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octoberdana

Color Dilemma

17 years ago

We have an open floor plan home with one large family room and kitchen that open into each other.

My DH put a lot of pressure on me to paint as soon as we moved in and because I couldn't decide what paint color I wanted we put a neutral brown up called Oregon Coast. It's a Valspar paint. We painted the entry a color called Wild Hawk and brought the Wild Hawk into one wall of the family room.

The kitchen is also painted Oregon Coast except for one wall which is painted Cooper Maldera Fandago Red.

My dilemma is that I HATE all the brown. Oregon Coast is brown, my carpet is brown, window treatments are brown, we have a brown fireplace, and the new couches we bought are also brown. Too much brown and nothing to warm the space at all except for the one red wall.

I'm considering repainting the Oregon Coast walls to a color from Eddie Bauer called Bungalow Gold. I think the Gold will warm up the space quite a bit- I'm just worried about it clashing with the Wild Hawk.

I'm also considering painting our trim as right now it's a very bright white and I think it's too stark of a contrast.

Suggestions for colors to paint and what else I can do to help the overload of brown in the room?

Comments (5)

  • PRO
    17 years ago

    After each paragraph one color kept popping into my head for you -- Ben Moore's Shaker Beige.

    Painting trim is a very big undertaking. I'd adjust wall colors first and then see how you feel. The white would really, really, really have to bother me before I'd want to tackle a color change on trim.

  • 17 years ago

    ...And, just to add to funcolors' comment on painting the trim, let me tell you my story.

    We moved into this house in 2003 and I was kicking my feet to get started painting. Whole house was builder's beige in flat and it needed painting. The trim and all the interior panelled doors drove me particularly crazy--in fact--so much so that I attempted to hire someone just to take off and paint all the Antique White doors and trim. (I never pay for painting!) The doors were almost beige they were such a warm white. I like creamy trim, but these all looked dingey even thought the paint job on them was beautiful. When I painted my first color in the entry, kitchen, down the hall and LR, Ben Moore's Cornsilk, a soft butter shade, the dingey trim showed up really bad. But we lived with it 'because it was too cold to deal with the doors right then.
    Fast forward about 3 years and I repainted. The entry got red, the kitchen got red, and most of the rest of the main spaces became Baby turtle, a browned moss green. Suddenly, the doors and trim were fine. I have repainted the trim since then, but just colormatched what was on there. And other than cleaning the doors annually, they have never been repainted. It all works with the new colors!

    So, get yourself new wall colors, something not so depressing. A nice brown study can be cozy. A great brown living room with pretty white couches and lots of greenery, can be wonderful. But although brown-on-brown looks good on me, in clothes, it would be a real bummer and downer in my home. After you paint, then, adjust the trim if you still need to.

    Red

  • PRO
    16 years ago

    I always listen to Red. She's very wise and very experienced. ;~D

  • 16 years ago

    I looked at the Shaker Beige color by BM and it's a darker shade of the Oregon Coast I have now. While I like the color (I may end up using it upstairs), it might be too brown for the space.

    I looked on the Valspar website last night and I love the way the Bungalow Gold lookes with Cooper Molera Fandango Red. Not sure I'm going to like it with the wild hawk though.

  • 16 years ago

    I know you are looking for paint colors but also think about changing out things like drapes, rugs, pillows and paintings. Adding new lighting might also help. Maybe you could add a few new chrisp colors into your color scheme. It could be that you just have too much brown going on. Good luck.