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Last month we started our basement renovation with the main purpose of having a specific office/craft room area for French Press Knits.
We were moving right along but it has come time to pick out colors. You'd think that after painting 9 (yes, nine!) swatches on the wall we'd be closer to picking a color... not necessarily! We are leaning toward the light color around the outlet in the second picture (Cappuccino White by Glidden). The basement is a large area, so there may be a few different colors- but again, that is yet to be decided.
Any advice, any tips? Do you have any rooms that you *love* at the moment? Throw up a link, I would love some inspiration!
![](<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/purchase/melynda-bernardi-designs/32049"><img src="http://www.ravelry.com/images/shopping/buy-now.gif" border="0"/></a>)
I would totally recommend a light color for the basement... either yellow or bright whites, or something like that. We love our yellow basement. For a place that doesn't get as much natural sunlight, it's really important (for us) to have a color that doesn't make it feel underground.
ReplyDeleteI quite like that color as well (the one around the outlet). I like to paint the walls in neutrals and then let the accessories do all the colour talk. Easier to change a pillow than re-paint a wall!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing your finished reno!
The green and the brown go together really well. (I'm biased with my love for green, but really, it's gorgeous.)
ReplyDeleteI never pick a color for a room until I either find furniture or curtains so I don't have to try and find something to match my paint colors. It is so much easier to match paint to fabric than it is to match fabric to paint... think about it!
ReplyDeleteI agree that picking colors is the hardest thing to do, but right now i am totally into whites and lt beiges so i think the color you pointed out would be my pick too!
ReplyDeleteI would steer away from the bright yellow. Yellow that bright tends to cast a sickly glow on everything. If that's where you are going to be crafting, I would recommend a neutral color so your fabrics, yarns, papers, etc. look the color they are supposed to look. You could always paint three of the walls a neutral and have the back wall a darker color. I really like the beige around the outlet and the perriwinkle together.
ReplyDeleteAll the colors are lovely but I'd stick with something light. Our basement (painted by the previous owners) is a crimson red. I LOVE the color but it makes an already dark room that much darker. For a workspace you'll want something that really maximizes the light.
ReplyDeleteI think that light cappuccino froth color around the outlet is perfect, but that's just me.
ReplyDeleteWe recently bought our first home and took on the ambitious task of painting every room in the house within a week and a half. I learned a LOT about selecting paints in that week. (We ended up having to re-paint a couple of times because some of the colors were just too bright)
I like the bright, light color to the left of the outlet... kind of a flourescent lavender! It would reflect alot of light in the room, and let your yummy yards glow :)
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ReplyDeleteSorry - major spelling errors up there.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually loving my living room re-do and the Martha Stewart Bedford Grey we painted on the walls. Goes nicely with a lot of different color schemes.
Having gone through a basement renovation myself, I recommend staying away from anything with yellow or golden tones to it. We chose a color that would look fabulous upstairs but looks horrible with the flourescent lights in the basement. Here is a suggestion: Paint the top half or two-thirds in a white and the bottom portion in a neutral tone.
ReplyDeleteSo many colors to choose from! I live in an apartment and we aren't allowed to paint the walls (ugh), so I have *no* experience in this area. Good luck, I'm sure you'll pick something great!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kelly - use mostly neutrals so it doesn't impact the colors of everything you will be using to create fabulous designs!
ReplyDeletei love the yellow :)
ReplyDeleteI'm biased... I like the beige on the left of the yellow in the second picture. I picked a very similar color last fall for my basement for two rooms. It was called Champignon (Mushroom) by Glidden. In one room, I have a light fake wook floor and in the other one (bathroom), it's blue (close to the blue of the names on your blog roll) ceramic. It's very neutral and relaxing without being boring. I'm really satisfied! How nice that you are preparing your own office/craft room! Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI'm all for some color! Pick something that makes you happy, you deserve to love that space every time you step foot down there!
ReplyDeleteI really love the yellow, but reading some of the other comments, I could see where maybe it would make things too dark......maybe a color that matches the blog outline here - the nice creamy color - and then you'd always know what it's going to look like when you post your lovely knits? :) good luck and have fun!
ReplyDeletejust an opinion on one of the colors: I had a kitchen/living area painted in a color similar to the grey-green/sage green color you have there (at least it looks similar in my monitor) and it ended up making the room a lot darker and moodier than I expected. it always bummed me out a little. the cheeriest happiest color I ever had a room painted in was a bright pink-orange poppy color. that was my favorite room in the house.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the light color you mentioned. A darker accent wall would be a dramatic touch without influencing tones and values of fibers or other projects using color. Good luck...a fun project!
ReplyDeleteWhy didn‘t you choose a wallpaper? Maybe one like the background of your blog? Even if you do only one wall and the others in a matching tone you will get a cozy room.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend picking your two or three favorite colors from your existing swatches. Paint bigger swatches with your favorites and then see what the light does with them over the next few days. Even if you have no direct light coming from outside windows, the contrasts between the lighting and colors in other the other areas will show up. Then pick the one YOU like best.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to say that I have great words of paint wisdom but, at this moment, we've had 7 paint "swatches" in our den for about 2 years. I'm looking forward to seeing what you end up with...and hearing your sage words. :-)
ReplyDeleteColours will look very different depending what they are next to, so consider the colour of your (finished) floor, ceiling, furniture and light.
ReplyDeleteAlso, no matter what colour you paint it, the room will feel warmer and cozier with warm light (like regular bulbs with warm toned lamp shades, halogens, or regular mini lights, etc.) rather than cold blue-toned light (like flourescent, led, some enrgy efficient etc.)
A light neutral color in most of the room would be good to keep the room from becoming a cave. But having one wall that is dark and neutral like grey or greyish blue will help for swatching dark colors. They will make the stitches stand out a little better. It will be easier on the eyes.
ReplyDeleteI have a new kitchen and when I decided to choose the color for the walls I fell in love with the Tuscan yellow on the walls at Panera restaurants. They wouldn't tell me what the color is called so I went to Sherwin Williams and found a bunch of samples. I went back to Panera and couldn't match it perfectly. I settled on a color called Rio. It is absolutely gorgeous and everyone that comes into my house loves it. As the light changes during the day the color morphs too. It is a warm and inviting color and as a chef I spend lots of time in there creating.
ReplyDeleteaccent walls! when i first moved into my apartment, i knew i wanted some bright colors (i live in alaska and winter is LOOONG...), but i didn't want it to be too overwhelming and painting all walls make the room appear dark. so i painted a wall here and there of a bright turqoise color. it provides the right amount of color. maybe do a few colors that look well together. it will also give you a few different color backgrounds for yarn colors and FO photos!
ReplyDeleteIf you want to go with something bold, do just one wall in that color and do the rest in a white or off-white. I've seen that work well before.
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