blues, and a little brown. The green and blue are to tie the outdoors to your earthy colors and even your animal skin rug because animals always bring our thoughts to outdoors, right? If you like this, then you can invest or go more permanent with other the other ideas.
  • 15 years ago
    The sofa, table, chairs, and floor covering all have a southwestern/desert flavor, why not use a desert motif? Start with the picture on the wall, find a bright glowing desert sunset with bright jewel tones? Amethyst, sapphire, ruby, golden citrine, turqouise, sunflower yellow, and emerald,add drapes to pick up your favorite color. That opens up a rainbow of textures and colors for throw pillows for both the sofa and chairs to make them standout. Take the wall trim down to a darker brown, very nutty and warm, closer to the trim on the furniture, it will frame the windows and doors, and use the color of the walls as th background, "canvas" . Lose the table under the TV, and the table under that lovely wrought iron dreamcatcher and find a couple to compliment that coffee table with its iron hardware. Make them heavier to match the other table, and bring the one by the chair away from the wall to clear a view of the dreamcatcher. Change the lamps to inexpensive wrought iron base ones with shades in the sunset colors and patterns. Then pull that shell display from by the stove, to that table where the upright lines will draw the eyes up those lovely tall windows. I see a table at the end of the sofa with light wrought legs, but a stain different from the rest of the wood. You might try a southwestern pattern cloth over that in complimentary pattern or colors to sofa throw pillows you choose. All of this will give you a quite neutral solid factor in walls, trims, furniture, and wood choice, AND will give you "free rein" to choose ANY color accents you like and mix and match them on a whim. If that rose shade in the picture is your favorite, how about the colors in these pics.
  • 15 years ago
    Being a lover of rustic, which this room says to me at the moment. If you don't want to change the wall color, which makes the room all brown, I would suggest greens, perhaps a sage, as your accent colors, or even to shades of green. After all what color do you find on trees, which are all in browns, grin. Then if you still want to add pink do that in very small doses, but go softer, like in flowers, maybe in the pillows, a thin mat on pictures. Recover your pillows, add a quilt or throw. Paint your glass door in green, how about your lamp shade in green.
    I am not one for painting furniture, so I will not even suggest that. Start with the easy things, like making pillow slip covers (which you could make more to change out at Christmas), add an arrangement to the table (does not have to be flowers, could be pine), and keep going until you find that balance. I would also remove that painting (to me it is to modern for the rest of the room) and perhaps make a family photo wall, or other arrangement. My home is all wood, with concrete floors and my colors are pinks and greens, from lightest to darkest, in what my husband calls rustic chic. Hope this has helped.
  • 15 years ago
    Red would definitely be my accent colour in this room. Just tiny pops of it here and there : cushions, wall art (I would replace the pink art), maybe something on the table, etc.
  • 15 years ago
    There's an easy way to do this......it's an old trick that works everytime. For over the sofa, find a painting (a large colorful painting) that you fall in love with and can afford. Take the colors from that painting and use them in your room. Get new throw pillows in vibrant colors...but be sure to stick mainly with two colors (such as hot pink and orange or a vibrant blue & sunny green). The hutch in the corner on the same wall as the sofa needs to go. Get a chunky side table for next to the sofa and a chunky lamp in either a shiny metal base or in one of you chosen colors. The little table next to the taupe chair (the one closest to the stove) is too small and bland. Either replace it with a lager table, or paint it one of your chosen colors and place the back of the table against the side of the chair (not agaist the wall.). Find drapes or have them make in a pattern (maybe a southwestern pattern) using the colors from the painting. The plain white drapes do nothing to enhance the room. The taupe chairs should be side by side, so that they form sort of an "L" shape with the sofa. You could use another chair (Maybe in black) to replace the chair that was closest to the TV set. Add a few decorative items to you coffee table, such as a colorful bowl, & a few item that you like. Where you have your heat stove, I noticed you have little shelves. Replace the items there with real or artificial plants that trail over the sides and hag down to bring in a little of the outdoors. Keep all family photos for the bedroom, not the living room. This is especially true if you have children. Starngers as well as friends will be in your living room. The less a stranger knows about your personal life, the better. Good luck.....you have a nice beginning.
  • PRO
    15 years ago
    A more traditional colorful painting for sure. LOVE the ones shown above from Dawn Wind. Paint the walls a deep orange, like Ben Moore, Aura Buttered yam #AF-230. Throw a blanket like the Pendleton colorful blankets shown below, and add a thick large off white rug with the cowhide over it. A few touches of turquoise and pink through books, vases etc, And voila, a hint of Southwest and a fun looking room
  • PRO
    15 years ago
    I'm attaching a photo I came across while blogging about honeysuckle pink. You need a pattern that incorporates at least a few of your colors in order for the pink to work. The pink isn't working now primarily because it relates to nothing else in the room at the moment. In the attached photo, look at the upholstery on the chairs in the background. The fabric includes dark brown, the bright pink and a deep yellow-gold. The rug has the yellow gold too. Because you have bricks in the room, I suggest you find a patterned fabric that includes deep rust/pink/gold/deep brown. Use it to reupholster the two beige chairs.
  • 15 years ago
    Hello, I think the room has great potential with just a few changes. I would remove furnture such as your tv stand, coffee table and little tables first, then your lamps and all wall decor. I like the size of the pink art over the sofa, but don't know what the construction of it is. Is there a chance anyone can paint over the pink with new color choices? Some above comment mentioned green and turquoise which I think is an excellent idea. I love mid century modern, which your wide screen seems to be sitting on, but I don't see the coffee table and mid century chest abiding together in the same room. I like the contemporary vibe of the cabinet towards the door to your other room. Is there a chance you have a cleaner line for a table somewhere else in your home that you could swap out the bigger more country one for? The wall hanging between the white curtains could use a bigger wall area for it's home, but the lamp on the table by it is excellent with the more modern pieces. A great throw over the end of the sofa and some pillows and art accents in the blues and green family with some texture would be my choice. Wander through your rooms and see what you might find to swap out to make it more cohesive! Good bones to work with!
  • 15 years ago
    p.s., by removing these pieces, I meant that you can put them back one by one as you see them working together, or not. :-)
  • 15 years ago
    You must like that painting or you would not be asking for help. I say keep the painting if you like it, and add some pops of color around the room that are similar. Start with the throw pillows on sofa and chairs, changing them to fuchsia, coral, hot pink shades. You might consider painting that TV cabinet hot pink. Add table lamps and some accessories in white, picking up the white in the rug and the corners of the painting. Finally throw in an unexpected pop of another color - turquoise or red ( a vase, a shaggy pillow, or perhaps an interesting tray on that big coffee table). All these fixes are cheap, you can add things gradually. You also might reconsider the drapes on the doors......I'll bet you could find a print with tan/white/pink in the pattern, nothing too fussy.
    Go for it!
  • 15 years ago
    Part of the problem is the style of the coffee and side tables. Update then with a more modern, less fussy choice. A slightly smaller coffee table and larger side tables. Although I think the pink is fine, I might look for a teal or blue as per earlier suggestions. Choose matching lights to go on top of the side tables which are either white or incorporate your accent colour. Move the bookcase out of the room and replace it with a large green plant on a decorative pot that incorporates whit and your accent colour. Your drapes need to be more substantial and a little bit longer. Have a set made for you in a combination of white and your accent colour. Lastly choose 2or 3 coordinating fabrics and recover all of your accent cushions. A colorful throw is also a great addition. Off to the fabric store to pull this room together!
  • 15 years ago
    I agree with the writers who suggested a southwest theme. those colors in the blankets above would be great.
  • 15 years ago
    You have a great neutral palette. To add some Colour I would suggest working with your earthy tones and adding some patterned cushions on the sofa in a red tone similar to Benjamin Moore Bonaparte CC-64 or an orange tone like Northern Fire CC-94. The art above your sofa should contain a Colour like this too to continue the flow. You could add in some Colour also in your lamps and accessories for your great coffee table. I would place a tree like a ficus off to the left of your tv stand to add some visual height and Colour to this area.
    To carry the new Colour through the space add some more accessories of the same tone on your shelfes by your wood stove.
    Hope this helps add some pop of Colour to your great space.
  • 15 years ago
    Colorful drapes and lumbar pillows for your chairs. Don't like the pink with the rustic sofa, etc. Reds or greens would be better, maybe with a punch of dark royal blue.
  • 15 years ago
    iturner nailed it.
  • PRO
    15 years ago
    Firstly, your room works wonderfully. However, as you have obviously noticed the pink artwork does not work. There are a few things you can consider - Your Nguni/cow hide is overshadowed by your stunning centre table - put the cow hide where the picture is. If you get a plain rich rug - even a Persian or Kelim with rich hues of burgandy and the mushroom/stone in then you could repeat that colour with scatter cusions. There are different ways of mounting your cow hide, but make sure you can take it down and use it again as a rug if ever you get tired of it on the wall or find a better spot for it.
  • 15 years ago
    Nice room, suggest you try florals as cushions and maybe a nice rug as well? I would suggest browns, blues and lime greens - pink might be too drastic for such a classic looking room.

    Then take colours from the cushions/rug and look for artwork in those colours - or use family photographs framed in a cluster?

    Suggested visual sources for which you could find more affordable alternatives:

    http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/product/Liberty/Cushions/Mauve-Lily-Cushion,-Abigail-Borg/60983

    http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/product/Liberty/Floral/Mabelle,-B,-Liberty-Fabric/2284

    http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/product/Liberty/Floral/Strawberry-Thief,-F,-Liberty-Fabric/538

    http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/product/Liberty/Rugs-&-Carpets/Old-Arminian,-Liberty-Oriental-Carpets/35076

    More affordable IKEA options:
    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20159678

    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10154191

    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70150915
  • 15 years ago
    Orange. That's my vote for an accent color.
  • 15 years ago
    If you like the painting I would add graphic pillows in coordinating pinks and paint the cocktail table and the TV table white.
  • 15 years ago
    I think orange would be a great accent color. I would put various orange print pillows on the couches. I would add a print rug that has orange and robin's egg blue (yes these realy look great together!) and if you like pink add some deep hot pink subtly in a pillow or two. Make sure you put the color around the room (lamp base for example). Don't forget you can spray paint vases with your color pick.
  • 15 years ago
    This room has a lot of potential and there are various things you can do without even spending very much money. Reds and oranges work well with brown. A great way to bring in color without it being overwhelming is pillows. Coffee table books will break up some of the brown monotony and add visual interest. Candles are good too. I would move your TV and TV stand at a diagonal angle in the corner. Move your chair (the one by the TV) over on the other side of the fireplace. The pink really doesn't work - sorry. I would get some abstract-type art for the wall above the couch in orange and red colors. Another way to liven up the area is with plants. Since it seems like you are leaning toward a southwestern feel, cactus plants or any kind of succulent would work well. Hope this helps!
  • PRO
    14 years ago
    If you're looking for more information, here's a great article … just Google ... Yahoo! The Color Perfect: Finding The Perfect Colors For Your Furniture, Flooring, Walls, And Accessories … It's an easy read with lots of tips you can use on the subject.