I haven't colour drenched a room myself and I agree it might be a bit too much. However, looking at your photos and all the beautiful detail, I think you could paint the walls, skirting boards, picture rails and cornices in your chosen colour and keep only the ceiling white and you might be close to the effect you are looking for. Using the same matte paint throughout will give a contemporary look but make sure it's scrubable for the sake of the picture rail and skirting boards.

Love the colour you have chosen btw.

I once painted a ceiling of a room with a gold shade of emulsion paint and the walls were very pale neutral. It was a south facing room and the room took on a definite golden glow at certain times of the day.

I've recently painted a feature wall in our south facing lounge in a similar colour to your chosen colour ( Red House by William Morris ) and I love it. It is such a rich colour but again it does give off a warm glow at certain times of the day so bear that in mind.

You could always paint the ceiling later if you haven't achieved the look you are after.

P.S do paint your shelving with the same paint also

I suggest :

-Benjamin moore Cavern clay or Rustique

-Farrow & Ball Red Earth

-Valspar Cinnamon Stick or Cinnamon Sunset

-Sherwin William warm Coral Sunset

-Behr peach fuzz or mango tango

-Benjamin Moore Coral Reef or Tangerine Dream

I agree with Jo I would paint the walls above and below the picture rail the same colour and keep cornice and ceiling lighter, maybe a buttery cream rather than bright white. Could I also recommend if possible to bring the artwork below the picture rails as it shouldn’t straddle the rail as it looks a bit off.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and advice. Love seeing the examples of simile colours. We’ve decided to paint the entire walls and woodwork the same colour, which is Loving Orange (Yes Paints). Then for the cornice and ceiling, we’re thinking of Serene Peach, although still pondering that one.

Imagine seeing your room in 3D picture perfect with all different variations you think of and then you just pick the one you like the most.

Would that be helpful to you?

Hello again, now we’ve chosen the colour for the walls (Loving Orange by Yes Colours), we have decided to replace the grey sofas.

Any suggestions on a good colour? We want to be quite bold. Although I like the idea of a stone colour (although this isn’t necessarily a bold choice), we have 2 toddlers and 4 dogs so it’s probably not wise.

All suggestions would be appreciated!

This is my previous house and I had painted the living room in two ways. Like you I feel more is more.

But I also like the cornice and pictures rail and think they should stand out. So I think you should paint the woodwork and cornice a soft white that you use elsewhere in your house, use your chosen orange for the walls. Then the ceiling can of course be a paler version of your wall colour, I also like darker for the ceiling such as a brown. The ceiling could also use another colour from the room such as the sofa colour or carpet.

Additionally I think there are some proportions to correct. For me the TV is too high, I think you should remove the top shelf in the alcove and fit it below the bottom shelf. The art behind the sofa should be hung lower than the picture frame and the picture over the mantlepiece should be replaced for something bigger such as a rectangular mirror hung portrait to visually heighten the room. A larger light fitting would be nice too. .

I think navy blue would be a good match for your newly painted room with touches of gold for accessories and decoration.

Thanks everyone for the advice and love seeing the pics of how others have done it, plus different approaches.

We’ve now painted the room, Loving Orange (as above) on all the walls and woodwork. For the ceiling and cornice, we used Serene Peach (another Yes Colours paint) which is basically a slight off-white.

I’m pleased with the colours but it has made the room very dark. It’s a south facing room and when the sun was coming in the other day, I loved it, but it’s a very gloomy time of year. I like being cosy but it feels like the colour absorbs a lot of light.

Any ideas on how to lighten it up and balance it out?

Please bear in mind, we are planning to buy new sofas and haven’t bought any new accessories e.g. cushions, rug, lighting, shades etc yet, which is why I’d appreciate any tips!

Does it seem darker than the blue because it looks to be lighter on my screen?I personally like terracotta colours with neutrals, especially natural linen, pale rugs, anything oatmeal. As it's a saturated colour I would avoid other saturated colours otherwise it might feel a bit too loud. I love my terracotta bedroom but I had to calm it down with hopsack curtains and a pale berber carpet. Also, it's a colour with alot of 'visual weight' it feels heavy. Sofas, being large blocky things have natural visual weight anyway so a pale sofa might help. Looks very cosy and nice though.

Thank you. It was green before (some pics right at the top of the thread) but it was white above the picture rail and the woodwork was white, so that lightened it up.

Yes, thinking a stone coloured sofa and maybe an extra lamp, and new lightshade will help.

In the future, if you wanted to lighten some of it up, then you could paint the bit above the dado (and the dado) a stone colour. This might look light enough to lighten it up but deep enough to bridge the dark and light of the ceiling and walls. I've got Paint and Paper Stone 4 in my office area and Terracotta in the adjoining bedroom, The woodwork is pale and it seems to work.

I would try and live with it for a while before making major changes like sofas. I do think lightening the fire surround would help though and replacing the mirror with a large piece of art in pale neutral tones may help. As others have said lower the art beneath the picture rail. I like the colour taken up to the ceiling but there’s too much contrast with the ceiling colour.

This isn’t very helpful as you’ve painted but if you love the burnt orange, just thinking sofas in that colour would be more forgiving?

Thank you. I think I may actually just repaint the room as it’s been a few days now and I still can’t get used to it. It’s my favourite room in the house and is usually quite bright because of the big window, but it feels quite gloomy and quite difficult to relax in.

It’s a shame as I do like the colour in itself and the colour on the wall is true to how I expected. But I think we were a bit too bold in doing all the woodwork and above the picture rail in the same colour. A bit of contrast would have definitely helped. I suppose it was worth a try!

I repaint rooms all the time, well at least i used to, that's how you learn. If it feels oppressive then definitely repaint it. Years ago I had a small lounge that was painted Savage Ground (farrow and Ball) and had a terracotta sofa and sisal flooring. It was so cosy at all times of day.

I’m thinking I might paint above the picture rail - a stoney colour like Skimming Stone. And then paint the fireplace as well. Will do that as a first try and see if it helps brighten the room a bit.