Creating Color Changes From One Room to Another

I have an open kitchen, dining room, and front room that all connect. The ceilings are 10ft tall with coffer ceilings. My couches are brown leather. What color should I paint and how? I like the sage, cranberry, and browns, but I don't know how to go about doing it because it is all connected and with the coffer ceilings! Please help.

By Bobbie from Kingman, AZ

Answers:

Creating Color Changes From One Room to Another

I love sage and cranberry, but the tricky thing is figuring out where you stop one color and start the other. One way to do it so it won't be so obvious if the paint lines are not perfect is to do sage and then start with a color that is one shade lighter or darker. You'll need to find a wall that might serve as a dividing line, perhaps near the dining room table. Is there one wall where you could use cranberry, then use a color 2 shades lighter to highlight the coffered ceiling? Or are they wooden beams? Another solution is to paint the whole space one color and then split it up visually with the furniture arrangements, so it looks like 3-4 mini rooms or conversation areas. (09/23/2010)

By Allison

Creating Color Changes From One Room to Another

I think it will all have to be one color. Sage would look pretty. You could possibly do stripes or a stamped design of a different shade or color on an outside wall in one or more rooms as long as the wall isn't connected to another room. (09/24/2010)

By Sandy Gerber

Creating Color Changes From One Room to Another

Sounds like my 100 yr old house. My kitchen is beige tones, I rag rolled a basket weave (not intentionally) in 2 shades of oil paint, the dining room part is wallpapered with white back ground, soft blue floral, nondescript, with beige-gold sheers, brown carpet. I have a 100 yr old leaded glass and mirrored buffet (as we call them) that was built in 100 yrs ago. It is the kind with pillars. This leads to the living room and full open stairway, done in the soft beige oilcloth wallpaper. It looks like a photo studio background.

My colors are in the earth tones, I pop out brighter colors with accent pieces, like vases, decor, etc. Tall peacock feathers in a vase brings those tones, the leaded piano window at 6 foot height allows more shelf decor. I pick up pieces at garage sales that I would never go and buy so that makes them not a permanent piece I need to display. So many ideas that I can't use them all the time; I rotate!

The carpet goes from the kitchen/dining room archway to the living room and up the open stairway, 60 running feet. By staying with neutral colors, each room is descriptive on its own, yet it flows from one room to the next without interruption. Some may say boring, I say easy on the decorating, I can mix and match as moods allow. Shopping for colors almost always fits perfectly. My drapes in the living room are also of the beige/brown thermal type, friendly with kids, easy to clean.

Not shiny so nothing says hey look at me. I have friends come who ask if something is new because they see new things each time, depending on the lights in the room. When in doubt, I can use a splash of fabrics wrapped around a vase here or there. My favorite is the black silk roses in an Aztec colored vase trimmed in 20 k gold paint. It was a Goodwill purchase. You see the vase and the silks.

My ceilings are white as can be, with light texture. It helps bounce light around the large rooms, no sheen, sparkle. Flat 100 yr old ceilings! (09/25/2010)

By Grandma J