Repainting the living room

It's that time again....time to repaint our living room. I'm having a difficult time choosing a color.

Our living room carpet is red, not fire engine red, but more of a burgundy maybe. Our sofa contains the same color as the carpet as well as sage green, olive green, several beiges, and a bit of grey. The main wall in our living room is painted in Cranberry Wall, a very dark red, and I have no intention of painting that color over as we all love it. The remaining walls are done in a very pale pinkish color...I think it's called Ash Pink or something like that. Our drapes are burgundy, but we are looking at new drapes, too.

I don't want pink of any kind again. I don't want beige....I really hate beige. Not white, not eggshell, not bisque. Our computer room is done in White Sage and our bedroom is done in Sage Green. So no more green. Our kitchen is painted in two colors.....slate green and pale yellow

I'm seriously considering a grey color. Not dark grey, but a very pale grey.

We're also looking at crown molding at the tops of the walls. Not sure about a color for that, but I was thinking about a bit of a deeper grey. The ceiling is an off-white and that color goes into the kitchen and back the hallway.

What about grey? And what crown molding color would look good with the Cranberry Wall color as well as the drapes and the light grey walls? Any ideas? Should I just bag it and start thinking again?

I'm voting for grey! It doesn't have to be boring OR cold, there are lots of beautiful greys that are warmish, leaning towards taupe, and you can get grey with all kinds of different base colors. Only thing, make sure to paint a big section of wall to test the color(s) before you paint. Lighting and outside light can REALLY change the color of grey once it's up, also different times of day. Hope you post some pics.

Genevieve Gorder chose a medium gray taupe in a kitchen recently on HGTV. It was gorgeous. She paired it with a happy green. The homeowners were very happy. I have to say, it was awesome. I was jealous.

I immediately thought of gray too. We're doing one of our bathrooms in two shades of gray. There are literally hundreds of shades of it...who'd have thought?

What about a brownish grey? Our entire house is painted in a really nice brownish grey, called Timberwood, and it complements almost any color. I think it would look nice with burgundy.

As I started reading your post, I immediately thought of gray also.

I sell paint for a living and give color advice to people all day long. Gray is a neutral color that can work with anything. It sounds like you had too many red tones in your living room already, and a neutral gray will tone it down and at the same time allow the red tones as an accent color pop.

Don't pick your colors at the paint store. Take as many samples as possible home with you and see it in the natural light of your home. Colors do not look the same under the florescant bulbs in the store as they will in your home. If you can buy a sample of the color you choose, buy it and paint a large portion on the wall to make sure you like the color. (yes, I mix samples all day long also)

Just my opinion.......

Maybe a "French Gray"? That would have some warmer tones to it but still be gray. I have a purpleish gray picked out for this room; but DH doesn't want to paint it since it will eventually be another kids room whenever we have another baby. I see his point; but it's so pretty! *sigh*

And yes do what Amy suggested! I will often tape sample swatches to a wall for months before deciding on something. I've not gotten the sample ones you can actually paint on the wall. Can't wait to do that though! Since I was pregnant when we bought our house the only room that ever got painted was the nursery. Every other room is white and it's just so blah to me! I need some color!

Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

I have a purpleish gray picked out for this room;

Click to expand...

Sounds gorgeous

That purplish gray sounds beautiful!

We haven't been able to agree on anything yet. It's always a hard decision for us to make.

I say just go pick out some paint chips and tape em to the wall for a while. Then when you find some favs you can go for actual samples if you want. I generally take my time picking these things too. You don't want to do all that work painting just to hate it!

After recoiling in horror at the thoughts of painting, I think a light grey sounds lovely. Our crown molding is done in about the same shade as our walls, just with a semi-gloss paint (at least that's what I think you call it.) I wish we'd done a little more of a contrast, but there's no way I'm changing it now.