I won’t lie and say I wasn’t completely overwhelmed when we moved into this home. We had a lot of empty rooms – the place was virtually a blank canvas. I would lie in bed at night scheming, my mind jumping from one possibility to the next. I’d browse through home decor stores, snapping many pictures of things I loved as I went. Later, I’d review the images thinking of where each item would go and I’d get twisted and turned as not many of the things seemed to fit together.
And that’s when I realized. I had not chosen a colour pallet!
There were two givens I had to work with. The colour of the floor and the colour of the walls.
Our floors are a dark walnut stained oak. Our walls are so similar to Benjamin Moore HC-81 Manchester Tan that they might actually be HC-81.
And so that’s where I started. These colors are earthy and natural, neutral yet surprisingly far from boring. I instantly thought of green to compliment. From green I went to purple (green and purple together just makes me happy) I knew I also wanted to bring in a bit of grey – it’s so trendy and as well, a little brightness…some yellow/gold/citrine.
Here’s where I arrived:
This is my base room….ready for finishing touches and styling. It’s a little tough to tell from the photo but the carpet is more green than brown in real life. I need some throw pillows on the couch and want them to be purple – it will help tie in the grey and purple chairs which may seem a touch out of place however, what you can’t see, is the dining space that’s on the other side of the house from this living space. That’s where my newly refinished dining hutch sits. I’ll show you how it makes the chairs belong better next week.
I also have a wall treatment to show you soon too (it’s above the purple chairs right where my splotches are in the photo.) It helps make the space feel more complete and brings in more of the colors of the room.
To Get This Look:
- Benjamin Moore Paint – HC-81 Manchester Tan
- Couch – Home Evolution – $1990
- Single Chair – Urban Barn $927 (it is almost 6 years old…but they still have a very similar style. Also we bought a demo model for less)
- Area Rug – Home Depot $649 (can’t find this pattern online anymore 🙁 )
- Pair of Chairs – $25ea on Craigslist plus $75ea in materials)
- Curtains – Lowes $49/panel (again, can’t find this pattern online)
Benjamin Moore has an exciting new rooms by colour tool on their website that will help you put your own colour palette together. Go check it out – it’s a lot of fun!
NOTE: None of the furniture shown was provided nor was I compensated in any way by the retailers. I spent all my own pennies picking these things out. Benjamin Moore has chosen to sponsor my site and a series of posts in upcoming weeks. I hope you’ll enjoy the content as I’ve been working really, really hard to put it all together for you!
I need all the help I can get! I love the Rooms by Colour feature!!
Love the Rooms by Color tool. I so need that!
I love that Rooms by Colour feature too! My only problem is that I change my mind a bazillion times–my color choices depend on my mood.
I get that way too but then I think about how I need to live with my choice every day for a long time and it brings me back to earthy neutrals
I need to redo a couple of rooms in my home, and definitely will be trying out the Rooms by Color tool!
good luck!
I love the colors you have chosen! They are nice and earthy and natural, the rug is beautiful, can’t wait to see what you add!
thanks! I’ll be posting more next week 🙂
Looks fantastic! Love the color palette.
I love the colors you chose. A lot of them are the same we use in our living room. It looks great!
well, I’m not surprised….great minds and all 😉
Having one wall color running throughout the house must make cohesion easier. I use all warm colors (reds, oranges, & yellows, with a tough of warm muted green)in my 1st floor, and the second floor was supposed to be all cool tones… but I ended out painting my daughter’s bedroom a very “in your face” watermelon pink, sort of blew the palette up there. At least, I used a neutral color for my staircase & landings…lol
I’d love to see pictures – you sound like you’re not afraid of color at all!
I like the colors you are going with & I know you’ll pull it together nicely! Tan walls like that are so easy & fun to work with because you can pull in so many colors.
I love every color in your palette!
I’ve having the same trouble picking colors for the babies room, everytime I think I have it picked out, I find something else I love, now I’m onto wallpaper! EEK! Love the post and your room looks great!
I am looking to redo at least two rooms in my home! Your room looks fantastic!