Sunday, September 20, 2009

Living Room Color Scheme Help!

When Dear Husband bought our circa 1869 home in 2001, he inherited pink floral wallpaper in our living room. Since then, because we have no idea what the wall looks like behind that wallpaper AND because we had other home projects that were higher priority, we simply decorated to match the wallpaper. As a result, our living room rather resembles a bottle of Pepto Bismol. Don't get me wrong...I LIKE pink. I am just uncertain that I like THIS much pink in one of our main rooms. So, I have decided that it is time to address the pink room. But I am completely at a loss for what direction to take with color! We have original, antique yellow tiles surrounding our fireplace, and that is the one thing in the room we cannot...WILL not change, so we would like to tie a color scheme into that. The pink and yellow just aren't working! So, we need YOUR help! Please take a look at the room -- I took a lot of photos of the fireplace so that you can see the colors we will need to incorporate...or MAKE work. And keep in mind that I may purchase new couches, or I can at LEAST recover those that I have. Thanks for your ideas!

I know...the right side of the secretary needs SOMEthing...paintings? Decorative plates?
We can't figure out what this is...cast iron? Or brass? It has a gold-coppery tinge to it. Any ideas?
These creamy yellow tiles are original to the house. These and the fireplace cover will stay. So how do I go from pink to this? And what colors should I put with it? Help!

5 comments:

Mrs. E said...

Everything looks lovely! :)

The Victorian Parlor said...

Paula,

I lean toward the burgundy colors for Victorian homes which looks great with yellows and golds. However, a sage green would also go nicely on the walls and blend beautifully with the tiles. Then again, a beautiful blue wall color with a yellow and blue toile fabric for curtains would be gorgeous too. I can't wait to find out what you choose!

Blessings,

Kim

Karen said...

Paula, I'm hopeless with color, having painted the same room twice in week and still not sure it's right! I LOVE the painting of the ladies at the beach. Your home is lovely.

JEWEL said...

Hi Paula! IMO, I would go with a deep red. Sage and goldenrod are excellent accent colors. You can make sage the main and accent with deep red if you prefer. Your decision should be based on room light. Deep red needs a well lit room, especially in the evening hours. With your furniture I would definitely stay with traditional or Victorian color palettes. Have fun. I can't wait to see what you will do.

Anonymous said...

Wow, a beautiful room to start with. We like to start with one that looks like a demo so anything we do is an improvement.I love all your antiques! Donnie