I have more of a question than a comment. I have an open floor plan with all white walls that are making me crazy. I NEED color!

I want the rooms to flow, but be distinct. The front room gets a lot of sun and has oak colored bookcases, and a little darker piano. I would like to do a sage(ish) green, pale yellowish and raspberry-reddish colors. It flows into the kitchen with one wall that connects via a vaulted ceiling. The kitchen has med. wood cabinets, black countertops, and stainless steel appliances.

The current decor is sort of country(ish) with black, red and goldish yellow. The living room shares the same wall as the front room and kitchen, and currently has a reddish leather couch that will have to stay and is sporting and “Americana theme” which could stay or go.

Most Pictures that will stay as part of the decor are framed in black. All rooms receive a good amount of natural light Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance! -Mindi

Barbara suggests…

Your preference is for sage green, pale yellow and raspberry-red colors, although you did not indicate where you would like these colors to be used. However, colors of the type you mention that could do well together, depending on their location, combination and proportion. I’m going to propose a couple of ways to do this:

From Benjamin Moore:

Sage Green: some varieties of ’sage’ that are either toward blue/gray :Benjamin Moore 1579 Grayhound or 1580 Intrigue, or more yellow-based: 459 Woodland Green, 460 Herb Bouquet, 465 Antique Jade, or 466 Garden Path.

Yellow: Benjamin Moore HC-5 Weston Flax, HC-6 Windham Cream or HC-29 Dunmore Cream. These are all different from each other but each would work well with green.

Another suggestion would be HC-26 Monroe Bisque, which is a deeper, toned-down yellow (almost a “tan”) that might work for your Living room that shares a wall with the front room and kitchen.

Raspberry: Several hues that would work with the yellow and sage green are Benjamin Moore 1356 Fashion Rose, 1357 Bottle of Bordeaux, or 1364 Vintage Claret. All the greens above are grayed, soft colors and these vivid raspberry-like hues would create a real punch to the color scheme.

Another approach: the way you described the rooms I think you could benefit from a unique type of paint, “Full-Spectrum” color mixes (from Ellen Kennon Full Spectrum Paints) . Her Yellows are particularly beautiful and have the extra advantage of being Full-Spectrum, so in the light conditions you describe you will see a changeable kind of color that is a real pleasure to live with. The Yellows I recommend from her palette are Buttercream, Luminaire, and Sand. They range from luminous, to warmer, to almost-tan. The Full-Spectrum nature of these colors will give you the advantage of providing a bridge of sorts to connect the green and red in your color scheme. You’ll have a color-rich environment that is still very liveable.

Sage Green in Ellen’s Full Spectrum line: Clay (more blue-type Sage) and Sage (more yellow-type Sage)

Raspberry: More violet type, but check out Silk Road Plum

These would all be beautiful together.

For your vaulted ceiling try a creamy white like Benjamin Moore 967 Cloud White. This white will work very well with your color scheme.

Basically this is a palette with a lot of flexibility but you have to watch the contrasts and placement so it does not become garish. For example if the walls were painted in the Sage or the Yellow, you could bring the Raspberry in as accents or decorative accessories rather than on the walls.

Your artwork in the black frames will look great in with these colors as will your kitchen counter tops and stainless steel appliances.

Resources:

• Type in your zip code for a list of Benjamin Moore dealers 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.

Thanks for finally addressing the bricks…The front of my home has partial red brick and the rest is stucco. I am in Florida on a small lake.

The house was painted beige with the mauve trim, plenty of trim includes the garage. The house next to me had the mauve color shot and painted their house in it. The color is ok but not fantastic. It is midtone. What color can I use. Should I color shot the mauve ( from the 70s) and tweek it a little?

I like colorful; One house on the lake is a violet periwinkle and is pretty. Also 2 yellow houses on the lake. The house on my other side is white with lt. blue trim. Can you please show your color chip selections I just love that! — Criztina

Kate suggests…

I’m imagining that your mauve tends towards red if it goes well with your brick and if you are happy with that color than certainly tweaking it a bit is an option but it seems that you might be ready for a change.

Yellow and creamy tan are colors often used on homes that have red brick combined with stucco but with two other homes close by already using yellow I don’t think it would be best to have your home in this range of colors.

I like the idea of going with a blue but something that will give you a different look than the periwinkle main color or blue trim of either of your neighbor’s homes.

A blue gray could work well especially if your bricks have a gray cast and your roof has cool undertones. An example of this scheme would be Sherwin-Williams Portal Blue for the main color and Scottish Loch as the accent color.

Since you are in Florida I might use a color that has more blue than gray. Shown here are Benjamin Moore Blue Bay Marina for the body of the house and Lakeside Cabin for the trim.

If your brick and roof tend to have a warmer cast than you could use a blue green hue. I’m showing three colors here not because I’m recommending three but to show you how you can think about your color scheme once you have decided on the color in general.

For example with these three colors from Valspar you could consider a few options. You could use the Aquatic Edge for the main color and either Lake Country or Belle Grove Spruce for the trim.

Going with a darker accent color will focus more attention on the trim while going with the mid-value will highlight the trim but integrate it more with the main color.

Another option would be to paint the body in the mid or darker value and the trim in the lightest value. It really depends on the look you prefer.

As general rule for painting architectural elements I usually first consider the deepest colors for accenting recesses and lighter colors for highlighting details that stand out from the structure but since most stucco homes have traditionally been painted with the trim in a darker color this may seem like the most natural way to place the colors.

When selecting the actual colors keep in mind that colors will look darker if your home is in the shade and lighter if it gets full sun. Also the rougher the surface, the darker the color will appear.

I hope that helps.

***Readers if you have other ideas or suggestions I welcome you to add them in the comments. I’m sure Criztina would love to hear your thoughts too!***

Resources:

• Type in your zip code for a list of Sherwin-Williams dealers near you.
• Type in your zip code for a list of Valspar dealers near you.
• Type in your zip code for a list of Benjamin Moore dealers 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.

Picture of lake from artist Linda Blenheim’s blog. Check out her art and items for sale.

We took our current cabinets and ripped the white laminate from them! Then sanded the glue off and painted them with Benjamin Moore pre-mixed black! The walls are Benjamin Moore Raspberry Truffle. What counter tops should we use? Quartz, Granite, Marble? –Historic_Bessemer

Kate suggests…

First kudos to you for putting so much effort into your remodeling project. Stripping off the laminate, preparing the cabinets and painting them was a huge task but it looks like your efforts produced stunning results.

I think the new countertops will really top off your kitchen design so to speak so look at all of the options you mention and maybe even a few other. Finding a surface and color you absolutely love for the countertops will keep you smiling each time you enter your kitchen for years to come.

There are so many great choices available today but if I had to chose just one for you I would recommend quartz. Quartz is gaining ground in the kitchen due to its easy-to-maintain reputation and variety of patterns and colors. You will be able to find a color that sets off the color scheme you have chosen and a quartz countertop will give your kitchen a very up-to-date look and feel.

Granite is still a popular kitchen choice, but some designers and manufacturers see it losing ground to quartz and solid surface due to its greater maintenance requirements and consumers’ never-ending search for “the next big thing.

There are many options when it comes to color so view the samples in your home both in daylight and artificial light as well as in different locations on the surface where it will be installed.

Quartz colors available from Cambria

Related articles:

• On Color For You Home: Color Trends: Kitchen Counters
  
• On Color Pro: Trends in kitchen countertops

Resources:

• Cambria Natural Quartz Surfaces 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.