I love the fabric.

If this is real concrete, I would do acid stain. You can go as wild as you wish or do something very simple but it will be stunning with the stained wood and your fabric.

I love that fabric! It looks kind of cottagey and looks great with the wall color that I see. I think the trim would look good in a creamy white. I personally love wood flooring but carpet would be nice too. The little birdcage goes with a cottage style. Furniture wise I think you could use white furnishings, wicker, or even dark wood would pop against your walls. I personally like an eclectic mix of furniture- no match match things. I love what you have so far.

On second look your dark trim actually looks good also. So you have options.

After taking a closer look at the woodwork I think I need to paint it. The walls and ceiling also need to be painted. It's probably been 30 years since they've seen a new coat of paint. Any specific suggestions on colors? The ceiling is lower than average and it has two tiers. Should the ceiling color be the same as the walls, or lighter, or darker than the walls? Should I remove the existing popcorn texture on the ceiling and attempt to do knock down texture myself?

Because it is a concrete slab floor and I'm in Minnesota, I think I will put in a vinyl floating plank floor that I can install myself. Hopefully that would add a layer of insulation without having to worry about potential moisture problems. As money allows I could get an inexpensive area rug to put on top of the vinyl. I don't know if it is a good idea to put an area rug on top of vinyl or not.

The floors in the workshop and laundry are also concrete. Etching is an interesting idea for those areas.

Please keep the suggestions coming. Thanks so much for helping me think this through!

Best wishes to you in the next phase of your life!! I went back to school myself at a later date in my life (40)! Love it!

At our lakehouse we have a vinyl floor that looks like bricks. Yes, would love real bricks but we are not down there all the time & the basement does leak some times. Area rugs can be put over vinyl. There are some nice looking vinyls & they are a breeze to clean!

Maybe beadboard on the ceiling to cover the popcorn? Then you couldn't have to scrape/mud/sand/paint....I'm lazy!! Haha!

I would probably pick a nice creamy color to keep it light & bright. Then you could repaint found furniture in a pretty blue from your fabric.

Smiles:)

fabric is very pretty --- a pretty chandelier in place of hte existing overhead would look great. Another vote for staining the cement in brown tones -- and then use an area rug if you need the warmth. I would do the ceilings a shade lighter than whatever color you choose -

The cement floor was painted at one time. Can it still be stained or etched?

Regarding furniture. I added some photos of a solid oak sewing cabinet that I bought for $5! It will provide a nice work area when the top is opened up and it also has drawers on the inside. It's in good condition so I can either refinish or paint but I definitely want to change the hardware.

I have some beautiful books on birds, gardens, and stain glass that I want to display in this room. Please ignore the damaged portrait in the 4th picture. I like the frame and might paint/glaze it for something else.

I'm going to try removing the popcorn texture on ceiling. I removed it from the main bath ceiling. It was messy but not too hard to do. I'm having professionals remove the popcorn in livingroom, diningroom, and kitchen and do a knockdown texture. I'll watch and learn so I can copy the technique for this room and the main bath.

I like the idea of a Chandy but the ceiling might be too low.

Does anyone have any specific paint colors/paint brands that they would recommend for the ceiling, walls, woodwork, and possibly the cabinet?

I can't begin to tell you how much appreciate your help!
{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

If you like the wood of the sewing cabinet but it needs some sprucing up. I use a darker gel stain directly over the existing finish. Changes the color, fills in the scratches and freshens up the finish. You try Howards Restore a Finish too. And the fall back favorite for tired dull wood finishes is English's Scratch cover and furniture polish.

i've worked with these rooms before and they sure can be challenging!
i really like your fabric, or you inclined to add another colour or two or keep it mono?
i'm thinking green, but which shade?
i like to paint the lowest wall a shade darker, getting lighter as you go up and the ceiling the lightest of all.

and i have that same frame on a mirror waiting for a space of it's own.

Hi, Max. What a fun project, and I love your fabric.

I though it might be fun to hear what we do with a space the same size. My sitting room off our kitchen has doors in opposite corners and tall windows wrapping low around a third. In there, wrapping around counterclockwise from the kitchen door, are a cushy swivel rocker, a mahogany desk, a matching swivel rocker in the window corner, by it a Martha Washington-type sewing table, the door leading to the front hall, a queen sofa bed, and finally back by the door to the kitchen an old cherry sideboard and hutch holding cookbooks. What wall space there is has floral oils and plates.

The coziness makes for wonderful conversation, and an old Oriental rug covers almost the entire open area of floor. It's my office where I work long hours at a computer, my cookbook storage and menu planning space, a cool sitting room with view to the garden on hot afternoons, and a spare bedroom (powder room with shower hidden behind folding doors around the corner). It's also a very easily sustainable shelter to retreat to if the power goes down in February. We have a generator, but it's too small for the whole house.

Have fun with yours.

Love the fabric - here are a couple of ideas: What about beadboard on the 'half' wall? Also - not sure if this was mentioned before - but vinyl flooring comes in pretty realistic wood styles. If you're looking for deals, thrift shops and eBay are my best resources and finally, how about a 'vision' board? I keep one in my office and post inspiring pictures - whatever interests or moves me. Best wishes to you!

Hi Max, I love the bird cages you're bringing into the room. My first thought was to make it all simple and go shabby by using a lot of soft whites on the furniture and accessories. For wall color you can paint the walls a light muted aqua that will work with the fabric.

I like the idea of shabby also, or french country. Since it's a "whatever room", making it feminine with the items you already have will be very inviting and relaxing for you.

An area rug will be beautiful over the vinyl planks, just get a pad to go under it.

I love those curtains! Perfect colors to begin with.

Okay, french country might be the style I'm trying to achieve (I think). When I can afford it, I'll probably go with the floating vinyl plank flooring that looks like hardwood. Great suggestion to use a pad under a future area rug. I will take the fabric to my favorite paint store and ask for color suggestions for the walls, woodwork, and ceiling and then post their suggestions.
I'm soooooo insecure with decorating!

Also lots of other major projects going on. Roofing was done this week. New siding, trim, and exterior doors to be installed in the next two weeks. Also during the next two weeks I have four days of testing for vocational rehab.

As always, thanks so much!

Max

Hey Max, how is your decorating / renovating going?
Came out of lurkdom because your house sounds like my house, and I'm working on the same room on the lower level.
Can you say where you got your fabric? What decisions did you make about the flooring? About how to paint the two-tier ceiling? (I've got that, too, and it has me pondering ...)
Hope the Voc Rehab testing went okay and that the further transformation of your life proceeds with many blessings along the way.
Thanks- Wellspring

Hello everyone,

I need opinions on my preliminary color choices for this room. Are these colors too dark? I'm so color challenged!

Colors:
BM Indian White (creamy white) for ceiling and trim.
BM Blue Ridge Mountain (sort of brownish) for inside of closet and lower half of one wall. I'm leaving the sliding closet doors down.
BM Kensingon Green (color has a lot of blue in it) for the walls.

Wellspring, I got the fabric at JoAnn Fabrics for $4.00/yd.

House rehab going very slow. Siding, soffit, fascia, and trim are finally done. Started tearing out the kitchen soffit and upper cabinets. Having trouble finding a reasonable GC for kitchen. I'll post before pictures of the sad, ugly kitchen on the Kitchen Forum. (It still has orange countertops.) It's a long process but I'm sure it will be worth it.

Thanks for the advice. You'd be surprised at how much stock I put in info/advice I get from the good GW folks.

Max, have your popcorn texture tested for asbestos before you try to remove it! If it does have asbestos, you'll need to hire professionals. If it doesn't, it's really easy to remove. Use a spray bottle of warm water and a wide putty knife. Just spray, let set for a few minutes and then scrape. Be careful not to gouge the ceiling board, although minor gouges can be repaired by the drywall guy. Work a section at a time (maybe 3 ft x 4 ft). I did my kitchen and family room. I also did some of our bedrooms, but paid the drywall guy to take it off the cathedral ceiling in the LR and hallway. Your arms will get tired, but other than that it was pretty easy.

I think I'm going to keep the popcorn in this room. I removed the popcorn in the bathroom. That was messy but easy.

Any advice on the colors I listed above?

Always Max

I think you may like the staging of rooms in the site called
http://www.ballarddesigns.com/
The items you have so far resemble the style they show. It's good for inspiration.

Your room is small and brown walls will make it feel even smaller. Additionally, I think the brown, cream, blue and green is too much for the room. I would stick with just the colors (or hues of those colors) from your fabric, which is very pretty, i.e. not try to introduce another color like green.

I would definitely paint the walls the same color above and below the chair rail in order to maximize the appearance of height for the walls/ceiling. If you painted the chair rail and other woodwork in the cream color and did the walls in a light blue that would lighten up the room. And I would paint the ceiling in a lighter shade of cream, almost white.

In your area I would absolutely do wood (or similar) or carpet and not a stained concrete flooring in that type of room unless it faces directly south or southwest.

I liked the first picture. I think the walls being the same color as the blue in your beautiful fabric, and retaining the dark woodwork is very striking.

For the floors, not sure why you need floating. The best is a solid piece of vinyl flooring, such as comes on a roll, but you have to pay an installer for that.

On a tight budget, I used Novalis plank from Lowe's and I love it. It comes in different colors/types of wood look. The best part was the price. It was very easy to install. To shorten a ":board" I would just score it with a utility knife run along a metal ruler edge, then snap it into two over the edge of my pull-out breadboard (any table, counter top, dresser top would do).

Here is a thread in the flooring board about it and several photos from others. Just be sure to get your seams very tight. I'd accustom the flooring to the indoor temperatures of the room for a few days before installing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vinyl Plank Flooring