What colors do you like? Take a look at the BM historic colors. What colors do you like?

Do a search for interior craftsman colors on google in their image search.

Thank you for your reply. There are just so many colors and I just don't know which ones will go well with the natural woodwork. Someone suggested Edgecomb Gray which looks very nice with white trim but not with natural woodwork. The current color is a creamy white. Looking for a different neutral color. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I can find you lots of colors that will go with the woodwork but you need to first give me a direction. Can I see a pic of the whole room including the floor?

Also again, do you prefer neutral colors with more of a green tint, blue tint, beige tint, red tint, yellow tint, tan tint? Neutral is too broad as I can find you a neutral with any of those undertones that would work.

I would not pick Edgecomb Gray with your woodwork. It doesn't work with your woodwork nor with the style of your house.

PLEASE do not paint those bricks black or any other color!!! If you do it will ruin some of the integrity of the house. This is not HGTV where everything gets millenialized

This is an old 1914 house with craftsman details. Those bricks are original to the house and all they need is a little cleaning up.

Judy, couldnt you find a pic with natural wood trim in it? Sheesh.

OP - is that a radiator I see in the distance? Be still my heart - still miss my old house with the big old rads and the moist, even heat.

Agree with above poster that you should start with a thorough scrubbing with an appropriate product to remove sooty residue - youd have to do that anyway to change the color. You may find a cleaned up and brightened creamy brick to your liking esp with a new wall color.

Which btw does not have to be white or gray or taupe to read like a "neutral" some greens, blues, golds, browns, etc. can act as a neutral in your color scheme.

You might want to - first google arts and crafts interior, or craftsman, or just early 1900s. By 1914, "victorian" was well on its way out and phasing into modern times and esthetics - the arts and crafts movement actually being a reaction against Victoriana with its weird musty colors - colors were generally fresher - rich, earthy, colors taken from nature - these were, and still are, the perfect complement to wood.

Collect pictures, photos, etc. and once you have some direction get a BM or SW consultant to come to your house with their complete set of colors - well worth the $60 or whatever it costs! People on these forums tend to just recommend what they know and like personally - not able to know your lighting, direction of the sun, what exact colors are of your furnishings etc. -

Also with an old house - I like to find what the original colors were. Not that you have to match them or anything, just to see what the original intention was.

Otherwise - I think blue-greens are usually a good choice with vintage 1900s wood - they really play up the red-gold-browns of shellacked old wood and bring out its beauty.

Excellent advice Current Resident.

Thank you JudyG Designs. I appreciate your comments. I do agree with the other 2 comments that due to the age of the house, I should consider cleaning the bricks instead. Do you have a photo with natural woodwork trim? The photo you provided has white trim.

Thank you Current Resident. Yes, that is a hot water radiator. Although it is an old house, it has a lot of charm and the woodwork is quite beautiful. The woodwork on the photo was painted off white when we bought the house many years ago. It had many layers of paint and took a lot of work to bring it back. Your suggestion to get a BM or SW consultant to come to my house was great but I checked online and could not find any in Connecticut which is too bad. Thank you for your suggestions!

Thank you cpartist for your comments. The floor has a reddish tint. See pic below:

Gilda, your wood is beautiful - Im envious! Yeah I think blue-greens in combination w/ your orangey-reds would be stunning - if you look at color wheel they are opposite and thus known as "complementary" colors.

This is a good color wheel to use as it includes woodtones as well as the pure untinted colors:

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/choose-paint-colors-color-wheel

cpartist, “Millenialized”…I am not familiar with that word…????

I was not aware that I was giving HGTV advice, but, seriously? The bricks are dated and dirty and hardly a good example of the “integrity" of a classic Craftsman fireplace.

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Integrity is this,,,tiles, tile insets and a full fireplace surround..

Judy, your last example bears an uncanny resemblance to OP's fireplace, if it was cleaned up. Your kinda making my argument for me LOL.

If OP really wanted to change the color a masonry stain would be a less destructive course of action than slapping on a coat of paint. Tiles- the presence of tiles is not really a defining feature of a good vintage fireplace. Simple and understated can be beautiful too.

OP, if you are so inclined you might want to visit the forum at thehistoricdistrict.org - theres DIY old house fans and a number of professional restorationists, woodworkers, etc. as well.

The bricks are dated and dirty and hardly a good example of the “integrity" of a classic Craftsman fireplace.

Seriously??? It shows you don't know the first thing about old houses and integrity of the materials used. Not all of us feel the need to throw out the old to make it look brand new. Some of us appreciate the beauty of something that has withstood the test of time.

Your first example is a prime example of HGTV where the couple comes in and says, Eww, I don't like the old fireplace so I'm going to paint it black to make it look more modern. That first example says, let's see how we can ruin a beautiful old fireplace.

The second example is beautiful but it's brand new tile on a brand new fireplace made to look older. I know that because I had looked at that tile for me new craftsman I'm building.

The third example is beautiful tile too, but it's tile, NOT brick like the OP's fireplace.

Op, when I get back later, I'll pull together some greens to try. I'm partial to BM colors as they're more accurate. Once you said green/blue, you made it easy as greens with those gorgeous woods are right up my alley.

cpartist…you tell me about your art history and architectural courses in college and I will tell you about mine.

You are free to discuss your ideas with the OP. As a designer, I feel that I am qualified, and free to discuss, as well, suggestions for Gilder, without being rebutted by you.

Again, so interested in the definition of " “Millenialized”

Please don't paint the brick! I have a house built in 1979 with reclaimed brick. At first, I disliked it. But once I learned it used to be on some old building in Detroit or Chicago a long time ago, its pedigree pleased me! At least one thing on my suburban tract home has a lineage. Embrace your home and the brick!

cpartist…you tell me about your art history and architectural courses in college and I will tell you about mine.

JudyGDesigns, I have a BFA from Syracuse University. My degree is in textile design with multiple art history and interior design classes. (Most of my academic classes were in architectural history, art history and interior design. The exception was freshman English)

I was a home furnishings textile designer for over 20 years. I had a wallpaper manufacturing company where I designed and produced my own hand screened wallpapers and fabrics which were sold in stores across the country (back in the days before the internet) and I was also a room stylist part time.

After I retired from the wallpaper and textile industry, I did some color and fabric consulting for a while before deciding I wanted to do fine art. I am now a fine artist specializing in still life and a published author in my fine art field. (My book was published by North Light Books and is available on Amazon). I have won multiple awards, including from national and international competitions and have been published in magazines such as Southwest Art, The Artist's Magazine, International Artist Magazine, American Art Collector and Fine Art Connoisseur.

I've owned two old homes; a 1927 bungalow craftsman and an 1898 Farmhouse/Colonial Revival/Victorian which taught me more about old homes and restoration than any design class ever taught me. I adore old houses and make it a point to study up on them. I am a member of numerous old house forums.

But since I'm not looking to get business from these forums, I don't make it a point normally to post about my education and background. Especially since I feel there are lots of talented people who may not have the degree you and I have but have done their homework studying up on what they love and in this case it's old houses. Sometimes real life knowledge teaches us more than all the book learning.

To the OP. I meant to get you colors the other night but it was too dark to confirm my ideas and then I've been out all day with my new house build. I will definitely put together a few ideas to check out this weekend.

I'm a huge fan of BM Georgian Green

BM Guilford Green.

BM Turquoise Mist

BM Fernwood Green

BM Vale Mist

BM Stone House

BM White Rain

BM Dried Parsley

BM Dune Grass

BM Sage Tint

Most are in the blue/green family but the Stone House is a tan.

I would probably either paint the bricks or replace it possible, if not; I would make sure it was a detailed type of paint, providing some color that can pop if u wanted to use a coordinating color for the wall paint. I would look at possibly taking the fireplace all the way up to the ceiling, using either a wood tile, or bright ceramic tile. I would have a nice mirror above the fireplace and place the two items on top of the current arrangement, hmm, yes, to each side of your new wow fireplace that really is a focal point and doesn't simply just blend in as it does now. You need more light, so I would consider using a bright, light color on your walls.

A wood tile doesn't work in a craftsman house with wood moldings. Neither will a bright ceramic tile. And I would NOT take the fireplace up to the ceiling. This is not a contemporary house. It's a 1914 house. Why is there this need to turn houses into what they're not? If you want contemporary, which is beautiful in its own right, buy contemporary. Don't try and change an old beauty into something it's not.

well, I tried, to each their own!

Judy's professional advice and the second or third pic under her intro is a little more what I had in mind,

The truth is the OP will do whatever she wants but I feel very strongly about old houses and especially old craftsman houses.

I looked for 2 years in my area of SW FL for a craftsman style house. Any of the old craftsman houses that would work for two old geezers had been totally ruined of anything that gave it charm. All had been decorated in the latest and greatest depending on when it had been last decorated. So any of the charm of the old moldings, old fireplaces, original stained woodwork, etc had been eliminated or painted over. So I'm very passionate about NOT taking today's decorating style of the minute to ruin an old house of its charm.

I will just add that "dated" is pretty much in the eye of the beholder. There are some of the opinion that once something has hit houzzzz or hgtv, its pretty much over. As in, how many more greige and white rooms do we have to endure before we can stick a fork in it?

And what does "dated" even mean when applied to the original architectural features of a 100 year old house? Still trying to get my head around that one. A house does not need to be some kind of grand or rare specimen or designated as historic for its design and workmanship to be valued and maintained to last another 100 yrs.

Not to say a house cant ever change... just that a good design WORKS WITH the house's existing (cherished) elements - not fights against it.

Current Resident, you said it so much more eloquently than I could have. :)

My personal style leans toward mid-century modern and Scandinavian modern long before the craze began. However, I did not buy a MCM home and trying to make it one will never ever work. My furnishings lean in that direction, but I decided not to make the bones and basic details of the house something it is not. For instance, I needed new house numbers and a door knob/lock and the salesperson tried to steer me toward a very modern set for my six panel front door with colonial molding surround. That would have looked stupid.

When I see a Craftsman or Victorian mixed with furniture that is more modern but the original interesting, timeless and classic details of the home are left intact, I am usually thinking, "wow, that is great".

mobuddy, exactly. No one says we have to live in a museum as an ode to the period. We can mix it up by the furnishings, paintings, drapes, etc that we use.

Can I also second getting a local color consultant to come to visit this very pretty home? I have also had tons of luck calling the SW color line (and its free!). They helped me out of a color jam a few years ago and just recently again.

I painted my outside trim SW Fleur de Sel. It was a mistake. It can read very blue-gray. I was heartbroken but it was too late. Now I needed to paint my front door and it needed to coordinate with my reclaimed orange brick and now this odd trim color. My husband wanted a yellow and wanted to pick SW Sunny Day. I about cried. The SW phone line came to the rescue (with no pics nonetheless) and suggested Colonial Yellow. It looks fabulous. They have been so nice on the phone every time. Now I have not had the same luck with BM phone line, but did use one of their local home consultants once and it was a pretty good experience.