Help with living room furniture and dark color panel?
Question:Living room walls are a dark wood panel and the floors are dark hardwood. I have no intentions of painting the walls because the panel is beautiful and in good condition. What color furniture would go well with this room? I was thinking a green but it makes the room looks darker. Any ideas or photos you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Answers:
Yesterday "Room-by-Room" HGTV worked on a dark room and I thought of you. The main things I liked were 1. light colored vertical blinds for their sliding door, they used vertical to visually work with the vertical paneling. I think long light colored window coverings that look similar would be nice to the eye in that dark room. and 2. lights from the ceiling that shine on the walls.
I'm thinking a floor rug was helping also.
good luck.
Depends on the color green there are light greens and a light green carpet with a medium shade couch with touches of white, white vase with white baby's breathe, milk glass(like you can get on Ebay) to brighten corners and the coffee table would be pretty. And remember put lamps in any corners that seem dark with some pictures on the wall of day scenes, or bright abstracts.
i'd go with cream or a light beige and get some funky pillows with cream and browns. you'd get tired of green quickly.
I have dark wood paneling in my living roo too. I have Beige furniture. And believe it or not I have a dark blue chair in their too and wood tables that match the walls. I accent with lighter collored drapes and wall hangings. And have lamps in 4 different areas of the room to make it lighter. I works and the room looks larger and brighter. You could even go with a lighter or light color painted accent tables. Good luck!
white, if you already have furniture add slip covers in white and throw pillows in the green that you like.
www.bhg.com has some good ideas for rooms with dark wood
I used to have a hard time with this too because I absolutely the look of dark walnut and cherry stained woods!
You could try using accents of white or lighter yellows to brighten things up so it won't look as dreary- you don't need a lot really. Maybe a vase of white flowers here or there, or white picture frames, ceramic decoratives or what not.
Mirrors and good lighting also works wonders! The light will bounce off the mirrors making it appear brighter and the room seem larger than what it is. You don't have to have plain mirrors on every wall either - there are lots of great artworks and such with reflective "mirror" backgrounds that you can find inexpensively. Also can try fluorescent lighting fixtures - so this way you can add more lighting into the room than from conventional bulbs, without skyrocketing your electric bill. (Might be a little bit of an investment at first for the new fixtures, but is also a nice environmentally friendly move as well that you could feel good about!)
Go with light colors for the furniture; creamy yellows, off white, golds (no beige or tan) YUK! Accent with red to make the room POP! That would make the room even more dreary. You could use green with yellows. Accent with pillows, pictures on the walls in off white frames (they will show up great). Use window treaments in light colors. Lots of lamps and knick knacks. I used old books and stack them (stagger them) and sit things on top. It looks so cute. I also love to decorate with birdcages, hat boxes, pictures, etc. Use a pretty area rug to lighten up the room also.
Try www.hgtv.com
Good Luck! Don't be afraid; go for it!
a pale yellow.
Use indirect and task lighting throughout the room. No dark lampshades. Add in some light sconces and a light colored area rug, nothing that will hide your floor, but just lighted up the flooring a bit, a nice pattern with an over all pale yellow and the colors near your walls.
try a bright green, like in the link below. If you don't want to go with a neutral like beige, white or tan, anything bright & vibrant will do, like red, yellow or blue. Turquiose would be beautiful against the dark wood.
Cream, white or even red or orange. Stay away from the green, it doesn't help the situation. If you purchase a neutral, (taupe or tan) carpet you can help tie the room together. I would lean towards, cream or taupe drapes, a neutral sofa and put either an accent chair in red/orange or pillows in red/orange, this will help the room pop and look great! Good Luck.
I think yellow or salmon colors would be nice. Buy a large oriental rug with light colors that coordinate with your furniture. Stay away from dark green or dark blue...
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