A Surprise Color In A Living Room

Have you absolutely fallen in love with a color for a room in your home, but are terrified to try it because the color is a really bold statement? I’ll bet you’re even thinking, “will the family think I’m nuts?” I know what you mean. But don’t let that stop you, here’s a true story of a painting project and room makeover I just completed for a client with some very specific ideas and requests about color.

 Wow, I recently completed a living room make over, and it was one of those that I really didn’t see in my minds eye before I started, and I gotta tell you about it!

Our client wanted a room with deep dark blues; well the room wasn’t a large rectangle, but had quite a bit of light with well framed windows. Let me set the stage for you.

This is a mid last century southwest ranch style that had been nicely upgraded with middle tone wood flooring and hickory kitchen cabinets. I’m adding this info because the kitchen, dining and living room are all visible. But it’s not really an open floor plan so there are opportunities for color changes from room to room.

The trick in this case was to give the homeowner the perfect blue palette without making the room feel like the walls were closing in. You know cozy, rich, and timeless, not scary movie. This is the point where usually I look at the client’s ideas and need to either tone down  the color or find a slightly different hue or shade. It’s not that I strive to impose my ideas on the client, but to find a version of their color vision that will work with the furnishings, flooring etc, and still be enjoyable for years to come. In this case that part was already done for us as the Client was using the brochures from the store showcasing these specific colors. I simply showed her how to see if the colors would work in her home.

So, we used the client’s original dark color choice, a Valspar color called Ocean Slumber. I’m here to tell you, this is a deep, rich, dark blue with some teal undertones. Talk about a color making a statement! So why on earth try to calm it down…We painted it on three walls, opposite the entry, to the right and on the entry door wall. The fourth wall was the long one and went into the hall. This one was also painted a Valspar color, Tropical Spring, same family but lots lighter. For the woodwork and ceiling we went with a soft creamy white with slight blue undertones, Valspar again called Dove White. The end result is a room that now invites you to come in, sit down, relax and make yourself at home.

This project was lots of fun and proves that deep saturated colors can and possibly should be used more in smaller spaces.

Ahhhhhh, isn’t color wonderful! Enjoy some in your home this month. Come on…don’t be afraid, it’s only paint!