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Tuesday, January 08, 2008 1:18 PM

How should I pick the paint combo for my walls?

We love browsing paint websites like Behr.com and BenjaminMoore.com to see what jumps out. Other areas of inspiration: Your closets. Look at the clothes you love versus the ones that get passed over. Then start flipping through catalogs (even the ones you normally toss) and tear out pages with colors you love. Take (or wear) these pieces of inspiration to a paint retailer, and have them match the color or find color combos that coordinate.

Before you buy samples, keep in mind the lighting and size of your room (a chocolate wall in a darkly lit living room might be more moody than trendy); the feel of the room (do you want lively or relaxing?); the surrounding rooms (will this paint coordinate with the adjacent spaces?); and your furniture (how will it work with the red couch?).

For cool color combination ideas, view our décor database.

[Nest-pert] Nate Berkus, author of Home Rules, host of The Nate Berkus Show on the Oprah & Friends channel on XM Satellite Radio, and designer of a home decor line sold exclusively at Linens ‘n Things

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Comments

re: How should I pick the paint combo for my walls?

Also, pick up the largest swatch sample you can find, or paint a piece of tag board and leave it in the room for a while to see it in various lights.

Posted by mr&mrs987    Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:00 PM


Is it a bad idea to paint my walls blue if my douvet cover is a different blue?

I am in law school, and my husband is in medical school, so we live off of student loans and are EXTREMELY poor. We don't have the money to do much to our house, but I am desperate to update our bedroom. It is so depressing .(The walls were painted white when we moved in to the house over a year ago, and we have not touched them.) On our bed we have a nice cream colored coverlet and a douvet cover that is a floral patter combining cream and a color I would call ink blue. I love our bedding (thank goodness for wedding gifts) but even if I didn't we are stuck...no money to replace. My husband and I both love the color blue, and I have been looking at Benjamin Moore's Crystal Springs for our walls. I have been looking at it for a while, and it just makes me feel good to see it. Also, I was pleasantly suprised to find it featured in the April Pottery Barn Catalog. My concern is that it is a really light blue, and our bedding is a much darker blue. Would it be a bad idea to have two different blues in our bedroom? There are certainly darker blue paints out there, but our bedroom is really small, and I am worried about making it look/feel even smaller if I paint the walls a dark color. Any advice, suggestons would be greatly appreciated.

Posted by missmichaelperu    Monday, April 07, 2008 3:56 PM


re: How should I pick the paint combo for my walls?

I saw that color in the Pottery Barn Catalog as well and decided it was the perfect shade of blue to paint my bedroom. I haven't yet; it's my next project. In repsonse to your question: from the books and articles I have read, using different shades of the same color is actually a design trick many decorators use. I have even seen tips to add a bit of the wall color to white paint and paint the ceiling with it. You could perhaps add a design (such as stencils or striping) in the deeper shade of blue pulled from the duvet. And/or you could also buy a cheap plain canvas from Michaels (or other craft/ art supply stores) and make your own painting to hang on the wall as 'original art' incorporating all the blues in the room. Add an accent color that contrasts with the blues to make the colors really pop. For other walls or tabletops buy cheap frames from Wal-Mart, and paint the frames or matting ink blue to tie in the color even more. Good luck!

Posted by ChicCherylLynn    Monday, April 14, 2008 3:54 PM


re: How should I pick the paint combo for my walls?

What I have done is take a piece of the bedding (pillow sham, bedskirt) as well as a pic of the furniture color (or an actual drawer from a small nightstand) and bring it to one of the color experts at a paint store.  Tell them what you're thinking and/or have them coordinate something for you.  Let them know the dimensions of the room as well.  Don't forget to ask about a ceiling/trim color too.  After many failed attempts on my own, buying sample after sample which can add up, this worked for me.  I have come to trust the "paint lady" as I call her because she's been right every time so far.  I also buy a piece of white posterboard (NOT from the paint store; cheap at a Walgreens or such) and paint it with the sample color she recommended; then tape it on the wall for a few days.  See how it looks in different lights at different times of the day and as a backdrop to your comforter/furniture.  You won't be sorry taking your time to make this decision.  Good Luck!

Posted by tml37    Saturday, May 03, 2008 1:14 AM


I Need Help

I have a living room with an open space leading into the kitchen/dining area.  The Kitchen right now is white with a green leaf ivy border around the top.  The Living room has pretty red curtains with a tan couch and I wanted to paint the living room an ochre warm orange-golden type color.  

I'm just scared it will clash with the green in the kitchen.  We could just re-paint the kitchen but I'm not eager to do that anytime soon.  Any suggestions???

Posted by apriljoanne    Monday, May 05, 2008 5:06 PM


re: How should I pick the paint combo for my walls?

To the law student/med student pair, I would say that as long as the blues are in the same color family, they look good. For example, I am taking my dishes (which are multi-colored) to the paint store and will find a swatch that matches the blue color in the dish, then go about two shades lighter (this helps to get the swatch things that have like four or five shades of the same color). Thus, if the light blue you like is just a lighter version of the ink blue in your duvet cover, I say go for it, I think it would look great! It's a commonly used trick.

Good luck!

Posted by JPerona0205    Wednesday, July 09, 2008 7:21 PM


re: I need help

As a designer and architectural color specialist, I highly recommend you check out C2color.com for the best color and paint in the US. I have been specifying their colors for 10 years because of the unmatched complexity and richness of the colors. Plus, the colors have been formulated by artists to work well together. Check them out. To "I need help" orange loves green, but might not necessarily love the red curtains in the kitchen. Make sure they work too. Best of Luck

Posted by joninoel    Friday, July 10, 2009 11:33 AM


will yellow walls go with my light brown couches?

I was thinking of painting my living room walls yellow to go with our brown couches, but i'm scared they won't work well together.  

It's a living/dining room combo and our dining room furnature is black, and the couches in the living room are a light brown micro suede.  

I kinda wanted a warm feeling so i thought yellow walls with red accents,  but i'm scared it won't work.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Posted by evilkika    Monday, August 17, 2009 10:23 AM


will yellow walls go with my light brown couches?

I was thinking of painting my living room walls yellow to go with our brown couches, but i'm scared they won't work well together.  

It's a living/dining room combo and our dining room furnature is black, and the couches in the living room are a light brown micro suede.  

I kinda wanted a warm feeling so i thought yellow walls with red accents,  but i'm scared it won't work.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Posted by evilkika    Monday, August 17, 2009 10:23 AM


will yellow walls go with my light brown couches?

I was thinking of painting my living room walls yellow to go with our brown couches, but i'm scared they won't work well together.  

It's a living/dining room combo and our dining room furnature is black, and the couches in the living room are a light brown micro suede.  

I kinda wanted a warm feeling so i thought yellow walls with red accents,  but i'm scared it won't work.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Posted by evilkika    Monday, August 17, 2009 10:23 AM


I have red couches but want to bring more color to the room, what color should I paint?

We live in an apartment and I finally convinced my husband to paint the walls (he's reluctant because we'll have to paint them back when we move out). We have some awesome red couches in the living room and a rug from IKEA that is white and red. As much as I love the red, I'm craving more color in there! I was thinking a sea-foam green to compliment...but I don't trust my sense of interior decorating.  Any suggestions?? Also, should I paint the whole room or just an accent wall?

Posted by paigemariko    Wednesday, September 16, 2009 2:19 PM


Color problem!

I am about to buy a house... 1200 sf. so not very big! The problem is that the owner has a grayish/blue carpet throughout the entire house. The color scheme I REALLY wanted to use is rich/warm colors. I want a neutral tan color for most of the walls with a chocolate brown accent wall and burnt orange accents here and there (like pillows). We don't have the money to get new carpet right away, do you think these colors will clash when I finish painting? Any ideas/cheap ideas :) ????

Posted by JeniM14    Saturday, October 24, 2009 11:23 AM


re: I have red couches but want to bring more color to the room, what color should I paint?

paigemariko - try going to Behr.com and do the "visualize your colors with color smart" It allows you to pick the paint colors you want, pick the room you are decorating, then you can put the colors around the room (even the floor) to see if you like the color combos you are thinking of. It really helped me! I tried colors I THOUGHT would look nice, but when I tried them out, it looked terrible! You can also take a picture of your actual room and load it onto that site. Then you can REALLY see what it will look like :)  Red and greens are very nice together if they are rich colors, but be careful not to make it look too christmasy!

Posted by JeniM14    Saturday, October 24, 2009 11:41 AM


re: Color problem!

As I also just bought a house i can totally understand where you are coming from.  What I would do is bring home a wide range of  color swatched in the hues you want.  You could find a tan with blue hues that would warm the house but also go with the floors.  Even the accent colors could be your tie in.  The right rust tone would accent the blue/grey really well.  If all else fails area rugs.  

Posted by cr8art80    Thursday, October 29, 2009 4:12 AM


Right shade of brown?

My husband and I just bought a new home and all of the walls are painted a light beige. I love the idea of doing accent walls in a chocolate brown color in my living room. My problem is that I can't decide how dark/rich/ect. the shade should be. Our furniture is a light neutral beige and our end tables and media stand are all a dark espresso color.  Will our dark wood furniture look bad if it 'disappears' on the dark walls?

Posted by Jules925    Wednesday, January 20, 2010 12:12 AM


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