Hi Annie, I came across your blog awhile back and I love it!
My boyfriend and I bought our first place here in Canada last April and have been struggling with a colour for our kitchen/dining/living area ever since….the current shade [of green] is Benjamin Moore’s Wind Chime. Unfortunately, I absolutely hate it…
Now I am leaning towards a neutral taupe/beige with the longest wall behind the table and couch a different colour. My boyfriend prefers more colour and I gravitate towards neutrals and light and airy looks. Either way, I am doubting our ability to choose at this point!
The hallway is Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray [HC-173], so I am hoping to find something that goes along with that as well…Maybe even a bossy one for the boyfriend. ;)
Hope to hear from you and please keep on blogging!! – Amber
Dear Amber,
First of all, thank you very much for hosting the Olympics. That was so kind of you, and we all had a really nice time. I’ve even recovered from the men’s hockey final.
You and your bf have a wonderful, contemporary look going (please tell me you tidied up for the pictures, or I’ll send a St. Bernard to muss things up a bit), and I agree with the basic premise of neutrals plus accent wall behind the table.
(To pre-empt a certain reader from the Pacific Northwest, let me state officially once and for all: bossy color has never held a sweeping anti-accent wall stance. I oppose the ABUSE and MISUSE of the accent wall. As would any compassionate human being.)
For the accent color , it would be tempting to suggest a deep pink or orange, but your pub table will show up better against a cooler color. Let’s leave green out of this, since that didn’t work out well for you…
How do you feel about purple? You have a teeny tiny purple bowl on your table…does that hint at a larger love? (I’ve been known to read into things, though. Ask any of my art history professors.) The right shade of purple could walk the line cool and warm, and it would look beautiful with your various woods.
Benjamin Moore’s Affinity Color AF-630 Kalamata is rapidly becoming a bossy color favorite. It’s very dignified, with a lot of grey in it. Boyfriend-friendly.
If Kalamata is too deep, test-paint AF-635 Bonne Nuit, also, which is much less intense. Greyish, brownish…it’s really lovely.
As for the neutral, did you already consider bringing the HC-173 Edgecomb Grey in from the hallway? I LOVE that color (have I done a Best of Bossy’s Colors on that yet? Hmmmmm…), and it would be lovely with the purples. You have so many perforations in that long wall – windows, French doors – that a light neutral is definitely the way to go.
If you want to experiment with something slightly warmer, look at OC-1 Natural Wicker. Another fantastic neutral: warm, but not too yellow.
Ok. So now you’ve laid down a solid, warm, fairly neutral, cohesive palette. What next?
Shots of color, my friend. Shots of color.
Red. Think red. And orange. And a little tiny bit of purple, but you don’t have to get overly matchy-matchy with the purple wall. That might be too much for even your accommodating, colOUr-loving boyfriend.
I understand it can get quite chilly up there, so you may want to keep the cushy rug. But if you do consider replacing it, please consider red. Here’s but one suggestion – the Squares Rug, made in the Netherlands. (Through ModernRugs.com, which my friend Rachel Perls of Hue put me onto.)
Regardless of what rug you’re working with, you WILL need some non-neutral pillows to liven things up. I happen to be deep in pillow-land myself right now, both personally and for clients, so here are a few –
The Red Silk Knot pillow cover from Conran:
The Aubergine (and maybe the Hot Red) Mongolian Sheepskin pillow, which I stumbled across on Overstock. (Or a fake equivalent, if you don’t do animal hide/fur.) Please promise me you’ll consider this! So perfect for your look! So cozy! And a great way to involve purple in a masculine way.
Go for solid colors with texture, or a simple, bold design element…such as the Heart Pillow, a Luke design, from PillowHappy (Etsy):
And finally, if you’re feeling sad that the Olympics are over, if you’re missing that sense of national pride that the Olympics brings out in all of us, SewHappy (also through Etsy) can help:
I hope this helps, Amber! Please let us know what you decide.
Picture of Canadian hockey victory from gnews.com.
