In the makeover gallery BMendoza ask for some assitance with choosing colors for an open floor plan.  Here’s what was shared:

Living Room shares a wall with my kitchen. I will be purchasing a new sofa and putting in a couple of chairs along. Later, I may add a nice wood flooring. So really, no color scheme is concrete based on furniture. Three big windows which let in pretty good amount of indirect light.

I recommend looking at the following Behr paint colors:

• Nomad in kitchen
• Ocean Pearl for main wall color
• Spartan Stone for accent wall color around doorway, back wall of exercise area and/or LR window wall.

All will work now and will work when you add hardwood floors or buy new furnishings.

Hear more about why I’m suggesting these colors:

Today’s decorating dilemma:

We live in a two story open floor design.  We have a light beige carpet throughout most of the house, except for the foyer and kitchen area that divide the middle of the house which has wood flooring. Depending on the time of day the carpet has a slight pink hue.

We are having trouble finding the right wall color everything we see seems to clash, perhaps we are choosing the wrong hue?  I am looking for a nice neutral color that can be used in several rooms (ie, two story great room, living room and adjoining dining rooms etc.) that won’t clash with the carpet.  Any suggestions?  Warm Regards, Cindy

Kate suggests:

Cindy, you are not alone when it comes to feeling frustrated when trying to find a wall color that matches beige carpet.  The main reason people have difficulty is that they cannot determine the undertone of the carpet or the paint or both.

If you have a carpet with yellow undertones and a wall color with red undertones they are not going to go as well together as two colors with the same undertones.  It sounds like your carpet has red undertones (since you mention it can look slightly pinkish at times) so my suggestion is to look for beiges with red undertones.

So I’m imagining your next questions is how to know if a beige has red undertones and that would be a very good question.  Of course your paint dealer should be able to answer that questions for you but to get an immediate idea I suggest you look at the Behr paint website.

I noticed when I was in Home Depot that Behr has tried to take the guess work out of the undertone issue for their customers by arranging the paint swatches not only by color family but also by undertone.  When you view the display looking up and down you see the color family and going across the bands are by undertone.  For example if you look at the section of green swatches in the upper section the swatches are the ones with blue undertones, the ones in the middle have yellow undertones and towards the bottom red undertones [Not sure if that is the exact order but you get my point].

The same is true on their website although not as clearly spelled out for all color families for the neutrals they give you the choice of yellow based, red based or blue based.  A look at the color swatches listed for each can start to give you an idea of the differences and set you in the right direction for finding a color that matches your carpet.

Here are screen shots of their red based and yellow based neutrals to give you an idea.

RED-BASED NEUTRALS

YELLOW-BASED NEUTRALS

Are your current paint swatches more yellow or blue based than red? If so this could be the reason that they are “clashing” with your carpet.

Today’s color dilemma…

I would like to paint the fireplace wall an accent color and am considering blue and not sure if I should go dramatic and dark blue or shade. Also wonder if I should paint the large window wall as accent wall instead but hesitate as the room is long and narrow across and I would like to cozy it up. The living room dining room are L shaped and am considering a bright green for the dining room and kitchen has melon paint trim and mexican colors. Furniture is blues/biege. Like a fun warm place-help–pshelly

Kate Suggests…

Since your room is long and narrow, it would be wise to make the fireplace wall as your accent wall, especially since this wall also serves as the room’s focal point.

Usually I would suggest a deeper, dramatic shade to visually bring the wall in closer and give the illusion of a room that is more square and cozier.

However you mention Mexican colors and in this style a earthy base color is often used with a deep blue and the accent colors are bright, vibrant and reflect a bold love of life. Colors like orange, lime green, bright yellow, red, violet, coral and bright pink all speak of the joy and happiness associated with the colors of Mexico.

Your room already has earthy neutrals so a deep or vibrant blue could work to continue your theme into this room. The folks at Behr have a brief write up about Mexican colors you may find interesting and they recommend using authentic Mexican items to inspire your color scheme.

Here are a few examples they show with a blue called 600B-6 Sudden Sapphire.

Of course you could also go with a deeper indigo blue, which will give you a more dramatic look.

Resources:

• Photos of Mexico by Amelia Aria
  
• Find a Behr paint retailer near you
  
• Do you have a color dilemma? Post it in the Makeover Gallery at RoomVues.com and you could be the next reader to have your color question answered on the Color For Your Home blog.

**Please note: Due to individual computer monitor limitations, colors seen here may not accurately reflect the paint colors. Please refer to an actual sample of the paint for an accurate rendition of the color.

Today’s color dilemma…

I have a galley style kitchen with one large wall, a backsplash behind counter and bulkhead – these are all painted Mountain Haze by Behr. It is too drab. I want to brighten it up with some kind of red, but I don’t want it to make the kitchen look smaller.

I don’t know whether to just do the wall, just do the blacksplash, the bulkhead or all. I am thinking of keeping the Mountain Haze color probably on the bulkhead as an accent to the red I pick, but I am open to suggestions. – tre1kent

Kate suggests…

When working with accent colors in small spaces, it’s best to not go too bold to avoid creating the illusion of an even smaller space.

For your galley style kitchen I would suggest applying the accent color to the end wall. By painting this wall rather than the cabinet wall you are not narrowing the room even more but rather bringing the end closer which will also make the room appear wider.

Red could work well with your cabinets and flooring. I think a warm, rich hue will accent your existing color and allow you to bring the red you desire into the room without overpowering the space.

Some red paint color that could work well include Behr ‘Cajun Spice’, Ralph Lauren ‘Hunting Coat Red’, Valspar ‘Oatlands Upholstery Red’ and C2 ‘Tango’.

Resources:

• Behr and Ralph Lauren Paint is available at Home Depot.
• Valspar paint is available at Lowe’s. Type in your zip code to find your local Lowe’s
• For a list of C2 Paint dealers visit their website
• Do you have a color dilemma? Post it in the Makeover Gallery at RoomVues.com and you could be the next reader to have your color question answered on the Color For Your Home blog.

**Please note: Due to individual computer monitor limitations, colors seen here may not accurately reflect the paint colors. Please refer to an actual sample of the paint for an accurate rendition of the color.