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drjacobs86

Need BOLD paint color to make art pop

7 years ago

This formal sitting room is a work in progress. I’d love a bold color to make art pop. Should I do accent wall or whole room?

Couch is a midnight blue color. Not sure if I’m crazy about the origami mobile my mom made. Any other suggestions you have are appreciated like help choosing pillows. I’m really unsure about what to do in front of windows. It’s just a bunch of junk sitting there now but my husband won’t let me get rid of our record player. Big Speakers need to go for sure.







Comments (18)

  • 7 years ago



  • PRO
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I took one of the grays from the art for the paint and added a linen liner to the frame and increased the size of the frame.

    Lamps should be at least 27" tall.

  • PRO
    7 years ago

    Yes, wall color is not the problem. Picture needs to be reframed, but even then, you need to reconcile yourself to the fact that this is a subtle, delicate picture. Perhaps what you reall need/want is a piece of bolder art.

  • 7 years ago

    I would try the chairs in front of the window. The room seems lopsided with all the seating on one side. The green pillows do fit your color scheme but the don't really work with the Navy. Maybe switch them with the ones on the chairs. The origami art piece might look good in front of the window. It would be a 3D addition to the print of the girl which also has floating objects.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I once had an interior designer over who suggested I paint the wall the same color as the couch which I like that idea but wanted to get some other input. I realize the wall is huge and maybe the art isnt quite big enough. I'd love a gallery wall but it would take me ages to collect the art. Im terrible with picking things out. The reality is, Im not going to get that art reframed. I dont mind it and if it's that bad, I can just move it somewhere else.

    I used to have the purple chairs in front of the window but there was a big walk through space through the room and it looked really weird. I had a designer suggest that I put a rattan daybed there with a bunch of pillows. I dont really need more seating in there because I barely go in there as is so this seemed silly. It's a huge space though so something needs to go there!

    Tartanmeup, the art is a local artist, Chambers Austelle. Check her out!

  • 7 years ago

    Hi drjacobs86-

    Before you paint the wall, I would try some other things.

    Your picture over the sofa is interesting, and what is more, it contains the colors that unify the other furnishings in your room, the lavender and the green and the beige of the carpet and the chairs and pillows.

    I would change the frame on the picture over the sofa. If it is important, that is, of value, and worth the investment, I would re-frame it with a larger frame, and mat it as well.

    In addition, I would do more to unify the colors in the room by:

    1. Putting additional throw pillow on the couch that brings together the lavender chairs and the green in the carpet and the other pillows. It doesn't have to be the exact shade of lavender, but in the family.

    2. I suggest changing the fabric on the ottomans to one with more color, again, picking up the colorways of the other furnishings.

    You could paint the wall if you wanted to but you don't have to. If you did, I would do a pale tint of one of the colors already in the room. A pale sage would work, but I don't think it it necessary.

    Although you haven't asked,

    What you might consider is switching out the lamps on the side tables. They seem a bit too short.

    Also, your sofa seems to be a bit contemporary for the rest of the furniture. If you want to keep it, maybe you can just switch out the feet?

    https://www.diybeautify.com/2017/05/easy-project-update-sofa-with-new-legs.html

    https://www.maisondepax.com/how-to-replace-couch-legs/

    Also, is that a huge stereo speaker to the left of your window?

    Those are not being used anymore. You can get the same quality of sound with very small speakers that can be unobtrusively affixed to your wall, or you can have an electrician wire your house. Actually, depending on your equipment, with blue tooth, you don't even need wires.


  • 7 years ago

    Thank you for the info, drjacobs86. I found Ms Austelle's website and like her style very much.

    I'm not a pro but I find your seating arrangement and table lamps just fine. loobab, your remark about the large speakers made me smile. If someone has them in their home and uses them, they're being used. Not everyone is interested in "updating" their technology or is seeking a magazine worthy room. As someone with a wired house, I must admit to missing my old turntable and big speakers. My relationship with music seems to have deteriorated with every technology update.

  • 7 years ago

    Personally, I find the pink-haired portrait more compelling than the Asian print. If it doesn't have particular value (monetarily or sentimentally) I would go for more contemporary pieces in a collage featuring the pink haired girl as the center point. You might try the bigger print in the dining room and then flank the opening of the dining room with the smaller pictures you have on the navy wall there. Do re-frame and mat the print, unless it is actually worth less than the framing would cost.

  • PRO
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I would go with neutral gray.


  • PRO
    7 years ago

    here is taupe.


  • PRO
    7 years ago

    Olive works too


  • 7 years ago
    Love the room. Love the oragami but not sure that is the right location for it, especially with the chandelier in the adjacent room competing with it. I think that awesome painting needs a new double matted frame, one dark matte and one cream colored matte. It needs a bigger presence. Paint the wall a color from the picture.
  • 7 years ago

    Ohh, I like Celery's olive. (It looks nicer than "olive"!) I would consider that for the whole room (not an accent wall). Think about reframing with a mat. It's harder than it sounds and I've found it impossible to do, but other people mat art all the time.

    The mobile is great, and it might be better in another spot but it isn't at all bad there.


    I had to go back and look for your terrible speakers. I think they're fine. :)

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Your furniture is GREAT and deserves a dramatic backdrop. Don't play it safe!


  • 7 years ago
    following
  • 7 years ago

    Looking at the pictures again, I can see your above the sofa print would benefit from a mat. Reframing is expensive though and if you have a bigger piece for that spot, perhaps that's the way to go. Deco's idea of pairing the Chambers portrait with the two smaller pieces is a good one. Fori suggested DIYing the re-matting but I know I didn't manage it when I tried it and don't have the patience for it. Might be worth a try though.

    If I were going for a colour on the walls (I do love your current one so I resist the idea - btw, would you share the brand and name please?), I'd consider a lighter shade of those fabulous purple chairs. Purple is my favourite colour so I'm biased. The suggested greens are lovely as well. Purple and green are neutrals in my world and I have them in my living room as well. :)

  • 7 years ago

    Oops. Yeah I did sort of suggest DIY matting. I should have been more specific and said "get it matted and reframed even though it is hard to make a selection". I meant it's hard to pick out matting, especially when you also have to get a frame!

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