Paint colour for ds' north facing bedroom?

[ShoeWhore]

Ds is 9 and wants his bedroom to be more grownup.

We fancy some nice bright colours in there - splashes of bright orange, lime green etc. I am thinking perhaps navy/denim curtains (although open to other ideas!).

Bit stumped re wall colour though. Would prefer fairly neutral walls as we may move next year. Also the room is quite big and has high ceilings so I think a whole wall of orange would be a bit much.

The room is warm and cosy but a little on the dark side. Any ideas?

There are some nice 'warm' pale greys around which combined with white doors/ceilings etc could keep things light but give a modern neutral background for offsetting bright colours in soft furnishings etc..

Something like this?

Just done something similar for my boys. I used Dusted Moss 3 Dulux. Great foil for brights. Check it out second post down on my blog... Www.colporter.tumblr.com the tongue and groove pic shows it best.

I like lilac and navy.

DS1's room is north facing and he has 3 pure white walls and one dark blue. I think we could have got away with another blue wall actually or a contrasting colour

Ooh good ideas! Don't know why I hadn't thought of grey, I suppose I might have thought it would be too dark but it looks great in those photos.

Would navy curtains still work do you think or would they look odd with the grey?

Is Dusted Moss 3 what you would describe as a "warm" grey do you think? I hate choosing paint colours! (Nearly) always get it wrong lol.

Ds1's bedroom is north facing and doesn't get much sunshine into it unlike Ds2 who also has a north facing room but that gets loads of sunshine.

For Ds1, he has acid lime green walls which was scary when I first painted it, here scroll down till you can see "kiwi burst 3" and the background colour that fills the screen is the kiwi burst 3.

His curtains are navy blue whiuh breaks up the green, and his bedding was from Next which was predominantly navy blue with stripes of lime green (matches the kiwi burst 3) stripes of orange and a muted yellow.

I then bought space invader stickers are did one wall in those. So although his room is green his bedding, curtains, and furniture break up the colour.

We are getting him new bedding next year to freshen it up but keeping it the same decor wise, his bedding is this

Grey is a tricky one, my house is on a north/south axis so the same colour can look totally different depending which room I use it in. Pale grey could make it look sad and cold in winter.

This webpage might give you an some ideas. Pick a duvet cover first, then pick colours out of that duvet cover as either painted walls or other accessories. here then it all comes together (I did a crash course interior design as a night class many years ago)

Another tip is to paint a tester pot in the corners of rooms so that you can see how the light works on the different walls. Or paint pieces of A4 paper and then put those onto the wall, again in the corners.

It isn't just about colour but the tone of the colours ie navy blue and pale yellow do not go, the yellow would need to be a much richer colour.

Orange and navy do go, as does the lime green. That is why I suggested choosing a duvet cover first as someone has already done the hard work for you putting the different colours together. Good luck!

Yes Dusted Moss 3 has a warmth to it. We have orange and yellow accents on the cushions as you can see in the pic but he also has a navy and white chunky knit striped throw on his bed which works well. I think it would look good with Navy curtains. Trust your instinct!

You need this thread!

Yes denim would def work with grey, or even lime curtains etc. most bright colours would go with grey.

I've just done DS's (11) north facing room and it's been transformed. I bought these curtains www.johnlewis.com/little-home-at-john-lewis-finlay-stripe-pencil-pleat-blackout-lined-curtains-blue/p284676 and matching duvet and have used the same green on two walls, the darker blue on the chimney breast and then the light blue on the other wall and chimney recesses. He LOVES his new room and it looks very grown up now and so much warmer than before when it was in lighter colours. The green is a really lovely warm lime green - Dulux Zesty green 2, I seem to recall.

More good ideas - thank you. Choosing the duvet cover first makes absolute sense, will start there.