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Painting the family room

By Sijbrich

For the last month or so, I've been toying with the idea of painting our family room.  Our entire house is an off-white/taupe color and I think it would just be nice to have a little more color in it.  I was thinking a cheerful, yet cozy shade of blue would be nice - a shade that would compliment our dark blue couch.  However, the family room spills over into the eating area and continues in a circle through the kitchen.  I'm not only apprehensive about painting with a different color, but also about where the heck would I stop painting.  Does anyone have any tips about how to decide what wall to stop at or if it's okay to just paint a line down the middle of a wall...?

I was browsing very briefly, and I kind of like this shade of Jacaranda or Regale blue.

Did I mention that my husband isn't crazy about the idea, either?  Any advice for that?  I think he's slightly uncomfortable with a big change like that and he's probably not excited about it because it probably means some extra work for him in his already busy schedule, but I would end up doing the majority of the work and blue is his favorite color, so I think if he just got used to the idea, he would maybe like it...right?




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December 06, 2006
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About: I once heard an interior designer say something to the effect that you should decorate...

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heylucy

December 08, 2006

Every time I want to change something in the house Mr. Lucy questions everything, my color choice, fabrics, furniture placement and everytime I'm done he loves it and tells me how nice it looks. You can probably do just about everything yourself, so just tell him you're going to do it and if he hates it you'll re-paint it. Most of the work is prepping anyway. If you wait til New Years, I'll help you, and I bet EJ will too!

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ModHomeEcTeacher

December 07, 2006

Well, have I ever done this before? yes!  Have I given others the rule to follow? YES!  Here it is:  If you stand back and look at the walls you want to paint, the stopping points are where your walls change planes.  Sometimes it makes sense to wrap a color around a corner, but if you need to stop to avoid painting the whole next room, do it at the corner where two walls come together.  As for a complimentary color with taupe?  You might want to call someone in to check on that.  If you get a blue that doesn't compliment that taupe, it won't look right.  It won't "flow".  (I never knew what that meant until I made alot of color mistakes)  Get a color wheel at a craft store or art store and read the info. on it.  It will guide you in your color choices.  You also have to consider floor color when picking a wall color since the floor can change the reflected light on the walls.  Wheww!!

Good luck.  As for hubby, just do it when he's gone and he'll eventually love it and tell people how you did the whole job. Or, he will make you change it back.  I have found that just letting them see the finished job works well.

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Nimue

December 07, 2006

Hi Sijbrich!  I also had trouble getting my husband to accept and adjust to COLOR - he wanted everything white because he was used to that and uncomfortable with change.  But you're right - once the color is on the wall your husband will get used to it and probably really like it.  

 As for where to stop painting - not on the middle of a wall, lol.  Not unless you have a divider of some type (even a stick of wood trim glued or nailed down the wall might do).  I have a similar set up to you - the living room spills into our dining room which leads to the kitchen on one side.  Try staring at your walls for a while - are there any natural breaks? entry or door ways?  jutts or bumbs?  Fruniture dividing/separating one room from another? (great place to put that trim on the wall - right behind the furniture)  Search for a natural stopping point, especially along the top of the walls.  Remember that not all 3 or 4 walls need to be the same color - my dining room has 2 walls painted a deep purple (with the color stopped at an entry way), the 3rd wall is shared with my living room and is painted a pleasant and complimentary green.  It's doesn't have a 4th wall.

 The blues you've chosen are beautiful!  Just make sure your couch is significantly darker so it doesn't disappear into the wall color.  And if your husband really balks at COLOR try painting with a dark tannish color first, just to get him used to a little color.