I just received this cry for help from a reader. Let’s see if we can help her, you guys!
Dear Julia:
I love all your advice and I am looking for help ASAP as we have to redo a bedroom as a guest room this week.
I am working off of a large framed picture I would like to keep in the room….it is a navy to midnight blue frame with an ocean scene with colors of lighter blue, gray and white. I also have a chaise lounge that looks like this:
(Note: if the photo of the chaise doesn’t appear for you, click on the white space below–it’s being flaky today.)
The chaise is navy/midnight blue with a damask type cloth:
I am thinking of bringing out the light grey in the picture and either grey carpet or dark blue? I was also thinking of doing the 4 walls 2 different colors dark blue and grey with the picture being hung on a grey wall. The third idea I have is to do white walls with navy carpet. I need all the advice I can get. Thank you for your time ! –Lynn
Okay. I would personally go for gray carpet over blue because it’s more of a neutral in case you (or the future owners) ever wanted to use different colors in the room. (We all remember the cry for help I got from Stuck with the Blues, who agonized over how to work around the blue carpet in her house.)
How about gray carpet with gray walls? Then you could use navy and white accents in the bedding, window treatments, and accessories.
I like dark navy walls in a bedroom as long as there’s a lot of white to contrast with it (white trim, bedding, and window treatments). However, I think that works best when you have hardwood floors. Dark painted walls and a gray or navy carpet seems like it would be too heavy or dark. That’s just my personal preference, however. You can all feel free to disagree with me on that one.
Painting two walls navy and two walls gray might be interesting. I’d pick one or the other and go with it, though, if it were me. Again, it’s not a decorating rule. It’s just what I like better.
All right, everybody. I know Lynn would love to hear all of your creative ideas, so throw your two cents in!
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not a decorator but I am a freelance artist and I do know color. I would go gray carpet and pale gray walls. Then you have a neutral base forever! Use lots of white with it. Do all the walls the same to keep it unified and not choppy. Accent with the blues.
I’m not a decorator, but I have navy blue carpet. I also have three rooms with gray carpet. Go for the gray. The navy blue shows every speck of dirt or lint. Three minutes after I vacuum there are white specks everywhere. The gray is great. I could go weeks without vacuuming and you’d never know the difference.
What about wood floors or laminate if wood is too pricey and then an area rug you can cahnge when ever you get sick of it…???If carpet is an absolute go….Grey carpet. atleast that goes with more things later…A matching grey wall would be fine…it’s hard to say with no room pictures.I agree, I think dark walls would be heavy… Grey, navy and white are great and a pop of deep red,…not cheap red….What about a medium(warm) grey to match the carpet…and do even tonal stripes in a contrasting finish (ie. flat and semi-gloss) on one wall to mix it up and flat on the rest of the walls, painting the ceiling a shade lighter…broken up by either crown molding or a single stripe of white to resemble crown? can she send pictures of the room? Jen R
I agree with Jen, that hardwood/laminate wood floors would be my first choice. Second choice would definitely be gray…gives you the freedom to change you color scheme down the road, like Julia pointed out. Also, light grey walls would be great, but if you’re really wanting an accent of navy, why not try just one wall (the wall behind your headboard) in navy, and the rest a light gray? This would bring some drama and a focal point into the room without making it look too choppy (like Dianne mentioned). I also agree with Julia that you should mix in plenty of white or cream…I can see crsip, white and luxurious hotel linens on the bed, a soft white throw on the chaise lounge, to keep it from being dark. If you want a little unexpected, you could even throw in a touch of pale lavendar (just a TOUCH - like a throw pillow or something). Have fun!!
I think I would stay away from dark on the walls or the floors (unless a deep walnut brown hardwood floor). The idea for a bedroom should be soothing. That chaise looks very nice and luxurious, so I would take it as a cue for the rest of the room. Bedding should be plump and inviting in a creamy color and I would use the light grey for the walls and carpet. Keep contrast low which will increase the calm, soothing feel of the room.
I say go with light gray for the walls.
If you really wanted dark blue in the walls you could do the lower half in dark blue (like 3 ft up the wall) and the top light gray. Just make sure the tones go together. Just an idea.
I like the idea of hardwood the best. But if you’re doing carpet I would go with the gray carpet and avoid a set color like blue. You could also choose a carpet with gray specks instead of solid gray. This way there is a little more diversity in floor versus the walls.
I’m no designer, but I do have pets. Stay away from navy carpeting unless you have no animals, or children, and have a maid.
I rather like the suggestion of grey carpet with a navy accent wall behind the headboard. Daring, but not over the top. I’d go with a sexy tone of grey on the rest of the walls that really compliments the carpet.
If you’ve got time (and you probably don’t), I’d try to get a really nice finish on white trim. It’s one of those things that leaves you with an impression, but you can’t put your finger on exactly what it is.
Take the time to really prep the trim and get it clean. Vacuum too. Then use three things: Floetrol to improve and smooth the coverage, really good latex gloss or semi-gloss paint, and a high quality trim brush.
M
Hope to see before & after photos !
I would say do a gray carpet, for sure. Navy will blend in
to much with the sofa/lounger thing, and gray is a good neutral.
Personally I wouldn’t do the two walls thing, I have that in my bedroom and I don’t like it at all. I would say rather than the two walls, do a navy/gray with a border strip to separate the two colors. Do navy on the bottom, gray on the top, then put the picture on the gray.
I agree on the dark accent wall behind the bed, and would go for the grey carpet (if carpet is a must) to complement the chaise (which I love), but then I would paint the remaining walls white or a super soft grey, as not to be too matchy matchy with your carpet. And the light color walls will make that art you describe really pop — midnight blue frame against a crisp white wall just sounds like it would be so nice. Good luck — and do show us after photos!!
Thanks all sooooooo much for the advice - today was day 1 of the fast project. We picked out a gray paint that was in the picture we will have on the wall in just a shade lighter than the picture. The room is a small bedroom maybe 10 x 13 so we also thought the navy would make it shrink.
We have a dog and a cat (not sure if carpet is better over the hardwood? I am just wondering how the gray walls will look now with the wood floor….any thoughts? What is the upkeep on a wood floor versus carpet?
We also discovered hard wood floors underneath the old carpet and are now questioning (and will need more comments here) if we should just leave it and fix it up or go with the gray carpet. It is a lighter hardwood but not the lightest(Sorry I don’t know my woods)
I hope to get before after photos on here to share! Thanks again for all the advice. I have a navy and cream throw pillow for the chaise that looks great. Is it ok to go with white bedding etc or would cream look ok??
Oh yea and we have no plans on re-doing the woodwork and it is medium to darker wood - no time to redo all white.
I would say finish the wood floor and along with the blues and greys, find linens and maybe a throw pillow that have espresso brown in them as a rich accent for the room.
Good luck, can’t wait to see the finished product.
I agree with Kate about the floor. Use those hardwoods! You can buy an area rug instead of wall-to-wall. Also like her idea of adding some espresso accents, especially since you have stained-wood trim.
You’ve all pitched in such creative ideas. Thanks, guys! If anyone has any other thoughts, let’s hear ‘em! -Julia
Ok it seems we ran into a problem….I haven’t seen it yet but I am told it has turned out pretty dark grey. Can I take the paint back tomorrow and have them mix something in to lighten it up and paint over it? I will post an update tomorrow!
WOOD!!
I have to agree with the gray consensus. I think it will offset the blue in a lovely way, balancing the energy of the room and keeping it from being too ‘watery’ in its energy. Can’t wait to see the end results!
Update - we got the paint lightened and it is now a lighter shade of gray. I didn’t want it too heavy or too white looking and it turned out great. Tomorrow we will decide on the floor…wood or carpet. I am getting very many strong opinions on going with the wood. The floor would almost be ok as is but I think it needs the final touch - sealing or varnish. I like the color and there is only one bad spot that can be covered with an area rug if needed.
I hope to get pictures online ASAP! Thank you all so much!!!
My next question is…can I put a white fan in with regular woodwork (non white)? I found a beautiful one with nickel type on it and think it would look great but I don’t know the etiquette with mixing the woods. Also is the floor ok to leave lighter wood than the woodwork in the room - baseboards,windows etc??
If you want carpet, definitely go with a light bright grey - with a blue undertone. Not a dull grey.
I might pain the bottom half of the walls the dark color blue and then the top half and celing a light color.
It has been a long 2 weeks and I am in the process of getting before and after pictures online. I had to wait until the guests left and it is not quite finished with the decorations yet. I promise to update everyone. We did go with wood floor and not carpet.
I want to do grey on my stairs too . Any suggestion of where to buy one ? and what style thick weaved or just normal wool?