I think a nice pillow and throw to cover some of the color would be in order. Raspberry is just one of those colors that is real period specific.
I'd do a greenish wall, but not the 80s hunter or seafoam kinds...

Rasberry is the color of the year. Go with it. I like rasberry with sage and wheat colors to soften the rooms feel a bit. So maybe a color like BM antique jade or if you like the wheat idea maybe Bm's dunmore cream. I might actually play with the color rather than down play it but I have a rasberry painted vestible so I like the color.
forum favorite magnaverde painted a seatee in a pink color:)

Here is a link that might be useful: magnaverde's rasberry seatee.

I've recently fallen in love with some very simple raspberry gingham curtains pictured in the latest Country Curtains catalog! I have absolutely nowhere to use them, but I just love the look. Something about it makes me feel ... nostalgic, I guess. Anyway, as you can see in this pic, the curtains do stand out, but they're softened by the creams and greens in the bedding. I know you aren't doing a bedroom in these shades, but am just posting this pic to illustrate how a brighter tone can be "taken down a notch".

I do not associate raspberry with the 80s. I associate mauve with the 80s. (Those gingham curtains look much the ones I sewed for one of the DDs in the 80s, though.) OP's photo will not open for me, sadly, because I love raspberry.

What goes around comes back 20 years later.
I am always far from trendy, so I'm mostly not going to feature it.

I've used throws, pillows, etc, but the most effective for me has been the drop cloth.

I love grey greens, but am just worried it'll make the red in the raspberry redder. If I could fade it out to a greyer raspberry with paint, I'd probably OK. AuntJen, that's exactly wnat I want to do. Soften the brightness and make it not a focal point.

Raspberry, like mauve, is very subjective. I always hated that country pink those with no eye called "mauve". In the 80s.

In the meanwhile, it goes into my Someday list. I do get my Somedays done, but sometimes it takes awile.
Thanks for the input, all!

Thanks.
Christine

I'm a lover of Raspberry also. It's gorgeous w/olive green, ivory, and a warm tan. Here's one example.

IMO, I wouldn't use pastels unless you're wanting it to look like a little girls bedroom. ;o)

Here is a link that might be useful: fabric...

I was just leafing through the recent Elle Decor magazine and there was an emphasis on colour in this months issue. One of the rooms used raspberry tending to a little pink and it was gorgeous. I don;t remember the colour on the wall. Check it out - it might give you some ideas. I like raspberry - it's one of those colours that isn't red, nor pink and can add some perkiness to a room.

This is only a suggestion (note my name), but I think I would look for a fabric that has a small amount of the settee colour (a fabric that you really love & that can be used somehow in the room) and then use the other colours in the fabric to guide where you want to go. If that makes sense? Do you have other colours in the room that need to stay? Perhaps if a fabric ties it all together, it will be easier to pick a paint colour. A small amount of trendy fabric might make the colour seem less 80s to you.
Love love love Magnaverde's sofa.

I wouldn't want to "soften" the raspberry-ness of it myself. I'd want emphasize the bold, happy feel the color has. It's very pretty...it has a lot of life, and I agree with kitchendetective that it doesn't seem 80'ish at all.

I also hear your concerns...what you team it up with can either play up the cheerful tone in a sophisticated way OR make it feel stodgy or cutesy.

I can see it looking great with black! For example, imagine a wonderful oriental rug with a black field, & rose, ivory and sage accents.

So sorry I forgot the p in RASPBERRY 3xs in my first post...I was at a soccer game and it was cold, I must have had brain freeze:(, but now that I can properly spell it I thought of another lovely color with raspberry, yellow. If it is a bright yellow the raspberry would seem paler perhaps. But again I still might play up its liveliness.

Here is a link that might be useful: raspberry and yellow print

I googled "FUSCIA FABRIC" & there are lots of nice patterns containing fuscia (so lots of colour ideas).

I also googled "RASPBERRY FABRIC" but on my monitor fuscia seemed closer to your settee (again per my monitor).

I like the colour of your settee (please post pics when you're done?).

Here is a link that might be useful: a striped example

I feel your pain - twice over! I am working around a pair of small sofas trapped in an outdated pink/rose/coral color. Three weeks into my upholstery class I realized redoing them will take a pro - and some money I don't have just now.

I did as decordummy suggested. Found fabrics that had a bit of the sofa color, but with other colors I like very much. Those other colors then formed my main palette, and I make choices with an eye toward the future when the sofas are recovered or gone. So far it is working out well.

Could you do a slip cover? Not a good option for me because of the barrell backs and button tufting, but that may be a solution for you.

The raspberry that was most common in the 80s was in Kohler bath fixtures called Raspberry Puree. It was a strong color and often made a bold statement paired with brass fixtures. It was sold from 1984-1999 though I can't believe people were still buying it in the late 90s!

I'm also a fan of raspberry! It does look really pretty with wheats and yellows. My bedroom has evolved into featuring it as an accent to the yellow dominant color, and I find it both soothing and cheerful.

An example of raspberry with yellow, blue, orange, and white.

Celticmoon I also love the lines of your sofa. Could you show us the fabric you chose?
Alex9179 that does look pretty. The bedspread & rug bring the colours together.
I decorated LR around an area carpet, but not one that I loved (big mistake).

Patty-cakes, I'm ordering a sample. If anything I love the pattern! Thx.

Decordummy, that was my thought: when I have window trim up, also finding fabric that has a tiny bit of the raspberry in it for continuity.

I also like the lines of your chair and how you fit it with the rug you don't like. I'm not crazy about the bedding with it (too much pattern for me) but I think you did well.

Celticmoon, I thougt I'd take a class, too, but realized piping was insane to attempt as a beginner. Even tho i could take the cushions apart for patterns, it would be a mess. I like the comfortable lines of your sofas.

Stinkygardener, black is kind of an option. My floors are wide plank, dark chocolate, hand-scraped (texture) some-kinda-wood. The darkness compliments the wood on the Queen Anne and doesn't scream "LOOK AT THIS PINK SETTEE!!!" Won't rule it out. :)

Thank GOD this isn't fuscia. I'd just burn it. Not even donate it. Burn it. Ahhem. Let me rephrase that without my inner voice contributing. No, fuscia isn't the direction I will go. Thanks, tho.

Slip covers aren't an option on a QA, in my opinion. All that gorgeous wood. That's also what makes it a zillion $$ to recover...

Dianalo, I'm familiar with the Kohler color to which you refer. I don't think that's what the 80s country-pink people were thinking when they told themselves they were buying "mauve". I remember more than a few friends being put out when I admired their pink or rose decor. "It's MAUVE," they'd insist. Ok. Even the fabric manufacturers didn't call it "mauve". I'm being kind when I call this thing raspberry, all tho it is a far more muted color than the photo shows. Whatever you want to call it, mauve, pink, raspberry or fuscia, the color screams 80s to me. And given that I didn't like it then, I'm not going to try to convince myself I like it now. That lightening bold of "THAT'S IT!" when we find something that's perfect? Well the glare of this color is outshining any bolts that might have occurred. NOT.

The most commonly mentioned colors here so far are sage and wheat. I was leaning towards these, myself, and my whole house seems to be going in that direction, although more greyed than a yellowish wheat. That's what I'll have to play with. Thank God again it's not fuscia nor the bright color of the photo. The greyed color could go well with a darker sage and the dark (almost black!) of the floors. It's the contrast, wheat-ish colors, where I don't want it to electrify the pink/blue/red-ness of it. I'd rather pull out the gray tones.

Kill me.
Thanks for the thoughts. I apprecaite the suggestions and pics. They help me!

Christine

"I also like the lines of your chair and how you fit it with the rug you don't like. I'm not crazy about the bedding with it (too much pattern for me) but I think you did well." I think this belonged to Alex9179.

The carpet that I decorated with is this one, and I ended up with fall (when I think I might be a spring/summer).

Oh, I love the rug:) I was worried about the patterns, but since the cover and rug are it, it's not a busy room overall. The incorporation of colors was serendipity and I was lucky it was clearanced priced.

Good luck with your search.

CEF, piping is actually easy! I made yards and yards of it yesterday in class. And I have sewn maybe 30 minutes in my whole life. I made buttons too. There are machines for everything!

Decordummy,
I am in love with the palette in this remnant that will go on the back of DR chairs. Found it after I decided on colors and they are all spot on.

This is from my little book I made to carry around. I got tired of dragging around the bag-o-house. I'm working on a whole house so I have to stay a little organized.

And here's a couple I'm considering

There are some that don't photo well, like a burlap with a stripe, some solids and this woven tweedy one - hey, that rosey middle explains why my driftwood pix look pink!

I'll be using more of the blues in wall color and the painted furniture pieces.

Celticmoon your remnant is awesome & so is your palette! Talk about making lemons into lemonade- your pink became a positive & makes your heart sing.
CEFreeman good luck with the hunt & please let us know how it ends up.

Seriously CEF, piping isn't bad at all as long as the machine has a foot to do it. I have zippo sewing experience and made these yesterday. If you knew me you would agree that my making this stuff is a miracle.

.

BUT...it is the breaking down and reattaching everything, and that my community college won't allow sofa projects (too big to store there) that made me make peace with my sofas' color. And the price of that much fabric. Yikes.

Folks here can help you nail a wheat tone that will make it all work. I'm sure.

I like your raspberry color. But my people came from Raspberry Hill in Ireland, so I am probably biased...

Silly. :)
Yes, you're biased. LOL

I can do anything with a needle except tatoo. But --- give me a glass of wine and an ice pick and I'll do just fine. Hold still. It won't hurt much at all!

I am so annoyed I can't get an actual pic of the color.

I will LYK what comes up. Paint is a big deal for me, since I only got walls in this room a couple of months ago.

C.

Raspberry is currently IN ... I'd use other fabrics and objects with a bit of the raspberry color and enjoy it.

First, thank you all again for the responses. You never know what will spark an idea.

Second, but not least, I'm trying to be polite about something here: I don't give a big fat honk about what's IN or not. What you'd do is one thing, but what I want is to neutralize, diminish, even reduce the impact of a color I find hidious. In MY living room. Ironically, I don't hate raspberry, or even this particular dusty color.

I don't want it to be a focal point, which will happen if I can't find a paint that doesn't make it more blue or red. So far, thanks again, sage and wheat seem to be the common recommendations. Now I just have to find the right tones.

Sincerely,
Christine

I though the psychology of rasperry was peaceful and restful feelings lol.

Well, it is what it is and paint will not change that significantly. Maybe you should reconsider using it.