Small Rooms Dark/Vivid colors?

[Tyler's Muse]

Hi there Group!
I finally made my move to Idaho this last Saturday from So. California. The movers got here three days early which would have been good news for some but we were intending to lay down new flooring and painting PRIOR to their arrival! EEEekkk what can I say, we have now move the boxes out, that they moved in and are ready to prep and paint. I have enjoyed more intense colors in my CA home (which was about 1850sq ft) and now have moved into a 1050 sq ft non descript cottage. I'd like to paint the walls in a colorfull way but I don't know if this will "close them in" and make them feel smaller. My furniture is already a bit overwhelming in the master bedroom but the other rooms seem that they might be ok. What is everyones theory on whether to go light, med, or dark in an already small room. I really need your help....I'm thinking of sage for the living room, a warm butter yellow for the kitchen, cherise with bright white trim in the bathroom. I'd like to use a medium terracotta in the master but would consider breaking up the living room walls with south facing walls being the sage and the north facing walls another color. Should I paint the cellings the color of the walls or should I keep them white (semi. gloss or flat)????????? See I really do need help :confused: Ut Oh think I listed under the wrong thread...srry :(

[Marybeth]

Dear Linda,
I am new to this forum, and your question immediately caught my eye. I have lived in a tiny 1,100 sq ft cottage for fifteen years now. When we first moved in I longed to paint the rooms vibrant colors, but followed the advice of well-meaning friends and family, who were of the "paint it white and it will look bigger" school of thought. In the past year I have decided to follow my heart in the color department and I painted my livingroom frothy hot cocoa, my kitchen cobalt purplely-blue and my bedroom creamy butter. I figured it was only paint and I could always paint over it. But let me tell you it is gorgeous! Everyone who comes in remarks how much they love the colors. So I say GO FOR IT. What's the worst that can happen? You dont like it, paint over it, but I bet you'll love it.
As a piece of "artistic" advice, cool colors can tend to make a the walls seem "farther" away, while warms bring them closer. I have found cool, matte whites work well on ceilings.
I have a home-based business doing watercolor home portraits. I also do other things like florals, etc. and they look gorgeous on my walls. If you'd like to check out my new website (forgive the shameless self-promotion. I am finally learning to market myself in tiny increments) it is www.cunninghamwatercolors.com
Good luck and happy painting! :)
Marybeth

[Lisa S]

Good luck on your new home!

When we first moved into our cottage, my eldest son slept in the small room downstairs while my husband and I took a large room upstairs. I never liked the idea of one of the kids sleeping on the first floor alone, so we traded bedrooms. I thought I'd miss having a big bedroom, but I was amazed that I LOVE the new one. We put a painted white bead board on the bottom 2/3 of the wall and painted the upper part of the wall and the entire ceiling washable flat mustard gold. It's gorgeous and cozy! The white bead board does a great job in breaking up the color.

I almost always paint walls in an eggshell finish, the ceiling in flat and trim in a semi-gloss

[Soleil]

Wow...that is quite a change...So Cal to Idaho!! I live in Michigan, and even though my 1926 cottage is 2112 SF, my downstairs areas can't be much larger than yours. I painted my home in bright colors. I don't care for dark, or too pale colors. I'm a color junkie...I would be depressed living in a beige home. We just painted our kitchen a couple weeks ago, and I love it. Here is a link to some pictures of my house.

http://groups.msn.com/LaMaisonDesSoleil/shoebox.msnw

Just click on an album to open and click on the individual pictures to enlarge or do a slideshow of sorts. I have pictures of our upstairs on another private site. I hope to eventually move the pictures so they can be viewed on my own site. Sorry if the descriptions don't make much sense. I belong to a decorating site, and I often post pictures here and ask questions to the group.

Keep us posted on your progress, and Welcome!

Soleil

[zuzus_garden]

Hi Tyler's Muse,

I wondered why you'd stopped posting - you were in the middle of a move!

Your color choices sound great, and I think you should go for it!

You asked Should I paint the cellings the color of the walls or should I keep them white (semi. gloss or flat)?????????

I think painting them white (flat paint) would help bounce soft light around. Sounds like you have a lot to do, but take some time to put your feet up, get online, and let us know how it's going!

Zuzu

[Tyler's Muse]

Thank you all for your suggestions! You said exactly what I wanted to hear, LOL. My fiance Tyler is color blind (for real) but is a big fan of color and asked that we go with the colors rather than the trusty whites and off whites. He liked the idea of the coco brown for the bedroom, you know... I like the idea too. I have a Sienna style wrough iron head and footboard with a white tulle canopy suspened from the celling. The room is tiny but I think it will be even more intimate. I'll keep the celling flat white as y'all suggested. I so appreciate your ideas and contribution. In addition, thanks for putting up with my inablity to spell correctly without Spell Check!