It is remodel time at Casa de Rick. WOOT!
New doors, new windows, re-stucco, paint outside, brick paver patio, hot tub, landscape, and more… you get the idea.*
Which brings us to the problem. I am taking over my son’s old room, which will become my office/SDMB central. So what is the problem?
Simple, I am craptacular when it comes down to picking which color goes with what.
For my office I want the look of a gentlemen’s club. Dark wood, hunter green or maybe maroon, you get the idea. The problem I have no idea what actually goes well with these colors.
Is there a website where I can pick a color and have it suggest other colors for trim etc? I don’t want to rely on little paint chips and when I am done have to do it all over again cause it looks like shit together.
So you dopers that are into interior decorating, throw me a bone here. Where can I go?
Check out some interior decorating magazines. See if you can find one or two that favor the darker tones described.
Some warnings: dark colors tend to make a room seem smaller, require more light to avoid the ‘stuck in a closet’ feeling, and require a minimum of two coats to cover when it’s time to go with a lighter pastel. Not that they can’t look nice, just be forewarned so you don’t finish and say :eek:
Interior decorating mags don’t zactly cut it. Do you know just how many versions of eggshell there are out on the market? :eek:
I know about dark colors and making a room look smaller. That I can deal with.
26 year painting contractor/decorative painter here.
I’m not going to venture any recommendations as to colors & such, but some random ideas.
I suggest always buying a quart of the intended paint color and painting a big sample right on the wall. That way you can see it in different lights, see whether it matches your other appointments, like that. Worth the investment. Some paint companies - Ben Moore for one - offer 2oz testers of paint.
Also I would recommend a flat paint for a clubby/office look. There’s some excellent washable matte paints on the market.
Pure white ceilings are soooo 1990s. With a dark wall color, a beigey/warm color looks better. Many decorators I work with have a thing for eching the floor color on the ceiling.
If you want to get really fancy schmacy, consider having a faux done on the walls. It can make an incredible difference & isn’t necessarily horribly costly. Think a muted leather look, very manly. Or marbly, or a weathered glazed finish. Or suede paint if you’re not concerned about washability. That’s a cool look.
Most paint stores, and big box stores have DVDs and brochures with lots of color and matching options. A really good place to start.
Another shout-out to Ben Moore. The one around here has a “paint rental” program where for C$3 they let you take away a pint can and ask you to keep your test patch size down below 3x3 feet. I have found their salespeople (and to be fair, those at a couple of other “branded” paint vendors in town) to be far better at offering good advice about colour combos than the folks at the big boxes.
My advice is to stay away from video based solutions (computer sites, dvds etc) as the colour reproduction will not be up to snuff at all.
One final bit of advice: try to make sure you know what your light fixture and bulb style will be beforehand. We once sweated blood getting a colour arrangement sorted out (agreement between me and SWMBO being the biggest issue…) and painted it all up…and then changed the light fixtures and the appearance went right to h***.
