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Could use some ideas

15 years ago

Hi everyone, I have really enjoyed going through a lot of the comments on these forums and thought I would get some opinions. I'm a first time home buyer - closing in a week - and have a fair bit of renovation to do to spruce the place up before I move in. I'm pretty handy, but am not always on top of the design elements.

I'm a 30 year old single guy that likes clean lines and a contemporary look.

With that said, I could use some ideas on a good color scheme for the living and dining areas of my new place. The dining area also runs into the kitchen so I'm trying to something contrasting enough to set the spaces apart, but still be coherent. These pictures show the area. I haven't decided if I'm just going to paint the paneling or pull it out and drywall it, but we'll see.

I'm going to be refinishing the floors but haven't decided if I want to go dark or more natural on the color yet. I was considering using a neutral tan color with white baseboards and crown molding, but that seems pretty standard these days. Any ideas on color schemes to make these areas work together?

Tackling the kitchen is going to be fun:

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Lori A. Sawaya
15 years ago
Considering where you are in the process, what you have to work with, and anticipating where you might want to go in the more advanced steps of making this your home, I'd 'shroom out the whole house. (translation) Ellen Kennon's Mushroom in LifeMaster Eggshell. Ceilings in a simple white.

I find myself oddly attracted to the wild wallpaper in the bathroom. I kept looking at it thinking it was way more cool than ugly. Paneling, not feelin' it so much.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ellen Kennon Full Spectrum Paints
randita
15 years ago
I saw a picture of a room painted in Sherwin Williams Pavilion Beige, which is a grayed beige with white woodwork and it was stunning-sophisticated, clean and contemporary looking. I think your foyer would look great in a similar shade. Eggshell finish would be nice.

In the kitchen, I think a silvery green like SW Ancient Marble or Svelte Sage would look great with those cabinets and I think it would blend well with the Pavilion Beige. Maybe the darker color, Svelte Sage would be good for the dining room, while the lighter, Ancient Marble would be good in the kitchen. There might be a color in between those two greens on the same strip, but I don't recall the name. Any of those greens on that strip would work.

I like the idea of changing the floors, but would probably consider lighter because dark wood floors really show the scratches, but if you have rugs strategically place, that might not be an issue.

Do you know if the paneling is over drywall or put on in place of drywall? If it's over drywall and not glued, you might be able to just take it off, clean the drywall and go from there. Painting paneling is a big job. I just finished painting chair rail height paneling in our den. Whew, I can't imagine painting floor to ceiling paneling in a big room. But if you decide to do that, clean it well to get oils off, sand lightly, apply a bonding primer with small fuzzy roller, then smooth out the rolled surface with a 3" brush. Sand lightly and apply two coats of finish paint (I used SW Pro-Classic semi-gloss acrylic, but for a full wall I would use Satin finish) again with the roller and smoothing out with a 3" brush. Sand lightly between coats. Turned out beautifully and probably was faster and cheaper than tearing it out and replacing with drywall.

Depends on the look you want. The paneling, even painted, is definitely a more classic look and might not work if you want a more up to date appearance. If you do decide to paint the paneling, the Pavilion Beige would be good or a similar shade either a bit lighter or a bit darker might work. Something in the green family might look nice with the fireplace, though.

For a sense of flow, I think I'd stick to lighter or darker shades of the grayed beige and silver sage for the rooms and accent them with a burgundy or cranberry in rugs, throw pillows, etc. There are a lot of great Oriental style rugs in different designs with the burgundy/cranberry background color. With the gray influence colors, you'll be right with the trend as I've read that gray is the new "in" color. Reflects the economic mood of the country is the reasoning.

It's a really neat looking house. Have fun fixing it up.
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