Help me pick out a color for my living room/kitchen!!?

Question

Ok I am purchasing a home that has a huge kitchen/livingroom/breakfast eat in area all in one. It is about 45 ft by 20 ft. Any ways... the kitchen area has white cabinets but we are going to reaplce those with a spicy maple cabinets. The floor in the kitchen and dining area is dark oak. The living room has carpeting that is maroon (I don't like it much). Right now it is all light tan. It looks very cold. I would really like to warm the whole area up. I really like red walls and the right shade would match the carpet. I am just afraid all red would look too red. I decorate primitive so I really do not like anything too modern. Ok now it is up to you!! THanks!!

Ohhhh I like the Caliente!! Thanks!!

Answer 1

This sounds like a good project. Faux painting will answer many of your problems and you can tailor it to have a couple of contrasting colors so your color matches do not have to be exact. There is a great book. 1200 Paint Effects for the Home Decorator by Ray Bradshaw. It has hundreds of paint swatches and recommends color combinations and painting techniques. I used this book to do two accent walls in my home and I can't believe that "I" actually did it. It looks just great and I have had many compliments. People actually walk up and touch the wall, asking where I bought the "Wall Paper" It looks that good. The great thing is that it was really easy and took less that 2 hours per wall. Without drying time between coats of course.

Now, If you don't want the expense of buying new cabinets this applies as well. I had the white cabinets in my new house and instead of spending the money on new cabinets we just painted them over. It came out looking like the best cherry wood cabinets you can buy and cost almost nothing. I do have photos and would be happy to email them to you if you want to get an idea.

Good luck and have fun.

Answer 2

hey there. good luck. there is a nice red by benj moore aura affinity called 'caliente'... please see the link toward the end ...

there are clever ways to avoid choosing the wrong red. , eg, it's a good idea to invest in large paint chips (18"x18") .....they are about 4 dollars each but they give you a good sense of color on a larger expanse. (if you dont want to spend on chips use a solid towel or solid tablecloth or solid showercurtain or solid fabric or even a Tshirt because color truly needs to be seen on an expanse.) ... feel free to use those little free chips but be aware those little chips can fool the eye and at worse be costly and aggravating in time and money spent... remember nowadays stores like Lowe's and even some good hardware stores offer color matching with a scanner gun and a paint "computer". all you need to do is bring in your SOLID sample (no pattern!) for the clerk to scan, the larger the better. you can also invest in white boards and those little "sample jars" but i think that method's more expensive than the large chips method. happy painting and best wishes for a great look. ps you can also look at pages out of wallpaper books NOT to buy wallpaper *but because a page is large enough to "act" like large chip* if the page is not too patterned.

supposedly the best (least problematic) interior paint money can buy is the Aura Affinity line by benjamin moore http://www.myaurapaint.com ... i heard you can buy Aura Affinity at Target

you are right to be concerned about 'too much red' because remember, a little red goes a long way! (usually)

Answer 3

Ditch the carpet.
You can buy beautiful install yourself laminate for about a buck a square foot and get one every colour/style you want. If you are replacing cabinets anyway this is not a huge expense.
My esperience it htat if you really hate the carpeet you will spend a lot of time and money trying to make it suit your taste and still end up ripping it out in the end.

Answer 4

The red that I would recommend for you would be "Foxy" by Sherwin Williams, with "balanced beige" for any trim. It's not such a bright, bold red, and I think it would work really well with the maroon carpeting.

On the other hand, I also think that a green, like "artichoke," would be beautiful with the maroon, it would not be overwhelming at all, and you can lots of red accents.

Answer 5

Go here and click on color smart, you can choose your room and play with whatever colors, and trim and accent colors. I really love Behr paint. That's all I buy. This is how I chose the colors for my kitchen. You can even check out there inspiration library for ideas if you get stuck.

http://www.behr.com/behrx/index.jsp

check out these:

mood: spirited, flight of fancy - in the inspiration library
color family: reds and oranges, pure red with warm details
color family: reds and oranges, pure red with cool details

Then check out www.marthastewart.com, click on the home & decorating tab, then click on painting on the left and go from there.

Answer 6

i say go with a orange spice type color to stay on the same wave length as the red