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HELP! How can I make this grey sofa work in this room!

6 years ago

It looks lovely in the day! But green in the artificial light in the evening! What colours would bring out the grey tones and mute the green all the time!

Ignore the 2 grey cushions they are being returned!

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PRO

User

6 years ago

I'd go for raspberry & pink, not as harsh as red, but definitely warming.

I'd be very tempted if you go for the darker curtains, to go for the same colour rug, just for a bit of unity. However, if you then put a wooden coffee table on the rug, the wood will warm it up. All the pinks above will go with any grey, Different texture cushions in paler colours will help soften the look.

This rug and coffee table go well with the whole theme, softens it down, and although grey tones, when mixed in with the soft accessories, cushions, vases, curtain ties etc will look really cosy. Coffee Table

Maybe a copper and wood floor lamps?

Laura Ashley Rug

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Comments (16)

PRO
User
6 years ago
We had a similar problem in our downstairs shower room - we just changed the bulbs to daylight white and the problem went away. Of course, you could change the bulbs over head, but why not put in a couple of standard lamps or table lamps so that you don't have to have the overhead lights on in the evening. We rarely use ours at night, and rely soley on 3 lamps in our lounge.

The thing is, all the colours change, walls & floors too, they take on a warmer hue. So, it still all goes together well. I'm sure once you've got a rug down and some accessories it will all look fabulous.
Charnelle Els
6 years ago
Another good plan from Man About the House.

If after your room is more complete and you still get a green sheen then consider mustard and white or cream accents.
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Nadina Edouard
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks so much guys! @manaboutthehouse you said you think a rug could work, do you mind me asking what kind of colour you would suggest? :)
PRO
Amanda Clothier
6 years ago
What @manaboutthehouse said about light is key to solving your problem - white overhead light will bring out the colour correctly but will not create a nice evening atmosphere - you need to do this with low level and niche lighting, which will also be more favourable to your sofa. Secondly, if you want to choose a rug, which will give your room a lovely homely feel and define your seating area, you need first to decide what to do about a colour scheme. Do you want to keep it soft and neutral, do you want to add understated or even bold pattern to add interest, or would you like an injection of colour? Then you can start to think about how to do this- cushions, lampshades,rugs, blinds, curtains. If you add some co-ordinating items with warm colour tones that are enhanced by yellow light (I.e cushions/throws with yellow colour base, rather than a blue base) it might help to distract from the effect of the sofa. The good thing about cushions is you can buy them, test them out and take them back if they don’t work, so I’d give this a go before investing in a rug. When you’ve got a shade that works in your cushions you could choose a similar coloured rug. Hope this helps a bit :)
PRO
Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
6 years ago
I like your sectional. Colour block for green is red. I did mocking up with red. Personally, I am not into red. But it would help.
Nadina Edouard
Original Author
6 years ago
Wow thanks so much everyone, I have gone for some warmer tone cushions I am going to try this! The curtains are proving to be an issue, we were looking at a dark grey also but they’ve arrived today as well as a really light grey we will see how they work... if not I may need to try a more buddy/beige tone curtain I guess to try to go warmer!

I will post the results! :)
PRO
Amanda Clothier
6 years ago
Wow! What he said! That looks lovely - and you could do the same sort of thing in any style you like
Nadina Edouard
Original Author
6 years ago
@manaboutthehouse we actually have bought a very similar copper lamp and are hoping to match the curtains to similar darker tone pillows and maybe some copper tone pillows also! Thanks so much for all your help! I ordered he daylight white bulbs, they should arrive today! Fingers crossed!
PRO
User
6 years ago
Can't wait to see the finished article!
Najeebah
6 years ago
What Hugh said, lighting is key. You probably won't need accent colours to mute the green once the lighting is changed, just avoid green itself, and green undertones in your wall colour.
If you do want colours that mute green, you could try out purple and orange too.
cavgirl
6 years ago
Simply changing the lamp shades can do a lot too. I had a soft cream on my living room walls that verged almost on greige by day but turned offensively yellow by night. I changed a few light shades and it helped enormously.

Similarly, the same room was painted Dulux’s Just Walnut many years ago. By day it was a gentle, muted grey. By night it was so bright it made the room feel clinical. I changed all the light shades to a deep crimson (my sofa etc was red/crimson) and problem solved.
Nadina Edouard
Original Author
6 years ago
Just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped with this! I’m uploading photos of the room changes now :) the sofa looks grey again!

We went for light grey curtains with a hint of beige so that they were warmer than the sofa. Making the sofa appear cooler grey.

The Sam colour cushions, plus some geometric print cushions with warmer tones.

A copper movie film style light, and we now have a white/grey/taupe mix rug!
Nadina Edouard
Original Author
6 years ago
Another shot
Nadina Edouard
Original Author
6 years ago
The rug we have now is the same as this but slightly larger - I just don’t have a photo since changing it!
PRO
User
6 years ago
Looks awesome well done.

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