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Paint Home Decorating living room

Cold North Facing Living Room

5 years ago

Recently bought my first home...a ranch. The living room faces north amd although the windows are large the don't let in bright sunlight. As the carpet is new and the sofa I already had.l, I just need a paint color suggestion and some design ideas to brighten the space! I want it to feel warm and cozy!

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Comments (4)

PRO
Anglophilia
5 years ago
Pictures!
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
I am unable to from my phone for some reason! I'm trying to figure it out.
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Hello, I'm having issues picking a paint color. We thought we wanted a sagey/olive green- but the colors I'm picking out are not working. I learned that I should stick with warm colors- as the greens look too cold in a northern light. I so far have: Behr-Sage wisdom= too dark Wabi sabi-too milky/minty Sherwin Williams- Livable green- too minty/green/yuck Sea Salt- too beachy The wall color I have currently on the wall is Coconut Milk- this is a beautiful color, however, my room feels cold and depressing during the day. I am aiming for warm and cozy- but something that goes well with my large stone fireplace. I have 8 Ft. ceilings and want a color that will make the walls look a little bit taller??? We have dark trim, all wood floors which I think are on the warmer side. We tend to lean towards a traditional decorating style. (the house is a mess, my husband tore down park of our entry to brighten up the kitchen) Can anyone, anyone help??? Would a taupe or warm grey be out of the question? Should I just stick with warm whites??
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As others have pointed out a north-facing room will have no direct sunlight and little natural light 365 days a year. The good thing about north light, as any architect or artist will tell you, is that the lighting level and color will tend to be the same throughout much of the day, i.e., you will never have hot spots, glare and significantly different lighting levels throughout the day. If it was my house I'd find a cream, white or other light value color to enhance and amplify the overall light level level. Creams and whites come in a wide range of hue and temperature biases. I always recommend that consumers buy several of the small sample containers and do "brush ons" on several surfaces which are parallel and perpendicular to one another and to the windows, since colors always look different depending on where they are located. They also look different depending on whether the day is sunny or overcast. Good luck with your project!
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Consider true white for the walls and ceiling, then go with a darker neutral for the flooring/rug and add color with your other upholstered furnishings. Use white mini-blinds within the window frame for privacy, if needed so you can limit curtain/drapery panels to covering only the side of the window frames and the wall beside the windows -- leaving as much natural light as possible entering the room. Trying different bulbs in existing light fixtures and/or adding floor lamps in the corners could be worth considering.
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SW Alabaster is lovely light iff white but it is in the Yellow Hue family and that core characteristic in North facing space could show more predominately. I would need to see your furnishings and rugs plus better pictures of the flooring to make a better informed choice for you. Lots of great off white choices but good to understand what you plan for the room.
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queenvictorian
5 years ago
You might have to add the pics in a new post - lots of folks seem to have trouble adding photos to an existing first post.

Anyhow, I too have a north-facing living room. We moved in a few months ago and haven't painted. The previous owner had the living room painted an almost garish apricot. Point being is that it's mega cheery and bright anf does a great job (alongside lamps) casting a warm atmosphere both before and after dark. I plan to do a warm color, but tone it down. Something buttery.

So the two major things I'd recommend are selecting a warm, buttery color for the walls (warm grays do not count, guys), and go hog wild with lamps. Put incandescent or incandescent-light-temp bulbs in the lamps. Having an abundance of warm lighting at human level (rather than up in the the ceiling) adds an insane amount of coziness.
Jamie
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you so much for your advice!! Lol...a garish apricot! The previous owner painted mine a white with a blue tint! It is so cold and uninviting. I was looking at Benjamin Moore Gentle Cream since it has that yellow warm glow to it. And I definitely need lamps, currently no warm light in here! Excellent advice. I hope yours turn out beautifully :)

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