thoughts on decorating

18 years ago

Hi, I'm new here to the forum. Hope someone can help. We bought a house/cottage and are about to take on the task of decorating. The dining area I'd like to paint in two colors with wainscoting separating the two. There is a free standing fireplace in the room which my hubby & I wish to keep. I know the pro's & cons, but my question here is should I paint the fireplace brick? I've added some photos so you can see my idea for the room. An artist I'm not, but I did make an attempt at what the room would/should look like. The colors are a little off so I also added a photo of the paint sample room that I'm going by.

As for the living room, we are going to drywall it and add a wall with arch to separate it from the dining area. My question, does it have to be painted a color that will flow with the dining area? Or can it be two distinct colors. Money is a bit short so we can't change our furnishings at this time, so what are the thoughts on a color if it needs to flow with the dining room. There are roses, gray-blue's, tan, beige colors in the sofa with a black throw rug in the room.

Appreciate any suggestions. Photos can be seen here:

Here is a link that might be useful: Decorating

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Comments (5)

lucy
18 years ago
Why not post on the Home Decorating forum here - it's really active!
kim2007
18 years ago
We have an arch between the LR and DR that was added around 1926 to our 1891-ish home. We're painting the LR and DR the same color. It's just one of my peeves to have rooms connected by an arch painted differently, but maybe that's just me. They just seem to be subspaces of one larger space, and to paint them differently seems to go against the point of having them connected from the git-go. I do think, however, that you can individualize them in other ways. While we're using the same array of colors in both rooms, I'm going to emphasize one accent more in the LR and another more in the DR. There are other ways to give them somewhat separate identities without destroying the overall cohesiveness. I don't know what you should do about your firewall. If it's an old, original feature I'd say don't do it, but if not then go for it. I have a firep[lace in my office that has been painted a peachy pink (!!!!) and I'm planning on stripping it all off to get to the brick, come hell or high water.
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Carol_from_ny
18 years ago
I'd suggest BEFORE you paint the firewall to clean it. The black is going to have to be removed before you paint anyhow you may like the wall better if it's been clean.
Keeping in mind that whatever caused the black on the brick will probably reappear sooner or later, how much harder will it be to remove the black if the wall has been painted without damaging the paint underneath it.
User
18 years ago
As someone who has stripped paint off fireplace brick that some previous owner painted, I humbly request that you never paint the brick. I'm also getting ready to strip my second because another PO mucked up the brick in this house, too.

Future homeowners will thank you as opposed to curse the day you were born!
awm03
18 years ago
Yes, by all means, paint the brick. Not all brick is beautiful, and the color can be hard to decorate with. But painted brick adds a nice texture to the room, and you can work with the color. The brick in your picture, frankly, looks drab, especially with that heavy gray grout. Pretty paneling in your LR :)