A slightly lighter, fairly grayed version of the carpet?

Can you post photos of it all? I'm sure you'd get more helpful suggestions that way.

In the meantime, would it be possible to do the floors first, rather than the walls?

You should refer to fabrics, wallpapers and rooms decorated with the seafoam color to see what colors complement it.

For example, check out this room: http://www.samanthapynn.com/interiors/single-gallery/4698239. First of all, do you like it? If so, I would apply it to your space in this way: soft white for the walls, white and light brown/tan colored furniture pieces, and some black or even gray accents in the accessories and hardware.

Also, in some of your areas, you can always cover up the seafoam with a large plain area rug.

I would love to do the floors first, but realistically that is probably 1-2 years away.

I can post a pic tomorrow.

I'm really struggling with it. We've had a more neutral base in our last few houses (4th house in 10 years). The fixed elements here are the most challenging I've been faced with. Thankfully the overall quality of the home is great, but it needs to be brought out of the late 80s.

back to post a link that is similar in color (going from memory) to what we are dealing with in the house.

Here is a link that might be useful: seafoam carpet

what about a grey?

More of the same might be too much. I'd go with the neutral, maybe grey/taupe/driftwood. Take a look at this month's BHG - there might be an idea there playing off of beach colors.

I had a gray blue carpet through much of my last house and was thrown by it for a long while. Then, I decided to pretty much ignore it and paint the walls of the LR/FR combo the color I wanted at that time, (a medium mossy olive) and just work with my furniture and fabrics. That worked for me in that house and almost no one even noticed that I had blue carpet.

If you can't attack the floors then, you have to find a work-around. Since I'm really drawn to many of the grays out there right now, I would probably go that direction. And while I hear you in your thinking that "anything 'warm' seems off with the carpet"...that's exactly what I felt about my blue carpet. I felt I would have to go cool. But I hate cool. So I refused to do it. If you have a nice wall color and furniture and drapes, people will more or less ignore the carpet I think. Try Revere Pewter or Stonington Gray by Ben Moore. Resist the pastels. And once you get a pretty color on the walls and fill the room up with your things, her choice of pastels will be a thing of the past.

Red

I am thinking I need to reconsider grays and taupes after reading the feedback here. My gut says a lighter version is just going to give me too much blue. That's kind of how it reads right now I think, with all of the pastel light seafoam wall paint coupled with the carpet and the slate. Too much of it.

I came across this pic on the houseofturquoise blog and thought maybe the combo here would be interesting to look at

The room gets a LOT of natural light during the day though. It will be interesting to see how revere pewter, etc. read in there in different light.

Here is a link that might be useful: seafoam combo from house of turquoise?

IMO, that's a *now* color! Using anything black would make for a very dramatic room, whereas a warm sand-beige would look very rich. I don't see it as pastel, but more of a color that has a little gray. Try using some of the things from your previous house~the color combination just might grow on you! ;o)

patty_cakes-
The carpet itself is not terribly pastel to my eye, but the current paint is a very light blue with a touch of green, not grayed out or muted or muddy at all. I think that's part of what is bugging me.
I'm wondering now about BM Pashmina, Revere Pewter, Stone Hearth?

Congratulations on your new house!

What kind of decor do you like? I can visualize white walls and furnishings on that carpet, with hot pink accents, very modern.

Or white walls and furnishings with pale aqua accessories, and lots of silver and mirrors, maybe even a flokati rug for a Hollywood Glam look. I've also seen very pretty rooms with white, pale aqua, and peach accessories.

If you don't like the carpet, why not visit a good remnant carpet store before you do anything else? Take your measurements with you, and a good notepad to take notes. It might not be as bad ($) as you think to get that carpet changed out before you move in.

Another option is to throw some rugs on top of your carpet to break up all that aqua. I got some incredible bargains on rugs through Craigslist, so you might want to snoop yours. Also in "materials" you might find wall-to-wall carpet deals.

You can also snoop our Gallery for inspiration photos of gorgeous rooms.

Here is a link that might be useful: Main Gallery Link

Ditto Red...look at Revere Pewter or Stonington Gray by Ben Moore~~

Agree to the suggestions about sand beige and tans. In the link you provided to show the carpet color with the little squares of other colors listed== my eyes were instantly attracted to the beige/tan/gray/browns. I think that will warm up and un-date your house..in addition to making it so much more neutral and easier to work with.

House of Turquoise is your friend! :-)

You did not say anything about your furniture (or maybe I missed it.) I agree with the gray/sand/taupe suggestions, but I wonder what you are working with in terms of existing upholstered pieces.

That FLOR pic is a great example of orange and turquoise working together. If your style leans more traditional, that orange could be a muted brick/coral kind of color. More contemporary? Go with the bright orange!

I also think Red's idea (Hi, Red!) of just ignoring the carpet is a good one. Once you get a lot of what you love into those rooms, the carpet will recede somewhat. You might even begin to like it and end up with a turquoise area rug once the w-t-w is pulled.

Are you doing the painting yourself? If so, just getting a coat of something not blue on the walls will be an improvement and probably provide a lot of relief. You might think about doing everything in an easy-to-live-with neutral, like the Revere Pewter, and then going back and adding more/different color as the spaces evolve.

Good luck and congratulations!

Can you post any of the listing pics?

Also, look at BM Wish from their Affinity collection. Just did my bathroom in it. Manchester Tan is another good neutral. also by BM. I too, have teal carpeting in my basement and the walls are stark white. I've always hated it. We'll be painting it soon, so I'll be interested in finding out what works for you.

It was never listed. We bought it before it hit the market. DH's former coworker/friend lives two doors down and knew the owner was going to list.

In terms of furniture, right now we do not have a dining set (last house did not have a formal DR). So we are starting from scratch there. We're considering a farmhouse table because we have three young kids and the inherent "wear" will hopefully mask some of the dings, etc. they'll inflict through the years. We have some existing dark (mahogany stained) windsor chairs that may go in place. In my ideal world if everything was neutral or hardwood was in place, I'd use something like BM aganthus green or a nice muddy green of some type probably.
The Family room has a neutral Berber. I'm working with a knotty pine vaulted ceiling and a brick fireplace. I actually like the knotty pine (not shellacked/shiny thankfully) now that POs furnishings are out. We might keep it and not paint it. So our current sofa, etc. will work for now although we're hoping to update that in another 2-3 years when the kids are a bit older. Maybe sooner.
It is primarily the DR that is stumping me. The formal LR will be turned into a study. Not loving the carpet but it doesn't bother me as much as it does in the DR.
I think the pale blue walls are just accentuating it so much more.
Thanks for the feedback so far. I'll snap a pic or two today and post, including the slate since that is visible from the formal LR and DR as well (and the slate ties into the seafoam carpet).

Hi!

In addition to houseoftorquoise, do some google image searches on torquoise rooms. I've been doing this a lot lately because we have picked this aqua/torquoise color to paint the walls of our basement with. I have seen many pics of this color with wood floors and it looks amazing. I would think a tan'ish wall color would look awesome with your carpet. If you go with gray, be sure that it is a gray that doesn't have any blue in it. You need a true gray or a brown gray, basically you need a "warm" gray, not a "cool" gray. We plan to pair the aqua walls with either a wood laminate flooring or a brown colored acid stained concrete floor. We will have white trim and accent with a bright orange, along with b/w.

white walls

I vote for a taupe-y gray, too. We had that color in our last house and it was a great back-drop for many colors. I had some teal accents in one room.

A friend had blu-ish carpet and her walls were a soft golden tan color, and I thought it looked great together.

I know gray is the new brown. I have gray. I also have chocolate brown still in my dining room. It works with the gray very nicely in the adjacent rooms.

When I think of that turquoise color, I try to imagine what goes with it to make it "warm", what about a dark rich chocolate brown? It is very warm. Or you could use a rich tan. Silver accents as accessories?

I google-imaged "Candice Olson Divine Design" and just scanned the photos for the turquoise color. I have attached a few for you to look at, granted they don't have the turquoise color carpet, the color can be seen in the room somewhere.

{{!gwi}}

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Oh, what about SW Latte (or the one lighter on the same strip)?

Perhaps instead of starting with the paint color, you should look at what else you're putting in the room. An unexpected choice in wall color can be made sense by the furnishings of the room. Paint color options are endless, but furnishings (as in furniture and accessories) are more limiting (cuz you already own some, or you can only afford or find certain pieces). Just another thought.

I think of the sky and sea as nature's neutrals. You can pick any color and it will go with them. You say that you don't like the pastel look. How about a deep color, like aubergine, for the dining room?

I am having trouble getting my camera to take a pic accurately reflecting the color. I will try to post a pic tomorrow. I threw some paint chips on the floor and the carpet color is something close to Halcyon, maybe more like the next color down on that strip.

I'm going to put some swatches up on the walls tomorrow. I have a ton of samples (because i want to get a few rooms swatched upstairs, do the family room, etc. as well).

In terms of furniture going in, that's tough as we haven't found a DR table/chairs that we love yet. It is on the agenda.

I'm torn between going w/ a neutral, doing whatever paint (green?) I really want and kind of ignoring the carpet, or trying to work in something related to the carpet. Today I was back to feeling like I should just paint everything cream until we can do the floors. On the bright side, I guess cream would complement the stained trim that I can't decide whether or not to paint (was strongly leaning toward yes, but today felt maybe not. Going to live with it for a while.)

Thanks for the tips. I've never had to work around such an interesting color of carpet before, so this will be be a growing experience for me :)

You know, if you get a coat of primer up on the wall, you are going to be able to get a better idea of which direction to go. I've been playing around with a newly emptied bedroom, (my little baby went and married this guy and got her own apartment and now we only see her 4 or 5 times a week when they come over to hang out!!) that was painted deep blue. Finally priming and the effect is great. Now, I can pick a room color!

Red

I use teal throughout my first floor and have paired it with with BM Sea Spray on the walls which is very neutral. Our entry is painted Teal. I will take and post some new pictures later this weekend if we get some decent light going in NJ. Way too much snow.

Once our sofa is reupholstered I'm thinking about bringing in some gray.

Love those pictures Beekeeperwife.

Today I was back to feeling like I should just paint everything cream until we can do the floors. On the bright side, I guess cream would complement the stained trim that I can't decide whether or not to paint (was strongly leaning toward yes, but today felt maybe not. Going to live with it for a while.)

This might be one of the rare times I'd suggest using a light/medium/dark combination of one color. It would give you a bit more variation/interest and signal different functions (light/bright in the hallway, dark in the DR, medium in the LR) while still providing a cohesive look in the face of The Seafoam.

More great ideas. Hoping to swatch revere pewter later today and start hunting around for some creamy neutrals to consider too. I have a sample of Revere Pewter on hand so that won't be too difficult. I have to hit the BM store for some more paint sample jars once I get a better feel for how cream vs. gray looks with the slate and carpet.

amysrq-are you thinking different combos of one color in a neutral? Any suggestions for me?

I think one other issue I'm having is that if we leave the trim stained, in conjunction with the seafoam, it looks really dated. But the trim is maybe growing on me a bit, whereas I was quite sure before that we'd paint it. A distant family member came over yesterday, and he does a lot of restoration work and is a contractor (40 years in the business). He loved the wood. I'm trying to love it. I haven't had stained trim since my childhood home. The wood is very nice quality, not super ornate but well done. Mullions and windowsills are all stained wood too. I think that's swaying me toward maybe reconsidering creams/taupes/grays? MIL has no issue painting trim and really likes our woodwork too. Tricky to work around w/ the medium stained trim and now the blueygreenygray slate and seafoam though. Uggggh. This is making me slightly nuts ;)

Hi again brittone. I am thinking of the same neutral in three levels of saturation or depth. Even though using colors from the same strip on a fandeck is not a reliable guarantee that the colors are so intimately related and will work together, it is the best way to describe what I mean.

The truth is, you can't "just go up a notch" and necessarily have a good color combo. You'd have to look at the colors individually in each room and get the end result by using your eyeballs, the very best tool for selecting color! :-)

A good example of this is a strip that includes a color called Dark Mustard, third from the bottom on a strip in the Ben Moore Color Preview fandeck. It looks just like it sounds. At the very top of the strip is Woodland Snow which reads pale pink on the walls. Obviously, this would not make for a winning color scheme!

As for what kind of neutral you want to use, it is hard to say without seeing photos. The trim is probably a bigger factor than the carpet believe it or not. I think that if you are starting to like the trim, then give it a chance. Sure saves a heck of a lot of time, effort and decorating dollars. Just make sure you find a neutral that flatters the trim. This idea also takes you back to the earlier suggestion to decorate for what is staying, not what is eventually going, namely the carpet.

Tonight I spent some time swatching on the walls. I found that the neutrals I have liked the most so far with the trim are the choices that conflict with the carpet or just don't mesh at all. I was swatching on blue walls at night, so I'll reserve judgment until I get to look more tomorrow. I didn't have all of the sample pots that I would like to try (selected a bunch of samples a few weeks ago prior to our closing and my realization that the carpet is Very seafoam1). Revere Pewter looked awful in the foyer and dining room. It looked almost flesh toned with maybe some purple in there too. Not at all the warm gray I've seen elsewhere. I am sure that if I primed and painted the entire room it would read differently but it was not even close to holding my interest. Comfort gray looked interesting at night, but not sure how it would be during the day. Anything sage (I have some samples for the family room and MBR) was very brown and yucky against the seafoamy carpet and blue/green/gray slate. Carrington beige was nice with the woodwork as was Putnam Ivory but I didn't like either with the flooring.

I had a sample of SW Creamy (will be working on cabinets once it warms up) and that was obviously waaaay white on the walls but I put it up just to see how I liked something toward white. I keep coming back to thinking cream might be my best bet. I had windham cream and philadelphia cream but I picked those out before realizing how yellow they were (chose a few samples to pick up weeks ago).

Any suggestions on a cream I could at least try with the seafoam? What undertones would fight with it the least? A grayed out cream? We do have some pretty interesting art, etc. that we can hang for interest so it might not be that terrible to pick something light and bright.

Maybe a full spectrum paint would be a good idea. A straightforward color with extra visual interest. I really love Ellen Kennon Classic Cream, she has other cream/ivory/white options as well.

I was *just* looking at EK again tonight. Our house is a very modest 2500 sq foot 4b/2.5 colonial. I'm feeling a little intimidated about a consultation with EK right now as a result. I always thought her prices were closer to $100 a can but considering we'd be using BM Aura if we don't use EK, I need to reconsider!

I was looking at the Classic Cream as a top contender. Something interesting despite being "cream".

I tried using the store finder but it was down and giving me an error message when I clicked the link on her site. Do I just look for a Dulux store? I know they are using the high end Glidden paints now but are they still mixed at ICI dulux stores?

I looked at EK's site again and it looks like the store I would need would be a "Glidden Professional" store. I found a few within 50 miles, but with traffic they would all be 1.5 hours, which I'm not sure I want to do. She does ship though. Hmmmm...what to do. Start w/ samples I guess. I won't be ordering/buying any more paint anyway as movers bring our things on Monday, so I have some significant unpacking to do before I can really get focused on actual painting (vs. swatches).

Prime your room first. Then, swatch. It will make a difference. And when you swatch, if you are already sold enough on the color to buy a sample, paint a big section of wall.

Red

Ellen is the last person you should be intimidated by. She is really a wonderful person and so easy to talk with. You need not live in a palace for her to take good care of you.

When I discuss driving distance for paint (or shipping costs), I remind people it is only one trip or maybe two. But, you get to live with the results every day.

I'm not sure how to post a picture, but I wonder if Benjamin Moore Hush would look good? Here's someone else's pic:
http://cdn.decorpad.com/photos/2009/06/22/7da8375462f5.jpg

I can picture Hush better with white/off-white trim than with wood though. Wood trim brings to mind creams or pale yellows (but too yellow with blue carpet...not good). If you have an Ace Hardware nearby, also check out Warm Scones (couldn't find a pic). Both Hush and Warm Scones are available in sample pots. Rather than painting the sample directly on the wall, I prefer painting something more portable (some use foamboard, I used old manila folders & stuck them up in different location with blue sticky stuff).

Have you considered an area rug to downplay the carpet color? My home has icky purplish-mauve carpet, but we have an area rug in the main part of the living room to cover the mauve and bring in other colors without obviously clashing.

So far I have liked a few of the small chips I've put up of off whites, but I don't think I've narrowed it down 100% yet.And obviously chips are not swatches, and swatches aren't quite the same as painting a full wall. I wasn't thinking of using the off whites and creams in my home at the time I picked up the sample pots a few weeks ago. I need to visit the local BM store this week and try a few more things out.

I had a sample pot of palladian blue (to try in our bedroom) and put it up there (foyer and DR) just because I had it out. Oddly it seemed to work really well with the floor. Kind of a lighter version of what's on the floor (it seemed to read w/ more green in my house). It didn't look too terrible with the wood either since it has some warmth to it. I'm a tiny bit afraid that it might be oppressive with the carpet though? It is more of the look that the PO had (her walls were a more pastel, lighter version of the floor color). However, the Palladian Blue is not pastel, kinda muted/muddy, and more sophisticated than the more pastel blue that PO had up. Not sure if I want to go with it but I am considering it. It was not something I even thought would look remotely good w/ the carpet based on what I've seen elsewhere but it is one of my favs. Comfort gray isn't bad either, just a different look. DH think it wouldn't be too blue once we have curtains up, furniture in place, art on the walls, etc.

When you enter you enter in the foyer and there is a hall straight back to the kitchen. In the foyer immediately to your left is what will be our study (PO's formal LR) and to the right is the DR. I'm thinking about using Palladian Blue in those rooms (DR and Study) and having the foyer be something more neutral like off white/cream. Both the Study and DR have the seafoam carpet, and the stairs (visible from foyer) have it as well. The rest of the house is more neutral (thankfully).

I'm hoping this picture will help you with some direction since Teal is my accent color. This is my unfinished DR. The walls are BM Seaspray which in some light looks more beigey cream. You can see a little bit of the wall color at my entry way. Very neutral.

jerseygirl1-
I really like seaspray w/ the teal. I will pick up a test pot. I could see that working based on some of the other chips I've been sticking up there (don't have sample pots of post of those colors yet).

Brittone,

Glad I was able to help. I have also used white for trim throughout my main living areas.

Well, I spent some time at the BM store today and talked with the owners there. A *lot* of tans are turning fleshy/bandaid on my walls. We figured out that the teal/seafoam makes any tans with reddish undertones really look fleshy, so I need tans with green undertones or at least much less red.

I brought home some swatches (the large paper ones from BM, as well as some small test pots of paint). I painted some Lancaster Whitewash in my foyer and kind of like that. We also are liking Hush. I think those are good starting points. They look like sandy tans/beiges in my rooms, which looks okay with the seafoam/tealy carpet.

If you know if any other great beige/tan colors that have greener undertones, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for the starting point. I found a paint swatch in the store close to our floor color, and it was interesting to see how any red undertones in the tan/beige instantly looked fleshy/band aid colored once held up against the paint chip that is closest to our carpet color. An educational experience for sure. I feel like I learned even more about undertones and at least have an idea of how to "fix" what my problem is. I can't look at another fleshy swatch LOL. They were awful ;)

I appreciate all the help. I still look forward to the day when the carpet is gone and hardwood is in place, but for now I feel like I at least have a better idea of what will work and what I'm looking for.

Isn't Hush cool? Seems to resist turning weird like so many tan/beige tones do. BM Carrington Beige in the Historical color palette can have gray/green undertones in some lighting...but that does seem to make it resistant to turning fleshy (FYI, my sample paint was slightly cooler toned than my paint chip). Monroe Bisque HC-26 is a beige with more golden tones to it, so I think it would be a good bet, too; I saw it recommended on a realtor site as a good home-staging color.

I second someone's suggestion above of BM Manchester Tan. I painted my family room this color. It is a tan with greenish-grayish undertones. I do not have any seafoam in my room so not sure what happens when it's next to that. But, it might work. I also had wood trim which looked ok with it, but I did paint the trim a creamy white.

Hi Brittone,

Take a look at the link below.

She painted her hutch Halcyon(like your carpet) and her walls are SW Comfort Gray. The combination is pleasant.

Also, here are couple of photos of my livingroom when I was requesting help here on GW. You can see I have a similar blue in the rug & draperies. The wall color is SW Croissant. It is the perfect warm tan with no understones and looks great with the blue.

Here is a link that might be useful: Comfort Gray