Painting Livingroom

hi patti,

my name is L. H. and i am interior designer that does painting and i make custom draperies ...i would love to help you with your living room i think you are working in the right direction, i love your color scheme, sound warm and beautiful...i have a website where you can go and look at my work if you like hawthornepainting.com please call if you have any questions ###-###-#### and cell ###-###-####

Here is a tip: consider using a pale subtle shade of lavendar on the ceiling. It has the effect of "sky" and doesn't overwhelm the room with color. It ties in the other lavendar and eggplant shades beautifully! I did this in our master bedroom and it is gorgeous! I painted the walls a coffee color with one sage green acent wall. Then I used eggplant, sage, and some mustard colors in the drapes and the linens. Eggshell paint for the crown molding and trim. While that sounds like a lot of different colors, it all blends well and makes a stunning room. Good luck!

Hi P.,

I think since you mentioned that you need paint, furniture and drapes, I would pick out my furniture first, drapes second and paint last. The furniture is probably going to be with you the longest and cost you the most $. (So you have more options with the furniture if you do it first.)

After you buy your couch, bring in a cushion to put up to the drapes that you are interested in while at stores. See how it blends. Do the two compliment each other well? Then bring the cushion and drapes to a paint store for opinions from the people there. The paint stores I've been in are very helpful when they can see what you are going to match it up with. You can buy a small can of paint for $5 and paint just a small section of a wall .... maybe the wall near your drapes or couch to see if you like it. (Then if you do, then you go back to the store and buy how ever many gallons you need.)

Good luck!! (I love the color sage, too:-)

I LOVE the color sage. Sounds like it's going to be beautiful. I would do all the walls sage, furniture maybe dark brown leather and the drapes a lavender. Or if you could find drapes with all three colors in them would also work.

If you want to make a wall the focus of the room, there are many ways to do so.
You can paint it a different color, although you need to balance the color with another wall as well usually.
If you are going to do drapes in lavender, that is great, how far are they away from the focal wall?
What I would suggest either way, is to take the focal wall and make it stand out one of many ways. Color, or what's on it. I have found, especially with big walls that you want to focus on, that using a painting either framed or just painted on the wall, can really make it shine. Make sure that the painting pulls all the colors in together to pull the room together. I used to sell paintings, and you can put any paintings up together that you want usually as long as they are the same colors, or pulling colors from each other and the room. You can also tell a story with the paintings. If you can find some to match a story. You can pull in much of a wall by doing this.
You could even make the paintings whimsy with the colors that you are using. I can see a white gazebo, with a woman in a dress and trees around. If you can find a painting like that, you can pull the sage from the trees, and hopefully find some lavender in there as well.
Remember, you have to like it as well.
You can find paintings at starving artist shows all over the place and they aren't very expensive at all.
As for the furniture, if you are using brown for the floor, I would suggest something to match the floor. Or something that is close but stands out on it's own as well. Make sure it has enough or not any color that if you decide in a couple of years to change the walls, that it will still match. Maybe stay with a neutral color, light brown, beige or even a green that will go with the walls.
You could even due blinds, white or creme, and use a valance in lavender at the top to bring out the colors that you want. And use a very pretty rack to hold the valance with.

Good Luck and I hope you get it all put together.

We recently painted our kitchen cabinets and walls. This website had so much helpful information, I thought I'd share it with you. There's even a paint forum. These people really know their stuff and have lots of experience with various products. Hope it helps.. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/

I paid a color coordinator a ton of money, then hated the colors and chose my own. When I was done I laughed to see that the colors were the same as my purse, my car, my sweater and my favorite bedspread. Lesson: you know what you like, more than anyone else. You'll need to stay in the same color temperature (cool vs. warm), and paint stores have brochures with blends that work.

Don't fear color. I truly believe this notion that deeper shades make a room look smaller is a falicy. Deep colored ceilings in a dining room can be dramatic and inviting (mine is merlot, up against a sage wall) and people never want to leave the room.

What can be expensive is too much trial and error. You might surf around for a decorator, looking at her other work first.

Have fun! I wish I could come help!

____@____.com

Hi P.,
If you would like some help, I would be more than happy to help you!
Look at my add in mamapedia under In Balance Decor. I would love to come over and see what you got, go over your samples if you have any and help you make the best choice possible. You are right when you say that it will be costly and you want to do it right, so why not try to save as much as possible but still keeping good quality. Please call me at ###-###-#### or email me at ____@____.com so we can set up a free consultation!!

looking forward to hearing from you!

G. Berry
In Balance Decor

Hi! My name is A. and i am an interior designer and mamasource member--I can do a consultation (for most areas in the metroplex) for 85 dollars--we can make a master plan so that everything is coordinated and maybe use things you already own in new ways! Please call and/or visit my web site--akcustominteriors.com. Thank you!