Sorry, love, there is no color that would match that floor.

November 12, 2008 3:36 PM

What color should I paint a bedroom with a swirly brown-black-reddish stained concrete floor?

I will be staying with my parents in Houston, TX for five months. They just got a great deal on a townhome, and in order to give me more privacy, suggested that I can have the first-floor bedroom if I like it. I love it!

Since the house was a forclosure, dad will be painting all rooms before any furniture is moved into the house. Unfortunately, I won't be in Texas when he does that. He's keeping the original paint colors everywhere in the house since he likes them and doesn't want to bother with more than one coat. However, I am somewhat sick of beige and white walls, so I get to pick the colors I like for my room.

Normally, I'd go with a pale pastel blue or sage green, but the first floor of the house has brownish stained concrete floors, and I am not sure what would look good with them.

I love brown, and I love the combination of brown/light baby blue, but the floors look somewhat more reddish under artificial light than in the pictures and I can't tell whether that would look good or bad. The sheets and pillows on my bed (pretty much the only furniture for the time being) are baby blue with a brown and blue duvet cover (none of those crazy pillows), and the doors and window frames will stay white unless I am very persuasive as to why they shouldn't. Also, chances are dad won't be happy if I ask him to paint every wall a different color.

The room is small and will be used pretty much only for sleeping. My mom and I have been eyeing rugs for it, but won't be spending this much money any time soon. I love, love, love this rug and the color scheme: the floor is not too far off from the reddish flowers, and the blue matches my sheets, by the way. I guess I'll live with beige walls if I it's the best choice, but would rather not.

Please, people with better taste than mine, tell me what would look good in my shiny, new bedroom?

posted by halogen to home & garden (9 answers total)

I'd suggest a pale, but warm, green. It will echo the green outside the window and could look lovely. Be careful about matching it with your other items, but I think it could be good.

I painted a room with "hearts of palm" from Sherwin Williams, and it's great. One thing you might consider, though, is only painting one or two walls in that room in the green color - some call them "accent walls". Then you can put something that echoes the green color on an adjacent wall (cream, or I've found "antique white" goes well here).

I've also been told by one artist (oil paints & pastels) that most art looks great on a green wall (we were talking about possible web page background colors).

I emphasize: the green needs to have slightly more yellow than blue to avoid looking heavy or too different from the colors that are there already. But I bet it will look fabulous!

Our green walls also have white trim - which looks fantastic.
posted by amtho at 4:15 PM on November 12, 2008 [1 favorite]

I'd go with a light tan / camel.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:46 PM on November 12, 2008 [2 favorites]

I'd paint the floor too. It's simple, will make it easier to keep clean and you can make it any color you want.
posted by Ookseer at 6:09 PM on November 12, 2008

amtho, my parents love the color you suggested (shown on the ceiling in this ad, but we'll use it for the walls throughout the entire house, including the first floor where the stained concrete floor is). I didn't realize that a stained concrete floor can be just painted over and sealed, but after looking into it, it seems that it's a great option since mom hates the current color anyway.
The accent wall in the living space would look great in a deeper sage green, I think, since it would be nice to have a bit of a contrast (all of my parents furniture is light wood and white upholstery).
posted by halogen at 6:28 PM on November 12, 2008

i love that floor! to me it's crying out for a gorgeous dark teal color.

but whatever color you choose, if it doesn't work, get a cheap throw rug.
posted by thinkingwoman at 6:34 PM on November 12, 2008

I also vote for the light tan or camel, as long as it has enough yellow in it. You could also go for a very pale robin's egg blue or turquoise, but the tan would be lovely.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 7:12 PM on November 12, 2008

Maybe try painting the walls before you commit to painting the floor? I think it's way too strong with the white walls, but it could possibly be very interesting and cool-looking with some color around it and furniture/rugs on it. It's nice that it's not one solid color; it will hide some dust/mess, and you won't have to worry so much about scuffs & scrapes with a variegated surface.
posted by amtho at 7:30 PM on November 12, 2008

I'm glad your parents like the color (I hope you do, too!). See how nice it looks in that ad _with_ the warm/reddish wood tones, and the white objects too? It's all about _combining_ those colors.
posted by amtho at 7:32 PM on November 12, 2008

How funny. I live in a townhome in Houston, TX with reddish stained concrete floors through the entire unit. Our walls are each painted a different shade of blue or green or blue/green. Seriously, every room is a different color, and our wood trim and baseboards are all white. We have exposed metal beams on the ceiling that are black but since the ceiling is quite tall that color doesn't really affect the room.

I say go with whatever you want. If the color is vibrant enough or bright enough (even for a pastel) the floor won't clash. And if you're still unsure, get a few rugs to cover the floor. It's almost winter and you'll be happy to not step barefoot on that cold concrete in the middle of the night anyway.

These photos were taken at night but you can see some of the blues I'm talking about here.
posted by Brittanie at 12:10 PM on November 13, 2008