1925 arts and crafts wall color
Count Chocula
5 years ago
Just bought a 1925 foursquare in St. Paul, Minnesota. (I’m the same guy that had questions about the kitchen a few months back. That will be a project for down the road.) Wanted to get thoughts about replacing the dark blue in the batten board and above the fireplace.
I’m not going to change the beige elsewhere, as I like that color and it’s actually slightly darker than it appears. Any thoughts on the blue? My inclination is to replace the blue with a light brown in the dining room (again, keeping the beige above the boards) and to replace the blue with the beige that’s elsewhere in the room above the fireplace. (Although here I could go slightly darker to offset the beige.)
In general I prefer neutral colors that fit the “Craftsman lite” style of the house and then I’ll let oriental rugs and furnishings provide the colors. (Ignore the furniture as most of it is temporary.)
I’m not going to change the beige elsewhere, as I like that color and it’s actually slightly darker than it appears. Any thoughts on the blue? My inclination is to replace the blue with a light brown in the dining room (again, keeping the beige above the boards) and to replace the blue with the beige that’s elsewhere in the room above the fireplace. (Although here I could go slightly darker to offset the beige.)
In general I prefer neutral colors that fit the “Craftsman lite” style of the house and then I’ll let oriental rugs and furnishings provide the colors. (Ignore the furniture as most of it is temporary.)
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Count Chocula
5 years agoWould also welcome thoughts on blinds and replacing the chandelier. This is the light I’m eyeing. And I think I need to go light color with blinds to not fight the woodwork.
User
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
Transition from Arts & Crafts to Art Deco?
Comments (106)I went looking for images of those elements. Ribbed glass panels in cabinet doors is easy enough. Here's one in a bathroom vanity: Ribbed glass (or ''seeded'' glass) is also often found in period light fixtures: As for marquetry countertops, if you asked most kitchen cabinet makers for such, I imagine they would gape blankly at the gabbling woman. But there are plenty of companies doing stock and custom hardwood marquetry inlays using CNC laser cutters. Here's the thing - they are doing it in floors. Google ''hardwood floor inlay'' and see. Yes, many of the rosettes are infeasible for a 26'' counter, but look for the ''border'' designs - or create your own. Assemble a 26'' wide section of inlaid ''floor'' on a 3/4'' plywood substrate, encase it in Waterlox, and I do believe you'd have yourself a marquetry countertop. Another option - perhaps cheaper - is stenciling on hardwood, of which this is an example. And so is this What else? Beveled glass is readily available, as is chrome countertop edging, and any furniture or auto upholstery shop can cover a panel of 1/8'' plywood in soft butterscotch leather framed in silver studs (maybe not actual silver, but close enough). I don't know exactly what version of Art Deco you are headed for, or if you even like butterscotch, but the point is, you are not doing yet another white kitchen, you're doing something that isn't being done by the mainstream, so the ordinary kitchen sources are not making this stuff. Sure, there is cool Art Deco hardware around, but what passes for ''Art Deco'' kitchen cabinetry in the online catalogs is . . . disappointing. You are going to have to make it, or at least source it, yourself - and I think if you're comfortable outside the painted lines, you can. You'll find yourself hiring a floor guy to work on a countertop, hunting down the local hot rod upholstery shops, telling your cabinet maker to fit bathroom vanity faces to kitchen cabinet boxes - they'll still look at you like you're crazy, but you'll know you're not. Go for it, girl!...See MoreColors for an Arts & Crafts/Mission-themed basement family room
Comments (3)Swing by Sherwin Williams and pick up one of their Arts & Crafts Preservation Palettes (only a few colors are shown online). Also, check out the Bradbury & Bradbury website, look at all the wallpapers (just for the colors) and finished rooms. If you have a California Paints dealer in your area, they've teamed up with Historic New England (formerly SPNEA, the Society for Preservation of New England Antiquities) to designate certain paint colors as best for certain periods; although most of their indications are for exteriors, the same colors were used for interiors as well. Thing is, for the most part A&C colors were deep and rich - mustards/golds, rusts, olive/forest greens, muddy plums - and the rooms were intended from square one to be on the dark end of the spectrum, somewhat denlike with welcoming pools of light here and there, rather than the almost blindingly bright rooms we are used to today. Instead of trying to "brighten" an extremely dark room with a lighter paint color (which can really drab out the color), try going for the midtone-to-deep color and using generous amounts of lighting instead. Make sure you allow for the undertone in the beige couch, too - beiges can be super tricky in that way, skewing to green or yellow, but an afghan or quilt over the back of the couch can minimize that. You can also swing by the library and see if they have any books on bungalows, or just google "bungalow colors". You may not have a bungalow but the bungalow was the predominant architecture of the A&C period. Now, that all said, if you want to go straight-up Mission, rather than leaning more toward the A&C end of the spectrum, although your furniture's stain colors are a bit light for it (fumed oak was the norm, which is quite dark) you can look toward the California Mission style, which has more in common with Spanish Colonial Revival than the English-influenced Arts & Crafts. Lighter walls (white or buff were common colors), dark trim, accents of intense colors (reds, sky blue - think Talavera tiles) and earth tones....See MoreArts & Crafts-99.9% done- 1st photo-drumroll...
Comments (17)I AM the luckiest girl in the world. I will post the "full story/complete photos" soon. In the meantime: That incredible ceiling is original - cypress from the family's business and remains the highlight of the house now that it's cleaned up. The floors are the original fir installed in 1916 and run thruout the house with odd angles which show the house's history of changes. The cabinets are pale yellow- not white as shown in photo....See MoreShow me your Arts and Crafts / Bungalow / Craftsman backsplash
Comments (27)I ended up with tiles from Seneca Tile in their Handmold line. I absolutely love the way the tiles look surrounding my fireplace and they would be just as beautiful on a backsplash. I searched high and low for handmade tiles that weren't $$$ before I went into a more boutique type tile store and found exactly what I was looking for. The link doesn't do the tiles justice at all. For example, the tile picture below is the color "sierra", which on the website looks beigy. IRL, it is far from being beige. Here's an old picture, but you get the idea. Here is a link that might be useful: Handmold collection...See MoreMrs Pete
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
decoenthusiaste
5 years ago
Fori
5 years agoCount Chocula
5 years agoCount Chocula
5 years agogirl_wonder
5 years agolizbeth-gardener
5 years agoFori
5 years agomindshift
5 years agoI ran across the same link as IdaClaire and below is how some of those colors would look with the light wall color you want to keep.
Count Chocula
5 years agoThe more I look at these the more I think I want something slightly darker. Like a rich brown leather color. The wallpaper idea is rather intriguing as well ... with a Craftsman theme.
How ‘bout painting it a faux wood grain? Too tacky?
The previous owners left behind the beige paint can:
Count Chocula
5 years agoThe more I look at these the more I think I want something slightly darker. Like a rich brown leather color. The wallpaper idea is rather intriguing as well ... with a Craftsman theme.
How ‘bout painting it a faux wood grain? Too tacky?
The previous owners left behind the beige paint can:
User
5 years ago
Mid America Mom
5 years agoCount Chocula
5 years agoYes it’s one of the more authentic houses you’ll ever find. Little to nothing has been altered. Interesting comment on lights because the rest of the house has these. I’ve wondered if I should put in fixtures or just Edison bulbs.
Mid America Mom
5 years agoFori
5 years agoFori
5 years ago
PROFlo Mangan
5 years agoLove that chandelier. If that is a caramel color on the fixture, that could be a colorway to take with paint. Way too much brown and gold for my taste. But I love saturated color. For your home, you might want to try SW Dark Night. This is a mock-up I did for another poster using Dark Night and carmel colors of leather and blending rug and art to highlight the wall color. Much better color combo than the blues IMO.
- PRO
Flo Mangan
5 years agoHere is mock up of your space. I might even do more of the walls in the dining room dark night.
Sammy
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoIf Fori hadn’t already provided the link to Bradbury & Bradbury, I would have! It’s very high-quality, authentic paper that would be perfect for your particular application.
P.S. I’ve seen the Thornberry border in person and it’s gorgeous.“Thornberry”
Count Chocula
5 years agoInteresting mockup. Yes that blue is much, much better. BTW, a couple other chandeliers I’m considering:
Count Chocula
5 years ago- PRO
Flo Mangan
5 years ago - PRO
l pinkmountain
5 years ago- PRO
Flo Mangan
5 years ago heatheron40
5 years ago- PRO
Flo Mangan
5 years ago 
rinked
5 years ago
kjoy1
5 years agoanna_682
5 years agoUser
5 years ago
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoWe had quite similar ceiling fixtures, with pull chains and double bulbs centered in our bedrooms. We rewired and repurposed them for over the bathroom vanities using large round bulbs as suggested above.
My house was built in 1860, but didn’t get electricity until rural electrification some time in the 30s or 40s. Little was changed after that until we bought it 20 years ago.
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