***Help*** Need decorating help! Total inability to visualise!

[ladymuck]

I have a large open plan living area, which is effectively the size of 4 rooms. However there are only windows on one wall. This means that two "rooms" within this area, being interior, are quite dark - these rooms are the living room and the dining room. The other half of the space is brighter having the benefit of the windows, french doors and also skylights, and this area is home to the kitchen and the playroom. At some point in the next couple of years the playroom will be converted into a more formal dining area, and the current dining area will become a breakfast room.

Currently the whole space is painted a light lemon colour. I need to repaint - do I go for a lighter colour or a darker colour? I'm guessing if anything to go for lighter one as anything else will be too dark? Is white too much (especially as I'm repaiting due to the numerous child-made marks that simply won't come off...)

I appreciate that there may be an obvious answer - I'm just one of those people who is really bad at visualising stuff like this.

get a patterned wallpaper with a slightly darker print to go on the lighter side and then paint the darker side with a lighter but complimenting colour.

does that make sense? it does in my head but not sure when writen down?

try "Crown rooms in colour" - you can download it from the Crown website, then outline the areas you want to paint and try different combinations. great if you can't visualise!

I think I follow - but the entire house is painted rather than papered (we also don't have any carpets anywhere, but I appreciate thhat is a different matter).

here

...obv you need a digital camera

Thanks. It is only letting me put up one photo per room, so it could be fun, but it is a start.

Mind you I liked the blurb at the start - how you end up thinking it is too difficult and return to the idea of off-white! Pretty much where I am!

Some of the newer paints are scrubbable so you can wash off fingerprints.

Yep, I'm definitely aiming for something more suitable this time.

Mind you I painted ds1's room with the Dulux family proof paint, and it is very plasticky - you can almost peel it off!