Hague Blue-rs, any regrets?

[Kescilly]

We have a small dining room that I’d really like to paint Hague Blue, but I’m wobbling a bit. I find the lack of sunlight in the winter difficult and wonder if a small, dark room would be depressing for me. Or would it be elegant and cozy? It’s a modern property, so no tall ceilings or gorgeous architectural features.

I've painted our sitting room in stiffkey blue which is pretty dark. The room only gets morning sun too.

I find it's a bit dark in the summer but we tend to spend more time in the kitchen and garden then.

It's lovely and cosy in the winter though, I've even put a dark blue sofa and a green sofa in there but lightened it with cream plain curtains and table lamps.
I like strong colours though and haven't yet found dark colours make rooms smaller, more that they are cosier.
If you haven't got architectural features just add lovely light pictures, good light window treatment and table/floor lamps. It'll be really nice!!

I used to have a dark dining room and it was lovely but I found I was avoiding it because it affected my mood. Now it's white, and it felt like my mood lifted as soon as it was painted.

I’d say that ideally you need plenty of windows and bright white architectural stuff to keep it from being oppressive.

That said - I once painted a tiny, dark, low ceilinged flat in a combination of Fired Earth Charcoal and Carbon Blue. It was glorious and I still miss it years after I moved out.

Are your other rooms light and bright? That might work.

@purplegreen99 I think this is what I’m afraid of. I know that I’ll like having dinner in there in the winter, but I worry that it will feel too oppressive the rest of the time.

@Grauch we haven’t done all the rooms but I’m planning on keeping them all fairly light. I like a lot of bright colors so anticipate on having a lot of bright accessories around the house.

@greenstripeytop that sounds lovely! I did wonder if I’d like it in the winter and not the summer. We’ll need to use the room year round so cant just keep it cozy.

It’s not a great picture, but it will give you an idea of the room.

i.imgur.com/mP6jvj0.jpg

I’d go with red there. Would you consider it?

I have nothing against red (had a whole room red once), but I think I'd like to keep this room more subdued. If we don't do dark blue, I will likely go with a warm light grey or off-white. Maybe something like Ammonite.

There was a few reasons I suggested the red. I think it’s s nice colour in a dining room, I think it’s good in a dark room also, it’s nice and warm. I read s post about it a few months ago, I will try to find it for you.

Benjamin Moore does some great reds and there is a really lovely red in farrow and ball but I don’t have the chart in front of me now so I can’t say the name. It’s a big risk alright.

I think dark blue in a your dining room would make you not want to be in there very much. I do like that colour though.

Our new house had the dining room in a very similar colour. It is a north facing room and felt very dingy. However the carpet and ceiling were also the same colour so a bit more excessive!!

It felt like we'd switched on the lights when it was painted white.

I do love the colour though so i would just go for it if I was you. The wort that can happen is that you have to repaint.

My dining room is a few shades up from Hague Blue but it is south facing.

It is lightened by the fact that the table is light oak, as is the sideboard and the door/architrave/skirting are all brilliant white. The roman blind is also white.

I am thinking of putting in white dress curtains. I want a white table but can't justify the expense as the chair legs match the table.

I think lighting would help, low cosy lighting for dinners and brighter lights for lunch. Just a thought.

At the end of the day, it is paint. It is very simple to change if it doesn't work out. It is the reason all my rooms are painted and no wallpaper because changing it is relatively simple.

Thanks Yodel, that sounds nice. I’d definitely do light curtains if we did this. I think I’m overthinking this because the paint is more expensive and this particular color is unusual so I’d want true F & B. Plus we still need to paint the majority of the rooms here ourselves!

Ah well, I might go for it anyway. Even if my MIL thinks the current yellow in there is too dark

Hague Blue is beautiful and you should go for it! (You'll always wonder if you don't...) I have used it for my kitchen units and I really love it.

The trick is to make sure you use other colours to 'pop's against it (hate that phrase but you know what I mean). An obvious way is to use lots of white - white trim, white table linen, white framed picture gallery etc. Big colourful paintings would look great against It, as would metallics.

Thanks! I already have a simple mirror with a brass frame ready to go. The coving and trim is white.

Is the estate emulsion just asking for trouble? Should I use the modern emulsion?

Whichever is the most matt. Good luck with it!

I'd go for modern emulsion but my family are filth pigs.

The estate is more matte so it looks really nice, but I’ve heard it marks really easily. We don’t have children but I don’t want to be stressed about the walls getting marked all the time by guests either.