Small room - very low ceiling - color help needed
We have an older home - 1890 folk victorian with anadditions many years later (1980s). . It's definitely a fixer-upper. Nothing fancy at all.
Right now, the spare office/bedroom is primed white w/ SW alabaster (basically BM White Dove, maybe a little warmer) on the trim. I'll share photos of my color mistake for reference. I'd love some specific color suggestions that can help us.
We ripped out an old wall that was crumbling and fixed it up and now we need to repaint and I'm stuck.
It's approx 11x11. It has low ceilings (6.5 or 7').
1 large window and 1 small. Unfortunately, despite being a large window, it doesn't get sun until the end of the day. Large window faces sw and is blocked by many trees across the street. The small window is west-ish and has a tree just outside so it's shaded much of the day. The "golden hour" is about 4pm when the room is cozy and warm from the sun.
I think I need to do with a much lighter color and paint the trim the same color (diff sheen) or at least similar. I just don't know what to do and need help. I'm driving myself crazy. The color I picked (SW quititude) made the room smaller b/c of the darker color w/ off-white trim. On top of that, it was the wrong color for the lighting in the room...it looks blue on the walls.
I'd love any and all suggestions on what worked for you or what you suggest. My goal is warm, cozy for a reading/relaxing space. We are getting rid of the bed and putting in an a small couch/loveseat and maybe a reading chair. It's going to be the chill-out before bed room -- but not the living room where there's a tv and technology. Will be using floor and table lamps to light the room.
A few things:
1: When we moved in, it was pale yellow. I understand why they picked this color b/c the room throws a lot of gray and blue around b/c of the trees and (lack of) sunlight.
2: I thought a soft moody green/blue would look great in here b/c I wanted a cozy place to read. I painted a large swatch SW Quietude b/c I read a blog by Kylie that said it was more green than blue and the photos I found online were beautiful. Unfort, in this room at least, it is very blue. I was thrown off b/c the remaining yellow on the walls made it look greener. Instead, the only time the room was the right color was when the yellow-sun came in and made it a soft green. The reest of the day it was very washed out blue.
3: I do not want to do gray or white walls. Even the slightest big of gray in my home looks very drab b/c of the poor lighting. In other homes, white looks great. in mine is looks dingy - again, b/c of all the shadows.
4: I have cameo white (BM) in our small dining room and like it. I think it might be too yellow up here.
We don't have many photos b/c it's a small room and, so far, we have used it as our work room when we are working on other parts of the house.
Attached is a pic a sample of the quietude going on the walls, another of the quietude on the walls at the "golden hour". I liked this but can't get it to look like that for the other hours of the day. Also, I think I need whiter. You can see the alabaster trim vs the basic white door (we didn't get to those yet). The final pic is what the room looks like most of the day - very blue, compared
to the green. Last photo is the big window at about 4pm - midsummer.
Comments (8)
stiley
last yearI would paint walls, trim and ceiling all the same color. A shinier sheen on the trim but same color. Right now the trim and ceiling are creating a line that emphasizes the low ceiling, but having it all one color allows your eye to move up without interruption. Since this is a standalone room, I don't think you need to worry about if the trim matches the rest of the house. We did this in both our kids' rooms and I think it looks awesome. My son's room doesn't get a ton of natural light, and we "embraced the darkness" and did a medium-dark green color. My daughter has a brownish pink. I really like the blue-green color you have.
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