BMW Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 We have an ordinary suburb house... about 20 years old... Our floors are ceramic tile - a beige and creamy marbled look, not shiny. The entry way walls, living room and hallways are ivy/sage green color. They will get re-painted next year... My kitchen has "banana cream" walls and the tile is white and the country blue that came out way back when with the country geese decor... The tile will not be taken out, but I will re-paint the kitchen. There's not a lot of wall space for decor... But I can hang some cute curtains up... We have hand me down couches and love seat from the in-laws and they are looking a bit shabby... they are grey. None of the shelves, bookcases, computer desk and dining table match. I am always feeling like the house just is not lovely... I want to start with curtains first and then look for inexpensive things to change... pretty stuff for the mantle, table cloth to coordinate with curtains... and re-paint in a year. I just don't know what to pick... I don't want to clash with the green walls in the mean time, but I want to change the green. I don't want to use yellow... I want a pretty home... I am thinking some lace for curtains... But, I don't want to get myself into some ideal that I cannot financially follow through with... I don't like the "country" look so much (as in gingham) or large florals... I don't even know what to ask for... any ideas at all for me? I look at magazines and on-line and store ads, but just have no idea how to pull a lovely home look all together... Thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
learninearnin Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Some toile curtains with a blue pattern on cream would be timeless and would pull in the blue in the tile. JC Penney has a valance on clearance on their website called Toile Bouquet for $20. Inexpensive slipcovers from target or walmart can brighten up the grey couches. The best thing is to decide what your color scheme is going to be, and then go shopping. Keeping your large pieces neutral gives you more options. Shop at discount stores like Ross or Home Goods to find inexpensive accessories. Large plates or glass jars work well on mantels. Just keep in mind your colors and restrict yourself to those so you don't get overwhelmed. Good luck! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 I would focus on the paint and the couches for now. It is amazing what a fresh coat of paint in a color you like can do for the house. After the paint - slipcovers and pillows you like. Don't worry about the furniture not matching - but if it is really bothering you, you could try to paint them all the same color. As for the dining room table - that's what a tablecloth is for :) I would reccomend going to Lowes/Home Depot and figuring out the wall colors first. Find one of those pre-matched room ideas they have in the brochures, pick one, and then coordinate all of the inexpensive accesories with those colors in mind. Country blue hasn't gone out of style and doesn't have to be "country" - it's just cornflower blue ;) Blues, greens, tans, and even coral all go really well with blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMW Posted July 25, 2010 Author Share Posted July 25, 2010 (edited) Thanks, I like these ideas... A question on colors... I really don't like the country blue that is part of the kitchen floor... I just try to keep it in mind to blend in with something I will like better. What colors for a small-medium house would go with that bit of blue? I love red and I love purple... but I don't necessarily know if they go together... I have lilac bathrooms... and light tan and purple in my bedroom... Would cream walls with cream tile and red with curtains and tables, etc. go with the rest of the house? Would I be better going with purple accessories and cream walls to go with the rest of the house? And I am not sure I want cream colored walls.... I am also trying to be sensitive to my dh... he would let me do ANYTHING if I like it... but, he is a man... and I don't know if walking through the door and seeing purples throughout the house is what I want for him... and I definitely don't want florals... Edited July 25, 2010 by BMW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Thanks, I like these ideas... A question on colors... I really don't like the country blue that is part of the kitchen floor... I just try to keep it in mind to blend in with something I will like better. What colors for a small-medium house would go with that bit of blue? I love red and I love purple... but I don't necessarily know if they go together... I have lilac bathrooms... and light tan and purple in my bedroom... Would cream walls with cream tile and red with curtains and tables, etc. go with the rest of the house? Would I be better going with purple accessories and cream walls to go with the rest of the house? And I am not sure I want cream colored walls.... I am also trying to be sensitive to my dh... he would let me do ANYTHING if I like it... but, he is a man... and I don't know if walking through the door and seeing purples throughout the house is what I want for him... and I definitely don't want florals... Here is what I would suggest: Instead of just looking through magazines, get yourself a large binder and fill it with page protectors (see through sleeves.) Everytime you see a room /color/accessory, etc. that you like, pull the photo and put it in your binder. You will start to see trends there and that will help you start to indentify "your" look. It is nice when the rooms of a house are pulled together with 3 colors: a color which is the major color in a room, another color which is the secondary, and the third color that is the accent color. Then you can vary which color is major, secondary and accent, while still keeping the same three colors, which is a nice way to tie the house together. However.... very few people other than decorators do that. You probably do want to try to do that with your public rooms, however: kitchen, dining room, living/family room. For your binder, you can clip color combinations you like even if you don't like the furniture in the room pictured. When I was collecting photos for a binder, I went to the local recycling place and just pulled out bunches of decorating magazines so that it didn't cost me a fortune in buying magazines. It also allowed me to accumulate photos faster. Specific colors: Purples can be tricky to work with, especially given that you don't seem to like yellow and purple and yellow are opposites on the color wheel which is why they work well together. Pale yellow is a nice complement to lilac for instance. You do want something warm with the lilac. Some greens can be toward the warmer side and balance out the cool of the lilac color. But do you also dislike greens? (Given that you are wanting to get rid of the green in your kitchen?) It would be hard to do a house with purple and no yellow or green, I would think-- unless you want to be very bold and do jewel tones or go for the earthtones & purples of the desert. With the country blue on your kitchen floor, you could definitely go with red; however, be aware that it will give you an Americana look, because you'll have the colors of the flag in there. Red does spice up that country blue, though. You can avoid the "country" Americana look by choosing more modern accessories and definitely avoiding stars. You could also treat the blue as a neutral in that room and just ignore it. Blue and green are often read as "neutral" because they are the colors of plants and the sky and we're used to seeing a palatte of color against these two colors outside. In general, you will find it easier to work with red in your home than with purple and various reds may look more gender-neutral to you and your dh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 I personally don't like cool colors at all. I prefer neutrals and warm tones. Red and purple could work together but if you go with darker tones it is going to be pretty intense. If you went with more of a rose and mauve those would work perfect together. I usually try to use three colors in my house. I have reds, golds, and a small amount of a deep wine colored purple. My neutrals are all tans that lean towards the gold end of the spectrum and so far everything looks pretty good together. Of course, all my woods are different shades of medium cherry so they all match and then I have some brown and blacks which I really don't count as colors. But I use different combinations of these colors throghout the house so they blend but each room is just different enough to also be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fhjmom Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 When I first built our house and was trying to decide on how to decorate, I picked something that I totally loved then built my room around that item. For the guest bedroom, it was a quilt my parents gave me. For the guest bath, it ended up being a stuffed cat holding a birdhouse (the bathroom ended up with a birdhouse theme). The kitchen, a decorative tile I found for the backsplash. I like the idea of collecting photographs of rooms and styles you like to help you narrow down some ideas. Instad of duplicating exactly, go for the same "feel". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyfullyblessed Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 Hello, I just wanted to share with you the colors that I have in my living room. I have the blues and deep reds. I really like it and have received several compliments on it since painting it this way. Even though it is not a kitchen, maybe it will give you an idea of how everything works together. As you can see, the deep red is my accent color in this room. Please ignore that it was Christmastime in this photo, but I just didn't have another photo of the room. Also, I have blue and white in my kitchen too. There used to be yellow walls, but I am just not that into yellow even though all the colors went well. Instead, I have painted my walls a spicy Cayenne color which I LOVE! All the white that I have in my kitchen makes it possible to have the darker color on my walls. So, that may be an idea too. I have attached a few pictures, some of the kitchen too. The kitchen is hard to really see, but the blue is in the backsplash on one of the photos and that same color is in my floor too along with white. The colors compliment each other beautifully. Good luck with whatever you go with and have fun!! : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidsHappen Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 Good luck with whatever you go with and have fun!! : ) Oh, I love the leather chairs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted July 27, 2010 Share Posted July 27, 2010 I would reccomend going to Lowes/Home Depot and figuring out the wall colors first. Find one of those pre-matched room ideas they have in the brochures, pick one, and then coordinate all of the inexpensive accesories with those colors in mind. :iagree: The brochures often describe "rules" about colours, in a away that helps you match accessory colours to a dominant colour. Our new house has black slate-look vinyl tiles and four black walls. I see a lot of paint brochures in my future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Hello, I just wanted to share with you the colors that I have in my living room. I have the blues and deep reds. I really like it and have received several compliments on it since painting it this way. Even though it is not a kitchen, maybe it will give you an idea of how everything works together. As you can see, the deep red is my accent color in this room. Please ignore that it was Christmastime in this photo, but I just didn't have another photo of the room. Also, I have blue and white in my kitchen too. There used to be yellow walls, but I am just not that into yellow even though all the colors went well. Instead, I have painted my walls a spicy Cayenne color which I LOVE! All the white that I have in my kitchen makes it possible to have the darker color on my walls. So, that may be an idea too. I have attached a few pictures, some of the kitchen too. The kitchen is hard to really see, but the blue is in the backsplash on one of the photos and that same color is in my floor too along with white. The colors compliment each other beautifully. Good luck with whatever you go with and have fun!! : ) LOVE your living room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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