Any color, except brown. No more brown.
November 9, 2017 6:08 AM Subscribe
Please choose an interior paint color for me.
I live in a big ol' Queen Anne style house, and we need to paint our front entryway. We have warm, honey colored oak floors and lots and lots of very dark oak Victorian furniture and a brown rug. The next room over is the kitchen, which is painted ivory above the chair rail and Mefi green below the chair rail. The exterior of the house is gray.
The entryway itself is about 16 x 16, with a staircase running up one side, and two large windows. The woodwork is painted a color called "bone folder" (which we use throughout the house).
I'm sick of the unpainted walls and WILL be painting this weekend. What color should I paint this room? (Specific color names/color references by company are preferred.)
I live in a big ol' Queen Anne style house, and we need to paint our front entryway. We have warm, honey colored oak floors and lots and lots of very dark oak Victorian furniture and a brown rug. The next room over is the kitchen, which is painted ivory above the chair rail and Mefi green below the chair rail. The exterior of the house is gray.
The entryway itself is about 16 x 16, with a staircase running up one side, and two large windows. The woodwork is painted a color called "bone folder" (which we use throughout the house).
I'm sick of the unpainted walls and WILL be painting this weekend. What color should I paint this room? (Specific color names/color references by company are preferred.)
I repainted every surface in my house this past year (using 12 different colors in total) so I have been living under mountains of paint samples. The last thing I did was the front door and I used Dutch Boy Classic Navy. I wish I had found it sooner because I would have done walls with it too. The link has the color on the shutters which is actually more of what it looks like than the sample
http://www.dutchboy.com/inspiration/room-scenes/exteriors/porches-and-patios/cozy-corner
posted by August Fury at 6:33 AM on November 9, 2017
http://www.dutchboy.com/inspiration/room-scenes/exteriors/porches-and-patios/cozy-corner
posted by August Fury at 6:33 AM on November 9, 2017
Vindaloo’s wife here. I’d suggest a dark blue too - since it’s a space you pass through and don’t linger in, it’s fun to do more dramatic colours. Would work with your bone painted trim, oak floors, adjacent colours and existing dark brown furnishings.
Take a look at Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue (dark navy) or Inchyra Blue (dark greenish grey blue). You can get these shades colour matched by Benjamin Moore or other paint lines.
Dark colours need more coats and are trickier to cut in though, plus you’re dealing with the extra height of the stairwell wall. If you’re not a great painter, maybe just continue the ivory shade from the kitchen instead?
posted by Vindaloo at 6:55 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
Take a look at Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue (dark navy) or Inchyra Blue (dark greenish grey blue). You can get these shades colour matched by Benjamin Moore or other paint lines.
Dark colours need more coats and are trickier to cut in though, plus you’re dealing with the extra height of the stairwell wall. If you’re not a great painter, maybe just continue the ivory shade from the kitchen instead?
posted by Vindaloo at 6:55 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
Benjamin Moore has a collection of historical colors, I picked from these to paint the interior of our 1840 house.
I would go with Buxton Blue (HC-149) which would pair well with the honey oak floors and the dark furniture.
posted by lydhre at 7:03 AM on November 9, 2017
I would go with Buxton Blue (HC-149) which would pair well with the honey oak floors and the dark furniture.
posted by lydhre at 7:03 AM on November 9, 2017
We painted our bedroom with Silver Charm from Behr. It looks darker than the swatch when it is up on the walls. I love that it shows different colors in different levels of daylight. I like the blue and green in this palette for accents, but if you want to go bolder, use one of those on the walls and use grey as the accent color.
Otherwise, with dark brown, I like a mint green or aqua.
posted by soelo at 7:11 AM on November 9, 2017
Otherwise, with dark brown, I like a mint green or aqua.
posted by soelo at 7:11 AM on November 9, 2017
The first color that came to my mind is a pale eggplant, and when I searched for that, I found Benjamin Moore #1455 Vintage Charm, which I absolutely love and might just be using somewhere in my house very soon.
I did a dining room in a similar color but slightly more pale: Benjamin Moore #1452 After the Rain. It's a really interesting color. In daylight the violet hues come out, but at dusk it turns into a completely different color (more gray?) and then it's a completely different shade under warm/dimmed incandescent light.
It was a great choice for our room. I chose the Aura base with eggshell finish and it seems to enhance the effect.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:26 AM on November 9, 2017
I did a dining room in a similar color but slightly more pale: Benjamin Moore #1452 After the Rain. It's a really interesting color. In daylight the violet hues come out, but at dusk it turns into a completely different color (more gray?) and then it's a completely different shade under warm/dimmed incandescent light.
It was a great choice for our room. I chose the Aura base with eggshell finish and it seems to enhance the effect.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:26 AM on November 9, 2017
Well, if the kitchen is partially Mefi green, why not go with Mefi blue?
Seriously, though, I think this might look good in Sherwin Williams Dutch Tile Blue. This is the color of my dining room. We have brown chairs; a table of many colors, some of which are brown; a big brown sideboard; and similar floors to yours. This looks to be basically the same color as what Benjamin Moore calls "Buxton Blue" - see lydhre's comment above - and it comes from the Sherwin Williams historical palette.
Also, my partner and I have done most of the painting in our house ourselves, but we're getting someone to come in (a friend of ours who does this professionally) to do the stairwell. (He'll be here sometime today. I think.) I'd consider that, depending on your comfort level with ladders.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:48 AM on November 9, 2017
Seriously, though, I think this might look good in Sherwin Williams Dutch Tile Blue. This is the color of my dining room. We have brown chairs; a table of many colors, some of which are brown; a big brown sideboard; and similar floors to yours. This looks to be basically the same color as what Benjamin Moore calls "Buxton Blue" - see lydhre's comment above - and it comes from the Sherwin Williams historical palette.
Also, my partner and I have done most of the painting in our house ourselves, but we're getting someone to come in (a friend of ours who does this professionally) to do the stairwell. (He'll be here sometime today. I think.) I'd consider that, depending on your comfort level with ladders.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:48 AM on November 9, 2017
Nthing a blue of some sort.
I'm partial to Waterloo or Finley Blue. Gives you a little more boldness but doesn't delve into jewel tone.
posted by RhysPenbras at 8:05 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm partial to Waterloo or Finley Blue. Gives you a little more boldness but doesn't delve into jewel tone.
posted by RhysPenbras at 8:05 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
What kind of light does it get? If it's north-facing, I like to paint warmer colors and warm-tone whites. If it's south-facing, I go for cool undertones. West? Even cooler and darker. East? Brighter!
posted by amanda at 9:05 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by amanda at 9:05 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
French vanilla. I just like it a lot, and use it everywhere I can. It goes well with dark wood.
posted by Mogur at 10:11 AM on November 9, 2017
posted by Mogur at 10:11 AM on November 9, 2017
Just want to nth the first suggestion. With the green and so much darkness, a little lightness sounds relieving. (Caveat: everything in my home is white, pastel, and birch becuase I dislike a lot of darkness.)
posted by dame at 10:38 AM on November 9, 2017
posted by dame at 10:38 AM on November 9, 2017
Response by poster: What kind of light does it get?
The windows face sort of south-east-ish but due to the big porch and the neighbors houses we don't get very much sun at all.
posted by anastasiav at 11:08 AM on November 9, 2017
The windows face sort of south-east-ish but due to the big porch and the neighbors houses we don't get very much sun at all.
posted by anastasiav at 11:08 AM on November 9, 2017
What do you want the entryway to feel like? It's usually a room you don't hang out in, so you can choose an extravagant color. So, I'd consider a deep purple, on the blue side, and with a fair amount of gray, i.e., not bright, and maybe metallic silver stenciled something. If you want a medium color, I'm very fond of sage-y greens, a color I described as old army tent when I painted my living room.
posted by theora55 at 11:16 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 11:16 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
an unsaturated teal would go beautifully with your honey-coloured floors and brown rug.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:26 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 11:26 AM on November 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
My first thought, like many others', was to go for a strong dark blue. And I still agree with that. But I've been succesfull at times with a yellow-ochre mix (a little more earthy than a pure yellow). It would be a wonderfully bright and warm welcome, and it goes well with all the browns.
posted by mumimor at 12:04 PM on November 9, 2017
posted by mumimor at 12:04 PM on November 9, 2017
Another tactic is to imagine what color would make you smile when you opened your door at the end of a long day. Then stand inside where you can see the entryway and see what other major colors/elements might complement or contrast with it.
posted by amanda at 6:55 AM on November 10, 2017
posted by amanda at 6:55 AM on November 10, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cooker girl at 6:33 AM on November 9, 2017 [3 favorites]