Living area

Another view of the living area

Another view

Do you want another neutral or have color on these walls? If color is desired, what color families do you love?

I would like to add bring in a non-neutral color. The rest of the house has the same neutral color. I could use some help with color suggestion as I tend to be very conservative.

I think a soft aqua color would look beautiful with your furnishings and add a little color and still fit your conservative style. :) I see you like the blue in a few of your accessories. If you want to go bolder with the color later, you can add bold colors in art and pillows, etc. This color would look great next to your beautiful floor as well! Yummy.

The lamps and tables on each side of the fireplace look unnecessary there. Tables w/lamps should be near sofas so they are functional.

Hmm. What about Behr's Contemplation? It's definitely a color - somewhere between green, gray, and blue - but it is mild and might be a good choice if there are adjoining spaces that will be beige/taupe. (Of course you'd have to sample it to see whether it will be the right color for your space.) It might go with your teal accents, too. Given how many things you have in the beige family, you might want to bring in a bit of color somewhere other than the walls as well - perhaps a colorful rug under the coffee table or dining table, or some bright throw pillows, or colorful curtains (or all of those!). That would definitely turn up the volume in the rooms, while incorporating all the things you already have.

Hi tmp... Have you gotten the help you wanted? How did you decide to add color to your rooms?

Thank you all for your suggestions. Leelee so true about your comment and I have since moved the tables and lamps. I have not decided on the color yet but I am leaning towards the blues for the wall color. I have been debating on hanging drapes and the suggestion to add ivory drapes with horizontal lines is enticing. I am also going to be adding some throw pillows. Do the pillows need to be the same color? If not, what colors?

Blue is an appetite killer, so if you're not dieting, you might prefer to leave the DR as is. Perhaps a touch of the blue you're accenting with around the picture window and behind the two pieces of art you've hung. Then take it to the opposite end of the room. Move the china cabinet to the new blue wall and the art from that wall to the wall where the china is now. The fish eye lens is distorting enough that I'm not sure of wall sizes, but you might try some art in the dining space if you haven't already.

I would like to add additional seating in front of the china cabinet, if I move the china that the additional seating would block the entrance. But l like the idea of not painting the whole space blue.

Any suggestions with the fireplace, I feel like the mirrors are too small???

I would agree with the idea of the draperies--you need some softening of all the hard edges in your room. In the living room I would remove the two prints beside the window and go wall--to-wall with draperies there, in whatever color you choose for paint, or as decofriend said above, a colorblock in a neutral and aqua would look good. I would use a loose-weave linen to add a layer of texture to all the hard surfaces you have going on.

By wall do mean the curtains would cover the area where the 2 prints? Would I do the same for the window across from the china? Thanks Nancy.

You don't have to on that wall across from the china hutch, but just do the normal of about 12" on either side. Yes, you would take down the prints, because the draperies would cover them. It would look a little funny with the normal stack space of 12" on either side of the window there would be just a narrow strip of wall showing on each side. That's why I suggested w-t-w.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have added some color to the space by bringing in accents from other living spaces. I am yet to still find appropriate curtains. Let me know if I am heading in the right direction.

Wow! Much better, don't you think? If you decide to hang the picture over the fireplace, 6" above should do it.

I have been looking at adding color to parts of my house too. I went to Benjamin Moore and SW and I really like Comfort Gray and Sea Salt. You can google it in images and look here on houzz for rooms with these colors. They are both grayish aqua. Good luck!

Thanks Nancy. I will hang the picture as suggested.

Those two paint colors were by SW

Thanks Bloom, I will take a look at the grayish aqua. Our bonus room as a gray theme going on, maybe this will help bring different spaces together.

Love the orange and blue as you could do wonders with those two colors. Those are the colors in mine instead I have orange on my wall with neutral sofa. I would not put the runner on the table .

Thanks Angela. I took a look at your blue and orange inspired living room ideabook, lots of great ideas.

You are welcome my dear, but your room is gorgeous and I think that if you did not want to paint the accessories should be enough.

Would these curtains work for my living room? Thank you.

I really like what you've done! Sophisticated looking! At first glance your curtain choice "should work" but re-looking, I'm thinking they are not as sophisticated as the rest of the space. Anyone else? I'm on the fence on this. :)

You might be able to use a bit of that fabric as a color block on the bottom of neutral linen draperies as I described before. I wouldn't make the band on the bottom any wider than about 18".

Darzy and Nancy, points well taken. I will keep on looking and will solicit for feedback. Thanks much.