Flowers in the Attic, without, you know, THAT.

June 4, 2009 10:44 AM

We're finishing an attic to use as a living space. Said attic is ~400 sq ft and has sash windows and skylights, and Mr. desjardins is going to put white beadboard paneling around the walls. The floor is old, dark wood in bad shape, but we do not have time/money to sand/refinish. What colors should we paint the paneling and floor? The walls angle in dramatically so I don't want to feel claustrophobic.

Assume I am a complete idiot about paint and interior decorating.

Some ideas about the furniture: The bed is metal and modern (similar). The dressers and nightstands are this color cherry wood. We have this floor lamp. The couch is mission style like this with these color cushions. We have a rug that's roughly similar to this, though I'm fine with scrapping it. I think that's about all we're going to be able to fit up there.

As you've guessed, I like modern and contemporary stuff but don't want to go too far out on a limb.

posted by desjardins to home & garden (16 comments total)

I forgot to mention there is a brick chimney that runs through the attic. The brick is in bad shape - should we paint that as well?
posted by desjardins at 10:45 AM on June 4

Unless the floor is really bad shape, I don't think you should paint it. Use your rug. That's just me expressing my great dislike for painted floors. Additionally, if it has any sort of finish on it, you may find your paint and flooring don't play nice. This guy gives more info on painting floors and what you should do.

I'd leave the bead board and all your trim white or an off white. I'd paint the space above the bead boards to be a light, sagey green. The rug you linked to has a green in it. I assume your rug does too. Pick a green that is a shade or two lighter than that. As for the floor, consider painting it the same green.

As for the brick, I'd leave it to start. If it looked really bad after everything was done, then consider painting it white to match the bead board and trim.
posted by onhazier at 10:58 AM on June 4

The skylights will bring a lot of light into the room, so you can easily handle a darker color on the walls. I question the wisdom, though, of painting the floor and beadboard paneling. Assuming the floor isn't in awful shape, I think its "rustic" character might blend well with the furnishings. (Well, except for the bed, which is a wild card, but I definitely like it!)

Here's what I would do, FWIW: Run the paneling partway up the wall (to approximately chair-rail level), leave the floor as is (and sand/refinish it when you feel you must). Then pick up one of the rug colors to paint the walls above the paneling. Be sure to get samples of the colors you like, since exact matches to the rug colors won't necessarily make the rug colors "pop" the way a slightly different color would. I would look first in the plum or dark bluish-gray tones. Don't be afraid to choose a pretty saturated color (i.e., toward the darkest end of the paint-chip card), as the white paneling and the lightish background on the rug will help set it off and keep the overall effect from being too dark.

As for the chimney: What you do with it depends on where it is. If it is in a corner, you might just treat it like part of the wall -- i.e., panel up to chair-rail height, then paint above. Even if it's in bad shape, though, you may prefer to leave it as it is.
posted by DrGail at 11:01 AM on June 4

Might help if you put all those pictures on one page, (say an Indesign document, which you could turn into a PDF or JPG) so you and everyone else could see the various colors/styles at once.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:03 AM on June 4

Also, when doing this our house, I take a single photo with as much as the room in the frame as possible, take it into Photoshop and cut out the various sections to put on different layers so they can be re-colored ad nauseam to try different color combinations.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:14 AM on June 4 [2 favorites has favorites]

I wouldn't paint the brick. Once brick has been painted it's basically never the same, there's no real way to restore it back to brick, the only thing you can do after that is sandblast it, which takes a lot of the surface off with it (and could impact functionality depending on the age and what the mortar is)

Is the chimney in use? I would also be concerned with glazes or paints on something like that, it may not heat up enough to be HOT, but it may still heat enough to cause the paint to break down and release chemicals into the air.

I've seen many painted brick buildings in my area, but now that I think about it, I can't recall ever seeing a painted chimney.
posted by Kellydamnit at 11:15 AM on June 4

Don't paint the floor or the chimney. Old, weathered brick can be a great design element, paired with modern furnishings it can look really classy. Painted brick always ends up looking institutional and ugly (it's also really difficult to paint properly.) Ditto the floor: unless it's actually splintering or rotting away -- in which case you'd need to sand it properly before painting anyway -- it'll look a lot nicer as is, perhaps with your rug, than if you paint it. Just clean them both carefully, you might be surprised by how good they end up looking.

Bead boarding only to chair rail height is a good suggestion, assuming your walls are vertical, not angled to match the roof line: especially in a small space all those stripes can end up looking busy and crowded. White beadboard with lightly tinted drywall above it is a safe choice, but if you're feeling courageous you could try something more interesting like a bright yellow, orange, or sky blue to contrast with the white. A lightly textured paint job might look good too (we have one bathroom I painted with a cloudy white glaze stippled over dark green; it took a little practice but I think it looks really nice.) (Don't go overboard with too much texture in a small room, though.)

Go to a bookstore and find the interior design section, flip through a few picture books to get ideas. Color is fun to play with -- not all the walls have to be the same color! -- and paint is relatively cheap and easy to undo if you end up not liking the results.
posted by ook at 11:35 AM on June 4

(On second thought, forget orange, it'll clash with your cherry furniture.)
posted by ook at 11:36 AM on June 4

I say paint the floors black with the furniture you have. See examples here. I think everything would really pop and look anchored. On the other hand, if you don't feel there's enough light, then go the opposite way and paint them white, which will reflect it much better. Here's a how-to guide. I wouldn't paint the brick, though; it'll be a good contract and add character.
posted by questionsandanchors at 11:42 AM on June 4

I painted a wooden floor black once and it looked terrific with white walls.
posted by unSane at 11:55 AM on June 4

I'd be reluctant to paint the floor, because if you have the cash and inclination to refinish it later, paint is going to be so much harder to get off. What about just scrubbing the heck out of it, giving it a quick coat of varathane to keep it clean, and thinking of the flaws in the floor as "character". The diamond finish in the link is great - it's water based so it's very easy to use and dries fast. It might even work to seal the bricks of the chimney - old bricks can sometimes make a lot of dust. I've never tried it on brick though, so you definitely want to research and test first to make sure it's a good idea. It will probably darken the colour of the bricks, too. The light sagey green mentioned above sounds good.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:58 AM on June 4

I would not paint the brick unless absolutely necessary. This Old House has some techniques for fixing old brick--http://search.thisoldhouse.com/search.html?Ntt=brick+

Ditto on the floors. If you ever do have the money to get them professionally refinished you will most likely have to pay for a lead paint test before anyone will touch them with a sander. We had 2 rooms refinished (one that had been carpeted and had carpet glue all over it) for less than $600. It's more affordable than people realize.

I would also suggest a sage green color if you want a brown pallette. Otherwise, you could do a light gray. I guess that also depends on what you use to cover the bed. Word of advice, decide on the bed coverings first. Paint will be the cheapest element ($15-$20).

Good luck!
posted by fyrebelley at 2:12 PM on June 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also, nice title.
posted by fyrebelley at 2:13 PM on June 4 [1 favorite has favorites]

You can "unpaint" brick, but it's an awful process best suited for outside. I can't imagine doing it inside. So, nthing the "do not paint."

Also, just as a wacky idea, consider painting the walls with an optical illusion, to counteract the "walls are closing in" feeling. You could do the trick with spaced horizontal lines coming at smaller and smaller intervals as you paint each stripe, sort of a wireframe receding horizon. Or you could do a sunburst, starting at the bottom of the floor. Either one might be useful.
posted by adipocere at 2:26 PM on June 4

When you paint a floor, some of the paint gets in the cracks between the boards making it almost impossible to get the floor back to wood. Refinishers hate painted floors as they have to scribe out paint from every crack. How about a tinted floor wax instead? Nthing the trying out different colour combos and layouts. Check out the Better Homes and Gardens site. They have room arranger software that lets you draw your room, add basic furniture, and, I think, choose the colour of the walls. Or some of the paint companies have 'change the colour of this room' type of software on-line with basic preset furniture arrangements. If the chimney brick is in really bad shape, you can have it drywalled with drywall for hot places (sorry, brain on 1/2 time tonight), then put whatever finish you like over it, eg., stone, different brick, just wall. And, you might want to look at some kind of remote control blind for the skylights or you may end up too hot up there come summer. And, I like the green to go with the woods you have. But lucky you to have added another 400sq ft! There are smaller apartments in this city.
posted by x46 at 9:40 PM on June 4

I redid an attic very much like this at one time, including the chimney. You can box the chimney in with a bit of drywall or your bead board, if you don't want to see the bricks. I'd do that if it is still in use.

Alternately, track down if it is even used for anything. Mine turned out to be used only by the water heater. I was able to tear the chimney out (a very messy hard job, but over in a day). I replaced it with a much smaller double walled metal vent pipe that met code, and I was able to build the new vent into a slightly thicker wall. It made a huge difference in opening up the space.

Before I finished my inside walls, I insulated carefully (be sure to keep an airspace between the roof and your insulation), and then, because I didn't have enough depth to put in the depth of insulation I wanted, I lined the whole room with one inch thick styrofoam. had to set out the electrical boxes, but it made the upstairs super snug and cozy.

Skylights are wonderful, if you can put them in, as they will let all the heat that attics are prone to having right out the top.

I"m not good at colors, so I'll just second what others have said!
posted by midwestguy at 6:57 AM on June 5