Inspire me with paint colours for my living room please!

[canigetaliein]

About to repaint the living room due to some damp but stuck on what colour/colours to choose.

Currently pale grey (my fave colour) but bored of it now as grey is everywhere.

Think white will look cold as it’s a large room, south facing (edwardian property).

Like dark walls but again think I will tire of it as it’s so popular.

Was thinking of maybe a putty shade or a very pale green. Does that sound mad?

Thirtyrock39 rolling fog was the putty coloured I was thinking of.

I’m not a fan of green ground, it feels a bit wishy washy for a living room. The ‘ground’ colours on F&B charts are so named because they pick out the base (or ground) colours in f&b wallpapers. They are good as woodwork or accent colours if you’re using a complimentary wallpaper but can be a bit meh if used alone. I’d probably go for vert de terre instead, it has a bit more gumption but it’s still light toned.

What’s in the floor?

I definitely wouldn’t have green ground if you have a bold navy sofa to make it work with.

*on the floor

canigetaliein I have a similar room to you, currently mine is stone by Homebase, yy the rolling fog is similar but a bit darker I think, I’m currently toying with going F&B Mizzle as it’s a green/grey.
I used the LG eue de nil in my kitchen a few years ago, was quite a strong green but not dark.

Not doing any wallpaper just paint. I love wallpaper but don’t fancy it for this room. Good to know about the accent colours so thank you.

Floor ideally would be wooden with a rug but I may go for a nice carpet. I’ve got young children & find carpet more comfortable to sit down with them & less upkeep.

Should I paint the alcoves the same colour, I think yes.

We're in the middle of doing our South facing kitchen and dining room in rolling fog pale. It was white and painfully glary with the sun shining in but the rolling fog takes away the stark ess whilst still being lovely and warm on a dark day like today.

Also I have a tester patch in my hallway of oval room blue, I can take a pic tomorrow if you like, I decided against it as it doesn’t look that different to the dark grey that I have already, but my hall is quite dark so would look lighter in a room with more natural light.

We've just painted our Edwardian living room F&B Ball Green. It's gorgeous, every day since, whenever I'm in there, I admire how well it suits the room. It's got a neutral feel, but warm - classic, not too fashionable but still in keeping with popular looks I think.

dontcallmelen that would be much appreciated, thank you.

Thanks for all the suggestions, it’s the most stressful thing choosing colours but also the most fun. I have another sofa that I bought for 30 euro’s in France that I need to reupholster but need to paint first.

👍🏼 Will do, light is going now so will do in the morning.

We just repainted most our home in Dulux Egyptian Cotton---love it

👍🏼

I’d do alcoves in the same colour, yes (I did). I’m not keen on feature walls.

A grey green like Card Room Green (another F&B!)? I have painted furniture with this colour and it's lovely in a period setting. I think it'd be ok with navy furniture.

We used Teal Tension by dulux for a walk in our lounge. I love dark colours. Grey is nice but it’s the new magnolia now IMO!

Slipper Satin is a lovely white, and also Clunch. We have a little bit of blue linen in the lounge furnishings and it works well with natural linen colour furniture and Slipper Satin. We also have lots of pictures on the wall, and another sofa which is a fairly dark pink. I am tempted to reupholster one armchair in a dark navy fabric one day. We originally had Skimming Stone and Elephants Breath in this room but it was just too much going on by the time the fire was lit etc. I think plainer walls that you can build up are a lot more calming than lots of colour on all the walls.

I do agree with a PP that f&b colour mixed isn’t as good as f&b paint, but when there is a £50 difference per tub of paint, it’s a good compromise. Depends on budget I suppose. We live in a working farmhouse so there is no way I can bring myself to spend that amount of money on f&b paint just to watch it get scuffed/dirty within months. Especially for the more neutral colours!

I do have quite a few prints & photos that I will put back up.

I'm going to start sounding like I work for F&B - which I don't - but if you get modern emulsion it's matte but way more durable to touching and scuffs and mould-resistant too. Unless your house is humongous, I think budgeting a bit more for F&B is definitely worth it, especially when amortised over however many years until you next redecorate.

durable is good.

I would also recommend Mylands, it’s very hard wearing & has a good flat/chalky appearance, covers really well & is easy to work with.
They don’t have such a colour choice as F&B though.

Yes I used Mylands in the kids room & it looks good but limited colours.

Yes it’s a shame, as I actually much prefer Mylands to F&B.

I’ve got good old Dulux Crushed Aloe on one wall. It’s very calming and quite warming in a north facing room.

Like you OP, I have navy top cupboards in the kitchen area and one wall is painted a denim blue. That room faces south.