Need color ideas to go with a red couch?

Question

This is yet another red couch question!

We have a red leather (dark cranberry red) couch, loveseat, chair and ottomon. We just love them! We have just bought a house and I am trying to decide on a wall color. I have read all the answers to similar questions, but I have a slight twist to mine...

I make quilts and use them as art on the walls. Not old fashioned grandma type quilts, but bright, colorful, more modern quilts. I need to take this into consideration when picking a color. My quilts have pure bright colors such as red, yellow, turquoise, teal, gold, lime green, orange, purple, you get the picture.

I am sick of apartment white walls! And also my hubby hates green, but I love it and I have the final say:)

Right now I am leaning towards perhaps a chocolate brown or tan with an accent wall in red. Or everything in a dark gold. Oh I don't know! Help!

Please, any ideas would be great!

Answer 1

I have your room pictured in my mind, and I think using a latte color would provide the best backdrop for your quilts. Because they are works of art, we want them to be enhanced and I think anything other than a neutral colored room would take away from them. You could also do an accent wall in red and latte (in between chocolate brown and tan) stripes and it would add that touch of modernity to the room. I just designed my new apartment and I would be happy to show you the pictures. Contact me via emal, [e-mail] or comcast.net.

Answer 2

You don't mention how big the room is, or what kind of light it has (windows, ceiling space, etc.). I'm going to assume that it is either fairly large, or you have a lot of natural light to open up the room.

First, I have to agree with hubby here - green walls with red furniture might be a little Christmas-y. I'd stick with a neutral (but NOT too pale) on most of the walls. Try a medium taupe - it looks good with intense colors. An accent wall could work IF you have an unbroken space large enough to make it noticeable. You could do the red, depending on how much of it you're going to cover with your quilts. Don't make it too matchy-matchy. Lighten it a few shades, or darken it a few, or spin the color wheel a notch or three.

You could also do a deep turquoise blue, or plum, or, if you really want green, a medium olive (that would look nice with a yellower neutral - more gold than tan).

Check out the website below - it's a great way to get ideas for color combinations. (I like it for quilting, too.) Try searching for "red" - it will show you all of the schemes that contain any sort of red.

Answer 3

Paint the walls something neutral, warm and light. Tan would be good. Dont go dark because red is a quite dark coulour already and it will make the room look smaller. A feature wall in a contrasting colour would be nice. If you go red, try and make it a similar tone to the couch. A great big quilt on this wall would be ideal. I'm not sure what your stlye is like, but something with large blocks of colour in contrasting lights and darks would match well and look pretty modern. What about black white and red, or dark brown, gold and a bit of white... you could even make green a feature in the quilt, that way your husband couldn't say he hated it because its part of your artwork.. hehe. I think a bit of white is important in the quilt, it will look like a bright feature against the coloured room.

Answer 4

Red -- even cranberry red -- tends to dominate a room. A red dress is best worn by a very slim person because of the attention it draws.

So, the room is going to look smaller and the furniture larger. That combined with a dark wall cover will tend to contract the room.

You can't use wall paper because you already will have the vivid patterns of the quilts. As a matter of fact, the quilts will so dominate the room, the color of the walls diminishes in impact.

You might consider a pastel version of one of the dominant colors of the quilts. That, or a light cranberry color. It needs to be light to make the room to seem normal size.

Answer 5

1] Pick three of your favorite quilts, find a color the all have in common, [ for instance - teal ] and paint the room that color. Paint the wall WITHOUT a couch/loveseat/chair the dark cranberry color.
2] Paint the fireplace/picture window/focus wall the cranberry.
3] Don't use green as a main color in a room your husb spends a lot of time in.[ guest room maybe? ]
4] Use the rest of the quilts the same way - pick 1-2-3 for each room [ master bed, guest, family, etc.] and use the color you want to focus on for that room's wall color. You can use a second color form the quilt[s] for the bedding/upholstery/window treatments.
I WISH I COULD SEE IT!

Answer 6

I think if you went with a cream color for your wall...it will tone down the bright white on the walls, but give you a large playing field with color still. Why not bring all those neat colors into your room by accents. Since you hang beautiful quilts on the wall pull from that, you can even take paint and make a colorful border around the quilt (like it's framed). Maybe even do a cranberry colored border across the top of the walls. Also use pillows for accent colors too.

Good luck!

Answer 7

I love something in the yellow/gold color with an accent wall similar to your couch color. Some colors to look at are "crepe paper" and "millet" I try not to go to dark because it makes the room appear smaller than it actually is... Good luck!! I bet your quilts look amazing, by the way do you sell them??

Answer 8

You could possibly have tan walls then one accent wall that is painted as a quilt. Then you would have all the bright colors you like but it won't be to intense.

Answer 9

how about a mushroom color, like a tannish color. It would make the other colors stand out without drawing away from your quilts and your furniture. It will make the other colors stand out and not bring so much color to the room that it looks busy. Something has to be your neutral base...White is to stark for red unless you are going to do something modern.

Answer 10

since you're walls are going to be so colorful, i would suggest using a neutral color on them, like tan or even taupe.