what color would be best for the trim in a room that is sage green?

Question

ive thought about a dark espresso brown or a cream color? but im not sure what other colors might look better. theres a ton of trim in this room--the house ie very old and has huge baseboards, crown molding and elaborate door and window frames. theres also a built-in window seat--should it be painted the same as the rest of the trim? also, ceilings are 9'6" high

ps: the sage green is very grayish.

the trim has already been painted over many times and it would be a nightmare to try to strip and sand it all off from the detailed molding and trim. so taking it back to the original wood is not really an option

Answer 1

I think a dark espresso brown would be a little harsh with that color. A soft cream or off-white would be beautiful, but if you wanted to go with a brown, choose a light to medium greyed brown, a taupe. Other colors would likely work, but it's difficult to describe them precisely enough and I don't have a swatch of your paint. I do have a full color fan from Rodda paint company so I could give you color numbers and names as suggested possibilities, but there probably isn't a Rodda in your area. Is there? The window seat would likely be best painted the same as the trim, especially if some of the trim pieces butt up to the window seat. While considering what other colors are in the room, you might like to highlight the primary trim color with some color similar to what's in your furniture coverings or throw pillows . A medium-deep pinkish plum could be lovely with the cream and sage, or some other color may work well with what you have. If you want brown, use a deep taupe with the cream. A color nearly like espresso, but just a bit lighter, may work well.

Finally, whatever you decide you might like to use, get a small amount of the color or colors mixed up at the paint store. Paint a large-ish piece of thick cardboard or some wood with the color/s you plan to use, extending the paint completely to the edges of the cardboard. Painting right to the very edges is important. When it's dry, hang or prop the color sample flat on the wall and see what you think. If you like it, leave it there for a few days so you can see it in various lighting conditions. If you still like the color combination, go with it.

Dec 11: Hi! After we exchanged emails, I checked a lot of possible paint colors to go with your deep grey-green. (Ralph Lauren [Naturals] Cameroon Green) As far as off-whites, most were either too bright against your green or one color greyed the other one out in a bad way. The only really good ones seemed to be:

Glidden's Navajo White 4YY 69/112 which is really a pale greyed tan)
" Basic Beige 45YY 65/084
Ralph Lauren's (Whitewash) Oatmeal WW43

Other possible and darker trim colors fell mainly in the tan range:

Glidden Oyster White 30YY 64/149
" Water Chestnut 30YY 62/127
" Potter's Clay 40YY 38/107
Ralph Lauren's (Naturals) Crab Apple NA02
" " ( " ) Mexican Feather Grass NA 69 a greenish tan

Since you mentioned needing a bedcover, I think one with broad stripes with a bit of gleam to the fabric or another rich fabric like a suede or suede-look in a large pattern could go nicely. Of course, only you know what you like or what will work for you. Possible color choices could be wines mixed with russets, golds, cream, tans, browns or grey. (I tried to keep in mind the slate you described on the furniture as well as the amber window panes.)

A rug could be nice and I did see a number of rugs at Home Depot that had a similar green to your walls as a major portion.

If you found a bedcover with a few colors in it that go nicely with your walls you could use it to help you choose the trim and accent colors. Choose one of the colors out of it to paint as an accent color on your walls. Also use another color in the fabric for the trim, making sure both go with your green. Or, just match the accent paint to your brown furniture if that goes well.

If you want to get a rug as well as a bedcover, find two patterns that are very different, such as a stripe and a paisley that share at least two colors. Three colors in common is better. (The rugs at Home depot mainly put your green with browns, russets, tans, golds and wine.) The scales of the patterns need to be quite different too. For example, broad stripes with a smaller paisley. Narrow stripes with a big curvelinear pattern. Two or three colors in common will tie them together. Or choose a pattern and a coordinating solid, of course.

Since your trim is layered with paint, it'll be difficult to get a professional appearance by painting an accent color on the trim, so I suggest painting the trim all one color, but painting the area between the picture molding and the crown molding with the accent color. Pehaps the walls in the niche around your window seat could also be painted in the accent color. Maybe your door, too.

Alternatively, if you want to use only one color for trim, you could paint the crown molding and the wall down to the picture molding to match your ceiling. Then paint the picture molding the same color as the rest of the trim. This will serve to visually lower your ceiling a bit, and make the room seem cozier. It will also help brighten the room a little, since the main wall color and your furnishings are dark. Or just keep the entire wall green and paint all the trim the same, of course. Only you know what will work for you.

I couldn't find a swatch of the brown you said matches your furniture. Perhaps they were out. Brown seems pretty nice with the green, but I think it would be better to separate it with one of the whites or tans I suggested. You'll know.

Finally, since paint swatches are ink, not paint, and since paint colors may change depending on the finish, it could be good to do the test I suggested. Paint your color or colors on a piece of cardboard or wood before committing it to a wall and hang it up to see if you'll really like it. Hope these suggestions are useful.

Answer 2

depending on the size of the room and the furniture in it you would probably want to paint all the trim the same color to avoid being too busy use a lighter color for the trim and the room will look slightly bigger if you go darker it will look smaller One thing that would look good is to get an off white and mix in a bit of the sage to bring that color into the trim but to change it enough so that there is good contrast between it and the sage. try mixing the paints in real small bits say a teaspoon at a time until you get a color that you want to try then paint a piece of two inch masking tape with it about two foot long, hit it with a hair dryer when it is dry stick it several places around the room and see how it feels. use a semi gloss or satin finish to avoid glare but to make it easier to clean. Once you find the color that you like take some of that tape to the paint store and have their computer match it for you good luck and enjoy the end results as your own decorator

Answer 3

I've heard that unless the trim matches the wall color, it should always be painted white. It outlines the architecture of the room better and makes the wall color 'pop'.

Answer 4

Dark Chocolate brown is awesome. Got it in my home (along with the sage green) Baseboards, chair rail, crown molding and trim around the door is the brown. The doors I left white.

It's so nice to see someone who else who loves painting their moldings somehting other than white.

Answer 5

Dark cream. If you can find a way to use espresso and cream together, that would be really wonderful. I love the tri-colored look but very few rooms have enough trim to pull it off.

Answer 6

If they are older they are likely a solid wood and I wouldn't be painting over them at all. I would remove them, sand them and the stain them whatever color that I thought matched. You could do a walnut stain if you like dark or go with a lighter blonde stain if the room doesn't get a lot of natural light.

Answer 7

White. This will give the room a bright, crisp, clean, modern appearance. You can't go wrong with white trim.

Answer 8

I would say another shade of darker green or a cream color

Answer 9

Purple.
In WWII days, they mixed these colors so that soldiers wouldn't barf all over the place when there was blood and body parts all around, but it was mainly two-tone.
Is that what you are trying to achieve?

Answer 10

Paint it white. It will be a nice contrast.