I would suggest painting the room light grey with a dark grey feature wall. You will make far more of a statement this way. You need a balance of light and dark to give your room life. This will also give you versatility within the room for furniture placement... light against dark, dark against light, light against light, dark against dark, pop of colour against dark etc

Hi. I remember your room from when you posted before. Is the picture rail still in place? which way does the room face in terms of light?

Although it's a matter of personal taste different coloured 'feature' walls can look a bit out of date. My suggestion would be to paint the whole room in one colour.

Where I would place my attention is getting the colour of the woodwork and ceiling correct to compliment the walls. Although woodwork and ceilings often look white I would suggest that it is very rarely correct to use brilliant white in a house (maybe if it's uber modern and in a sunny climate). Instead look for off whites that tone with your wall colour. A good rule of thumb is 'the lower the darker' e.g woodwork slightly darker off white, ceiling slightly lighter.

Hope this helps.

If you mean the built in unit has been painted white then I'd go a lightish grey all over. Just been flicking through previous posts and I think the room faces north (?) so would look for a warm grey. I thought you'd mentioned painting it F&B blackened previously which I would avoid as it has a blue undertone so could look rather cold. F&B elephants breath or skimming stone can work in north facing rooms but you'd need to test them as they don't work for all

Good luck! Their dash of soot or Rubine ashes might be worth looking at

Hi Lou,

I suggest that you need to focus on the wall colour first as the colour of the woodwork should tie into your scheme.

Once you have decided your wall colour then I would suggest painting up several sheets of a4 with colours that you think might work for the skirting and looking at them next to the colour you have picked for the wall. What you are looking for is both the toning and the temperature (colour) of the combination.

If you are really stuck for a starting point then the websites for a lot of the 'designer' paint companies, F&B etc, have schemes below each of their colours, almost all of which contain an off white. However, every room has different light so I would advise you use your own judgement at the end as the same paint scheme can look completely different in different spaces.

As for the fireplace/skirting combination having the skirting a shade darker will help to make the fireplace stand out. Beneficial as it should be the focus of the room.

Happy painting.

Have you got large testers on all walls? I'd see how they change in the different lights. Cornforth can be a little chilly although it's a lovely grey. If these don't work have a look at shaded white. The colour online is nothing like the colour chart if you happen to have one!