decorating living room,help me please.

[Debris]

It is a totally blank canvas, has been re plastered. It is a 1920s build house,was a very dark room before and want to keep it as light and bright as possible, whilst keeping it fairly practical, as have 2 dds and two terriers.I have the fired earth paint chip chart,have bought 4 matchpots so far,at 3.00 a pop !I like white ochre the best,but what to have on ceiling, skirting picture rail? there are loads of off whites, or should I just use white ? Ive looked at the ivory type colours, but will that look much different to magnolia ? ! Im dazed and confused. Have any of you lovely ladies used fired earth paint? We are going to put a wooden floor down, and possibly have a wood burner in the fireplace,just to give a slightly bigger picture. I do quite like period style,with a modern twist.

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My neighbour spent days dithering over colours last week - getting everyone's opinion, buying about 15 matchpots, agonising over every nuance of shade. She finally chose a colour and even she will admit that now the whole hall and stairs has been pained in it, it looks like white... You can overcomplicate these things.

I tend to like the shades that are a up a notch or two - stronger than off-white, but not pastel. we have one that is the palest lilacy grey in the front room. It's very versatile - goes with olive, greens, cream and purples that we have atm bit also yellows, browns. V light reflective.

What sort vf soft furnishings do you have or are yoy planning to get?

Yes, I can totally see that, Im more of a bold colours person myself, but I do see that we need to go lighter in this room,but they are all white or cream basically arent they ? ! My mil was banging on about how she had painted her kitchen in 'pointing' by Farrow and Ball. Its white.Its like a case of the emperors new clothes. Its driving me mad, can you tell. By the way, ' white ochre 'is actually green ! So bloomin confusing.

Sorry my message crossed over,was replying to lalalonglegs.Not sure about soft furnishings yet.

We have a shade from Homebase Period range called Ostrich Plume in our kitchen and hall, and I will do my living room the same.

Its a pale grey/whitey stone sort of colour, very matt, chalky but seems to change depending on the light.

I have wooden floors too, and white doors and woodwork. I really like the shade and the quality of paint is good.

i would choose sofa first as easier to work out paint in relation to that

personally usually find whites a bit stark in living rooms, especially if there is any dark wood about

think ceiling skirting rail etc best in white though

Agree with Mazzystar that you should choose sofa first, and curtains too if you are having them. There's less choice and they are expensive so difficult to change if you get them wrong.

I have Fired Earth paint chart next to the computer and think that White Ochre looks really lovely. Was going to try to suggest some alternatives but I like White Ochre the best. Maybe Tufa or China Clay if White Ochre looks a bit bland on.

Thanks for help ladies.Birdyarms, Ive tried white ochre on the walls and Im pleased with it, what would you go with on the ceiling, skirting and picture rail ? Thats where Im coming a bit unstuck at the moment, all advice gratefully received, thank you !

I think that I would just go with white for everything else. We did our bedroom an off-white colour with darker paintwork and I was disapointed by the painwork. Don't think that you can go wrong with white.