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Colour of furnishings with red tartan curtains?

2 years ago

Hi Everyone
Looking for some inspiration please! In the process of updating our living room but struggling to know what colours go with the red tartan curtains. Was thinking the cushions in the photos but not sure they go? Will get a new sofa (maybe grey) so that will change :)
Thanks for your help

Featured Answer

rinked

2 years ago

Whiskey! (cognac)

And steel/charcoal grey or navy walls, if you dare.

Though are you certain you want to base your interior on your curtains?

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Comments (25)

User
2 years ago
I think it needs some green
Ellie
2 years ago
I'd first pick the sofa and then decide what furnishings go with that. I wouldn't pick a sofa to match the curtains..... if the curtains happen to go with the sofa fair enough but choose sofa first and go from there.
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I'm surprised that none of the previous comments have asked about your furnishings and upholstery. Nor have they inquired about your preferred style of furnishing, contemporary, modern or traditional. What is the overall effect you want to achieve? What kind of light does the room get through the day? When is the room used most often and by whom? What activities take place in the room on a day to day basis? What does the furniture look like? Once you establish that, only then can you begin to decide on the colour scheme. Red may be cozy, but, depending on the shade, it can also be stimulating, even raising your heartbeat and body temperature. That's why it's often used in dining rooms and restaurants (to make you eat more). If you want a restful room, think about using a different shade of green or a blue-grey or blue. They will be more relaxing. The images provided by Jen Tindall use gold and will be warm and uplifting either by day or night. At night, the room will be suffused with a lovely mellow glow, especially if your lighting relies on table lamps with soft shades. I recommend reading a book by Angela Wright on colour. You'll find lots of useful information to guide you. It's a lovely room, with wonderful architectural features. My only suggestion is perhaps to add a corbel at each end of the arch if there is space. This will make it look less like a later alteration to what would have most likely been a dividing wall between 2 smaller rooms. Enjoy the process of designing the lounge and don't rush decisions.
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You could add a number of things to help bring life to the room. You have chosen the perfect muted colour scheme that will complement lots of art work and colours. From your photos I would say you could add a large mirror above the fire place- you could go for something to complement the period of the property and fireplace or something slightly more industrial would work as it looks like you are already mixing contemporary and period with your choices of furniture and finishes. Art will be a huge help as well. Choose some large and smaller pieces to compliment the size of the room- you look like you enjoy your music and media (from the large tv and speakers) maybe some repro or original posters of favourite films? Or framed vinyl covers of you favourite albums. Pick things that you aesthetically connect with. Art is personal and should be something you enjoy every time you look at it, so pick pieces because you like them. It doesn’t need to be expensive. You could also think about a statement clock in the room as well. Lots of options I would say. Do not feel limited by a particular colour scheme with the art- go with things you enjoy looking at. For the sofa -with throws-mimic nature- stick to earthy tones grey browns you can pick up lots of cosy throws in these colours or animal Hyde type colours or actual Hyde’s...and once you have chosen your art- find cushions that are different sizes and textures (not leather) to help soften the look of the sofa and draw the eye away from its shape and on to the cushions! Or go with the nature theme and embrace the animal Hyde’s colours and it will all tie in with the leather. Of course these suggestions depend on personal preference but there are lots of ideas on houzz and pictures that can help with inspiration...hope my suggestions are of use!!
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arc3d
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I would change the curtains. Buy ones that go to the floor. Use a blind for the window. In the winter long curtains will trap the radiator heat.

A combination like this will go well...
PRO
Tarahomes
2 years ago
Leather goes great with tartan curtains or a grey/beige fabric sofa. I would personally choose a sofa first as if you wanted to spruce up your living room again it’s easier to change curtains, cushions and accessories to change up the space. Here’s some references photos on textures that will work with the curtains that you have referenced!
Sonia
2 years ago
I think my old footstool was covered in that check. Is it by Ian Mankin? Unless the curtains were very expensive, I wouldn’t choose a sofa just to go with them. Choose a sofa you love, then accessorise around it. I have pale beige/rose red curtains and I painted the walls Cromarty, a very soft grey-green which may be an option if you want to keep the curtains. Next sell quite a few tartan curtains so may be worth looking at their rooms sets online to give you ideas.
These are my curtains
arc3d
2 years ago
Loving that phone @Sonia!👍
Sonia
2 years ago
Reminds me of my youth arc3d. Now I’m showing my age! 😂
arc3d
2 years ago
I remember them too! There goes my age. Lol.

Was there really a time when people lived with a whole family sharing one screen-less phone?! No constant pinging and buzzing all over the house?
Sonia
2 years ago
Miss those times.......😂
Maggie Youngson
2 years ago
I'm not sure about the blue in the cushion, depending on your taste I would go darker
jmckeanmjmckean
2 years ago
Lovely curtains. Choose a wall colour that will compliment their hues, such as an Italianate shade of plaster pink. Blue does not work as it clashes a liot- I suggest warm light yellows to make everything gel and feel warm and happy.
R Bolton
2 years ago
I think so long as you have one item on your sofa that has a little bit of red in it you will be fine. eg a cushion or a throw. that will tie it in without beung too matchy matchy. you can also pick it up elsewhere with a dark red lamp/shade. oatmeal as a colour goes really well with those curtains for a sofa or wall colour.
coral77uk
2 years ago
Do you love the curtains? They are very dated, I’d start again and come up with a whole new scheme based on colours you actually like.
Juliet Docherty
2 years ago
Start with the most expensive thing in the room that you are not changing, it's possibly the carpet. If you are getting new sofas, then I would choose them regardless of the curtains, and choose something that doesn't clash with the carpet. Curtains and cushions are probably the next thing to choose. That would my order of doing things.
HU-780443037
2 years ago
I take it that you love these curtains as you want to base your entire scheme around them. Firstly as mentioned in previous comments they are too short, you can extend them by adding a solid colour material in the brown or reds found in the curtains, to make them floor length. You could also add the material to the leading edge of the curtains, to make the extension look less as an afterthought. Add a blind either in the same colour as the wall or pick one from the curtains. You pull the blind down rather than pull the curtains, as the curtains would block the radiator. Chose a thermal blind if you are worried about cold from the window or a thinner blind that will let light through if privacy is the issue.
When choosing a sofa go for a neutral colour. Choose a good quality sofa that you sit comfortably in. A sofa is expensive and usually has to last several redecorations and reinventions of a room. A neutral colour would go with many different schemes and you would use cushions to dress up the sofa and tie in with the theme/ colour of the room. I would go with a dark cream (or soft brown) sofa as the room generally has warm colours. Grey can be cold and would detract from the room. (If you have found the perfect grey sofa - change the curtains…)
The blue cushions don’t go well. You could choose green cushions as they are on the opposite side of the colour wheel, which would be quite energetic as they are contrasting, make sure you get the right green - if it doesn’t work - return it. It could be easier to choose a lighter or darker versions of the colours you have, which makes it calmer. If you choose similar colours different textures will make it interesting.
Finally I would paint the walls to match the beige in the curtains (including the radiator to make it “disappear”), which would tie in better. It could initially seem dark, but wait to make final judgment until the room has been completely painted. Paint and cushions are an inexpensive way to update a room especially if other furniture don’t make huge statements.
User
2 years ago
@Catrine seems to have gone quiet 🤫
Catrine
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi All thanks so much for your replies there’s so much feedback here. Been away on holiday in the great British sunshine! I didn’t know about the colour wheel. I’ll have to think carefully about the curtains, they actually are from my mum so this is why I was so keen to keep them. 💕 thanks again
S B
2 years ago
I had those same curtains. I put a muted green rug down and a red leather Chesterfield sofa. ( great for dogs and kids, and got more and more comfortable as time went on.). Then to keep it feeling modern. I put some geometric cushions on my sofa in gold and green.
The walls were all same colour as yours.
At Xmas my room looked especially beautiful. But warm and welcoming all year round.
S B
2 years ago
This is how it looked. Hope that helps. Good luck.
Richard L
2 years ago
Red, gold and green
Yvo Goodson
2 years ago
Kharma chameleon Richard L
Yvo Goodson
2 years ago
Might be giving away my age there. 👵🏻
David Thomas
2 years ago
I consider that the green cushions shown in the second photo do NOT look good with the tartan curtains. The curtains already contain all the colours that could be used to complement them without introducing a new shade. Long curtains can be a pain in the neck and can get caught up with all sorts of nearby people, dogs and objects and are not hygienic - the existing ones look great, why change them. There are rather a lot of views expressed here where people have rigid ideas that they cannot really justify by logic - colours must be a personal choice, there are no rules.
David Thomas
2 years ago
Tarahomes contribution, I consider, is wonderful - so warm and inviting with real character.

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