How to achieve elegance in a room

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

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New (to me) house, needs some redecoration. Missus is keen to get going and been looking at paint colours etc.

She favours greys and greens. And her proposal is to paint one wall dark and the others a mid shade of similar colours. Flat matt colours.

I have only ever used very light colours - showhome chic some call it. They are neutral, perhaps bland, but go with everything. Its hard to make a terrible mistake with a light neutral colour, but in my opinion easy to make a terrible colour choice going for something dark and bold.

The main thing I want to achieve in the house overall is a high quality look and elegant, traditional finish. For this reason Im strongly favouring half wall panelling. I think this could look good finished dark, and then contrasted against lighter colours on the walls. But this is a lot of work.

Im keen to have a plan for the overall house before we start going and buying paints. Don't want a piecemeal approach that ends up looking tacky.

She also favours wooden (or laminate) floors in bedrooms rather than carpet. She is european and this is how they do it there, and she has some strong views that carpet is not very hygenic.

Any views?

Thanks
 
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Do you have things like picture rails? Or cupboards on walls where there will be the bold colours.

I have a really deep navy blue wall, but there is picture rail and it is white from the picture rail up to the coving + ceiling. As well a fire place and cupboards to break it up. If the whole wall was the deep navy then maybe it would be too much. We also have a less bold colour on the other 3 walls. I would be happy with the deep blue on all walls but the missus wanted a lighter colour to break it up.

Can see a photo here:

View attachment bWbVVvr.jpg

I wanted to do white wood panelling in my hallway and then a more powerful colour on the wall, but I didn't get round to doing the panelling. Dado, picture rail, skirtings, coving, all break up strong colours and make them more subtle. Here's a photo of my hallway, it's quite a dark green/grey colour but it's broken up by all the mouldings/trim.

qP4wsjE.jpg


So I guess to summarise, powerful colours on a bare wall with no accents is probably a lot harder to pull off than powerful colours with accents to break it up. Just my opinion of course. The thing is interior decorating is a matter of taste. I've had people say they like what we've done and I'm sure a lot of people don't like it at all.

I guess the point I'm making is, unless you're planning to do up your house to sell it, then just do what you two both like.
 
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CapitalOne said:
Sounds like it would look like a gastropub...keep it simple it will soon be covered in wires anyway!
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No wires allowed, things on the end of them use too much electricity.

Yeah I see what you mean on the pub look. I do like the old fashioned pubs though, but my modest house would probably look overkill with it. Having said that, a lot of you tube videos of people doing it.

Mason- said:
Do you have things like picture rails? Or cupboards on walls where there will be the bold colours.
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Like what you've done, looks great and I see your point about picture rails, that might work really well.
 
Pinterest is good for this sort of thing to get an idea.

I would just echo caution that wood panelling/trim is something on trend currently, but when it goes out of favour will be a pain to remove from walls and probably require replastering
 
Sounds like the OP has a decoration argument brewing :p

danlightbulb said:
And her proposal is to paint one wall dark and the others a mid shade of similar colours. Flat matt colours.
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Don't do this. Having different wall colours in one room is very 2000s (like a "feature wall") and will look tacky. IMHO :)
danlightbulb said:
For this reason Im strongly favouring half wall panelling. I think this could look good finished dark, and then contrasted against lighter colours on the walls. But this is a lot of work.
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I love panelling and want to do it, but only if you have (or will do) everything else as mentioned above, like dado rails/picture rails, coving, ceiling roses, traditional fireplaces. There's a reason people buy period houses with all of these still intact. Also, I think the colours should be the other way round; panelling light and walls darker. I'm sure panelling was there to break up the dark walls traditionally - but I might be completely making that up :p
Mason- said:
I wanted to do white wood panelling in my hallway and then a more powerful colour on the wall, but I didn't get round to doing the panelling. Dado, picture rail, skirtings, coving, all break up strong colours and make them more subtle. Here's a photo of my hallway, it's quite a dark green/grey colour but it's broken up by all the mouldings/trim.
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That's very nice and tidy but you need to get a proper column radiator in there ;)
 
Scam said:
Sounds like the OP has a decoration argument brewing :p


Don't do this. Having different wall colours in one room is very 2000s (like a "feature wall") and will look tacky. IMHO :)

I love panelling and want to do it, but only if you have (or will do) everything else as mentioned above, like dado rails/picture rails, coving, ceiling roses, traditional fireplaces. There's a reason people buy period houses with all of these still intact. Also, I think the colours should be the other way round; panelling light and walls darker. I'm sure panelling was there to break up the dark walls traditionally - but I might be completely making that up :p

That's very nice and tidy but you need to get a proper column radiator in there ;)
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Thanks.

Yep having to tread very carefully.

She likes the idea of picture rails a foot or so down from the ceiling, white or off white above them and a solid mid tone below. Along with a mid tone laminate oak style floor (can't afford real wood).

So getting somewhere I hope.
 
danlightbulb said:
Yep having to tread very carefully.

She likes the idea of picture rails a foot or so down from the ceiling, white or off white above them and a solid mid tone below.
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Heh well we all have to compromise :)

If she’s thinking of matching above-the-picture-rail to the same colour as the ceiling, the technical argument against that is that it pulls the ceiling down and makes the room feel smaller and less high. Helpful tidbit for you :p
 
Have a look at Farrow & Ball for some inspiration or call in to a small specialist retailer that stocks it and ask advice on what colours are recommended for your period of home. Colours common to that period, that were naturally made most likely along with water based brilliant white woodwork.

I personally wouldn't go for hardwood floors on the stairs or upstairs as it isn't practical. If you have a no shoes worn in house policy then there's no need for carpets upstairs to be unhygienic. If you have or are considering pets then under floor heating downstairs with ceramic tiles would trump wood or laminate floors in my opinion. I think you can also get some ceramics where an inside and outside version is available to create the illusion of more space by tying a patio area into the same look as the interior. Some bifold doors may go well with that. Other than getting some nice deep but muted natural tones, its down to nice furniture and mixing textures, thick curtains, deep pile rugs, throws and cushions etc.
 
Scam said:
Heh well we all have to compromise :)

If she’s thinking of matching above-the-picture-rail to the same colour as the ceiling, the technical argument against that is that it pulls the ceiling down and makes the room feel smaller and less high. Helpful tidbit for you :p
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Oh I see. How do you make a room feel taller then?
 
danlightbulb said:
Oh I see. How do you make a room feel taller then?
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Well, I don’t know. But I was just pointing out the effect of your idea :)

I agree with @thenewoc. Wouldn’t go with hardwood floors upstairs. I want a house to feel homely and comfortable upstairs. It’s fine for downstairs especially in kitchen and dining areas (even lounge with some big rugs). All in my opinion.

I would look at Instagram, Farrow and Ball, Lick paint, Coat paints. Once you start looking you’ll get all the usual home decor accounts start popping up (god bless algorithm’s!). Definitely I would swing towards traditional/timeless colours
 
Scam said:
I agree with @thenewoc. Wouldn’t go with hardwood floors upstairs. I want a house to feel homely and comfortable upstairs. It’s fine for downstairs especially in kitchen and dining areas (even lounge with some big rugs). All in my opinion
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Yeah I would have defaulted to the same but it's the European way and missus won't budge on that. Gonna have big rugs instead.
 
We painted our lounge in F&B Oval Room Blue, above the picture rail and ceiling are Wevet (iirc), an off white. The picture rail is a brighter shade of white that also matches the coving and ceiling rose for the light. Skirting and window woodwork matches the walls but the door frame and door are stripped back to bare wood.
It’s quite a dark room due to the window orientation and what’s in the garden but our interior designer asked that we trust her and not lean towards thinking that painting the walls light would make it feel brighter.
Breaking up above the picture rail is good, I’ve never felt like it lowered the ceiling but then we have ~3m ceilings.
 
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