Browse Forums Interior Decorating Lounge 1 Dec 11, 2007 8:54 pm Hi all
I am new to the world of interior design and need some serious help! I have attached a photo of our lounge room here in old London town. Our lounge room currently looks identical, minus the green curtains. We now have beige curtains. My problem is, I want to add another colour to the room yet am unsure which colour will match. The rug is beige/white, the wood work is mahogany, the new mirror is gold, but the floors are a paler shade of wood. If I were to add a feature wall or wall paper (perhaps directly behind the fireplace), and add some paintings, cushions, etc - I am unsure what colour to go for. How does one go about making these decisions? Is there a colour chart that shows us which colours match? (or am I dreaming?). lol. Everyone magazine I have looked at tells you how to create a particular 'new ' look yet I need to match my 'current' furniture to a theme. Any ideas would be warmly welcome! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Colour help! No idea! 2Dec 12, 2007 8:02 am Hey Mini,
Greetings from the other side of the world!! Michelle (interior designer extroadinaire) posted a link in this thread (see below) about understanding colour. take a look and see if it helps. https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=3291 Re: Colour help! No idea! 3Dec 12, 2007 9:50 am Mini Hi all I am new to the world of interior design and need some serious help! I have attached a photo of our lounge room here in old London town. Our lounge room currently looks identical, minus the green curtains. We now have beige curtains. My problem is, I want to add another colour to the room yet am unsure which colour will match. The rug is beige/white, the wood work is mahogany, the new mirror is gold, but the floors are a paler shade of wood. If I were to add a feature wall or wall paper (perhaps directly behind the fireplace), and add some paintings, cushions, etc - I am unsure what colour to go for. How does one go about making these decisions? Is there a colour chart that shows us which colours match? (or am I dreaming?). lol. Everyone magazine I have looked at tells you how to create a particular 'new ' look yet I need to match my 'current' furniture to a theme. Any ideas would be warmly welcome! Mini……I’ll take a look at this for you tonight after work……and looking forward to it. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour help! No idea! 5Dec 12, 2007 10:46 am Have another go Ray....but do the fireplace wall!! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour help! No idea! 6Dec 12, 2007 10:47 am I really need to learn to master my program……I’m feeling very left out!!!! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour help! No idea! 7Dec 12, 2007 11:02 am maybe when we have a luncheon get together Matt could run a 'how to use a graphic program' session Re: Colour help! No idea! 8Dec 12, 2007 11:12 am It's not exactly the same shade (sorry) but you get the idea. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Second Time 'Round Re: Colour help! No idea! 9Dec 12, 2007 2:03 pm First_Timer_Ray It's not exactly the same shade (sorry) but you get the idea. What program are you using Ray??? Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour help! No idea! 10Dec 12, 2007 2:12 pm I tried using Micrsoft PhotoDraw but couldn't select the walls well, so I swapped to PaintShop Pro 7. It has a magic wand that selects all of the colour that is within a certain tolerance (+- a certain amount) so you can just change one colour of a whole photo (I've seen it done with a colour photo - and leave one part colour and change the rest to B&W - very effective). So in this case I selected the wall, and it took about 3 times to get the whole wall, and neatened up the edges with the brush colour.
I'm not very good at the software side of things - that's what hubby's for! Ray. Second Time 'Round Re: Colour help! No idea! 11Dec 12, 2007 2:21 pm PaintShop Pro 7….that’s the one I can’t use ask Matt!!!
I nearly drove him stupid one night trying to figure it out!!! Might need to get Glen to sit down with me and teach me. I really want to learn how to use it…… I’ve never had a problem expressing my designs and colour selections and placements before. But after seeing what Matt …..and now you can do, showing is by far better than telling!!!! I WANT TO USE MY PROGRAM……. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour help! No idea! 12Dec 12, 2007 2:40 pm Our lounge room a few months ago after we painted it beige/magnolia (previously was apricot!). It looks so boring now! Help me jazz it up please!
Mini.....Any reason why there are no decretive items in this room? Do you have a small child or 2, that you are keeping your things out of reach from? I am going to be brutal with you so please DO NOT BE OFFENDED! Also….. Possible you could post another photo of the part of the room we DON’T see???? Thanks….. Ohhhhh….(more offending here)….how old are you roughly???? I need to know how daring I can be, knowing your age helps. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour help! No idea! 13Dec 14, 2007 11:53 pm Hi Michelle
Michelle - when you asked Ray to have another go but to do the fireplace wall, did you mean you 'just' wanted the fireplace wall painted, or the fireplace wall 'and' the other two walls also? Just interested that's all. I actually think that colour looks quite nice! Thanks for the effort Ray!!! What do you think Michelle? Maybe other suggestions? I am unsure why you pasted what I wrote re: the colour of our walls. Maybe you needed elaboration! When we moved into the house, the walls were apricot (it looked awful). We painted it magnolia because apparently that is the most popular interior colour in London. At the time, I took my husband's word for it, but now I am not the biggest fan. The whole house is painted this colour however! It looks beige in some light, which is fine by me, but in other light, it almost has a slight yellow tinge which I dislike! I might have to keep the house this colour for now as it will cost too much to change it... As for the loungeroom, I can afford to make changes to this. So if you think we should change the wall colour as well, that is fine. As for why we don't have anything decorative in the room, that photo was taken when we 'just' moved into the place. I have now hung the mirror up, and added some rather non daring personal touches, ie. an old mahogany clock that sits on top of the fireplace, as well as a crystal vase and a red/burgandy candle in a glass. I have purposely not bought anything to jazz the place up (we have been living there over a year now!) as I wasn't sure what colour theme I wanted to go for. I am 27 yrs old and have no kids yet. As for you being brutul, I would prefer that!! I have attached the only other photo I have of that room. Again, the curtains are no longer green but beige. You cannot see the right wall properly, but there isn't much to see. The wall stops where the bottom right edge of the photo is, and there is a small door. If you imagine the photographer standing there, well behind them is our dining room. Actually, I just found a photo of that too. I will attach this in a moment. Lastly, I can be daring at times! However, I kind of went for a classical theme hence why the mirror is gold, and why we varnished the fire place and table mahogany. The window ledge inside was mahogany when we moved in (still is), so I kind of just went with that! I am open to most suggestions, as I realise just how BORING the room looks. I don't know about painting the room too bright however or something that will be an eye sore!...lol I will be interested to see what you say. Thank you in advance! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Colour help! No idea! 14Dec 14, 2007 11:55 pm Photo of dining room.
NO I didn't choose the dining table. My brother in law did! It is actually very expensive, but not my taste!! I think it's too old for us as a young couple...but beggers can't be choosers! It was very kind of him I thought, and does match with the mahogany theme. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Colour help! No idea! 16Dec 15, 2007 8:05 am Hi mini… I pulled this statement out to bring it closer to my comments…..for no other reason.
((Our lounge room a few months ago after we painted it beige/magnolia (previously was apricot!). It looks so boring now! Help me jazz it up please!)) Mini…..I just wanted the fireplace wall done not the other walls so I could show you the two different selected areas. The colour Ray has used is one of my favourites…..as others have found out, I tend to use it a lot. Good news is…..it’s still big for 2008, so I’m still ahead of the colour trends!!! I was however thinking of a deep purple feature for this and now looking into the dining room, that as well! I have chosen the purple for 2 reasons….1 I see it in this space, 2 if your walls are a slight yellow hint to them, the purple will be a perfect complementary colour!!! Also your gold mirror will look stunning on a deep purple wall! Very swish and romantic! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Since your lounge room is only small, I’m going to suggest the fireplace walls (including the small side bits) only, not the walls beside it, to be painted the feature colour in this room. For your dining room…..and don’t worry, you will grow into the dining suite, may take a few years. It is quality I can tell, I quite like the chairs! I think they are very stylish. You could always throw some Chair Covers over them. But I like them. Actually I’m wishing this was a consultation between you and I, I would love to tackle your home for you. I’m getting the best ideas while sitting here….and unfortunately there’s not enough time for me to give them all to you! But I will try my best over a couple of posts. The feature wall for your dining room should be the one with the wall lights on, to the right while looking at the photo at with the window on the back wall. This whole wall should be done a shade or 2 lighter than the lounge room wall. Because this wall is so long we don’t want to darken the room too much. Colour chosen – Fireplace Wall - Dulux “Violet Intense” semi gloss. (This colour is close to the purple in the photo of the feature wall - Stunning!) Dining room Wall – Dulux “Violet Intense” 3 ¼ strength, so you are lightening this colour by 1 or 2 shades. More to come!!!!! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour help! No idea! 17Dec 16, 2007 12:27 am Hi Michelle!
I have to say, I love that deep purple colour in the first photo you posted. But what about the bright purple flower underneath?! I was hoping you posted that photo by mistake! Getting back to what I was saying, that first photo looks gorgeous, and I agree that the gold mirror will look striking against the purple. As for your suggestion about ONLY painting the fireplace wall (and the two tiny sides) rather than the walls beside it, I will go by what you say...but was just thinking, I hope it doesn't look odd! (ie. only the one tiny wall being painted). What are your thoughts on this? I do agree though that perhaps painting those side walls would make the room look even smaller! As for the dining room, as you can see, this room is joined onto the lounge room, so painting the right hand wall 1-2 shades lighter, wouldn't that also look slightly odd? Forgive me, it is just I am new at this and very curious as to the mindset behind it. My concern also, even if I do paint this wall 1-2 shades lighter is this...the only light coming into the dining room is either from the lounge room window, OR through the conservatory room windows. So, those glass sliding doors that you saw in the dining room room photo unfortunately do not lead to outside, but lead to our conservatory/sun room. Of course the light does come into the room, but it isn't super bright, so painting the feature wall a slightly dark-ish colour, I am hoping the room wouldn't look too gloomy. I will go and check out the Dulux paint hopefully tomorrow! Thank you so much! Re: Colour help! No idea! 18Dec 16, 2007 10:58 am I have to say, I love that deep purple colour in the first photo you posted. But what about the bright purple flower underneath?! I was hoping you posted that photo by mistake
Mini….I posted the flower photo to show you how well purple and yellow go together. Sorry for confusing you! Re your lounge room feature wall…..fireplace. If you do the whole wall in the deep purple it will pull the room in and make it seem small and dark. The fireplace by jutting out off the wall is the best wall to make a feature, as it already is, just by being there. I will attach a photo of my fireplace wall so you can see what I mean. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Your dining room, now you have explained has no direct lighting into the room, needs to have the colour dropped back slightly or it will be way too dark. By not having natural light, this room’s purple will look darker anyway. So by the time you do the lighter version of the purple……the two walls should look pretty much the same colour. Even if there is a variance in the two purples….its ok, as they are the same colour….just one slightly lighter. This works well…..trust me! It won’t look gloomy as you have predominately lighter walls in the room ie…..the ceiling and all other walls are lighter than the purple, and your off white chair fabric. All much lighter than the feature wall. Also….don’t paint the wall lights, leave them the colour they are now. Do you understand what I’m saying? As I said I have other ideas, so I’m not finished yet. But this is your colour selection. The decoration will come next….hopefully this afternoon. I’ve been playing with my Paint Shop program……getting there, but its very frustrating. I wanted to show you the walls. Sorry…….its just so time consuming trying to sort it out! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Colour help! No idea! 19Dec 18, 2007 12:15 am Thanks Michelle. You are right, the yellow and purple work well together in that flowe photo you posted!
Your fireplace looks lovely! I understand now what you mean when you said 'only' to paint that (and the two tiny sides) rather than the two side walls. Also, thanks for your explanation re: painting the dining room up to two shades lighter. It all makes sense now, especially seeing there is no natural light, so in end it will look similar to the fireplace wall colour. I will also remember not to paint the oyster wall lights! Now, I have a slight problem with the Dulux Violet Intense colour as when I looked it up on the UK website, it appears they don't have that colour. I will give them a call now and see what substitute colour they have. As for decorations...how exciting! I have been wanting to jazz up the room forever. I am hoping the post Xmas sales will have some great bargains. Any suggestions will be warmly welcome! Thanks so much Michelle! Re: Colour help! No idea! 20Dec 18, 2007 12:20 am Lovely Dulux customer service just told me that Australia and the UK have different colours and you "can't cross match them" unless you do it by eye!!
How annoying is that. That's alright, I will get my sister to send me one of those colour cards, and they should be able to match it here. You must be new to the internet. You're also the only person anyone here has ever heard of washing their garage wall. I hate to break it to you, there are insects and… 6 3410 Thankyou so much 😀 I've decided on White on white for doors and trims, White on white 50% on ceiling and Mt buller for walls. Fingers crossed it will look OK 😀 2 3622 Thank you @. Tried to play with the facade models but the exact colour is not matching up. 2 1033 |