What Color Should I Paint This Room?

September 6, 2013 1:35 PM

I need some suggestions for a paint color for our sunroom. There is lots of light, a wood floor with medium tones and the furniture we have out there is brown and an orangish rust color. The rest of the house is mostly neutral, but we can go with a bold color if it would work well.
posted by Nickel Pickle to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

Photos of the room please!
posted by DarlingBri at 1:38 PM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

You could do something in the blue-greens to be a direct complement from the red-orange of the rust furniture. Something like Aqua Spray or Fresh Water from this palette maybe. Or if those are too vibrant for your tastes, you could do a more muted aqua like the ones in the middle of that palette. If you're not into aquas but OK with bold, you could go with something nearer to the rust color on the color wheel, like a sunny orange.
posted by dayintoday at 1:43 PM on September 6, 2013

I love Houzz for inspiration. I found this which is an unexpected colour for a sunroom, but there's tons more to browse through.
posted by Dragonness at 1:53 PM on September 6, 2013

Eau de nil.
posted by Segundus at 1:55 PM on September 6, 2013

I like the one wall trick. I think a yellow shade on one wall, and a white or ivory on the rest, would be both peaceful and bright.
posted by bearwife at 2:10 PM on September 6, 2013

Best answer: Sage green or blue. Sage green is my first choice because it looks good with warm wood tones.

Sherwin Williams Ryegrass or Shagreen are also very nice.

I also like Benjamin Moore Sherwood Green. I have this in my bedroom. It's a great neutral and art looks great against it.

If you go for blue, I would choose a "warm" blue with green in it. Like Sherwin Williams Breezy.
posted by Fairchild at 2:18 PM on September 6, 2013

Not trying to be dense, but what activities (if any) will you be doing in the room? Will you require clean lighting for activities such as sketching, painting or reading? If so, you may want to keep the walls a color that will not reflect strong colors onto the page/substrate or 'contaminate' your eyes when you're trying to mix colors.

If this isn't a concern, I think a pale yellow-green or a pale blue with lots of white in it will amplify the feeling of light and space in the sunroom. Sunrooms are such happy spaces, I'm jealous of your project :-)
posted by SpecialSpaghettiBowl at 2:24 PM on September 6, 2013

Bold turquoise. It will go beautifully with the wood and rust. It needs to be bold to work in a bright room.
posted by BenPens at 3:36 PM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Just from your description I would choose teal or chartreuse, but you should consider: what you see out the windows, what time of day you spend the most time in the room, what activities you will be doing, and which direction the light comes in. South light can wash out pale colors, north light can make warm tones look dingy, west light has a yellow tint, east light can be cool or rosy (northern hemisphere).
posted by oneirodynia at 6:24 PM on September 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'd say turquoise as well - there are so many amazing shades. A great resource is House Of Turquoise, which has tags for turquoise and orange, brown, coral...
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 7:59 PM on September 6, 2013

Response by poster: I would share photos, but it is mid demo right now, so it would be hard to see much. The view outside is dense trees, and it is on the west side of the house. The room is mostly used for reading and entertaining, it has two seating areas and a fireplace.

I think I will get some turquoise samples. The pale yellow idea is excellent, but that is what it is now and I'm ready for a change. Thanks everyone, I will report back once we have a couple colors on the wall and have made a decision!
posted by Nickel Pickle at 8:37 PM on September 6, 2013

If you like the pale yellow, would you consider changing the texture and going with a high-gloss? You could even go for a gold tone and get one of the subtly iridescent paints, which would make the walls shimmer. I think shine or shimmer that would look just beautiful if the view outside is dense trees; in your location it would feel like a forest retreat in the summer and a cozy hideaway in the winter when the sunlight bounces off the snow and in through your window(s). There's no reason to change a color outright if you like it just because you crave a change.
posted by juniperesque at 5:54 AM on September 7, 2013