Any suggestions on color?

I have a bathroom that has a combo of tiles - two colors being one's a bone or some color like that and the accent tiles are a greenish and greyish color (I think).

I'm going batty trying to figure out what to paint the walls. As far as any fixtures, I would like to go with a brushed nickle & chrome type effect and the cabinetry is flexible/will be replaced.

I'm not too big a fan of green but have tried a few different shades so far. One that I liked didn't respond well with the combo lighting of regular bulbs and skylite. One wall looked great - the other didn't.

I tried a yellow but it seemed to bring out the green in too much contrast. I would prefer to subdue the green a bit and don't seem to have a good eye for this anymore.

If there wasn't so much of it, I would rip it out just because of the color, which doesn't really capture well but I'll post a pic or two.

Any ideas? I already have about 6 quarts of paint I won't use!

http://www.cienega32.com/house/bath1.jpg
http://www.cienega32.com/house/bath2.jpg
http://www.cienega32.com/house/bath3.jpg

 

What about going with the gray if you do not like green? Pulling the gray up on the walls will downplay the green that you do not like and play up the gray. A lighter shade of gray paint on the walls would be cool, calm, and relaxing and not make the room seem dark. The neutral would be fine, but both the gray and green tiles will still pop. Towels could be a mix of gray ones and off white ones. You can completely ignore green if you like.

Brushed nickel faucet would be complementary to the gray. If going with a cultured marble vanity top, a cream with swirls of gray would also be complementary. But, what color are your fixtures? White? There are many whites in cultured marble, perhaps one that is not too creamy and not too white with swirls of gray would be better if fixtures are white. There are also solid surface materials and natural stone that can pick up a white and gray.

What color is trim in the rest of the home? If wood trim is stained, a wood vanity to coordinate with trim would work. If trim is painted, you can paint the creamy color to complement the neutral in the tile. If this is the master bath, vanity wood could be the same as in the master bedroom, to draw that wood species into the bathroom and make it feel more like a suite.

What colors are you using in the rest of the house? Is there another color that you are using that might also be pulled into the bathroom, perhaps in accent colors in accessories and towels? Pulling color scheme through the home in varying amounts tends to provide greater continuity to color scheme and theme.

While it is fine to introduce a new color in another room, it is still a good idea to pull in one or two colors from your color scheme in order to create a sense of continuity. For example, since I love green, it would be easy for me to work with the green tiles because green is one of my colors, as is burgundy. Playing up the green and bringing in my burgundy accents would work great with your tile. Let's say that I would prefer to play up the gray, I could still bring in my burgundy and/or my navy blue in accessories and towels and ignore the green.

Working with color can be fun and exciting. The colors you select and either play up or play down a room's features and colors with which we have to live such as in tile.

 

Maybe I didn't lose too much of an eye after all. I've always leaned to the greys with those tiles, thinking the way you explained it, but just couldn't "see it". But hearing it, and with the other accessory colors makes it sound sensible again. I get a little batty with all these shades available and having one of those color sticks with every color in the universe doesn't help!

As far as any other colors in the house - it can be looked at as a 'begin from scratch' project - right down to all the trim maybe being replaced. Same with the bath hardware/cheapo-cabinetry. It's a southwest style home and I would like to maintain some of that style-thinking but not get too overly loud or contrasting (ala Salma Hyeck in 'When Fools Rush In') with it but it's all getting changed from it's general 'contractor creamy-beige' type scheme the P.O. left me with. Any other walls that are of other color are so poorly done they need to be redone anyway. Bad, as far as overall expense but good as far as latitude in my choices.

But the greys I keep leaning to and I've been thinking of using a variation of that in the hall (where I've replaced the elec hardware with brushed nickel pieces already) leading to that one bath. 2 baths - same tile in both.

The 2nd bath in the hallway area would be a good choice for the greys, I think, being it would blend with my hallway idea that seems to be able to work with the one bedroom that'll be an office which I'm thinking of blues and a woodgrain wainscot or whatever it's called.

That hall bath I'm on the verge of talking myself into ripping out all together - it just feels dated to me - but will be cheaper to just paint up for right now.

 

Oooh! Southwestern. What a rich color palette with which you have to work. Terra cotta works very well with gray. The earthtone colors, rough textures, handcrafted objects, and brightly-colored woven fabrics should be a treat.

You have many options for color for a Southwestern color palette. The green of the cacti! The red of adobe! The neutrals of the desert! A splash of bright yellow for the sun! Hazy orange for a sunset! Some turquoise! Wow!

You can pull in some woven fabrics that look hand woven and leather and suede for cattle. A striped serape would be reminiscent of Southwestern heritage. Rustic wood furniture like knotty pine that may also be distressed. Metal accents--burnished brass and wrought iron--also reflect the Southwest US. Painted pottery, ceramics, and painted tiles make for great accent pieces.

Perhaps a piece of ceramic or pottery or tile can provide you with inspiration for a color scheme. All the Southwestern colors work nicely with gray. A serape or area rug can also provide you with colors from which you pick two or three that appeal to you and will work with gray, which you can pull on through the house in varying quantities and working with your stronger colors.

The key is to decide upon your theme, mood and style, pick your colors and go for it. Example: Southwestern theme provides a relaxing mood, and style could be Aztec or Indian. Your color scheme is what carries the theme, mood, and style through your home. Upon entering your foyer there should be some of every color in your palette to whet the appetite and to give a clue to what lies beyond. Avoid equal amounts of each color in each room. One of your colors could be the dominant one on an accent wall. Connecting rooms should have a common color. Colors are easily repeated in rooms in fabric, upholstery, and accessories (flowers, art, candles, etc.). Colors should flow from room to room. And, the right colors will support your theme.

 

Well, don't get too excited! The SW style is mainly on the outside of the house. The inside, IMHO, is rather plain, considering that.

The TerraCotta color I decided on for the main living rm wall that the hall (with the brushed nickel stuff) comes off of so that's workable.

I think once I get that main wall painted, it'll come together a little easier and I'll have a little better overview of it all. It's tough finding a start point, knowing it's all not what you want to see.

You've provided me with some useful tips and approaches. Thanks!

 

So you have your terra cotta and your gray! Hurray! What's the next color?

 

Oh great - thanks! Now I'm confused again !

I'll tell ya this - I'm ready to just paint it all white and make believe I'm renting so I can sit here and dream up stuff. It seemed so easy then.

I'm now realizing that one of my biggest visual obstacles seems to be the trim and standard 6-panel doors. They're all that contractor beige/brown that's very plain and boring. The overall dominance of that color throws me off, as far as 'seeing' anything. It's just the wrong brown for anything at all, in my eyes.

I've been doing a walk-thru here and there with some of the new Santa Fe adobe-style homes being built and they have some really sharp looking 'real' wood interior doors. I think that's another key consideration at this point. I might just replace the small bi-fold closet door in the entry and see how that looks. Or at least throw some white on it to clear my eyes.

Those 6-panels seem dated and a little too 'standard' but the color... the color... (said with a Brando accent).

 

And, in a Vivien Leigh voice, her Blanche might respond as in Street Car Named Desire, "Surely I am not blinded by all that brown...Of course, there...there are things to adjust myself to..."

"Contractor beige/brown?" Is this stained trim and interior doors? If painted, sand lightly and paint over.

What about Navajo white? That sounds pretty southwestern. It is a sandy off-white color like the exterior of Navajo buildings. It was popular with builders 70s-90s, especially in tract homes and is still used today. There are now many different whites from which to choose. Go back and look at that neutral tile in the bathroom!

Stain grade interior trim and doors are more expensive than paint grade, and it seems a pity to paint over them. But, that's your choice. If stained, new wall color may make trim look less dominating. Post some pictures for us to see what you are seeing.

Many do replace interior trim and doors to upgrade. The standard 2 1/4" wide interior trim, although still popular among builders due to price point, is often replaced with 3" or wider trim. Flat and paneled hollow-core doors can be replaced with solid doors. Paneled hollow-core doors have much more character than the flat ones which cost less. Many never notice that they are not 'real' wood.

 

No, it's not stained. It's a brown paint that I think comes in $4/55 gallon drums. The bi-fold closet door is warped and needs to be replaced anyway. I kind of doubt any of it is anything other than cheapo paint grade stuff.

Here's one door in one of the rooms - the walls are a white in that room:
http://www.cienega32.com/house/br2_door.jpg

And the entryway. The walls aren't really that white - more of a light beige/tan color: http://www.cienega32.com/house/inentry.jpg

That was when I first moved in which explains the propped up OPID (Over-air Programming Interception Device) that I used until I talked the cable company into running a line out to my block. Only got three channels with it. The strongest one was a 24 prayer channel (which scared me - thought it was a 'message'), another from 300 miles north and I could never figure out where the other one was from but I had to rotate that thing 1/2 way round to get it. It was fun...

I'll probably use that area, what was intended to be a dining area, as a sitting/reading type area as it's pretty much a part of the living room and the eating area off the kitchen is at least as big.

Anyway - this is one of the doors that I saw in one of those new Santa Fe style homes in town:
http://www.cienega32.com/house/nicedoor.jpg

Now those are sharp looking for a hollow door.

 

See what you mean about those doors. Against a stark white backdrop of white walls, that's all you can see in your home--dark tan doors. With the right color on your walls, and all doors and trim painted white, off white, cream, or other color, such as the neutral in your tile, to help make them disappear I think you will be fine.

Of course, those Sante Fe doors, are lovely and would certainly go well with that wood ceiling and Southwestern style. Have you priced those babies?

 

The walls currently being a lite tannish that kinda/sorta goes with that brown, it just looks very plain but difficult to see around the door color. I think I'll just throw some off-white or something on them to get a better perspective.

What the heck - it's only paint, right? It's not like taking out a wall...


I searched out those doors in the local market and found some like those but a little less appealing to me that ran about 150, if I recall correctly. I have to find the contractor at that housing site to find out more about those. They are pretty sharp.