Mahoosive colour decisions to be made.

[freezingdrizzle]

And I am getting nowhere fast. I have our decorator arriving in 2 weeks to paint interiors of our newly purchased victorian London house, but i canNOT get further than the floor :(

The living room is South East facing with very large windows, and stripped pine floors - I want to paint the floorboards Railings (F&B), the floorboards carry on into the hallway, and we have wooden stairs in good condition, so I am thinking of painting a runner up the stairs (also in railings) But I cannot decide on the living room & hallway walls... I love Elephant's breath & Dove tail, but (and I don't want to offend anyone) I think sludgey colours look a bit old hat at the moment. Plus 50% of my good mate's have elephant's breath somewhere in their homes. I love the slight purplish undertones though. And I am not mad keen on cold greys.

I know this all sounds a bit rambling, but I wondered if anyone could throw out some ideas for our walls to go with railings wooden floors. We have some art and beautiful mirrors to go on the walls, but I want a really beautiful, perhaps a little unexpected background...

asking for the impossible. ?

are you not going to carpet the stairs? if not, it will be very noisy... personally I would put a carpet runner down.

I like the idea of dark painted floorboards in the living room though. But if you're doing something as dark as railings on the floor I think you need something lighter on the walls, elephants breath and dove tale would be too dark IMO. Also yes a bit muddy for my taste.

For something cleaner and lighter you could consider Cornforth White which also has the slight purplish undertone though obv a lot paler than dove tale. or maybe the new colour Dimpse. Also have a look at Little Greene Company eg Gauze or Welcome, helpfully these colours come in 3 levels of darkness/intensity. Sanderson also has lots of lovely colours as does Paint and Paper library (you might like their Marble or Lead colours, again these come in 5 levels of intensity).

thank you minipie. dimpse is a good idea... it is beautiful. I think I have a tester of Welcome somewhere. I wonder if blackened could work in the hall, then dimpse in the living room. yes i know the stairs will be noisy but that is what we are going to do for the moment. It is carpet-less at the moment and I really like it.

or perhaps a welcome deep in the hall leading to welcome in living room. it is rather a beautiful hue

thanks again

I have some black mice and a mouse hole ( black silhouette - not real!!) to add interest where you'd least expect it !! Always makes people smile when they catch a glimpse ! - amazon do self sticking ones if you don't fancy painting your own ! Add a bit of childish charm to an otherwise very grown up home !!!