Orange wall ISO design help

January 13, 2012 11:03 AM

Help me design my VERY ORANGE WALL.

I have one wall left to fill!

OK, so I have been on this long and crazy repainting and redesigning project in my little apartment. This involved painting two rooms this crazy orange color, which sort of changes to a tomato red depending on the lighting.

Budget is as little as possible, but flexible-ish.

What I want: a nice piece or something large, or a collection of smaller pieces, ideally very light or white in color. The room looked like this when it was landlord white; the wall is the far brick one.

Stuff I like: photography, furniture design, history, typography, Zen, European architecture, information design, clean lines.

Any ideas?

posted by lackutrol to home & garden (13 answers total)

That looks an awful lot like the color we painted our living room! We have a large Shag print (link to photo of said print on orange wall) that works really well with the color; in our case the colors in the print match, but I think even contrasting colors would work with his style.
posted by usonian at 11:11 AM on January 13, 2012

IIRC, the philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein arrived at a deliberate color scheme that was unlike the way other students painted their rooms. He had orange walls with complimentary blue trim. He wanted exact shades for the colors, I think they were on the bright side.

If the door frames and floor trim, and maybe some ornamental ceiling molding, was painted the right color of blue, maybe you could look classic and funky at the same time.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:21 AM on January 13, 2012

I did that too. I have put an Ikea roomdivider in front of it, with some shelves left empty and others filled with art, books or random stuff. It works out awesome (if I may say so.... of course i am biased)
posted by eau79 at 11:22 AM on January 13, 2012

I'm not sure it matches your requirements, but I'm thrilled to see fellow orange room-lovers here. Here's what I did with my office, which is a bit more contemporary than what I expect you're looking for. I love red and orange together.
posted by xingcat at 11:23 AM on January 13, 2012

StickyCarpet, the bedroom is a nifty blue...sort of grayish blue. FYI I tried a more saturated blue out with one painting on the orange wall and it about blew my eyes out with the intense contrast.

Great suggestions, much appreciated, keep em coming!
posted by lackutrol at 11:44 AM on January 13, 2012

So you want art items for a white wall, or for the orange wall? I wouldn't use washed out items on the white wall. I think you need something that talks to the orange wall. In any case, my recommendation is to include some navy, brown, and cream. Here are some things that I just browsed that might work--quirky, strong, and design-conscious.

- Porcupine mirror
- A framed collection of bowties (or something similar and personal to you)
- And a map (this one of NYC) in orange and navy and cream
posted by cocoagirl at 11:49 AM on January 13, 2012

I love this guy's stuff so much, I would recommend it, orange wall or not!
posted by msali at 11:54 AM on January 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Cocoa, for the orange, not the earlier white. Very nice from you too. Now I'll get back to work for a moment and go through everything a bit later rather than reloading all the time. Thanks!
posted by lackutrol at 11:56 AM on January 13, 2012

Orange and blue are complimentary, so I would focus on generally blue stuff. And cooler blues, to offset that (on my screen at least) very warm orange.
posted by xedrik at 12:01 PM on January 13, 2012

This looks a bit like Pantone's color of the year for 2012, which is called Tangerine Tango -- so you might try looking through design blogs for that, or just a Google image search. Apartment Therapy seems to like it with neutrals, like light grays and the color of undyed linen. I do too -- I have a bunch of oranges and grays in my living room, and blues that range from navy to ice.
posted by clavicle at 12:09 PM on January 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Interior design posts on Colourlovers related to "orange trend"
posted by itesser at 12:35 PM on January 13, 2012

I would go with groupings of art that contrasts with the wall (more white in it) as you had mentioned. Something that makes you feel calm--I had an orange wall in our place and it's a color that pops out at you. Currently in my favorites:

Feathers and more feathers

Peacock poster

Abstract seascape or beach landscape

Or vintage letters here
posted by biscuits at 9:10 PM on January 13, 2012

More suggestions in whites/neutrals as I procrastinate...
- Superheroes in type
- Funky pencils matted and framed in white, for example: Twin Peaks, Ron Burgundy, or I'm the best!
- Louis Armstrong/Map Print
- An ethereal Jersey Shore photo
- A white origami koi or origami star mobile
posted by cocoagirl at 10:18 AM on January 14, 2012