Best colour for a dark north facing room with little natural daylight

[whatsthetimemrwolf]

Hi,

I'm after a colour for our living room which is north facing and has very little natural light. I want to lighten the room but am unsure if I should go for a white-ish colour or more creamy (like Farrow and Ball house white). Any ideas??? DP off work and wants to start painting today!!

Thanks

[Pannacotta]

F&B String is good in a North facing room, its a warm neutral and goes well with many other colours.
IMO white is too cold in a room lacking sunlight.

[TracyK]

I'd go for a creamy colour - though tbh - your lighting/lamp shades may 'colour' the room as you may have to have them on all the time iykwim.

I think I tried F&B House White or is there a farmhouse white? And it was quite yellow for me.

[MadreInglese]

I'd go for a creamy colour and a large mirror on the wall opposite the window

[whatsthetimemrwolf]

Thanks ladies - we decided to go for a creamy colour after your advice.

Pannacotta - I tried string but thought it may have been a bit dark as its not a very big room, but I'm determined to put it somewhere in the house as I love it!
TracyK- definietely didn't want a yellow look so decided not to go for House White and your right we definitely need lighting on most of the time so plan to get some nice uplighters at the weekend.
MadreInglese - love the idea of the mirror opposite the window, thanks!

We decided on Crown Period - Old English White, the first coat has gone up and it actually looks lovely, bright and warm.

[GrendelsMum]

Hope you don't mind me chiming in with this one - I'd quite like to paint a north facing study quite an intense colour, but not yellow or off-white. (The north-facing bedroom above it is probably going to be off-white. Whole house is yellow at the moment and I'm rather bored with it).

Are there any other options for colours that might work?

[colditz]

I'd actually go for something of a very warm peach.

[Pannacotta]

Grendel I love dark rooms painted in rich colours, esp if they are used at night.
A mid tone grey could work too, F&B Charleston Grey is very sophisticated.

[TracyK]

I might give your suggestion a try Pannacotta.
I'm going to decorate my bedroom soon and had been going to do the bed wall in a charcoal wallpaper - however I am now ordering a black velvet headboard and think maybe a grey wall will be the way to go - for a contrast.

So I'll have a look at Charleston Grey - is it quite a dark grey? thanks

[Pannacotta]

I think it would look very good with a black velvet headboard, in fact we are also going to have a velvet headboard but I like pale grey (where are you getting yours from btw?).

In terms of colour, it is mid to dark I'd say, it looks very much like this in the room we have used it in, which is dual aspect North and West.

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=4.bp.blogspot.com/_xVSixRGjVZE/Snm_K_VR9XI/AAAAAAAAALI/RvfXKZwiiR4/s400/charleston%2Bgray%2Bfarrow%2Band%2Bball.jpg&imgrefurl=lifebeginsatthirtyright.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html&usg=__yk7vtF-7dADvhoZKa3fUYXfNKe0=&h=400&w=347&sz=19&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Q6JV4HaNO-RaKM:&tbnh=166&tbnw=144&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcharleston%2Bgrey%2Bfarrow%2Band%2Bball%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D653%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=134&vpy=68&dur=1328&hovh=241&hovw=209&tx=106&ty=110&ei=md3vTLHcD4KFhQfLzsG7Aw&oei=md3vTLHcD4KFhQfLzsG7Aw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=4.bp.blogspot.com/_xVSixRGjVZE/Snm_K_VR9XI/AAAAAAAAALI/RvfXKZwiiR4/s400/charleston%2Bgray%2Bfarrow%2Band%2Bball.jpg&imgrefurl=lifebeginsatthirtyright.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html&usg=__yk7vtF-7dADvhoZKa3fUYXfNKe0=&h=400&w=347&sz=19&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Q6JV4HaNO-RaKM:&tbnh=166&tbnw=144&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcharleston%2Bgrey%2Bfarrow%2Band%2Bball%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D653%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=134&vpy=68&dur=1328&hovh=241&hovw=209&tx=106&ty=110&ei=md3vTLHcD4KFhQfLzsG7Aw&oei=md3vTLHcD4KFhQfLzsG7Aw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

[TracyK]

oooooh - v. nice.

I'm ordering my headboard from www.headboards.ltd.uk - have had some material samples from them (v quick service so far) - but can't decide how tall to go!

I'm just a bit concerned that the black silk velvet I like might be a bit 'shiney' - it's not really a matt velvet. But the lighting isn't great in my bedroom - so might be ok.

As usual - am dithering.......

[mosaica]

Hi,

Just for info, I've got my headboard from headboards ltd and I'm really pleased with the quality and service. It looks more expensive than it was and I'm very pleased with it.

In terms of the height, we went for the 30' option as we have a superking size bed and we thought it would look better with a taller than average headboard. Now I regret it a bit as I think it is too high. It would probably seem even higher if you have a king bed. So unless you like unusually tall headboards (which many people do), I would advise you to go with the standard height.

Let us know how it goes!

[noddyholder]

I think it is often better to go with the dark and create something evening-y and atmospheric.Our whole house is white apart from the living room which is F and B brinjal.It is so cosy at night with indian lamps and fire lit I really recommend a dark colour