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Working With a Burgundy Sofa

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

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I am working on an online consultation with a young couple with two small children. They are looking for help in selecting a wall color for their home.

“We are looking to paint our living room and dining room – the rooms have stained trim. The rooms are connected and make up the whole front of the house. At the center of the rooms is the front door and staircase. We have a red couch which we feel is making it difficult to find the right paint color. The rooms have not been painted since we moved in currently it is a beige / peach type color. We would paint both rooms the same color.”

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When you walk into the living room, what is the first thing you notice?:

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The red in the sofa, right? I want to try to take some of the focus off of the sofa and have everything work together in the room.  My suggestion is to find a rug that has some of the burgundy in it and also other colors that we might be able to pull a wall color from. This was my first suggestion:

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Then we can pull a blue from the rug or a khaki color. Because of budget restraints, other rug options we are looking at that are not quite as expensive:

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Or for a different look and feel for the room:

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Sisal rugs are a good option for a large area rug, they are contemporary and well priced. A black or wine red border would work well in this room.

If they choose the first rug, the wall color options can be grays, tans or medium to light blues. The second rug color options would be tans or a medium blue/greenish gray. I would stay away from dark greens because red and green remind me of Christmas or a hunter’s lodge.

The third, natural rug has many color options also. Maybe a darker gray? Then we could tie in woven shades for the window treatments. Did you know rose, pink and pinkish lilacs also work well with burgundy? Or for a very rich look, rusts and deep gold can be used as a wall color? Browns work lovely also, but is that a look that want for their living and dining room?

We have to wait and see which rug they choose before we go any further. Which is your favorite rug? Here are a couple design rooms that has worked with the red plaid sofa:

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I will keep you updated. I just wanted to share another way to help you select that elusive wall color!

If you need help choosing colors for your home, contact me today.

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White Bedding

Saturday, February 9th, 2013


Great color combination and I love the placement of the sunburst mirror!

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As I began my search for bed linens to dress up our new bed, I already knew that I wanted white bedding as my base. I knew that because I noticed that my favorite  bedroom photos seem to all have one thing in common:

master bedroom.....muse interiors

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White bed linens. The white looks great no matter what other colors are in the room or what style:

Quilt Headboard

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Bedrooms

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I bought a quilt and two shams from West Elm to go with my king bed:

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So soft and pretty! There are tons of possibilities with colors, patterns and textures you can work with when you have a white base on the bed. Don’t you agree? Plus, it will always be easy to change the room colors in the future and the white bedding will still work well.

Bedrooms

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white bed spread with colorful comforter folded on the end

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Do you use white bedding on your bed?

If you need decorating help in your home, contact me today.

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Using Artwork For Color Inspiration

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013

I have been working with a young couple who just moved into their first apartment. They already have an amazing collection of artwork for a couple so young:

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They took this photo above while they were on vacation in Greece. They loved it so much, they had it blown up and then separated into three separate pieces of art to hang over the sofa.

They asked for help choosing a wall color that would work well with their artwork and other furnishings. Another key player in selecting a color for the living room was this vibrant colorful rug:

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Which is bright and colorful (and happy!) and so we must work it with when selecting a color. Notice their sofa is neutral so it did not play much in the initial color selection process.

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So where did I begin to search for a color for the walls? I started with the artwork that will be up against the wall.

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What color comes to mind when you look at the photo? Blue water, right? But you do not want to pick a blue match for the walls because you do not want the picture to get lost and blend in with the walls. You want a color to be a background to the beautiful artwork which is the star of the room.

What color did I zero in on? The color that I suggested was a soft, blue gray. Gray is modern, clean and a great neutral. And it looks fabulous with all of her black picture frames:

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And then every gray I found that would work with the artwork, I would make sure it was also working with the rug:

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I love the colors in this rug, don’t you? Many of the colors are too bold for the wall (and to work with the art), but great for choosing an accent color in the room!

These are the Benjamin Moore shades of gray, listed in no particular order, that I think will work well in their room:

Gray Owl OC-52:

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Gray Timber Wolf 2126-50:

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Gentle Gray 1626:

click to view full size

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Stonington Gray HC-170:

Neutral colors to stage your home

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I love all of these shades of gray! They are all beautiful grays that will work in the room, they just have to choose which shade they love best. They are going to live with the samples a few days in their space until they make a decision. I will keep you updated!

Which would be your favorite color to use on the walls with their artwork?

If you need help selecting colors for your home, contact me today.

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Don’t Blame The Sofa

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013


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I am working on a design plan for a homeowner that had purchased a new sofa a year and a half ago and she still is not happy with the look of the room. She was kind enough to let me share her pictures and story.

When she brought the sofa home, she was disappointed that the khaki color in the sofa was not more prominent and the darker color just overwhelmed it. She wrote, “AND if that isn’t bad enough, it is casting a gold-ish, greenish hideous hue!” Not good.

Below is a photo of her living room. She had not chosen the wall color which is a light blue:

ruth sofa

I told her that I don’t think the furniture is the problem at all, it is the color on the wall. The sofa is really nice! The light blue has a very ‘cool’ undertone color, where the sofa has warm undertones (red) and that is making the ‘dark’ color of the sofa stand out more and look as if they are clashing. And that is what was bothering her most.

sofa fabric          

She did specify that she wanted a warm color palette in the room. She had just purchased a beautiful rug that works really well with her sofa. I love how the two patterns work together:

ruth rug

There were a few different ways to go with paint color that would work, so I presented her with a few different options:

* To pull the khaki color out more in the sofa, try a sample of a soft light beige, such as BM Muslin 1037 (red undertones):

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* Another color you can use for a wall color is the green taken from the rug. For example, a deeper green such as Sherwood Green HC-118:

image                 sofa fabric

* Another option to look at is a deep medium to dark blue (also in the rug). Benjamin Moore’s Water’s Edge 1635 is beautiful:

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* One more option- Benjamin Moore Stone Hearth 984:

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Then whichever color she chooses, she can buy pillows and accessories in the same color family to bring the room all together. “Don’t blame the sofa”, I told her. “The right paint color will totally change the look of your room and work well together with your furnishings.”

I think all four options would work well in her living room. She is picking up samples now to see which color palette she likes best. Which would you choose?

If you need help choosing the best color for your home, contact me today.

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Posted in ben moore, color, Dear Kelly, Interior Decorating, Living Rooms, Paint Color Selection Help | 7 Responses »
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