A picture is worth a thousand words.

I'm sorry, I am unable to post pictures.

I can understand that most people might not want to wade through the info I've posted. I was hoping that someone with a knowledge of the rules of colors, which there seem to be many of according to some color and decorating books I've bought, might be willing to help me get started. I've got so many conflicting colors that I can't get my head around what needs to be done.

We have a color consultant we've used a couple of times while we were building our house, but she's expensive. DH only agrees to spend money for her when I get really frustrated and spend too much time on trying to sort things out. He's said I should call her for this, which I will. However, I would like to have some fabric samples here when she comes, but it would be helpful to have the right colors. Calico Corners is 15 miles away, and the other fabric place is 35 miles, so it's not that easy to go back and forth in the snow and traffic.

So if anyone can just point me in the right color direction with what I've posted above, I'd appreciate it. If not, I understand.

I forgot another major color in the rug: dark brown. I always see the green, gold, dusty rose, and burgundy, but don't notice the brown even though it's the third most used color--just laying there being its neutral self!

Anne

I would keep it very simple because of the melange of colors and patterns you already have. I would choose solid cream colored shades and either solid cream or solid soft green panels for the windows. Whichever color you choose for the curtains have the same color pillows in the room. Even if the fireplace has a different green color I would ignore that. It's okay to have different green colors in the room, the eye will accept that. It's tempting to have patterns in the drapes because there are so many beautiful ones out there but with the patterned large Oriental and the sofa, the solid drapes will calm the room and pull everything together. Whether cream or green, I would be sure to use accessories in those colors around the room for a cohesive look. I wouldn't use a shiny material, but something linen-like with a bit of texture. If you get another chair I would want to make sure that it also matches the drapes as much as possible (same fabric would be best) to pull of this look.

Good luck and please let us know what you've decided.

It is hard to imagine without a photo, but given the many colors in the rug you describe, not to mention the colors in the couch, I would stay away from prints or florals entirely. A single solid color is what you need. Forget trying to match ALL the colors you have going on. Pick one. I think a soft green or even just creamy sheers on the window would be good. If you do choose a color for the windows (green or gold or whatever) make sure they are the same shade of that color as any other accents you might add, otherwise it may just look like a mess and not like you tried to coordinate at all.

A color consultant I think is a good call in this case. You may have to sacrifice one of the pieces to really make the room work, the rug or the couch. Good luck!

Thank you for your responses! They're very helpful and have provided food for thought. As obvious as it seems now that you've both said it, I would not have thought to limit myself to just the cream and soft green. I kept thinking I needed the burgundy at least. But I can see now that it and the peach would only exacerbate the orange, pink, and gold problems.

Ingrid, I'm glad you came down on the side of the cream shades, since that's what I prefer. There are not that many to choose from that are all cream, that have an interesting pattern with the vertical element, and that can be gotten 84" wide, but I still have a couple more places to check. I need to find out if the stacking height is more or less for woven woods than that of 2" wood blinds.

There's actually not as much pattern as you may think from my description--DH says he doesn't think of the sofa as being striped, it's so blended. And the rugs both have small patterns, not the strong ones you usually think of when you think of orientals. The colors of the "green" rug look perfect from a couple of directions and in some light.

After reading your comments, I went down and stared at everything for a while and thought about all of the colors again. I've got cream etched filigree panels for the dining room where I am trying for a light airy look, since it has white bookcases and gets sun from the windows on 2 walls all day. However, there does not seem to be enough heft in these panels to use them in the living room due to the slate fire place wall, and a piano, double pocket doors to the DR, and the entry doorway on a second wall. The other 2 walls will only have the windows, the drapery panels, and a half size grandfather's wall clock, so at night, when you can't see the trees outside, they look blah, and seem like they would be more so with plain cream panels. There will be no space on these walls for any pictures to add color.

There's really too much green in the room now, which is why I'd thought to look for a blended subtle pattern for the drapery panels. But since you've both said soft green or cream, I'll skip the peach. The panels will be closest to the wing-backed chair, a chest, and the piano rather than the rugs, so do you think they can stand a subtle pattern? Since the rugs have small designs in them, could I have a larger design in these as long as it's very muted? Or maybe an interesting pattern in a green weave that catches the light in an interesting way and makes it look like several colors of green?

Although I really don't want to repaint a just painted house, I'm wondering if another color would bring everything together in the living room. The room seems disjointed and lacks a warm, cohesive feel. It's 16x20 so it could stand a darker color than what is there now and still not feel small. Any ideas for paint colors in case all else fails? I've seen so many beautiful transformations with paint both on this forum and the kitchen forum.

If I did a cream and soft green blended pattern for the drapery panels, I would probably use a different pattern with the same colors for the 2 chairs which will be on the other side of the room from the windows. Would a slightly darker version for the ottoman that would be under the windows work between the wing backed chair and the sofa (they look pretty boring near each other), which at a distance almost seem to be the same color?

I also am thinking of making a wide runner for the orangey cherry coffee table to subdue its influence! I'll keep an eye out for something interesting when I'm at the fabric store. I'd like something a little more colorful, but I'll have to be careful!

As much as I'd like to pull the burgundy and pale peach from the rug, I hear you both when you say stick to the cream and green. The wing back chair and sofa definitely need some contrast, so pillows in these colors will provide some. Both the FP slate and the rug have multiple colors of green, so I can have both dark and soft green pillows along with the cream ones. Ingrid, glad you made the comment about linen-like or textured--I'll keep that in mind when I'm looking.

myredhouse, we can't sacrifice the rug, because in spite of its color faults we LOVE the designs and some of the colors. We'd originally planned to buy a new sofa so DH could slouch (hard to do in my camelback!), but not enough money. We're sacrificing the 2 GREEN chairs to buy 2 that match and are more comfortable.

Anne

Anne, you're very welcome, and I'm glad you found the several hundred pictures I posted in our gallery helpful. That's nice to know. :)

I'm afraid I can't picture your room. Did you ever try to use http://tinypic.com/ ? It's so totally easy, no account necessary or anything. Just click on browse, select your pic, and tell it to upload. Then sweep/copy the first url it gives you and paste it right in and voila!

If I recall my color theory correctly, to diminish a color, you use the one right next to it on the color wheel. But to diminish three colors in one room? That sounds like a very tall order.

I know how it is to decorate when money is tight. Best answer I've found is Craigslist. You can sell things you don't want to raise money, and buy bargains you really do want. In addition, one doesn't have to give up something one loves, but can sometimes move it to a different room. I'm always amazed at those decorating shows when they use things the owner already had from different rooms and the basement or garage, and build a stunning room!

Thanks to you all, I had a successful day!

I spent several hours at JoAnn's Fabrics today looking through thousands of samples and brought home several dozen cut and hanging samples. DH and I tried them out in various places and pretty much agree on several things.

Both of us think the cream fabrics that matches the window and door trim are too light. We don't like any of the greens that are plain because we can't match the colors of the fireplace slate and rug since they change too much throughout the day and evening from a bluish gray green to medium or dark olive. I found a rich cream that matches the wall color at night, and looks ok during the day, and looks great with all of the furniture, both rugs in the LR, and the FP slate, so that will be the color for some of the pillows. That same cream with multicolor green and smaller tan stripes is in another fabric that would look great on the 2 new chairs, so that's what I'll look for when we get around to buying them.

None of the light or medium greens looked good for pillows; I think a dark green will look best on the sofa. There's also a multicolored 1" diamond pattern of light green, dark green, burgundy, rust, tan, and beige that looks good for a pillow on the plain wing-backed chair.

I'd brought home some tapestry samples with the same colors just mentioned in the multicolored diamond fabric just because I loved them and their colors. Although I think the patterns are too busy to use as drapes, DH loved them. Do you think if I could find something with those colors (assuming they looked good with the rug and slate colors) in wide, blended stripes or maybe a 1" basket weave, that that would be ok for the drapery panels? We really think the 2 window walls need something darker to balance the FP green slate wall and the piano/doors walls. If we did this, should we darken the wall color (DH has said we can repaint if necessary), and if so, what colors should we explore?

In addition to the samples already mentioned, I found a perfect color and pattern to recover the dining room chairs, and one with the right colors for the mahogany chairs at our "game" table in the living room.

It really feels good to be moving along on this. The other 2 fabric places will only let me take a few samples for a short period of time, so I'll go visit them in a few days and see what else I can find now that I feel like I know what I'm looking for.

oceanna, your post sent me back to one of my color books this morning to look at their various color wheels and combinations. This refresher was a great help as I prepared my list of what to look for at JoAnn's. Thank you!

Anne