I live in London and have an east facing living room - what are best colours/tones to try in the room?
Question:I am worried if I use blue it will be too cold but really like the idea of a light modern Bermuda style look. If I use a warm or very bright blue would this be ok?
I have also been looking at reds/pinks.
I plan to have a bold coloured sofa so what to go for?
The room is 13sq metres and has high ceiling and large windows (floor to ceiling almost) with balcony doors onto long thin balcony.
I dont want creams and browns as to bland
Answers:
The color of natural light changes from pink and lilac in the morning, to pale yellow almost white at mid-day to orange-gold at sunset.
Natural light from the east can vary in its "tone" depending on the time of day... a room flooded with east-rising sunlight can seem like a south-facing room (warm & goldeny) from dawn until noon, and like a north-facing room (cool & grey) from 4 pm 'til sunset.
So, when will you be using the room the MOST? During the day or evening hours?
The type of lighting you choose will also make a huge difference as to how the colors you choose will "read."
Incandescent light (standard light bulbs) from table lamps casts a warm glow that "puddles" light around the room, whereas standard fluorescent bulbs cast a cool/white light. Compact fluorescent bulbs come closest to approximating the incandescent bulb's warmth at a significantly less cost. Overhead lighting (blech, phooey) will typically cast harsh shadows.
I'm not sure what "Bermuda blue" you're considering using, so I can't comment on it except to say that I think any color with an aqua/green undertone (see link below) will chill the room, visually.
You seem to have a preference for blues, so consider painting one wall with a medium blue, and then a ceiling-hugging stripe (6"-12" depending on the height of your ceiling) along the rest of the walls in the same blue, with a warm cream on the rest of the walls.
That way your "bold" sofa will have a strong palette behind it and it will pop, rather than making the paint job the focus of the room... sort of along the lines of using cosmetics to enhance the face, not be the focus of the face, ya' know?
Other color combinations that could look great would be a medium charcoal grey w/ cool white trim & wine colored accessories, or a medium, cool taupe (not browny, more grey-y) with a deep cream trim with dark grey or dark blue accessories and a shot of wine here & there. (The color, not the alcohol... although hey, why not have a glass of wine while deciding. LOL!)
Once you think you've decided on a color combo, buy sample size containers of them and paint a large sheet of cardboard w/ your choice(s), then tack the cardboard to your living room walls for a week or so to get a feel for how a LARGE patch of the colors look in the room during various times of the day/week... IOW, you might love the colors at night, but Sunday morning sun might make you gag & retch, or vice-versa.
Hope this helps,
TX Griff
A very warm and sophicticated color right now is a muted terra cotta red. A dusty redish orange in a medium value. It's blod without being overwhelming and looks great with many different accents. My favorite is the terra cotta with light dusty ocean blue accents and a beautiful cream trim and accents. I think its very warm and beautiful.
May I suggest Sherwin willams colors:
Persimmon SW6339
Watery SW6478 or Cay SW 6772
White Flour7102
Good Luck! Hopefully I was of some help.
Some of the in things to have right now are single walls of wallpaper that isn' t patterned with colour, but with matt Vs gloss! (i.e. matt background with subtle gloss pattern that REALLY catches the light and reflects back into the room, but not too much. At every different time of the day the wall will look different. you can't go wrong with white BTW).
Your room sounds bright, airy (&to die for) so I think you can afford some drama. Try turquoise wallpaper or black. If you're not comfortable doing a whole wall, cut out and apply panels for a really dramatic feel. Add floating shelves with some (eg copper/ gold 'objets' against the turquoise or absolutely anything against the black). The new way to display pictures is on floating shelves too, forget hanging them on nails.
Hanging pure white sheers from floor to ceiling, wall to wall where your large windows are and add lots of big plants in big plant pots.
Choose a neutral coloured sofa with easy to replace covers so you can change covers to suit your mood. Use cushions to change to theme of the room, including large floor cushions. This gloss & matt wallpaper adds a touch of exotic to a room so look for Indian beaded cushion covers and votive holders.
Find a moroccan influenced light made from beaten up metal with some coloured glass in it and buy throws to suit each of your moods to throw over the sofa, then it will be an ever evolving room to meet each of your needs!
As for your furniture, any style will melt into the background with all this. If you're brave enough to sand it down then get some white acrylic paint, water it down 50/50 and use a cloth to wipe the colour onto the furniture. 2-3 lights coats of varnish will seal heavy duty furniture, if there's not a lot of wear & tear, don't bother, then it can easily be repainted in the future.
:-) If it stops being fun...STOP!
remember the sun rises in the east and sets in the west , so lighter colours will make the room feel brighter in thoes cold winter months
dark black..
Try a greyish tinged battleship blue on the walls with a flow of burgandy from the rug to sofa. As I am a carpet cleaner by trade I despise cleaning blue. It never looks clean, no matter how well you clean it. The same is true with greys. However if you set-up with reds to your floors and blues and greys to your walls, the Eastern sunlight will give an even lighting throughout the day.
Suprisingly browns of a darker shade work well on the sofa in this environment. It's easier to keep clean, but if you want bold, hmm..I'd say maybe a lighter brown,maybe?
With your eastern sunlight keep plenty of plants around to tie it up nicely.
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