I want green walls. Does it seem like a good idea?

marie-p

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Well, I've lived in my apartment for 2 years now, and I am officially tired of white walls everywhere. I need some color.

My apartment is very small (400 sq feet in total, including the stairs). The bedroom and washroom are closed, but the rest of the apartment is open.

That means that I have a relatively large room that includes my kitchen, living room, office and stair case. I'd like to paint it green, but I'm not sure what type of green to choose.
I can't go with anything too dark because it would make the apartment feel too small (plus my landlord probably wouldn't approve)
I don't want to go too pale either because I don't want to end up with an ugly hospital green.

The floor is wood. The kitchen cabinets are wood and beige melamine. The color of my office furniture is dark cherry wood.
Everything else can be covered / painted to go well with the walls.

Has anyone here ever painted a large room in green? What type of green? How did it turn out?

Here are some old pics of the room:



(that picture was taken before I had appliances. Just try to imagine that there's a stove and fridge in there.
 

watchcaddy

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I have a green room with brown furniture and a dash of red to accent the room. It turned out ok. I like it. Did some quick mockup below.
 

muttigreemom

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Paint, paint and paint some more!

Here's the thing about paint... if you buy a cheap brand (and always buy the cheap brand because really... are you going to keep your walls the same color for 25 years? Then you don't need a 25 year guarantee!
) then if you don't like it.. it's cheap to fix!

Dark colors do not necessarily make a room feel smaller. I have painted rooms very dark - yes, even black - and if you get the right dark color it can open up a room because of the intensity.... it will actually 'glow'. So if a dark color makes a room look small, you just have the wrong dark color.

I wouldn't go too pale either because pale colors don't have a lot of life to them... but maybe thats just me.

I have painted every shade of green imaginable, in every room imaginable... From really dark to light to yellow greens to blue greens... I find if you stay away from grey greens (which are the more hospitalish tones) it'll come out AOK!

But if you want to play around and find a shade you like, then try behr.com or sherwinwilliams.com. They both have programs on their sites where you can 'paint' a room and see how it looks before you buy the paint.

Now, erm I'm not sure where you're located... but here are a few hints to save you some money...

If you find a color you like in a more expensive brand (sherwin williams, behr, glidden, etc) take the chip and get it color matched to color place paint at walmart. Saves you a ton. And if you pick a really light color, have home depot color match it to glidden's speed-cote brand. At $9.99/gallon it's fantastic stuff and dries quickly... but like all paints you'll need two coats. (That one coat stuff is blech... a waste of money IMO... it still comes out shadowy and either requires a second coat or a ton of touch ups. Plus, the square footage per gallon is tiny. Better to do two coats with cheap paint. Has saved me a ton!)

Oy ok I'll shut up now
I'm just paint obsessed (as anyone who has seen how many colors my homes have been can attest to
)
 

swampwitch

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You could always paint one wall a darker green as an accent wall, and the rest the same color but lighter shade.

Or, you could put a "fake" wainscotting with the dark green at the bottom and lighter at the top. There are lots of cool ways to transition from one color to another - let me know if you are interested in that.

Another neat look is to do stripes in the same (light) shade of green, just alternate the stripes between matt and glossy. The glossy catches the light and it's an amazing look - very elegant.

I'd go with a green that has a lot of grey in it, so it's a muted color and not too yellow or too garish.

You should post before and after pics when you are done!
 

stampit3d

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I just painted our new bedroom a med-light aqua green (has a blueish tone to it) and have had a lot of people say that they LOVE the color. (I do too!)
Go green Girl.....just remember when you look at those little swatches...when you find a color you like go a couple shades lighter, cause it will look darker on the big wall...and if you start painting and wish it was darker you can always go back and have them add more color pigment.....but if it`s too dark they can`t take it out.
Have fun...let us know how it turns out!
Linda
 

stampit3d

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Originally Posted by watchcaddy

yellow?

OK now! I wanna know how you are doing that!
Is it hard to do? Can you try other colors...or is that a BIG JOB???
We could vote on a color! Can you do other shades of colors or do you just have one shade of each color?I wonder what a sky blue would look like???
(Sorry about firing so many questions at ya....it`s just that it`s so cool...I had to respond to your talent!)
Linda
 

ladycat

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I really like that green but I like bright colors! or maybe like a sea green or sage?
 

rapunzel47

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I think green is a great colour for walls, and I agree with SwampWitch that a shade with a fair bit of grey in it would be good -- it can be soft without being wishywashy, and will work with more colours to produce variety.
 

dragoriana

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can you show me a shade of aubergine, burnt sienna and a deep turquoise (all seperately of course)

this is really cool
 

watchcaddy

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Pepper green?

If you have sun light hitting that wall the effect should be the same if you satin finish.

 

kluchetta

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I also would recommend behr.com. You can play with palettes, check colors that go with each other, and paint pretend rooms on the site.
 

watchcaddy

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Originally Posted by Dragoriana

can you show me a shade of aubergine, burnt sienna and a deep turquoise (all seperately of course)

this is really cool
If you can provide a color sample I will see what I can do.
 

watchcaddy

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Originally Posted by kluchetta

I also would recommend behr.com. You can play with palettes, check colors that go with each other, and paint pretend rooms on the site.
Yea, that is what I did when I painted the rooms. Give it try.
 
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