Does it (choosing DR paint color) have to be this hard?
#1
04-26-05, 06:37 AM
Does it (choosing DR paint color) have to be this hard?
Three colors to choose from, one dining room. We've painted everywhere but the dining room and it seems to be the most debatable decision. My wife and I are at odds about how many colors to use and where to use them! The colors are bungalow gold, cabin red, and oyster white. We have a chair rail molding that can be used to separate these colors, if need be.
Background info: The flooring is brazilian cherry hardwood everywhere but the bedrooms. My trim is oyster white. Two walls in the kitchen are cabin red (white cabinets/black countertop). The living room is bungalow gold, oyster white trim. All three rooms are very visible from the living room, since the the living room and kitchen are open and the dining room has a 6 ft wide entrance.
The problem: I don't want the room to be too red, since it is a darker red and would make the room seem too dark. There is a LARGE contrast with the white and red, so that is not something that I prefer either if we separate the colors with the chair rail. Most of the house is done in the gold, so my wife wants to go a little different in the dining room.
We could paint red below the chair rail, and white above it even though it is very contrasting. What color should the chair rail be, red...white........gold?!? And remember, the base and crown molding is white....how would it look for the chair molding to be gold?
I think MY favorite option is to paint the bottom half white, top half gold, and maybe save one wall to paint the upper half red. The chair rail and the bottom white half could be done in a semi-gloss so that they look like a uniform piece down to the base molding.
Suggestions please!
Background info: The flooring is brazilian cherry hardwood everywhere but the bedrooms. My trim is oyster white. Two walls in the kitchen are cabin red (white cabinets/black countertop). The living room is bungalow gold, oyster white trim. All three rooms are very visible from the living room, since the the living room and kitchen are open and the dining room has a 6 ft wide entrance.
The problem: I don't want the room to be too red, since it is a darker red and would make the room seem too dark. There is a LARGE contrast with the white and red, so that is not something that I prefer either if we separate the colors with the chair rail. Most of the house is done in the gold, so my wife wants to go a little different in the dining room.
We could paint red below the chair rail, and white above it even though it is very contrasting. What color should the chair rail be, red...white........gold?!? And remember, the base and crown molding is white....how would it look for the chair molding to be gold?
I think MY favorite option is to paint the bottom half white, top half gold, and maybe save one wall to paint the upper half red. The chair rail and the bottom white half could be done in a semi-gloss so that they look like a uniform piece down to the base molding.
Suggestions please!
Last edited by TroupB; 04-26-05 at 08:17 AM. Reason: no good reason
#2
04-26-05, 10:15 AM
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you need PATTERN!
my suggestions: Wallpaper or a multi-colored faux painting technique - enough with the solid colors already!!!!!
seriously - if there was ever a call for wallpaper, it's here. or, if you're creative, a faux paint treatment can bring all these colors together. or a wallpaper whose print is a faux look - like marble or something. take my kitchen wallpaper for example - dark red mottled background, darker red & gold grape clusters, olive green vines & leaves. something like that would bring all your colors together in that centralized space. or you could paint (or find the wallpaper equivalent) of a marble - maybe a red background with the veins being the gold. that could be on bottom and then do a tone on tone wide stripe on top, separated by the chair rail or a wallpaper border.
my main point is that i think you need to think beyond "which of these 3 colors should we use, and how". that's the trouble with using all solid colors.
you might even start the process by finding a large patterned area rug for under your dining table, which you'll probably want, since it's on hardwoods. or maybe you could find a great fabric or drapery and build around that. decide where you'd like the pattern in that room to be (rug, fabric, walls) and go from there.
but whatever you do, do NOT do your last idea -
. you can do an entire room in the top & bottom style, or you can do 3 walls one color and one wall an accent color, but you can NOT do a combination of these. it's just bad.
you could, however, keep all the trim white except the chair rail and it will be alright. that would be an acceptable accent to have it different.
seriously - if there was ever a call for wallpaper, it's here. or, if you're creative, a faux paint treatment can bring all these colors together. or a wallpaper whose print is a faux look - like marble or something. take my kitchen wallpaper for example - dark red mottled background, darker red & gold grape clusters, olive green vines & leaves. something like that would bring all your colors together in that centralized space. or you could paint (or find the wallpaper equivalent) of a marble - maybe a red background with the veins being the gold. that could be on bottom and then do a tone on tone wide stripe on top, separated by the chair rail or a wallpaper border.
my main point is that i think you need to think beyond "which of these 3 colors should we use, and how". that's the trouble with using all solid colors.
you might even start the process by finding a large patterned area rug for under your dining table, which you'll probably want, since it's on hardwoods. or maybe you could find a great fabric or drapery and build around that. decide where you'd like the pattern in that room to be (rug, fabric, walls) and go from there.
but whatever you do, do NOT do your last idea -
. you can do an entire room in the top & bottom style, or you can do 3 walls one color and one wall an accent color, but you can NOT do a combination of these. it's just bad. you could, however, keep all the trim white except the chair rail and it will be alright. that would be an acceptable accent to have it different.
#3
04-26-05, 03:35 PM
LOL! I'll admit to having trouble bringing the colors in a room together.
We have a Linda Paul painting that we pulled from (reds and golds) for the kitchen and living room. We just don't have a "piece" to pull the dining room together as easily, while trying to stick to the same general color scheme. I'll probably fight to go with the bungalow gold with the white chair rail and lower wall. It's simple and the dining room furniture work well with these colors. The drapery will tie things together as well. We'll find a fabric that works and my mother can make them for us
I've asked a ton of questions on these forums over the past few months and it's been a great resource for us. We are nearing the end of our project and I'll post some pics from start to end for everyone to see. It has been quite a huge process to go from a 40 yr old brick house that was severely rundown and dated to the point of completion.
We have a Linda Paul painting that we pulled from (reds and golds) for the kitchen and living room. We just don't have a "piece" to pull the dining room together as easily, while trying to stick to the same general color scheme. I'll probably fight to go with the bungalow gold with the white chair rail and lower wall. It's simple and the dining room furniture work well with these colors. The drapery will tie things together as well. We'll find a fabric that works and my mother can make them for us
I've asked a ton of questions on these forums over the past few months and it's been a great resource for us. We are nearing the end of our project and I'll post some pics from start to end for everyone to see. It has been quite a huge process to go from a 40 yr old brick house that was severely rundown and dated to the point of completion.
#4
04-27-05, 03:22 AM
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i think the gold on top and the white on bottom will be simple & elegant.
if it's too simple, though, (ie plain/boring) you could jazz it up & make it a little different by doing a tone on tone wide stripe on the gold part (just use flat gold paint all over, and then when that's dry, paint wide stripes in an opal translucent glaze over top, for just a hint of a stripe - or you could use the same paint color but in a gloss.)
or you could add some subtle texture/pattern on the bottom white portion by using an anaglypta type paper painted white (sort of a tin ceiling tiles look - they have lots of patterns though).
just some ideas - the focus will really be on your furniture, the light fixture and probably the rug.
can't wait to see some pics!!!
if it's too simple, though, (ie plain/boring) you could jazz it up & make it a little different by doing a tone on tone wide stripe on the gold part (just use flat gold paint all over, and then when that's dry, paint wide stripes in an opal translucent glaze over top, for just a hint of a stripe - or you could use the same paint color but in a gloss.)
or you could add some subtle texture/pattern on the bottom white portion by using an anaglypta type paper painted white (sort of a tin ceiling tiles look - they have lots of patterns though).
just some ideas - the focus will really be on your furniture, the light fixture and probably the rug.
can't wait to see some pics!!!
