Redecorating - dark colours

[Ms Sunflower]

I've had an interior design book about decorating using dark, statement colours for a while. I love the ideas in it.

I'm turning over a new leaf to be braver and happen to still be decorating (I'm a slow decorator, it might all be done by 2009) While dark indigo with warm terracotta/wood accessories in the room looks great on paper - will it look daft in a real house?

I'm going to try I think. I've used red on 2 walls in the lounge and totally love it. Although some people wouldn't as it's fairly stark against brilliant white on the other walls, with nuetral carpet. I can escape the pitfall of looking smaller ect I think in the particular room.

Anyone else stepped outside the boundries of pale interior walls, or just outside what they'd normally do? And how did it turn out?

ETA - Oooh! Look right and down - the 'Ask anything' pic of the woman on the blue background. Well that's the kind of blue I'm on about.

[Adelelee]

My living room right now is cherry red walls (wallpaper) which has a hint of gold in.

Also my new bedroom I have cream walls and then the main chimney breast is chocolate brown which (even if I say so myself :wink:) looks lovely.

Go for it :thumb:

[*kate*]

I'm another colour experimenter :smile:

Our living room is the colour of hot chocolate, but when I first had it done it was hot chocolate with one chocolate coloured wall. I only changed it because all of the various children through the house had put their grubby sticky little fingers on it :rolleyes: - dark colours show grubby fingerprints more than light.

Our lobby is forest green, and I'm going to have the stairs and landing decorated in this colour as well. When our family room and kitchen is built I'm having berry red on some walls too, but teaming it probably with cream.

I think the key to dark colours is to have a light flooring colour and neutral accessories. I really really like darker colours, looks lovely in the winter and cool in the summer and set against white/natural woodwork looks fab.

Go for it!

[scrobble]

Another experimenter here! Mr Scrobble said that when I chose the colours it was like a child drawing a house when they pick all the bright colours out and colour each room in differently!

Our lounge is an L shape, so we painted the longer walls 1 dark blue shade and the shorter ones a slightly darker blue, and also have a dark blue carpet. We painted the skirtings silver and have red and dark wood furniture, silver lighting and terracotta-y tiles on the fireplace (these were put in before we lived here).

Our hall is a Crown colour called 'Armagnac', which is a kind of grape-y purple, and we have a crimson carpet in the hall and landing.

The kitchen is a Mediterranean orange with cherry wood units and a black marble effect lino, the utility is a bright sunshine yellow, and the bedrooms are pink, green and mauve (1 colour for each - not all together!)

In fact, the only room that Mr Scrobble was allowed to leave how he wanted it was our bedroom, and it's the least colourful - everything in it is black - carpet, curtains, bedding...I just keep hoping that one day he'll let me put something colourful in it, even if it's just purple or dark red!