What wall color goes with an ugly beige stone wall - or should I paint the stone?

Question

We just bought a 90-year old small house with a new-ish looking stone wall flanking the windows in the living room. The stone is light beige with dark grey grout. The window and other trim is medium brown stained wood. The rug is off white with specs of other colors. We have steely-blue chairs and probably mistakenly purchased rustic black painted end and coffee tables. Should I, can I, paint the stone? If I don't, what wall color would tie the stone and the furniture together??

Answer 1

i have a beige color with a burnt orange....dont be scared! Check out the color at Sherman Williams.com It is called Husky Orange. It is so warm and beautiful. That website will also let you paint a (computer) room different colors so you can see what the colors would look like together. I used that site to pick my color schemes. It was a great help. Good Luck.

Answer 2

Oh dear. The other answers do no look at what is happening with the combinations.

The black tables and the steel blue chairs are cooler, blue-based and the stone and carpet sound like they are warm, yellow-based.

There will be a huge disconnect and no harmony.

If the stone is manufactured "angel" stone and not the real deal, then do not feel badly about sponging it. If it the real deal, then change only the blue-grey grout.

Assuming that the carpeting is wall-to-wall (because you never actually say so), then it is the largest single colour in this space. It must be the foundation from which all else springs. So unless you're changing it, this is where you start.

Find the predominant colour of fleck. The designer put it in there because it works with the "ground" of the carpet. Try sponging the grout and a few of the stones with this (or a similar) shade. There is a technique called "milk painting" that is really just watered down paint that is applied and then daubed off. It's messy but very effective. (Have a lot of rags for wiping up!)

You could leave the tables black, but add warm orange, terra cotta, red, yellow,gold or warm green table lamps. Pick up that same shade in the pillows that are going to tone down the blue of the chairs. (This is cheaper than reupholstering.)

Since the stone is already a feature, do not put a strong colour on only one wall. If the space is large, strong colours will lessen the impact of the stone.

If, on the other hand, the space is smaller or of average size, warm neutral colours picked up from the carpet flecks will tie the stone wall, woodwork and walls into a harmonious whole. The stone will not leap out and be so jangling.

Your home is your biggest asset. The preparation is the BIGGEST part of any project.. That includes choosing paint colour, ordering and purchasing suppies, gathering all the materials, taping the woodwork and windows, clearing out the furniture and setting out a time line with "emergencies" built in.

The acutal execution and clean-up takes less energy and time when you adequately prepare.

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 3

Yes of course you can paint the stone if it is too present in the room. you can also just lightly sponge the grout with some lighter paint, to reduce the contrast between the grout and the stone, and leave the stone its natural beige. Since the stone is going to have variations in color, one color choice is to match a color from the stone. Another route is to pick several paint chips in various neutrals, and hold them up to the stone. Use the one that makes the stone look its best, and it becomes a focal point rather than an eyesore. I used this technique to find a wall color to make a painting stand out, It worked really well.

Answer 4

It's hard to say not seeing the stone, but unless it's REALLY bad, I wouldn't paint it. Once you do there is no way to get the natural stone back. As far as complimentary colors, with beige you could do just about any color. A gray or grayish taupe color would work, a light gray-blue would be great, or deep red or burnt orange color would also look nice (wouldn't have to do that on all walls, just some accents). Also might want to think about doing a chair rail with one color on the top and one on the bottom, or just a darker shade of the same color on the bottom and a lighter shade on top. Hope this gives you some ideas!

Answer 5

It sounds like it would be beautiful if you paint the walls a brick red or some shade of a bright but not shiny red. You could do 3 walls red and one a beige, you don't want to get too many colors in there or it will look crowded. Go with red and beige,a beige shade close to the stone.

Answer 6

A golden tan color would look best with all the colors and elements of the room. if the stone is still in its natural state, I definitely would not paint it, its a great focal point and adds natural texture and color to the room. painted stone always looks cheap and artificial. If you find the tables too dark, one thing that may help would be to cover the tops of them in a ceramic tile that closely matches the rock wall. a few brick red or dark mustard colored accents(vases,cushions,artwork) would really look great.