(no subject)

[parthenia]

HELP, OH F-LIST ESPECIALLY THE DECORATORY TYPES AMONG YOU

What colour should I paint my incredibly dark and narrow hallway, stairs and landing?

This is currently white with added mudprints and child gloop. Carpet is grey-brown with 20 years of wear and tear. Am planning to change the carpet too.

I have a colour chart book with about 10 000 colours in it, and right now I'm sorely tempted to stick a pin in and go with that.

Comments

[ruric.livejournal.com]

Have a look at Dulux.

They now do a "light refracting" paint which really does make a hell of a lot of difference to darkish hallways.

They mostly come in shades/tints of white - but the "warmer" whites. My walls in the living room and hallway are painted in two different shades of the light refracting ones.

Good luck!

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

Me and little E. have acquired a couple of tester pots. I shall thwap it on the walls and see how we go.

I think it's actually a more complicated decision than I've realised because the real question is 'what colours shall I choose for the walls and the floor?'

One thing about your walls is that even though they are very light and bright I think of the hallway as very non-Ruric (cos Ruric is all about intense colour). Well, maybe not intense but very definite.

[ruric.livejournal.com]

Heee - the intense is interesting because I started out bueing much more about the very light tones (whites with a hint of yellow, fawn etc).

The rock you back on your ass bright tones didn't come into play untilI did the major redecoration of the cottage back in the very late 90s *G*

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

Ok, I have now tried out 2 testers and also chosen a new carpet which is a kind of warm beige. So far, I'm liking the pale apricot that I tried, but I'm wondering about painting one wall of the hallway a deeper colour - a pale sandy/apricoty gold. In my thinking so far, the wall to the R of the front door, and the facing wall at the top of the stairs would be painted this colour, and the other wall - the long wall that continues up the stairs - would be in the pale colour.

Am I going mad? Planning to buy some more testers later.

[ruric.livejournal.com]

Horrendously late in responding - my excuse is that I've felt (and still feel) like crap *G*

I think you could definitely get away with painting one wall a darker colour. A friend of mine did (but the opposite way round) - she painted the long wall which ran from her kitchen through three floors of the house, a darker colour, Kind of linked all three floors together.

Did you choose in the end? The colour combinations (carpet and paints) sound fabulous.

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

Painter's coming on Wed. Carpet is booked in, I just have to finalise the colours. I chose that way around because the wall by the front door gets the most marks. Not sure if it will look odd at all, as they really are two different colours.

Feeling better??

[anthimaeria.livejournal.com]

How about pumpkin? I like unusual colors, probably from living in too many apartments all painted the dread eggshell white.

Perhaps you should get some additional lighting for the area to brighten it up.

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

It's a very narrow corridor. I have tried orange colours in the past but it's difficult to judge well as the darkness makes your initial colour choice go darker by about 2-3 shades. I quite like the idea of sand, though, which is pumpkin taken to its paler limits.

[amelia-eve.livejournal.com]

Obviously something light and bright. I will arbitrarily suggest robin's egg blue, knowing nothing else about your home.

Less arbitrarily, if you are facing lots of color decisions, I strongly suggest a little Japanese book called Color Image Scale that is based on some kind of mind mapping technique about what emotions are elicited by various color combinations. It's a brilliant design tool. The only time it has ever failed me was when I was designing a poster to invite people to join our congregation at church. Apparently "Welcome, Stranger" is a concept that does not exist in Japan. For everythinng else, your marketing savvy brain will eat it up.

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

*nods*

I have used that kind of blue in the past, but I chose quite a harsh tone of it. I'm also finding it quite hard to get past the horror that is the carpet (grey/brown with added mud)to visualise a different scheme.

Ooh, nice tool. Thank you.

[psychochicken.livejournal.com]

Definitely light and bright as just about everyone else has said. Don't assume light means pastel or pale though. We have a lovely deep leaf green in our hallway now which satisfied both my love of intense deep colours and zantic's desire to have the hall brightened up.

Haven't tried the light refracting paint but I'm a little sceptical...

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

Green would be interesting. I wonder if there's such a thing as a warm pale green? It really is horribly dark (and cold *brrr*). Unfortunately some of my previous colour excursions have been disastrous, so I'm now pretty damned careful about using the tester pots.

[psychochicken.livejournal.com]

The colour we used is called 'Bespoke' (stupid name - nice colour) in the Crown 'fashion for walls' range. I looked it up on Crown's website but with the vaguaries of monitors and stuff it looks nothing like it there, so I suggest a colour card or a sample pot. It's lovely. Rich yet light and whilst not hugely warm, not cold either.

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I like the Crown site. And I rather like that colour (http://www.crownpaint.co.uk/scheme/1007/bespoke.htm) although clearly the monitor is really inaccurate.

[ruric.livejournal.com]

The light refracting ones are quite subtle. You don't so much notice it as being obvious when youh ave a whole wall/walls - but try two tester post side by side - one light refracting one not and there's quite a difference, expecially under natural light conditions.

I was really surprised *G*

[jonem.livejournal.com]

I'm having to throttle my inner urge, conditioned by two decades of RAF Married Quarters, to shout 'magnolia'!

But it is a classic for a reason...

Failing that, yellowy-gold. It'll cheer you up, if nothing else. And I'm intrigued by the idea of light-refracting paint!

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

We've used a lot of yellow (specifically, pale yellow and blue - very 80s I suppose) so I've been trying to break from that with a different colour. Gold rather than yellow might work.

[aubrem.livejournal.com]

butter yellow

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

I love yellow, but we've rather overused it around the house. Sigh.

[deililly.livejournal.com]

Pink :P Little E will love you forever.

Will admit I am not the best person to ask that one though since our hall is currently extremely purple with silver paint. :P

[parthenia14.livejournal.com]

Oh. my. word. Little E would love you for ever.

[deililly.livejournal.com]

Think she would be more taken with my mother's notions of colour schemes. :P When I was away she decided to paint my old room Barbie pink. She loved it but I was fairly grateful to give it up and move into the next room (jade green) The pink room was like waking up in someone's mouth...