Black bookcase in this living room? Also, paint ideas?

[Oztok5]

Hi All - I'm pretty new here, but I'm hoping to get your opinions on my new living room.

My DH and I will be moving into our first house this weekend, and I'm hoping to start things out on the right foot. We have a tendency to collect clutter that I'm working to combat, but I also completely lack any type of decorating gene.

We have this bookcase from Ikea (in the black/brown) from our old apartment. Our new living room has wood panels on one wall and hard wood floors. We will also have natural wood colored end tables and a wood chest style coffee table. Would it look weird to have this one black piece in the room? Would it make sense to try to paint it?

I'm not opposed to getting something different, but I would really like to buy used instead of new. I've been looking on the local Craigslist for weeks, and I haven't seen anything come up.

For the sake of completeness, our sofa looks similar, including the color, to this one.

I also have no idea what color(s) we should paint the living room, or the dining room and hallway that come off of it.

Here are a couple of photos:

Living room 1

Living room 2 (that wall is where the bookcase would probably go, and the room to the left is the dining room)

Dining room (which I also need a paint color for)

Entry hall (the living room is on the left)


This stuff is so confusing for me, but I know some people think it's fun, so I would appreciate any help/opinions you guys have!

Thanks for helping a newbie out.

[thriftyqueen]

I think you could use the bookcase in the living room. I think if you would paint the walls a nice warm tan color, you could use the black/brown as an accent color to play it up a bit. Maybe get some throw pillows that have the green of the couch, tan, black/brown and maybe another color in them. That way it would tie it all together. Maybe even a rug with some of those colors. I wouldn't worry about trying to paint the bookcase, just work with it.

[Amylcd]

I think the bookcase will look fine in that room.

[sagemomma]

i think the toffee color on this page would be gorgeous in the living room with the woodwork and the black bookcase , it's warm which will balance out the wood and black bookcase.
http://www.housebeautiful.com/cm/hou...aintbrush.html

[Oztok5]

I'm glad you guys think that we can work with it. I think a warm tan sounds like like something nice to consider.

Sagemomma - Do you know the number for the toffee color? I looked through the list, but I haven't found it. (I like the site by the way!)

[WeasleyMum]

Absolutely! I think black really helps to 'ground' a room, although as PP have said, it looks even better against a more neutral background than white.

[Aeress]

I remember someone (christopher Lowell maybe) saying that black can help anchor a room. So you could add a few other touches of black here and there- like a pair of metal candlesticks or a small vase etc

[Oztok5]

Originally Posted by brendon

I remember someone (christopher Lowell maybe) saying that black can help anchor a room. So you could add a few other touches of black here and there- like a pair of metal candlesticks or a small vase etc

I have two table lamps with black bases. Maybe they would work? Also, the tile at the base of the fireplace is black so that may help.

Do other folks think that a warm tan color would be the best way to go? I would have never thought to paint the room tan, but like I said, I have zero experience with this sort of thing. I think I might like it, but I'm a little afraid that it will look like it "matches" the paneled wall in a weird way. Does that make any sense at all?

Thanks for all of your advice!

[nathansmum]

I think it would be great too and to just repeat the dark colour elsewhere in accessories. What is the white around the fireplace made from? The white is quite stark and I wonder if that can be painted in a darker colour (something like a dark grey/taupey brown colour to blend it in a bit? I think a darker/warm colour behind the wall of the bookcase would look wonderful and quite dramatic. I like brown/neutral tones in living rooms with dramatic accents. Another colour to perhaps consider is a deep sage colour perhaps?

[Oztok5]

The white around the fireplace is brick, so I think it could definitely be repainted.

When you mention the darker color on the wall behind the bookcase, are you suggesting painting the one wall different from the other three?

I'm a huge fan of green so like the idea of a sage. I wonder what sage walls with a dark gray around the fireplace would look like? Would sage walls with my sageish couch/chair be too much green? I guess it probably wouldn't be if everything else (except for accents) was wood colored or black... Hmmm...

[sagemomma]

the paint number is 3001-3b . hope you can find it this time the room is number 8 in the sample images .
that site is great i think it's one where you can upload the pic of your room and choose different paint colors to see what you like

[~PurityLake~]

Wow, what a beautiful house! all that woodwork and wood floors!

[Oztok5]

Thanks sagemomma - I found it!

So the three options I'm thinking about now are:

1) A yellow/orangy tan like the toffee cream that sagemomma suggested

2) More of a warm brown tan

3) A sage color similar to 6002-4b ("Garden of Paradise" on the website sagemomma linked to, room number 8)


Thanks for the compliment Purity Lake! It's our first house, and we're excited to move in and make it home!

[sagemomma]

or you could do the tan (in the same color family as the toffee cream) on 3 walls and then do an accent wall in the toffee.
or the same thing with a sage accent wall and tan

[Oztok5]

That's an idea... Do you think it would look odd to have an accent wall and a paneled wall? So there would only be two walls the more neutral tan color. Do you envision the accent wall as the longer wall across from the fireplace (with the entrance to the dining room), or as the wall that the bookcase would be on?

[sagemomma]

i think the wall behind the bookcase would be a great accent wall. and i think 2 walls painted and then an accent wall would be great. lemme take a look at your pics again and get a better feel for the room .

[sagemomma]

where are you standing in lining room pic 2?
do you have 2 paintable walls on either side of the panelled fireplace wall. if so i would say accent the one directly across from the fireplace to keep a sense of balance .
that way it would be fireplace, a tan wall on either side, and then accent color acrosss from fireplace

[thixle]

:
I have the same (real) wood panelling, and the same color woodwork. I looooove it
I put a pale yellow in the kitchen and I'm leaning toward a sage-y green in the LR, but Dh wants some type of red....

[Oztok5]

Originally Posted by sagemomma

where are you standing in lining room pic 2?
do you have 2 paintable walls on either side of the panelled fireplace wall. if so i would say accent the one directly across from the fireplace to keep a sense of balance .
that way it would be fireplace, a tan wall on either side, and then accent color acrosss from fireplace

In the 2nd picture, I'm standing at the entrance to the living room from the hallway. The fireplace/panel wall is on the right side. The wall on the left is one of the two long walls of the rectangular living room. So, one of the long walls would be paneled, the other would be the accent wall, and the two short walls would be tan maybe?

I talked to my DH, and he likes the idea of the sage green. We got some of the little paint samples, so we will take them over to the house tomorrow and see what we come up with!

thixie - I'm glad you're loving your paneling! I think I will really like mine once we get everything set up.

[sunnysandiegan]

I approached our house painting a little differently. Every room behind a door that can be closed is a COLOR (I like bright colors. ). The rest of the house is a light, warm, neutral color that DH vastly prefers (the paint color is Behr Innocence, but the paint is a high-quality Frazee brand). All ceilings and doors and trim (baseboards, door casing, etc) are the same throughout the entire house. I chose "cool" colors for resting rooms and "warm" colors for active rooms. (I accent with the opposite "cool" or "warm" colors to keep the energy flowing.) We how our house feels now!

From what I can tell in your pictures above, your new home looks all white with the beautiful warm wood doors and trim and floors. I would choose a main color for the entire house before I chose colors for specific rooms. It is easier to choose colors once you have a main color. For a main color, I would choose one that looks good with your wood tones throughout the house. That white everywhere is too stark, IMO.

In your living room, where do you want the focus? Currently, the focus is on the fireplace, but there really isn't anything else in there! Do you have any special artwork you'd like to showcase? Do you just LOVE your sofa? Do you plan to display beautiful items on your bookcase? Your answers to those questions would determine where I would go next in this room.

Just a little food for thought...