Originally Posted by Barb in Louisiana

What I see is that you have too matchy, matchy of a house. There is no pop. The walls sort of fade into the floor. Everything seems to be beigy and soft. You don't have anything that says "Look at me". If yours was my house, I would try some pops of color. Some dark woods. Some bright paintings. Bright throw pillows. Buy something you can take back if you hate it. I find that color of light camel yellow is hard to work with for me. Something in a taupe or sage green would be easier to work with in my opinion and be more warming.

Now, having said all that. Let me tell you about my house. People walk in my front door and find a room that has Burnt Orangey Pink walls, light beige floor with a dark green sofa and see thru navy blue sheers over the large double windows. I, also, have a Medium oak Bombay chest with a mirror framed in black over it. A Fleur de Lis rug, light brown with darker brown framing covers part of the floor. The two chairs are medium oak, one with a rust cushion and the other with a dark green, but not the same green as the couch. We have covered at least 50% of the walls with photos of our children and grandchildren. All the frames are dark. To be such a dark color wall, it is surprising how the whole effect is calming.

To the left, is our living/den. It is painted a sage green, white tiled floor, red print rug with a flowery couch that is going away soon. I want a camel or brown solid color. All my pictures on the wall are large, full of color and framed in dark frames that pop against walls.

The next room is our Dining room. It is painted Ford engine blue. Yep, you guessed it. Hubby picked out color and had it half painted by the time I got home. It was a surprise, but it works. My dining furniture is medium oak and the floor is light wood. The table and chairs sit on an Indian style rug, that is beige in the middle and a dark blue frame for the outer boarder. There are some red and green flowers and leaves in the rug. My valances over my double window are framed in dark green, with red and blue Jacobean flowers. We have white baseboards all through the house.

Then you go down my hall, which is a textured wall that shows tones of tans, lights and a bit of rust. The bedrooms are full of color too. I know that all this would sound garish to someone else, but my home is welcoming, definitely not bland and the exact opposite of yours. A lot of people prefer matchy, matchy, calming, but I would never get a warm, exciting feeling from it.

My husband and I have tried to change the entry room paint several times, but nieces and nephews and our children all say "no". They love it when they come to our house. It's rich looking even though the cost was minimal. It makes them feel good and me too.

It looks like you have been trying to figure out what to do for a while. I wish you luck, and hope that you find what you are looking for.

Originally Posted by illinois

I know the trend is to colors and some are ridiculous nowadays. How often do you want to paint or have to go to extremes to cover up what is there?! I still like white walls as I can change decor without thinking what will work. I believe it's Benjamin Moore that makes a "color" called Navaho White. In my experience this one will pick up the color of what is in the room without actually changing the paint color. Example: If you use a green bedspread, the paint will take on a bit of a green hue. Plus, having white walls helps with selecting colors for quilting fabrics as there is no reflection from colored walls.

Originally Posted by RugosaB

Shades of a color sounds lovely. I was in a home in San Francisco, one of those 'painted ladies' of a friend. I couldn't quite figure out how inside was all together but different until the owner told me the inside of the house was painted 33 shades of green!

Not paint related, but that wall that you said was in the place of the railing in the photo? Great place to hang a large quilt. If you already have something that you would like to showcase, consider the colors in that

Originally Posted by KenmoreGal2

If I understand your house description, I grew up in a house like that. Do you have one wall which runs front to back and serves both the living room and dining room? If so, I echo someone else and think painting that one wall a contrasting color could be interesting. I'm thinking something that goes with the other walls but has more punch to it. You could pick up that same color with accessories too.

(I lived in that house in the 70's. We had multi colored daisy wallpaper in the kitchen and white/gold flocked wallpaper in the other rooms. Ugh.....)