Reader Stacy wrote awhile ago asking for assistance in determining paint colors for her large living area and adjoining kitchen.  The kitchen is wallpapered in a pattern she doesn’t like and she’s going to remove it…..but then what?  Stacy has made some changes and sent us photos of the updated room to share with you.

 

A Bland Room

Stacy’s original email said in part: “Currently the kitchen has ugly green wall paper and the rest of the house is a light tan/beige color.  So far in the kitchen I have a black and white theme going as far as dishes, appliances and towels go.  I am not sure what color to paint the walls once the wall paper is removed.  I think I need an accent color and I know red goes nicely with black and white, but I am not sure how that would blend in with the living room since they are connected.

The living room also has black and white in it, the pictures and a few other decorative pieces.  I really want a color in the living room, but I am not sure how to incorporate the 2 rooms.  Since I have white cabinets in the kitchen, I don’t want the walls to be white so I thought about a red accent wall but again, I am concerned about the flow into the living room. Some people have suggested gray and I am not sure about that.  I also really like the mossy green shade that is very popular right now.”

I gave Stacy a couple of ‘adjusted’ pictures to help her visualize other colors on the walls.

Red in the kitchen is often great as accents: towels, salt/pepper, etc.  Red is a hot color and actually gives the impression of raising the temperature – not always a good thing in a kitchen, so something to consider when thinking about wall color.  Stacie wrote, “Thank you so much for the ideas.  I like the red, but I also see that it is very bold, maybe a little too much for me, since I came from a house (with my mom) where we had white walls and white walls only!!   What do you think about painting the kitchen and living room the same color, just not a tan, but maybe a shade of green or blue?”

This adjusted photo (using a Pottery Barn neutral sofa for illustration purposes) shows how you can pull color and accent colors from a couple of pillows.

Since Stacy is interested in blues or greens, here’s another take on the room pulling the blue/green from the pillows.  Rather than paint all the room green or blue (unless it’s a fairly soft, muted color), I’d recommend the accent wall idea.  For the accent wall I’d choose the wall I’ve illustrated that continues on into the kitchen.  Just paint the small section behind the stove and fridge the accent color, up to the corner, then switch to the main wall color.  The shell of the room would remain a neutral color.

You can see the edge of a dark wood (black) table next to the sofa that got cut off.  Wouldn’t some dark furniture look great with these lighter colors to anchor the room and reinforce your idea of black?  Whether modern or traditional, I think you need at least a couple pieces of black wood pieces to offer contrast.

Stacy’s Reveal

Here are the photos she shared of her stylish ”new” room – a colorful accent wall and new sectional.  It’s really lovely Stacy.

We can see that Stacy pulled colors from her pillows (add a few more of those Stacy) to create her color scheme of the green wall, blue accent chair and even orange accent art (which I love, by the way).  Incorporating the dark wood shelves and base for the sofa really help ground the room and add good contrast to that wall. 

To complete the color cross-pollination Stacy, I’d suggest bringing something strongly orange to the sofa end of the room – a yummy textural throw or a large oversize floor pillow or a big ceramic pot with a leafy tree in it.  Reinforce your blues and greens with a few more pillows (a little bigger in size for variety) and you’ll have a designer room to be proud of.  Thanks so much for sharing your project.

Tomorrow is Giveaway Day

In case you missed our posts in the last week, tomorrow is the One Year Anniversary for Your Decorating Hotline.  We are so thrilled to have reached this milestone!  And, you’re the beneficiaries.  We invite you to our party and you might even get to go home with a gift.  We have three contributors that have offered beautiful home decor items and at the end of the day tomorrow (7pm Pacific), we’ll close the comments and have a random drawing.  The winners will be announced on Friday.

Here’s what you could win:  A choice of a pillow from WordGarden, ETSY store, value $30.  A choice of 2 photographic prints from AutumnLetters, ETSY store, value $40.  A $50 gift certificate applicable to any purchase from WUSLU.com which offers a new product each day.

 

Visit the sites of each of our contributors for a view of their complete offerings and start planning which you would choose if you win.  All you have to do to participate is leave us a comment tomorrow, Wednesday.  That’s it.  Tell us something about how long you’ve read YDH, how you found us, what’s your favorite type of article, what you’d like to see us write about in future articles…..you get the idea.  Good luck!