Brown is so neutral that you can really go in any direction you want. You might start with window treatments that have a print or a pattern and you might find colors in there. Or you might have a piece of art you want in the room that can be used as color inspiration. Almost anything can be an inspiration piece. Or you can check out the design-seeds thread to get some ideas for colors. Or go to houzz.com and select living rooms and then put brown in the search box. You'll get a ton of pics that can act as inspiration for your room.

As in addition to color, you will need to think about function, lighting, style, etc.

Sort of like a red devil's food cake? Any chance you can take a picture when it is at its reddest? Can you go through your home to find objects of any kind and color that you can put on the rug to at least begin understanding what won't work, or may work? And at least for night time, how about changing the light bulbs? If now it looks like it does in bright morning light, you can go to a softer yellower light.

I agree that the Design Seeds thread is a good one to follow for your problem - and then you can use your red-brown picture as the basis for a color palette. Otherwise, it is going to be very hit or miss.

Thank you both so much for responding.

Annie, yes, I am familiar with Houzz and have used it a lot, great site. The problem is not finding coordinating colors with brown per se, that would be a cinch. It's finding colors that go with the very red tint it gives off in certain lighting.

Thank you for suggesting the design seed thread, I was not familiar with that, so will explore when I get time!

andee, yes, sort of a cross between devils food and red velvet, though not anywhere near as red as the latter, thankfully.

Thank you for all your suggestions, but I "hope" I have found something that will work. I went back to the store this morning and spent nearly 2 hours pulling fabric samples. I specifically looked for some with teal and found 2 prints of brown and teal with a solid that I can't quite put my finger on as to the exact color. The name is Cashmere which really means nothing, but that color is in the two prints. They seem to go very well initially, but I need time, and a sunny day to determine better. So I will live with these a few days and pray that they work.

Again, thank you both for your help.

Red and brown is a very striking color combination~I once saw a Damask comforter in a furniture showroom and have never been able to get it out of my head! My sis has brown walls, and we chose a rusty red sofa that looks fabulous. It's not a barn red, not a true rust, maybe a slightly darker coral color. She has light bamboo flooring and chose brown chairs~you could do a stripe/print.

Here's a sofa in a color very similar to hers.

Here is a link that might be useful: color

Whoops!! You'll have to scroll down and click on the color to the far right, Devin Tomato. ;o)

The carpet has a red hue bias.

Once you know the hue bias, which you do know, you simply plot it on a color wheel. Here's the red/blue-green relationship that you're already exploring. (scanned it quickly, it's not perfect but you get the idea)

The word brown is in the grand scheme is kind of meaningless. Brown is most commonly categorized as dark orange but every color in the entire spectrum can be shaded down to a point where, subjectively, it could look "brown". Much like how every color in the spectrum can be toned to the point where it looks "gray".

funcolors, that color wheel looks awesome. Where did you find it?

edited to add: found it on Amazon for under $8.

This post was edited by linelle on Sat, Nov 16, 13 at 22:11

duplicate post. :(

This post was edited by linelle on Sat, Nov 16, 13 at 22:10

Yes, it's a good one - one of the most useful IMO. Here's a free video about color wheels including this one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Free Color Video on TrueScrap

Thank you all!

patty, I don't know that the couch color would work, but I did bring a rusty (more brown in it) solid sample home. It doesn't look bad, but it's so close to the carpet it just blends. There would be no contrast with it, which I would prefer but may not get in the end. But thank you for posting that.

funcolors, thank you for posting the wheel and link (which I haven't watched yet) and the info on brown. Very interesting. Who knew brown could be so complex? Certainly not me, wish the carpet people had clued me in to this color. It would have been nice to be warned.

Thanks again!

That was an interesting video. She never did explain how to use any color wheel to identify colors that go together. I still have no idea what opposite, split, triad, etc colors are or how to use them, or even if those are colors that can be used to create a harmonious palate.

Anyone have a reliable resource for that stuff? The encycolorpedia online is great because you can input your color code and get all that info, plus see shades and close colors. But I have no idea what to do with that information.

She never did explain how to use any color wheel to identify colors that go together.

You have to read the words on each color wheel and follow its direction.

There are arrows and lines connecting the colors that go together. Look at the example above and you'll see the arrows and lines in a white circle in the middle of the wheel with words that identify the relationship between the connected colors as split, triad, complementary, etc.

The color wheels with a greater number of hues/spokes than 10 or 12 may have that instruction spelled out within each spoke or section.

Encycolorpedia has different information than a color wheel. It delivers much more complex information - very detailed data about the color you're looking up.

Encycolorpedia deals with color order and where a specific color is located within in various color models/spaces and order systems. This kind of color data is useful if you understand all the different color models/spaces and order systems and how each of them differ from one another.

To begin understanding how color relationships work, I'd suggest choosing a color wheel with 12 hues/spokes, read the directions, and get familiar with how it works to show color relationships like complementary, split, triad, etc.

Encycolorpedia delivers advanced information that makes sense once you learn about the different color models/spaces and order systems.