need help decorating my north facing living room

8 years ago

I am in the process of decorating my north facing 12' x 12' living room. The room is a blank canvas at the moment, having just been plastered. I have bought two cream leather sofas, but cannot decide on wall colours and soft furnishings. I like quite a contemporary look, but do not want to go down the beige and cream route again. I was thinking along the lines of pale grey walls with an accent colour of maybe burnt orange or deep blue, but am wondering if predominantly pale grey walls would be too cold. I was considering wallpaper on the back wall, opposite the fire, which is a modern white hang on the wall type. Any ideas?

Featured Answer

minnie101

8 years ago

If you've decided on the look then have a look at farrow and ball strong White. It's a very pale grey but with some warmth so it should work in a North facing room. You can also add large art picking up the warmer colours or a mirror with a warm metallic frame

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Comments (14)

Brandi Nash Hicks
8 years ago
BM hale navy looks amazing with orange
scorpio321
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you. I have just looked at a Woodhouse and Law room with pale grey walls, patterned orange and plain navy cushions with orange piping and an orange lamp, with cream sofas. These are my ideal colours but still wondering about the grey walls. I want light but not cream.
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North facing room needs more light and warm hues in oder not to fill cold. So: 1. To make the room more light full you are to use items with reflective finishes as more as possible: put a large mirror or an art work with glass finish opposite the windows, glass or mirror finished furniture etc. 2. Windows are to be opened as much as possible (minimal decorations) to let the natural light go in. 3. Color of walls are to be in warm but pastel hue, because we are to lighten the room. 4. To make an illusion of more cubic room use on the wall with fire place more saturated hue (+2 hues). 5. Use accent lightening to lit the conners, it'll bring the impression of wider space. 6. Seating furniture may be in contrast color or darker hue of wall color or any other neutral. Good luck.
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Hi! We have a north facing kitchen/dining/living area with a patio facing west and a window on the east side. We went for a lighter colour (slipper satin) on the kitchen units as they are at the 'back' of the room (ie you enter the kitchen from the hallway, then the living/dining area is at the patio/garden end). It is a lovely soft off white and doesn't look cream because of the cooler light north facing rooms get. We opted for Drop Cloth (also F&B) on walls which a lot of people comment on as it looks nice and warm and not too dark nor too pale. Our accent colour on the island/kitchen peninsula is Railings as I have other dark blue accents in my furnishings. If you are going for Downpipe on the island, I would possibly go for Strong White on your units as Ammonite can look quite cold. I have used S White on both walls and woodwork in other areas of my home and love it. Farrow & Ball told me it suits north light well, as does Wimborne White - which is a lovely warm white. Have you tried a sample of it at all? As for the tiles, I much prefer the blanc ones, think they look more modern. I have attached pics of my kitchen and hallway (which has strong white). I also have an instagram page Dekko Bird you could see more pics on. Hope this helps a little! keira x
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I know it's counter-intuitive, but I'd go deep saturated Blue/green...or Teal. All over. It will unify all the odd planes and angles in this room. Keep all the woodwork a fresh white. Use pops of jewel toned soft furnishings...to link the blue & taupe sofas...or... Use patterns in tribal/ ikat tones to keep it masculine. Build up some open shelving for storage along dead-wallspace near the door entrance to this room.
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mrsmcee74
8 years ago
Agree with Minnie and love the burnt orange and navy combo. Is this the room you like? I notice they've only used the grey on a couple of walls and the others are a warm white, so you could do something similar but just make sure the grey has some warmth to it, so a beige/brown undertone rather than blue or purple. Fired Earth Bone White is a very nice, pale and warm option too btw.
scorpio321
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you yes, it is the room! I bought a tester pot of the F&B Strong White, but when tested it looked cream. I also bought the F&B Anthrocite which was a bit darker. Will try the Bone White also. Love the cushions in the pic - navy with the piping. Would also maybe like to go a bit darker on the back wall as in the pic but wondered if this might be too cold in a north facing room. I know that when the colours dry they appear darker and also in a larger space than just a test area, so may well try something along the lines of the Anthrocite.
asiupek
8 years ago
If you're feeling adventurous, you could consider very dark walls. I think they tend to look fab in north facing rooms as you're not trying to pretend it'll ever be light and just go with it. It could be quite a punchy colour scheme with cream sofas and some brighter colours thrown in.
minnie101
8 years ago
I do agree with asiupek but I love a dark paint! This image is from farrow and ball for a North facing room. Darker colours will make it feel cosy and you lose the shadows. It will of course bring the walls in though. I did start looking for other colours to try though if you want to keep it light and will continue later. I'm surprised the strong white looked cream. How bigger a test patch did you do and how many coats? Maybe try it on big pieces of card/paper and hang around various spots in the room. I also love those cushions, hope you can find them!
scorpio321
Original Author
8 years ago
Yes, must admit I didn't try a very large test patch and on a piece of white paper. Maybe I should have tried two coats. I might not be brave enought to try dark all over, but I think I could try it on the back wall. I love the cushions also - haven't seen any like them yet.
pannacotta
8 years ago
I used a colour like F&B London Clay in my North facing den. It looks very good I think. Will see if I can find a good link (no pics of my room on my phone sorry).
Dark colours work well in dark rooms, they make them cosy and make furniture and accessories stand out really well.
Cleo Tighe
8 years ago
A grey blue would look lovely with the cream sofas! You could then get dark wood furniture to compliment the cream and blue. Such as a Coffee table, with a glass top or something, to add a bit of glam and then maybe some blue and cream flowers in a crystal style vase maybe :) Brass floor lamps would look super cute too! good luck!!
minnie101
8 years ago
Hi. I'd always try at least 2 coats maybe 3 for F&B. If you were wanting to stick to a lighter feature ŵall maybe have a look at either Misty Mountain or Perfectly Taupe by Dulux. I have looked and failed to find the cushion! I'm sure a plain navy velvet would look as good or find a firm cushion and add piping or try ebay, etsy etc. or you could try some of the bespoke cushion places but they could be quite dear
mrsmcee74
8 years ago
Might be worth getting a quote from a local curtain maker to make the cushion covers, otherwise I've spotted this: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/108959511/design-your-own-linen-pillow-with-piping?ref=market
scorpio321
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for all your comments. I did fail to add that I also have a medium oak coffee table and tv cabinet. I've just seen the Just Walnut by Dulux, which may look good on the back wall and and maybe try a co-ordinating lighter shade on the other three walls. I also have a glass hang on the wall fire, which is white.
mrsmcee74
8 years ago
Just walnut is a good colour. It's quite light so you could always use that as your light option on the other walls and perfectly taupe is a complimentary colour which is darker, so would be good for the back wall. All depends on the light in your particular room though. Paint big squares of lining paper and move them round the room and see how they are at different times in the day. Good luck :)

need help decorating my north facing living room

minnie101

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Brandi Nash Hicks

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