How would you do this room?

[thenewaveragebear1983]

As always, cannot make a decision without the advice of mumsnet!
I've bought my paint today- valspar luxurious grey (which is like a pale taupe-y mushroomy colour) and an off white. Curtains are a muted duck egg blue. Which walls would you paint which colour? It's basically a square room with archway into diner and has chimney breast on one wall and disused chimney breast on the other (eg. Alcoves on both opposite walls) - is there a 'set way' to paint?
Also, I have bought a dark wood stain for the fireplace beam and am thinking of whitewashing the brick.

I would paint them all the same colour.

Would you atticus? I am tempted to do the grey all over but worried it might be a bit too dark in the corners.

I think if you have a white ceiling and woodwork then a mid grey can look lovely all over. I have my snug in malm which is a fired earth colour. It is a really nice cosy room.

If you are going to use two colours, then use the darker one on the non chimney breast walls if the paler walls will have things on them, such as shelves in the alcoves. What colour is the adjoining diner?

Can uou put a picture of the room up? Hard to tell otherwise...

I painted bricks white once it looked rubbish. I'd suggest you paint them dark grey or black.

I usually paint the chimney Brest the darker colour.

I would also paint every wall. If its valspar paint you can inject a bit More white in it and make sure its a light tone.
I love grey and a lot of my house is grey but i got caught before by picking a shade that was too dark. Lighter is better for a lounge.

Wow thanks for your replies! Here is the room

The floor is tiled in off white marble look tiles, and currently they have to stay. The adjoining diner is banana yellow at the moment, I will be doing it in the same colours as this lounge. It's a huge room (6m x 4m) and the diner is 7m x 4.5 m, with bay window in the lounge and patio doors in the diner. It's a pretty bright room- I am very tempted to go all over grey....

I would adjust the tones.

Use the darker toned grey in the darker of the rooms and then take the colour up by adding white and use the paler colour in the other room. Ive done the same in my snug and kitchen and it all tones but isn't "the same" IYSWIM.

Personally I would put up deep coving and a picture rail about 30cm from and paint the rail and everything above it white with the mid grey underneath but your house looks very modern compared to mine. I'd definitely paint that brick though. You have absolutely nothing to lose there I'm afraid

I'd paint the chimney breast in the grey , or even that wall and keep the rest light,,,

That's not a bad idea atticus, so perhaps create a mid tone using the grey and white so I have 3 colours within the two rooms?
I am so out of my comfort zone here! It is a modern looking house, but is actually 1930's so a picture rail could also work. We had rails in our old place and I loved the contrast on the walls.
Love MN and its food for thought......

There are various things that make your house look very modern, the lack of any "trim" to use the American phrase (coving, picture rails, architrave etc), the boxy fireplace and the floors which are quite unusual for this country in a living room.

Your furniture however isn't particularly modern.

I'd spend a while flicking through photos on Houzz.co.uk (or personally I prefer Houzz.com but I like the US style) and whenever you see a picture of a living room/dining room that you like save it to a Houzz ideabook. Then go back and look at the photos you've saved. You will probably see themes emerging. So for example when I did it there was a lot of wood panelling and New England styling. This helps you to pinpoint what you really like.

Then you can work with that to style your home appropriately. If you find that you like homes with different coloured walls then go with it - it's your home after all. I do think all one colour is a much more up to date look though.

You're right atticus. The whole place is bare. We only moved in on the 11th Nov but the lady who lived here before had obviously been very minimalist. Big bare plain walls all over the house, no clutter, no curtains, nothing. It's very odd and quite soulless so I think that's why I'm struggling to put my own stamp on it because it really is a blank canvas. It really is a beautiful house, with lots of architectural features like original stained glass and arches and a split staircase, but currently it's just like a big empty box!
Thanks all for your suggestions

Just an update- I went for the grey on the chimney breast and the cream everywhere else. I am thinking of doing more grey than cream in the diner area. Excuse the bad lighting and the cans of paint in the hearth!

Looks fab bear. I moved just before you on 24th Oct, I remember reading your posts on moving support thread, you finally got in then ! I'm trying to decide on colours for my small lounge, I want a light grey, am thinking Goose Down from Dulux. I'm going to put mustard accessories with it to brighten it up. Your room looks great

What grey did you use I really like it

It's from valspar at b&q and it's called luxurious grey. It looks slightly mushroomy brown but it's a lovely warm grey. The colour changes a lot during the day so it's probably worth doing a tester and seeing it in different lights.

Hi, i know this was 4 years ago but any idea what colour cream it is? We are trying to do our living room and can't seem to find the right valspar cream colour