nono Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Yep, I'm thinking of painting the hallway and stairways brown. Not beige, but a dark brown. Comments? Good, bad and indifferent welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMOm Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I have a brown kitchen. It's lovely and people compliment me on it all the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoGal Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 We don't have brown walls but I did paint the hallway a dark red once. I have to admit it made the hallway seem much smaller. We have painted it light yellow/beige since then and it looks much nicer that way. But we do have kind of a narrow hallway, so it depends on that and on the light you get in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorMom Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Our living room here was VERY dark brown, and I loved it. We had a light creamy trim color. When we re-did everything, we went with bamboo floors and brown carpet, and most of the furniture was way too brown - so I repainted the wall. We also had dark brown in another house in the dining room. In this case it was bright white trim - looked fantastic. Both rooms have/had great natural light - I woulnd't want to use the color in a room or hall with only artificial light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cammie Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I am BIG into color so I would love it! I think it could look really elegant, classy. The only danger being the fact that it could make a space look dark and smaller. In my last house I painted the library a really dark green and loved it! The TV room was a very dark blue and various other rooms were yellow, green, purple, etc. In this house I had to tone it down (a bit) but I still have one wall that is gold and another wall that is teal and a marroon entry way! Go for the color! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 DD has a deep brown on her walls in her bedroom and bath (with white trim, doors, etc.) We remodeled when she was 12 and that is what she picked. She wanted an Asian theme and has Korean wall hangings on the wall. It isn't what I would have picked, but now that it is up I do like it. She does get a good deal of natural light in the room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 We did it in our bedroom. It really warmed the space up. I think you could get away with it if it was open but I would worry about how dark it would make a hallway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 We just a painted one of our bathrooms dark brown. I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Ds's room is the color of foot dirt. I actually matched it to the color of the dirt on his white walls. It looks fantastic! The paint in the can looked just like melted milk chocolate.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 We have several brown interior accent walls, contrasted against a warm goldenish/yellow. It looks great together and we get compliments often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Yep, I'm thinking of painting the hallway and stairways brown. Not beige, but a dark brown. Comments? Good, bad and indifferent welcome! My sister does. One of the walls in her kitchen is a lovely chocolate brown. It's beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 My new rental has brown walls in the family room. There is a stone fireplace and a large patio door that lets in tons of light, and the carpet is cream. The cafe au lait color looks stunning, especially with my blue couch and blues/greens painting. I also plan to hang flower photos matted in white along one wall (dh's hobby is nature photography). A friend of mine painted her "front room" a dark espresso brown. "Front room" is a Chicago term for the living room in the front of the house. My friend's room has a big bay of windows (3 sides of a square) in the front and a pretty fireplace. With the white woodwork and nifty art and light from the windows, the dark brown looks stunning. I think brown can look beautiful if there's enough light--both in terms of natural sunlight, but also it needs lighter colors in the room for contrast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 We just bought a gallon of brown (Olympic "Ranch Mink", I think... I like their zero VOC paint) for our laundry/bath. It's the color of a cup of cocoa. I'm so excited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 been wanting to give the bedroom a tuscan look--been wanting to do brown but haven't.....I think it would be awesome... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Our first apartment had a brown living room. It was a dark chocolate brown, with cream trim and hardwood floors, and pale tan furniture. The room only had one large window, but it looked nice, very warm and cozy. It didn't make the room look smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenniferlee Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 My stairwell and hallway are painted dark chocolate brown. I LOVE it. No more grimy fingerprints! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Brown walls are very popular these days. I am trying to talk DP into it. I think it can look really beautiful. Grey is a big one as well, all different shades including very dark grey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I saw that somewhere-on a blog a while ago, and it was GORGEOUS. Really gorgeous. Rich. Do it! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted November 11, 2011 Author Share Posted November 11, 2011 I really appreciate everyone's comments here! We did a test last night, and now think we need to go darker! The floor first floor hallway is wide, open, and high, with a chalked oak wood floors. So, mostly pale, but lots of color variations to pick up as a complimentary color. Both stairways (up to the 3rd floor attic) have huge double windows in them. The carpeting on the stairs and upstairs hallway is a mid-toned blue/green. We live a couple blocks from the ocean and it's BRIGHT around here. Moreso in the winter with the angle of the sun. All the rooms touching both halls are decorated brightly with typical coastal colors (which in the dead of winter feels a bit too summery). Right now, as I am typing this, the sun has just risen and is streaming past me into the hallway, and yeah, it's too "matchy" to the floor. The color is Benjamin Moore "Guesthouse" and it's coming up yellower than we would have thought. So, we're thinking of trying two deeper on the same color swatch. A "Fort Sumner Tan." I'm also going to ask the paint guy for something in a different color family similar to "Guesthouse" that perhaps has more black in it. (To get that hint of gray undertone). I called in sick for today (so my husband has to deal with the kids all day, and I have the day off -- no school), so I'll be getting new colors today. I'll keep you informed. And, yes, I literally picked up my phone last night, and called his phone. Hey, in the last 6 years, I've had 1 day off. I'm fraying badly. I figured if calling in sick didn't get through to him, nothing would. ;) He got it. I go "back on duty" tonight at 6 p.m. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyinND Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I don't have that (although I have lots of color!), but my friend has a dark brown living room & it's beautiful! I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I like brown, all colors of brown but if the hall and stairs are not well lit you're just begging for some stubbed toes. Dark colors suck the light from a room and make it seem smaller. It would be good for a room that is expected to be small (bathroom?) or a room with lots of natural light, kitchens maybe? Also bedrooms where you want a cozy cuddle up feel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigger Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Our guest bathroom has dark brown walls, lighter brown marble walls around the lower part of one wall and throughout the shower, and white trim - it looks amazing! In our rec room we did one wall the same dark brown and the other walls are a red (cottage red I think is the color) that's pretty dark too - it works really well since we wanted a really dark wall behind the TV and the red, well, I just loved it! Again, we have white trim in that room too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlygirlzx2 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 We have a dark brown accent wall in our livingroom. My SIL has brown baseboards and doors which I think is brilliant because it hides all of the dirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I really like this color. It's not too dark and just very pretty. http://www.potterybarn.com/products/benjamin-moore-aura-whitall-brown-hc-69/?pkey=chardware-paint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlmiraGulch Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I have very deep chocolate brown in my dining room. It's lovely. Very rich and warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I love all of the earth toned colors. With the right lighting, I think a rich shade of brown would be beautiful. I would be careful of going too dark though. We had a very dark olive green color in a room without enough natural light. It started to feel too cave-like to me and it was very depressing over long winter days. We ended up repainting in a lighter shade. Have fun picking out colors!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I have a medium brown LR connected to a deep cranberry colored DR. I LOVE the richer, earthier colors but I don't really get enough light to pull it off. My windows are ALL about 3" x 6", but we're in the woods so it's always just a bit to dark for me. DH loves the cave-like look, and I've been ignoring it for 10 years. It's awesome when there are no leaves on the trees :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 Well we did it. It took forever to get to the right brown. We ended up with Benjamin Moore Dark Taupe -- think Hershey's Special Dark chocolate! ;) We finished it earlier today and simply LOVE it. Thanks to all who responded here with their thoughts. It was quite helpful. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktog29 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 My hallway is painted in dirt brown, semi-gloss paint. I actually really like the color (the shine, not so much) but I did it because...well...I have five boys. My carpet is also the color of mud...variegated mud at that! It's great for hiding spots! We picked this color a year ago when we redid the carpet and paint...it's been the best! Just do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 my previous bedroom was chocolate brown. it was beautiful. the ceilings were 12 feet so it never felt closed or anything...very warm and lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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