Going from white walls to dark blue / navy

[Annasgirl]

After 8 years of all white we are repainting the downstairs of our house. It is a 1930s semi with lots of period features and quite minimalist. However, despite my best efforts it never looks "pulled together" so I am thinking of going navy walls in the sitting room and living room (one north facing the other south) and grey / white in the hall (north facing with a striped stair runner)

Am I mad? Will I hate it? I have some nice original 1930's pieces of furniture and velvet sofas (more modern look) and pale original floorboards.

Thanks for any feedback from those who have done this.

Done exactly this in out 1950s semi. Obviously a bit biased but I love it. Sitting room done in dulux midnight jewel which is more bluey than a French navy. It's really cosy.
Hall is white with black stairs and patterned tiles. Very easy to clean

Sounds lovely. Rooms feel much cosier in deep colours. We were planning on F&B Hague Blue which is very deep but settled on a paler tone in the end simply because we wanted something warmer toned as we use the room a fair bit in the afternoon as well as the evening.
Get samples and paint large (A3 size) samples onto lining paper and stick multiple up around the room to help you decide on the best shade.

Yes it was Hague Blue I was planning on. Might get a few more samples. I think I'll go for it - it will make the antique china cabinets I have in the rooms pop a bit more I think. Now they sort of blend into the background.

Just need to convince DH.

Yep, our walls are dark blue/grey, until recently we had only one wall painted dark,but I thought it didn’t look right, so painted another two, leaving one white. If it was up to DH it would just be white everywhere, however, he really likes this colour. We used Crown’s Aftershow.

We have F&B Railings, which is basically black with a softer blue hue. We have a mix of mid century teak and Georgian mahogany furniture in our home and both look absolutely great against the walls!! As you say, it makes them stand out more and shows the furniture off better. Also gold little bits like photo frames and lampshade look great against it, and jewel toned velvet furnishings. Go for it!

Do it! We have Hague Blue in our living room (1930s semi) and I adore it.

I used Hague Blue in my living room and it's gorgeous. Needs good lighting but it's cosy in the evening and classy during the day. I have lots of golds and coppers in there, and dark wood furniture. One day I'll have a blush pink velvet sofa and a tan leather one, but we currently have a toddler so went for sensible grey!

It will make the room look very classy, but inevitably smaller. And in the evening it will be cosy rather than airy. I've been in quite a few of these dark painted rooms and they are great for entertaining but somehow a bit lowering in the daytime, daylight. I don't think 1930's houses were ever painted very dark colours on the walls, the details were heavier, furniture fireplaces curtains ornaments.

Having said that we have a dark green wallpaper in our hall which is very comforting and goes all the way up the stairs. But all our rooms are white or off white, and I've made the curtains creamier downstairs too over the past few years and less rich in colour. In a very large house with enormous windows, maybe a warm blue goes well, but it just eats up light in electrical light conditions/winter.

What about a warm grey stone/greeny grey/dark stone like the F & B dark offwhites instead? I feel with dark rooms you go wow when you go in, because it is "theatre" but then it is just draining for everyday life.

I think what is so great about lighter colours is that you get the play of light/shadows/movement which changes in the course of the day, with dark blue it is static. I do agree that plain white can make furniture look like clutter though.

F&B's dark colours definitely aren't static - Hague Blue runs from purple to green to inky in the course of the day.

My living room has a feature wall of HB and jasmine white on the other three so it doesn’t look dark at all, even though it only gets sun first thing. You could try one or two walls out first and see how you go?

I recently moved house and the quite big kitchen is done in dark blue. It's awful it sucks the light right out. Even with the huge fluorescent light it's dark in the evenings or on a dull day. I can't wait to get rid of it.

I suppose it depends on the setting and how much of the room is done in dark colours. Maybe look at paint books you get in diy shops or online to see what actually works for your room.
Of course if you love the colour it's your choice😀

Our Dulux Denim Drift living room. And we haven't got the Christmas decorations up, the only pictures I have is from when we first did it

Lovely room Hello

I’m painting the house at the moment. It’s all plastered so the worlds my oyster. I had always planned to do it white throughout with a few grey walls.. now I’m looking at the dark blues going ‘hmmmm’ but I’m worried about making it too dark. The rooms aren’t huge. Front of the house gets early morning -mid day sun. Back gets all the lively afternoon/evening sun. Or obviously it all gets drab grey for a large part of the year.

I’m struggling deciding on a kitchen too as I’m worried the charcoal/graphite cabinets might make it too dark?!

I know it’s only paint in the other rooms, but painting it all once is daunting enough (with a couple of mist coats and at least two top coats) I can’t face having to paint over a dark colour if I hate it 😩

I used Good Homes paint, fantastic coverage and good price in the colour Antibes

This is the colour, its very much like Hague Blue but much cheaper !

Sorry not very good pic of colour

Another one

Iv literally just done the exact same from stark white to navy and I love the colour! X

@slinkysaluki thank you, it looks lovely!

@Carrotgirl87. Love your colour too! What did you use?!

We've done ours Sapphire Salute - love it

You are welcome, its B & Q but honestly i was really impressed with it. Also used matt white same brand and that was fab too

Our living room in our 1930s semi has a dark blue wall. We went for plimsoll by paint and paper library, as I found Hague blue seemed to lean towards a cooler green tone in our north facing room. The dark wall really makes the room seem more cosy.

It sounds very dark and gloomy to me.
There is a whole palette or colour between a start white and a light sucking, room shrinking dark blue