Bathroom Design Color Mismatch

June 26, 2013 11:34 AM

Bathroom renovation snafu. The adobe-colored corian stripes in the shower don't quite work with the dark brown floor tile.

Here's the tile
Here's the stripe
Here's the stripes and the tile together

Forgive the roughness....we're in the midst of installing.

Both the tiles and the stripes have to stay. I guess the most obvious fix is to find window curtains inluding both colors together. If so, any suggestions?

I can't get fancy with the paint (just a solid color), but is there any potential salvation for me in that color choice? I was just going to go with light creamy beige or peach (but am open to suggestions). I do need to stay light with the paint color because of the dark tiles.

Thoughts?

posted by Quisp Lover to Home & Garden (21 answers total)

Honestly, they are totally fine together and you're overthinking this, I think. I'd paint the walls cream, and get a window blind with some striped colours in it, like this Striped Roller Shade and some green towels.

(See also)
posted by DarlingBri at 11:39 AM on June 26, 2013

Green towels! Interesting! Can you narrow that down to a shade? Do you mean like forest green?

Window is pretty small, but I do love that roller shade, and will use elsewhere in the house....

Just clicked that link at the end....yeah, that's perfect. Thanks! What do I owe you? :)
posted by Quisp Lover at 11:40 AM on June 26, 2013

Green like sage green!
posted by amaire at 11:55 AM on June 26, 2013

Use the color of the stripe elsewhere, like on accent pieces. At minimum you could paint some frames the same adobe color, and the choose artwork from your towel palette to tie it all together. Or soap holders and trashcans.
posted by rakaidan at 12:00 PM on June 26, 2013

I'd agree that half the problem is that you've got a single stripe and then the floor - the eye immediately looks for a colour match because there's nothing else in the room to match against. Adding something else in the same shade as the stripe will reduce this effect. Maybe break up the floor with a bath mat or something too.
posted by pipeski at 12:02 PM on June 26, 2013

Striped or patterned towels. Trust me.

You see how nicely these two towels look together? That's the sage/brown combo. Very trendy and it'll start to look a bit dated fairly soon, but hey, it's towels. You can get new guest towels when you're sick of that combo.

Or, and this is what I'd do, a soft blue (or aqua) and brown combo. (That towel is too busy, but the right color mix.)

That tile to stripe color shift isn't really an issue. Don't sweat it.
posted by 26.2 at 12:07 PM on June 26, 2013

I would do the wall color in a dove or lavender grey. You need something with some personality to stand up to that stripe. And, I know you say the stripe has to stay, but ... you can't paint over it? Even a navy or olive or black would help!
posted by thinkpiece at 12:09 PM on June 26, 2013

Green like sage green, yes. I dunno what the hell has happened to the buying at BB&B, but I found these at Macy's in Pear Green. That will give you a room scheme that looks like this.

Avoid, avoid, avoid terracotta/adobe combined with peach. It's a very dated combo!
posted by DarlingBri at 12:10 PM on June 26, 2013

I'd say bring in a third colour to tie it all together. I'd go any shade of green. I have 2 shades of brown (though one is much lighter than yours) and robins egg blue in my bathroom and that works with a seasidey sort of feel. The green would be great to make it feel tropical. The right shower curtain would really help tie things together too. If you go with green then something like this might work. Or if you choose another colour to tie it together browns work with lots of colours just do a google search for your favourite combinations and you'll find a huge range of towels, curtains and shower curtains. Adding the colour with towels etc is fun because you can change them up as you get bored.
posted by wwax at 12:11 PM on June 26, 2013

Great stuff, everyone. Thanks!
posted by Quisp Lover at 12:15 PM on June 26, 2013

Agree that green would look good, but aqua or teal is an option for towels/bathmats/shower curtain/etc, too. Looks great with brown. And I like the stripe a lot!
posted by hungrybruno at 12:48 PM on June 26, 2013

Get yourself an L shaped curtain rod, and put a nice shower curtain on it.

I like this one at Target.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:59 PM on June 26, 2013

Hire Ruthless Bunny.
posted by Cranberry at 1:02 PM on June 26, 2013

Re: shower curtain, no, we've got glass doors (these). Stripe will still show through, however.
posted by Quisp Lover at 1:10 PM on June 26, 2013

DarlingBri, the opaque window shade won't work. It's a bathroom, so it'd basically force everyone to drop the shade, room will be dark, I'll have to keep raising it every time anyone leaves.

I really like the semi-transparent (much bigger/wider) Striped Roller Shades you linked to first - they let light in while rolled down permanently - but I've done a google image search and can't find anyone actually selling them. I sent the photo to Smith and Noble to see whether they recognize it.
posted by Quisp Lover at 1:20 PM on June 26, 2013

As a painter, I believe that this combination can certainly work. In my eyes, it needs to be contrasted with a blue note.
Blues and siennas or earth tones work really well together. Don't take my word for it... ask Rembrandt! This was one of his favourite combinations.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:20 PM on June 26, 2013

Too-ticky, which blue are you envisioning?
posted by Quisp Lover at 2:40 PM on June 26, 2013

It depends on which effect you're aiming for, but I'd say not a dark one. It could be pretty bright.
Maybe a bit greyed out if you're looking for a Scandiavian effect, and if you're looking for something more lively and modern, maybe aqua or ice blue?
The blues Rembrandt would use are mostly royal blue to aqua.

Get some samples from a paint store if you can. It helps a lot if you can actually see the colors together.
posted by Too-Ticky at 3:05 PM on June 26, 2013

I've thrown together some swatches based on what I like, and what other people have suggested. The first two colors are the floor and strip, obviously, and are sampled from the image.

Here's the cream walls/sage combo. I came in here to suggest sage, because sienna/terra cotta looks great with sage.

Someone suggested teal, but this is more turquoise.

Here's the suggestion of having dove grey/lavender walls, with a blue.

And here's what I would go with, but only if you're adventurous.
posted by FirstMateKate at 4:44 PM on June 26, 2013

Green towels could be tied to the floor/stripe colours by having plants in terracotta pots - maybe one big one hanging, and a few smaller ones on the windowsill (if there is a windowsill)
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 8:18 PM on June 26, 2013

Agreed that it looks just fine. I'd look for curtains and maybe something to hang on the wall 1st. I'd probably paint the walls anywhere from creamy beige to a soft apricot, depending on the curtains.
taupe curtains - would look good w/ sage green wall.
faux Francais curtains - with any color walls
more faux Francais
Curtains are quite easy to make, and I might go look for some fabric. Curtains are about the only thing I don't mind sewing.
posted by theora55 at 4:28 PM on June 27, 2013