Living Room Colour Scheme

RyanAsh

Hi all - hoping people can suggest a colour scheme for our living room. We just bought the house and its red...v red and we hate it so will be painting v soon. We've bought a leather suite, dark brown colour with a reddish tint on it. The room is south facing with lots of windows so v bright and its a good big room. The floors are oak and the fireplace is antique looking, a light colour similiar to the oak with a black insert and hearth. Im looking for a colour scheme for the walls & curtains and any suggestions are welcome!! I've tried looking at websites like houzz etc but there is so much choice i end up mind boogled!

jeanjeenie

Red is a hard colour to succeed with on the walls. Your room sounds lovely and certainly seems to have good basics. I wonder did the previous owners have the room red to make it feel cosier? I would be inclined to let the accessories put the colour in the room and leave the walls pale. You already have your browny red suite and oak floors. Can you soften the colour of the black fire insert? I'm thinking something nearer to the oak floor and brown settee or even dare I say, pale again. You could pull any of your existing elements together with a warm coloured rug (I guess with reds in it) and cushions. What about the curtains? are you stuck with the old ones? Do you like them? These would be important when you are picking your accessories. Pale walls doesnt have to mean white or cream. Colourtrend have warm neutrals.

RyanAsh

ya id say they had it red to warm it up but its red on most walls and yellow on the walls either side of the chimney breast so its dreadful!! I agree that the walls should be neutral. I love mocha or mushroom type colours but im not sure either of them complement brown/reds so im trying to think of similiar mellow colours that would complement. My husband hates creams so i wont be allowed do that but i think we need warm colours anyway to make sure the room doesn't feel big and cold. There are actually no curtains so im free to do whatever there but i need to have some idea of the palette because i went looking at curtains with no idea what i wanted there recently and there is just way too much choice - next time i'll at least have a colour palette to help narrow it down me thinks!! I'll pick the colours roughly i think and then pick the curtains and then paint and do rugs etc after that.

jeanjeenie

Wild Oats or Jewett White are colours I used a couple of years ago. They could be a bit too toned down but they were in the heritage or colourtrend range. I have a bright room that has pale walls. the colour is somewhere between what used to be called rye and creamy yellow, I cant remember tyhe name of it.. I agree, the existing red and yellow combo would have to go - apologies to proud ownders of similar colour schemes. Maybe you shold pick the curtains first and then work from there, keeping the warmth to just the accessories and curtains - it could be lovely. There are some shades of green that work well with the colours you mention. I presume you don't want anything shouting at you. the leather sofa and oak floors are a great start for a comfie yet modern feel. I will keep an eye out for stuff in mags and online that might suit but have to go now. Good luck with it. lucky you.

paddy147

RyanAsh wrote: »

Hi all - hoping people can suggest a colour scheme for our living room. We just bought the house and its red...v red and we hate it so will be painting v soon. We've bought a leather suite, dark brown colour with a reddish tint on it. The room is south facing with lots of windows so v bright and its a good big room. The floors are oak and the fireplace is antique looking, a light colour similiar to the oak with a black insert and hearth. Im looking for a colour scheme for the walls & curtains and any suggestions are welcome!! I've tried looking at websites like houzz etc but there is so much choice i end up mind boogled!

I have red leather couches in my open plan sitting room.Bought them from Reids in Airside,Swords

Wide plank oak engineered flooring,white oak doors,eggshell skirting and architrave.

Walls are a combination of biscuit colours and also an cream white too.

Stovax Riva 66 8kw wall mounted insert multi fuel stove with flush fitted black granite hearth.

Works very well imo.:)

paddy147

Go to a Fleetwood or Crown Trade Paint shop.

Pick out some sampler pots of various colours (2 euro 50 cents per pot)

Get a paint brush
Get some A4 sheets of paper or card.

Paint the A4 sheets with the various sample colours.

Stick sheets to walls with some blu-tak.

Look at the room and sample colours in both natural dayling and also at night (under the room lights).

Thats what we did and we painted the house ourselves too.

Saved a fortune.

jeanjeenie

That sounds lovely Paddy. Stove has a very cosy effect I'd guess. Ryanash, i think your starting point could be the curtains. Nothing too muted and then the rest of d room complementing them.

paddy147

jeanjeenie wrote: »

That sounds lovely Paddy. Stove has a very cosy effect I'd guess. Ryanash, i think your starting point could be the curtains. Nothing too muted and then the rest of d room complementing them.

Thanks,the heat off it is unreal.The house is also completely internally insulated too,so the house holds the heat like you wouldnt believe.

Just posted another post with some advice (based on our own personal experiences) and a few pics.:)

jeanjeenie

Nice pics Paddy. I think we hav similar taste!

paddy147

jeanjeenie wrote: »

Nice pics Paddy. I think we hav similar taste!

Well I have to be honest here...my girlfriend picked out allmost all of the colours.

She is very keen eyed and is has a thing for every room having at least 2 different colours in them,even the bedrooms.

She also did all the painting too,and I did the skirting boards throughout the house.

A tin of Zinsser BIN to prime and seal the new skirting and their knots,and then 2 coats of eggshell did the trick.:)

jeanjeenie

Good to know.

RyanAsh

Thanks all.

Ya jeanjeenie - i had actually thought of green myself so i might go down that route alright.

Paddy147 - biscuit sounds lovely. Had heard about the A4 sheet thing alright so had planned to do that before investing in all the paint.

Fingers crossed i'll get it right!