"It makes *total* sense to me! I'd never heard it before--has anyone else heard this?"

No, I never heard of this but I just had a lightbulb moment and yes, it makes total sense! :Palm slaps to forehead:

I live in small houses and never paint rooms with different color walls thinking it would break thing up too much and make the space seem smaller. I've leaned something from what you posted and may consider this for when I repaint my small dark back bedroom.

Thanks for sharing.

It sounds good to me. I won't pick colors anymore without the okay of the color consultant in my Benjamin Moore store. What a great service, every store should have one on staff. I will have to try that advice next time I paint my north facing kitchen and great room. Thanks for posting.

Oh fly, please post pics when you're done painting. I've been thinking I wanted darker colour behind my chairs on the window wall, but thought, no I couldn't do that. Now it seems to make perfect sense.

And cleo, I agree, but still insist on trying myself - then when I go in, the colour consultant always picks something that is completely different than what I had in mind - but is usually better.

It reminds me of drawing -- the darkest wall is always the window where the light source is (and of course, the lightest is opposite).

And I remember reading a before/after article in a decorating magazine where the window trim was changed from white to black. The high rise view changed dramatically -- the idea being your eye sort of ignores the black frame, but looks at the white one. And now that I think of it, one rarely sees artwork framed in white.

Makes sense to me too!
Wish we had a color-consultant at our local BM paint store.

fly, I haven't heard or read what this color consultant told you. The only thing I've ever known about two tone rooms was that the darker wall will make the wall advance into the room and the lighter walls will recede. I also heard that the darker accent wall should be the wall you are facing when you enter a room. I've never heard anything about the lighting rules.

So I guess what effect you are trying to achieve would dictate which rules to follow for 2 tone walls.

Thanks for the information.

Yes, I've heard of doing this. A friend of mine was told to do the same thing to brighten up her tree-shaded kitchen-dining area (also in the PNW). I don't know the exact colors she used, but one was a sea green, one was a goldish mustard, and one was off-white. She was going to follow the same line of thinking in another room, with a terra cotta shade, a peach, and an off-white, but I don't know if she has done that room yet.

I can ask her to email photos to me if you like.

hmmm, in the world of art, dark colors recede and light colors pop out.

This is exactly what the previous owner did in our home. The north two story walls of french doors and windows framing the river view in the living room and family room were darker than the the others. While I had to change the tones I repeated the concept. The living room has a chair rail with a darker taupe which we repeated on the window wall with a fairly deep hued off-white above the chair rail. The family room is a slightly deeper cream with the window wall in a darker tone. I went still lighter in the connected kitchen behind the family room and continued the lightest tone in a portion of the hallway which connects those rooms to the master but did not change the intersecting large foyer which has the darker taupe from the living in inset wainscotting panels and a slightly darker hue than the living room main color above. The difference in the light values in these areas is not particularly dramatic, but changing the kitchen to the lightest really helped bring light into that area which was a little too cave like before.

The darkest tone around the windows makes the white trim pop, a look my husband prefers. It definitely emphasizes the view, but it also adds punch to walls which would be shadowed naturally. I did not repeat the darker wall in our bedroom, but that wall still looks a little darker than the other three. For those who want more color, the trick could easily work with dramatically different tones. Hope my description helps.

Morning, y'all :)

Dilly dally, exactly -- I didn't want to break things up so much, but the two-tone concept (vs. accent wall) really makes things *flow* rather than jar. Dd, cleo, and budge, glad I could share this new approach.

mjlb, yes! It only stands to reason when you really observe/think of paintings. I asked her where she'd learned this and she said "it's just something I have noticed and tried often with success." Wish I could say I'd been the observant one, but this one trip to the color consultant paid off with way more than color suggestions. Even DH was impressed. :)

yes, elenkao, I was thinking the same thing re brutuses post -- did you mean it the other way, brutuses? Dark recedes and light advances?

uxorial, would you ask for pics? I'd *love* to see it in action...the sea green/mustard isn't exactly the two-tone idea, but if it's got the same basic relation of darker/lighter going, it would be helpful. The terracotta/peach fits the paradigm better...did your friend think of it herself? I feel so -- dumb, I guess -- sometimes...when something this intuitive has to be pointed out to me. But I plead semi-innocent, as I was trying to go with the Gretchen-dynamic...

And abundant blessings, do you have pics up? Maybe you do and I just never noticed it before. It would be *wonderful* if you could share an example or two. I figured it wasn't completely unique to this particular consultant, but it sure was new to me. I was trying to keep the concept that had been at work in this house, assuming Gretchen S. knew what she was doing, but I feel it's *backwards* and the opposite just makes so much intuitive sense. Any pics with dark around a window and light opposite it?

Huh? I have to read this again v-e-r-y slowly.

I'm having a real duh moment. It reads like a math problem in disguise to me. You know the kind.....if a train leaves the station at 2pm traveling at 60 MPH, what is Bruce's middle name?

fly--I have emailed her asking for photos and will email them to you or post them here. And no, I don't think she thought of it herself. IIRC, it was their kitchen-remodel architect who suggested it (or actually his wife, I think).

Sorry, my camera hasn't surfaced yet. I think it's in box #545 so it may be a while before I locate it.

If it helps, the kitchen and a portion of the gallery which is separated by arches from the main foyer are BM Linen White, which works with the maple cabinets and Autumn Leaf (think brown, gold and taupe speckles) granite. The family room 3 walls are BM Bone White (but the west wall is dominated by an enormous stone fireplace) and the window wall is BM HC39. For my tastes, HC39 is too dark, but it makes DH happy and balances the FP. The LR 3 walls are DK82 (a very malleable warm tone but non-intrusive color), the LR chair rail (and all trim on the main level) is F & B Pointing, Below the chair rail and the LR north wall are a custom medium taupe, as are the foyer and stairwell insets. The foyer and stairwell main color is BM OC10.

The trick with color, as these are not colors I readily use in other settings, is that the window glass color and orientation of natural light make a huge impact. While our home is definitely light-filled, it's a cooler light and quite different from the abundant north and east light we enjoyed when we lived in the midwest (because the window tint was warm in the midwest despite its more northerly position) and quite different again from the more brilliant light further south or southwest. So what works in one part of the country, or even across the street, may not work in your home.

For more info, you can websearch discussions of darker tones on window walls as there are a few consultants highly recommending this. I think you'll like having the north wall as your accent color.

I am so excited! I personally always respond to dark but don't often see it to appreciate others ideas. I have said before, my boudoir is midnight blue, my adulterated EK Sapphire after making it much darker, Everywhere! And I LOVE it! I know, not for everyone. It has a north sliding double door but the landscaping rises almost to the roof, thus, little light. Why try to make a dark room a light room when you can Use the dark as a dramatic compliment. Same, if a room is flooded with light, no matter what color, it will still be a room flooded with light, so for full potential, go with what's there. I firmly agree, dark recedes, my room is infinite, exactly like stepping outside into the night sky. I selfishly hope more of you will not be afraid of the dark, and have fun discovering just how exceptional it may be! Work with/not against, what 'ya got! Flyleft, I'm betting you will love it even more than you can imagine! Can't wait to see!!!!!

bodica, I would love to see pictures! Please share with us.

dlm, math problem in disguise lol lol. Flyleft, now I'm dying to see the final result. It all makes sense to me!!

LOL dlm :)

And uxorial, thanks so much--I'll look forward to seeing them (and please tell your friend that I completely understand that she might not want to post to a public site, but I would be extremely appreciative of anything she might want to share via e-mail). And I love hearing about husband-wife design teams...that would have been one of my dreams. Can you imagine? At least I got to co-teach with my DH one year -- that was such a blast.

abundant blessings, LOL too :) And I am able to play along with your paint names and numbers, at least the BM ones, thanks to my *wonderful* free craigslist score today: fandecks for BM classic and Preview, and two SW fandecks as well! I'm so thrilled -- I get like a kid with a bag of candy with these things...and they were *free*, thanks to a kind person on the other side of town (worth driving for, though). Wish I could say she had a DK fandeck too, but that would have been too much.

SO. Your choices are much lighter on the scale than I am, even. And you bring up a significant new angle on this issue: the color of the window glass. I've tried to search for the consultants you mention -- if you have any favorite links on this that you'd recommend, I'd love to see them, because I'm not getting anything really specific coming up in my search (yet).

bodica, that room sounds intense -- have you posted anything of it yet? I'm afraid I'm not going *that* dark, just dark*er*. Somewhere between you and abundantblessings :)

So how are the color samples working out for you?

That is very fascinating indeed. I'd love to any pictures/examples of this technique. If I understand correctly, it's not exactly an accent wall, but more of a darker tone for the perimeter walls than the interior walls.

I'm so curious about this subject as I have lived in two homes now with a north facing kitchen/living area, surrounded by tall trees, with 8 ft ceilings. In both homes, one of the first things we did which really brightened things considerably was paint the dark stain around the windows; including the mullions. It always made such an enormous difference, and gave the space a nice glow immediately. Having the windows framed with dark stain just seemed to suck the life out of any light that did manage to find its way in. So I'd love to hear how painting the window wall dark and the other wall light turns out. Maybe I needed the light wall to make my dark windows work. It does sound interesting.

Good morning, flyleft. I just looked at a few of these sites yesterday to see if I could direct you to any specific ideas more than my general info. Hope the link helps. There were a few that discussed the window wall issue vs other accent wall.

Yeah, in my what I hope is still mid-life I have gone to a very calm palette. Some of these are slightly darker shades than we've lived with over the past couple of decades because I've gone with paint except in the DR this time. Previously, wallpaper provided interest, texture and depth. We do have bursts on color throughout with our art and rugs so our home is not dull in any sense of the word. Intense wall colors appealed at one point: we had a chocolate paper in a DR for a (very) short time, a different chocolate matchstick paper in a bath, and a wonderful ruby pleated paper in a powder rm at another. I may be tempted again to paint a great color in the PR since in the current economy my conscience is pricked by the cost of this wonderful wallpaper my husband loves. I'll decide on Wednesday.

If you're not inclined to go off-white, I'd not bother to order the full-spectrum DK color sheets as they're ridiculously expensive. I didn't get his other palette so I can't suggest names which might appeal to you but others here may know.

Here is a link that might be useful: sites with accent wall color info

OH! I see, I should have searched for "accent wall darker". I was searching for "window wall darker". Duh. Thanks for the link :)

I wish I could mock this up with Photoshop before we commit to it...maybe I'll try to prevail upon my DH to do it in his off-time, because it's beyond my skills. I'd hate to experiment and have it, um, not work. That would be a distinct drag.

If DH mocks it up, I'll post the outcome.

At this point, I'm looking at the blue/greens the consultant suggested, and I've mixed a color of my own to go with the Brandon Beige. Interesting what you say, jjam, about painting the window trim. Since I am painting the trim the same color as each wall, just in semi-gloss, we'll have dark trim now instead of the white. I don't mind non-white trim, as we have it in the kitchen with a fir window (we're changing them out slowly). I kind of like it, actually. We'll see...

And that's o.k., uxorial, no problem :) Thanks for the pics.

Fly, how are the color samples working out for you? Do you like them?

Hi awm,

We've lived with them for several days now and we still like them :), in fact even more than we did on Saturday. So I'm going to take the plunge and buy some Aura either today or at the latest Saturday and get started. DH and I tried to mock it up with photoshop but it just didn't read--we lack squirrel's awesome skills.

I'm also not going to address the ceiling until DH can scrape it off, which isn't going to happen soon, but I need to change the wall color even before he can do it. I just *need* to LOL...and I think it will help him too.

Great! So happy for you. Hope those color chase the SAD blues away. Let us know how you like the Aura paint.

we have bought home with the master and the LA/kitchen/breakfast facing north (we are in DFW TX area)
the patio had a 10 ft deep porch overhang so the light is subdued at all times of the day--not really any direct sun coming in
my husband want to paint all walls/ceiling same color--does not feel comfortable having different colors in areas that are visible from the main LA or hall
(We do have that going on in current house but he is so used to it that he does not see it anymore--know what I mean)...

the owners of the house painted most trim --except for master bath and kitchen which have med dark oak stain woodwork...the kitchen cabs do not go to ceiling which is 12 or more ft high--so there is painted trim above them and adjacent on door/way into pantry and other doorways...

the trim color is medium beige with pinkish tint--think it is called "Covered Wagon" from paint cans left in garage...the walls are a tan w/yellow tint or some creamy white with tan/yellow--don't have a name on the can just a color code--one bedroom was painted a bright yellow with same pink-tone tan trim and the master/bath walls were painted sort of light green w/yellow maybe--hard to say ...

when we were looking at the house prior to putting down contract--we through most walls were light tan and the trim was darker tan w/sort of olive tint--we have white trim and wood trim lighter than theirs now--but we normally saw the house later in the day for not that long a time period 2-3 times before closing...

once their furniture was out and we were in house at different times of the day--the colors just changed dramatically...
now trying to find a tan color w/o the yellow tint to tone down the pink in the painted trim...
too expensive to repaint all house and lighten trim -- our painter said would probably take three coats to go to white--
I had a designer come out to do color consult--not someone I had a personal recommendation for--just took chance off recommendation on local posting site I visit and her web page. There is no BM color consultants in this area at all (which included Dallas and FTW which I though really strange)...
her SW color deck color picks were basically too dark (I got 3 and painted samples)
and many of her suggested colors had a grey tint--that was her color preference I think--and would have sucked the light out of the rooms I think...
so that was money wasted--

right now I think we are going with KM color called Arizona Heat--knocked down to 75%--made up in SW paint which our painter uses
but picked up some 2 oz samples from the BM store that I am going to paint in some different rooms....we kept most samples in the LA/breakfast/kitchen because that is where we will do most of our living time--if that makes sense

would like to find stronger color for the dining room and for master bed but don't have the linens for that room yet...

never had this much trouble in our current home--but that has 8 ft ceiling, smaller rooms, and more cross light--which makes a BIG difference

I just don't want to get something too dark (especially because ceilings will be painted and not white) and get the SAD effect going...

the people who lived here got a divorce which prompted their selling--so I am wondering if the paint colors contributed to disharmony...

sorry to hijack the thread