and hang that picture.
as you know, the walls in our dining room and great room are dark wood.
billy refuses to let me paint them, because it's actually really nice, thick, hundreds of years old wood, not like cheap 70's wood paneling.
so i've been making do by painting little things like our doors to make the rooms brighter and more multi-dimensional.
the back of the mantle in the dining room sticks out from the rest of the wall about two inches, but it's impossible to see the depth since it's all just the same dark wood. i think painting it will really help the room look bigger, brighter, and make that wall and fireplace look more interesting.
the problem is, i can't decide on what color to paint it.
i've had these paint samples laying in the dining room for.ev.er.
i was originally thinking of doing a warm golden tone.
but i haven't been able to commit because
1) the picture on the mantle is a warm golden tone, and i feel like it might get lost up against the same color, and
2) there are a lot of warm golden tones going on in the dining room already.
like the rug, the curtains...
i know i don't want to paint it the antique white of the table legs... i think that would be too much.
and i haven't completely ruled out one of the more golden paint colors...
but lately i've been wondering if i shouldn't use one of the cooler colors in the stone of the fireplace... like a gray or a taupey color instead.
or maybe something more taupey like the mortar inbetween the stones?
help me!
seriously, i have painters block. i will take any and all opinions/ advice.
on another painting note, i was recently inspired by this picture:
don't you think our stairs would look better with a little paint? (they used to have really disgusting pea green carpeting on them, so they're looking pretty rough still)
bring on the comments, please!
7 comments:
Hi Meg,
I wonder how pickling the one wall might work. It would show the beautiful wood grain through, lighten the look and look natural.
There are websites that show steps and ideas but your paint store would be able to guide you. Try it on a small area or piece of old wood first.
I also like the idea about the painted stairs..I think I would consider restaining or pickling the risers and then painting the step with one of your colors from the paint palette you showed. The other problem that you are going to have is all the trim and woodwork which is so very dark. Is it stained? Is it old? I guess I would paint that trim and then go with the same for the bannister. Painted woodwork is much more period than the stained. All of our woodwork in our 1760's house is painted. All old wooden doors are pickled. Some of the corner posts and window sills are the old wood that is light and almost pickled look. I will send some photos. Good luck.
Meg- Benjamin Moore has a line of Historical paint colors to choose from. We have picked all the colors for our house there! If you go to a a Ben Moore paint dealer they may let you borrow a paint color book.
There are a lot to choose from in historic colors. We used Aura Ben Moore in the whole Kitchen, it's a paint with a primer in! A very nice product. I'd let the guy know what you plan on doing and see that paint will work for you. I painted the kitchen cabinets with it over a stain, seems to have worked nice.
It is pricey but you can take the color to another store and have them make it if you don't buy from them!
Probably not what you want to hear, BUT, I would leave it and put a lighter piece of artwork. Or paint the frame maybe. If anything I would go for something only slightly lighter than the wood so the contrast doesn't take away from the stone fireplace. OH WAIT! Paint the mantle!
I love the painted stairs idea, but make sure to prepare the wood so it doesn't chip or peel. Personally I think the mantle in a warm gold tone to match the tones in the stone would extend the fireplace (make it look like the fireplace goes up to the ceiling. Good luck! I'm sure you'll do a great job and it will look amazing, whatever you decide.
My first thought was the gray, but maybe you should just go with whatever strikes your fancy, the color you just plain like. It's such a small spot that changing it will be really cheap and easy if you don't like it. You could even find a fabric you love and use liquid starch to cover the area!
I think a cool gray stone color would be complementary to the room. Tim always chooses our paint colors because he's awesome at it, so I'm probably no help! LOL Have you thought about staining the stairs instead? With maybe a color stain, even? My first thought about the paint was it being slippery for little Finn booking it up and down. :) I'm sure whatever you choose to do will look great!
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