I'm in the midst of painting my living room and I would welcome a little feedback from design-oriented people. I have a small living room and I want to make a nice, warm space out of it. Here's my question:

One whole wall is exposed brick (a ruddy brown color, but more brown than red); one whole wall is taken up by my kitchen appliances, so that leaves two walls that need painting. While the room is small, the walls are tall, so I'm thinking of accenting that by using two colors: a slightly darker shade on the bottom and a lighter one on top (the idea being that I think this would draw attention to the height of the room and away from the smallness of it). The bottom color would go up not quite halfway, and then the lighter color would go up to the ceiling.

Question to anyone who wants to weigh in: Stupid idea or potentially good one?

Here are the two colors I'm thinking of.

Top

Bottom

"top"

"bottom"

I think I'm a believer in room color affecting your mood, so you might wanna look into that first?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

"top"

"bottom"

Ace said:

I think I'm a believer in room color affecting your mood, so you might wanna look into that first?

Actually, that's why I'm painting it. I no longer love what I have in there now, so I'm looking to change. These colors are in line with what I'm going for, moodwise. That is, I think this is going to be good and exactly what I want, but I always doubt myself when doing anything involving decoration/design.

Any color is fine but since your room is small, there's nothing like mirrors to make it appear larger. I'm not talking about framed mirrors, I'm talking about these type....

I absolutely love that but definately cannot afford it. Since I love mirrors, I have some of these on one of my small walls in my apartment. They just hang on the wall like pictures do.......

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[Edited 10/12/10 13:36pm]

Can you take a pic of your room and post it? Then I can give a better answer.

JustErin said:

Can you take a pic of your room and post it? Then I can give a better answer.

I'm not at home right now, so I can't. I won't be home for a few hours. Sorry.

Efan said:

JustErin said:

Can you take a pic of your room and post it? Then I can give a better answer.

I'm not at home right now, so I can't. I won't be home for a few hours. Sorry.

You need an answer this very minute?

But based on what you've explained...I don't think the two tone will work, it will be too busy with the brick - especially in a small room. It won't draw attention to the ceilings, instead, people will concentrate on where the two colours meet. I think one colour will look best.

But again, it's hard to say without seeing the room.

Efan said:

I'm in the midst of painting my living room and I would welcome a little feedback from design-oriented people. I have a small living room and I want to make a nice, warm space out of it. Here's my question:

One whole wall is exposed brick (a ruddy brown color, but more brown than red); one whole wall is taken up by my kitchen appliances, so that leaves two walls that need painting. While the room is small, the walls are tall, so I'm thinking of accenting that by using two colors: a slightly darker shade on the bottom and a lighter one on top (the idea being that I think this would draw attention to the height of the room and away from the smallness of it). The bottom color would go up not quite halfway, and then the lighter color would go up to the ceiling.

Question to anyone who wants to weigh in: Stupid idea or potentially good one?

Here are the two colors I'm thinking of.

Top

Bottom

I like it!

I have two-toned walls in my bedroom - rosy pink over claret red. I did it because I hate the vaulted ceiling and wanted to "bring the ceiling down" a little. But I went very high with the lower color - it's almost six feet up.

And I think it's neutral enough that you don't have to worry about the brick. Looks like both colors will probably blend nicely with the mortar in between.

JustErin said:

But based on what you've explained...I don't think the two tone will work, it will be too busy with the brick - especially in a small room. It won't draw attention to the ceilings, instead, people will concentrate on where the two colours meet. I think one colour will look best.

But again, it's hard to say without seeing the room.

I was just going to say that it's where the two colours meet that is the tricky part. For one thing, if they just bump up right against each other it might look a little odd. I'd probably have a third (probably much darker) colour as a border to really show that it's on purpose and not just that it's a weird slight shift all of a sudden.

Also, it will matter what else is at the level where they meet. Will it be aligned with anything else in the room, for example the top or bottom of a shelf? That might make it look more properly thought through and in harmony with the environment.

retina said:

JustErin said:

But based on what you've explained...I don't think the two tone will work, it will be too busy with the brick - especially in a small room. It won't draw attention to the ceilings, instead, people will concentrate on where the two colours meet. I think one colour will look best.

But again, it's hard to say without seeing the room.

I was just going to say that it's where the two colours meet that is the tricky part. For one thing, if they just bump up right against each other it might look a little odd. I'd probably have a third (probably much darker) colour as a border to really show that it's on purpose and not just that it's a weird slight shift all of a sudden.

Also, it will matter what else is at the level where they meet. Will it be aligned with anything else in the room, for example the top or bottom of a shelf? That might make it look more properly thought through and in harmony with the environment.

I'm all for two tones and I love wainscoting, but because this is a busy room already (and small), I just think it will make the room look too choppy.

Genesia said:

Efan said:

I'm in the midst of painting my living room and I would welcome a little feedback from design-oriented people. I have a small living room and I want to make a nice, warm space out of it. Here's my question:

One whole wall is exposed brick (a ruddy brown color, but more brown than red); one whole wall is taken up by my kitchen appliances, so that leaves two walls that need painting. While the room is small, the walls are tall, so I'm thinking of accenting that by using two colors: a slightly darker shade on the bottom and a lighter one on top (the idea being that I think this would draw attention to the height of the room and away from the smallness of it). The bottom color would go up not quite halfway, and then the lighter color would go up to the ceiling.

Question to anyone who wants to weigh in: Stupid idea or potentially good one?

Here are the two colors I'm thinking of.

Top

Bottom

I like it!

I have two-toned walls in my bedroom - rosy pink over claret red. I did it because I hate the vaulted ceiling and wanted to "bring the ceiling down" a little. But I went very high with the lower color - it's almost six feet up.

And I think it's neutral enough that you don't have to worry about the brick. Looks like both colors will probably blend nicely with the mortar in between.

Cool. Can I ask what you did where the two different colors meet? For my room, I was planning to measure a very straight line and tape it off, just having the colors meet. The line I'm planning is going to be a couple of inches above the height of the couch.

Retina, I did think of a third color to separate the other two, but I worried it would too busy for the room and distract from the effect I was trying to create (I think the horizontal line itself would become the focal point).

Sorry I don't have pics...it's kind of annoying for me to ask for help and not have any images to show.

Efan said:

Genesia said:

I like it!

I have two-toned walls in my bedroom - rosy pink over claret red. I did it because I hate the vaulted ceiling and wanted to "bring the ceiling down" a little. But I went very high with the lower color - it's almost six feet up.

And I think it's neutral enough that you don't have to worry about the brick. Looks like both colors will probably blend nicely with the mortar in between.

Cool. Can I ask what you did where the two different colors meet? For my room, I was planning to measure a very straight line and tape it off, just having the colors meet. The line I'm planning is going to be a couple of inches above the height of the couch.

Retina, I did think of a third color to separate the other two, but I worried it would too busy for the room and distract from the effect I was trying to create (I think the horizontal line itself would become the focal point).

Sorry I don't have pics...it's kind of annoying for me to ask for help and not have any images to show.

That is exactly what I did.

I like the colors too. Keep in mind that you want walls in a small space to recede. Bringing attention to the height of a small room won't make it seem/feel larger, it will just make it seem like a really high small space.

And however much I may love vainandy, and I do...please stay away from the squigly mirrors.

vainandy said:

Any color is fine but since your room is small, there's nothing like mirrors to make it appear larger. I'm not talking about framed mirrors, I'm talking about these type....

I absolutely love that but definately cannot afford it. Since I love mirrors, I have some of these on one of my small walls in my apartment. They just hang on the wall like pictures do.......

.

.

.

[Edited 10/12/10 13:36pm]

Of course you like mirrors, you slut.

Efan said:

I'm in the midst of painting my living room and I would welcome a little feedback from design-oriented people. I have a small living room and I want to make a nice, warm space out of it. Here's my question:

One whole wall is exposed brick (a ruddy brown color, but more brown than red); one whole wall is taken up by my kitchen appliances, so that leaves two walls that need painting. While the room is small, the walls are tall, so I'm thinking of accenting that by using two colors: a slightly darker shade on the bottom and a lighter one on top (the idea being that I think this would draw attention to the height of the room and away from the smallness of it). The bottom color would go up not quite halfway, and then the lighter color would go up to the ceiling.

Question to anyone who wants to weigh in: Stupid idea or potentially good one?

Here are the two colors I'm thinking of.

Top

Bottom

*witty remark about being versatile goes here*

johnart said:

I like the colors too. Keep in mind that you want walls in a small space to recede. Bringing attention to the height of a small room won't make it seem/feel larger, it will just make it seem like a really high small space.

And however much I may love vainandy, and I do...please stay away from the squigly mirrors.

Thanks. How do you make the walls recede? Is that still possible with what I'm planning to do?

There will be no squiggly mirrors. There will, however, be a Gascot. I'm very excited that once this redecorating is done, the painting of yours will have a place to be featured.

So I started painting last night. I took some pictures before I started but the internet has been down at home for the past few days...and now that I'm not at home and finally online again, I forgot to bring my camera, so I can't share the pics.

I will post the before and afters when I'm done and you guys can critique how I did.

Efan said:

johnart said:

I like the colors too. Keep in mind that you want walls in a small space to recede. Bringing attention to the height of a small room won't make it seem/feel larger, it will just make it seem like a really high small space.

And however much I may love vainandy, and I do...please stay away from the squigly mirrors.

Thanks. How do you make the walls recede? Is that still possible with what I'm planning to do?

There will be no squiggly mirrors. There will, however, be a Gascot. I'm very excited that once this redecorating is done, the painting of yours will have a place to be featured.

Darker colors make walls recede usually. Like in our guest bathroom, which is litteraly a closet.

But design rules tend to change. It used to be White was a a dirty word as far as paint goes and then it became a big trend all over again.

I think you're fine with your color choices. I think if you were putting the color line too much in the center you might take away from the height, so I like your idea.

johnart said:

vainandy said:

Any color is fine but since your room is small, there's nothing like mirrors to make it appear larger. I'm not talking about framed mirrors, I'm talking about these type....

I absolutely love that but definately cannot afford it. Since I love mirrors, I have some of these on one of my small walls in my apartment. They just hang on the wall like pictures do.......

.

.

.

[Edited 10/12/10 13:36pm]

Of course you like mirrors, you slut.