Single hen

[Snowy]

OK, so here is the dilemma ... do I paint one wall in my lounge bright red or not?

 

Long thin room, windows both ends so quite bright, no chimney breast (otherwise I would do it in a flash!) Just ordered a new conker coloured leather suite so need to redecorate before it arrives (OH is well known for his liberal paint application technique ). Walls going to be a shade of cream (as yet undecided) but I want a red wall. And I don't want to have to do it again if it looks awful. I want the lounge to be warm and inviting - reds, pinks, golds, browns - via cushions and throws. I was actually thinking of a deep cranberry colour, rather than scarlet red.

 

This is the wall in question:

 

Opposite wall:

 

Any opinions gratefully received! Thank you!

Edited December 22, 2008 by Guest

[Joojoo]

Go for it I intended to paint my chimney breast in a lovely red and ended up painting the whole room in it. It looks fantastic. Everyone that comes round loves it, but are always too scared to try it themselves.

 

The colour I chose is called Lulu and is a Crown paint http://www.crownpaint.co.uk/colour/510/lulu.htm

 

It doesn't look that bright on the net but it is

 

I've got 2 conker coloured sofas too and they go really well with it.

Edited October 4, 2008 by Guest

[jlo]

No idea. I am rubbish at decorating but I am sure that whatever you decide will look good. I have got the same coffee table and baskets as you though!

[Snowy]

Go for it I intended to paint my chimney breast in a lovely red and ended up painting the whole room in it. It looks fantastic. Everyone that comes round loves it, but are always too scared to try it themselves.

 

The colour I chose is called Lulu and is a Crown paint http://www.crownpaint.co.uk/colour/510/lulu.htm

 

It doesn't look that bright on the net but it is

Oooh, I looked at Lulu today but thought it might be too pinky - will get a tester pot, thanks Joojoo!

[Joojoo]

Go for it I intended to paint my chimney breast in a lovely red and ended up painting the whole room in it. It looks fantastic. Everyone that comes round loves it, but are always too scared to try it themselves.

 

The colour I chose is called Lulu and is a Crown paint http://www.crownpaint.co.uk/colour/510/lulu.htm

 

It doesn't look that bright on the net but it is

Oooh, I looked at Lulu today but thought it might be too pinky - will get a tester pot, thanks Joojoo!

 

You definitely won't regret it. Even my Dad loves it and he is 82 You might need to try a few tester pots to get the proper effect. For some reason whenever I take photos in the lounge it looks bright (fuschia) pink but it definitely doesn't look it when you see it in the flesh so to speak.

[abwsco]

We've red and stone in our lounge and love it We only painted our alcoves red but did the gloss red as well and then bought red curtains. Loved the red so much that we've also done one wall in our bedroom red.

 

Only advice I would give is to try out tester pots as we found that some didn't dry into the nice red we wanted. We went for flame red.

[Old Speckled Hen]

I have a similar room with 2 chestnut coloured sofas

I painted ALL the walls in a very red terracotta and everybody says it looks wonderful.

Ceiling is white with oak beams.

[jlo]

Just a thought - put the tester pots on bits of paper rather than the wall itself. If they are quite dark, it could take a bit of covering. Probably trying to teach grandmother to suck eggs there - sorry if that's the case!!

[Old Speckled Hen]

Just had a thought

Aren't there decorating websites where you can create a virtual tour of what you want to do?

Worth a google?

[chickencam]

We have one wall painted in a colour called New York which is Crown fashion for walls, it is a dark bluey gray and i thought it would be depressing but teamed with pampus coloured other walls it looks great.

 

We went for scarlet in the sofa in our dining room which we use as a TV room, which is through sliding doors off the lounge it has the same pale pampus walls as the lounge and is so warm and inviting also have stunning red rug

 

We all need some colour in our lives, go for it

[Snowy]

Thanks all!

 

I hadn't thought about putting paint onto pieces of paper rather than the wall - I was just about to start splashing it on the walls

[Seagazer]

Daughter has Lulu (her nickname) on her bedroom wall, I'd say its quite raspberry. We have I think its called English Fire Red or something like that on one wall and biscuit on 3 others in our bedroom. When the painter called me in to see it the first time it actually made me step back but I absolutely love it now.

[Snowy]

Daughter has Lulu (her nickname) on her bedroom wall, I'd say its quite raspberry. We have I think its called English Fire Red or something like that on one wall and biscuit on 3 others in our bedroom. When the painter called me in to see it the first time it actually made me step back but I absolutely love it now.

I've got testers in: Crowns Fireside and English Fire; Dulux Roasted Red and Redcurrant Glory; B&Q Autumn Red. They all look gorgeous in the pot - think I may do stripes!

[MedusA]

Go for it Snowy, but just one word of advice. Dark colours make a wall "advance" and light colours make it "recede", so a long red wall might make the room appear narrower. It's a lovely warm and cheery colour though. Just what you need for the long dark nights ahead.

 

I'd love to have the guts to paint my dining room red.

[Snowy]

Go for it Snowy, but just one word of advice. Dark colours make a wall "advance" and light colours make it "recede", so a long red wall might make the room appear narrower. It's a lovely warm and cheery colour though. Just what you need for the long dark nights ahead.

 

I'd love to have the guts to paint my dining room red.

Ah, now thats the sort of thing I needed to hear! Would it look OK if I painted either one or both of the narrow walls red do you think? I did wonder about painting a centre panel of the wall red, but thought that might look odd. What a dilemma!

[Christian]

We have a large, relatively wide, lounge/dining room and recently painted the chimney breast and far wall in Cuban red from B&Q (i think, so many paints I lose track). The key to painting a dark colour on a wall is to make sure it has a light source of the opposite wall.

 

We have french doors on one side, so painted the opposite site red. It does bring the room in slightly, but makes it so cosy and warm. With the fire lit it feels Christmassy all year (not a bad thing in my book)!

 

Good luck with your choice!

[Lesley]

I agree, it can make your room seem smaller but if you have plenty of light sources - which I think you said you had - then it will make it feel cosy. I'd probably paint to whole lot!

 

I once painted a whole room deep violet apart from one wall which had a matt silver paper (with a geometric small squares pattern as in a damask cloth sort of way) - sounds odd but was certainly different!

[Cinnamon]

Personally,I wouldn't

I am not too keen on the one bright wall thing myself.

 

I would go for a colour on all the walls which is not so bright or dark,just a nice warm glowey sort of shade.

My living room is painted a lovely warm soft gold colour,which looks great with my dark brown suite & wooden floors. its not a bright shade,so doesn't make the room feel small,just lovely & cosy.

 

You can't see it very well & it looks lighter here, but here is a piccy anyhow

 

[Chickvic]

We had a new kitchen fitted (white) and we painted the wall behind the cupboards and the opposite wall in autumn red (B&Q) and the long wall in magnolia, the wall opposite the magnolia has the windows and patio doors so there's plenty of light and I love it! I must admit when we first started to paint I thought it was too dark but after a couple of coats it looks fab!

 

 

It does look quite dark today but the weather is appalling and we've got a gazebo outside the kitchen windows for the chickens

[Olly]

not much help,Snowy - my last house was painted entirely in magnolia! I'm always too scared to use anything stronger, but I am very envious of friends who use it. One of my friends has painted her (huge) Victorian dining-room in Farrow-and-Ball 'Eating Room Red' and it's gorgeous.

 

Some of you Omleteers have lovely houses! I don't think interior decoration is my thing.

This house is almost entirely white, and I am really trying to be braver and add some colour.

 

There is a 'Paint your Room' thingy on the Dulux website, you can upload photos and you could try playing around with that. Just go for it - I know you don't want to paint it twice, but if you really don't like it then it just means a weekend with a big bucket of magnolia.

 

(Edited: sorry, it's Dulux not Crown that lets up upload photos, edited to correct!)

Edited October 5, 2008 by Guest

[Snowy]

Oooh, I am torn now! I was counting on good advice from Cinnamon - Sarah, that was not what I wanted to hear! Trouble is I want to do it, so don't really want to hear that I shouldn't (does that make sense?) but I know it is a risk with it being such a big, long wall. But I'm not going to be happy until I've tried it am I? We are just going to paint over the wallpaper (too lazy to take it all off) so at least if it looks awful, we just strip the wall rather than waste loads of paint going over it again. I'll show you again when it's done and you can help me decide whether to repaint or not! Red paint here we come!

[Cinnamon]

Its always worth a try!

 

Anyhow,I wasn't saying you shouldn't,just that I wouldn't if that makes more sense

I hope it goes well

[Snowy]

Its always worth a try!

 

Anyhow,I wasn't saying you shouldn't,just that I wouldn't if that makes more sense

I hope it goes well

I know, but I do like your style so was hoping you'd like it

Actually I've just had a look at the crown paints room painting tool - it does look good with one wall done, but rather worryingly, it looks even better with the whole room red! Am I that brave do you think!

[Seagazer]

The thing is its not permanent is it, you can always re-do it.

 

My hubby once bought some wallpaper without consulting me . It was an icy blue sort of colour and our living room didn't have much daylight. I told him it wouldn't work but he put it up anyway. It lasted a day I think before I made him take it down - it was awful. Mind you I did the same thing in this house and got a colour that I thought would work but once I started painting realised that it was too cool a shade - no-one to blame but me for that one

 

Go for it

[Joojoo]

Am I that brave do you think! [/color]

 

 

Yep You might find that it doesn't look right with just the one wall, so you might have to keep going. That's what happened to me, but the whole lot done looks stunning and although it is darker it's a lovely colour whether spring, summer, autumn or winter.