Help me Decorate/Paint

brij2006

Our dining room is in need of a new paint color and scheme. H is telling me that the paint color is fine, but it looks like a dirty yellow you would see on the side of a house in Mexico. I think when we originally bought it, the sample they mixed it from had dirt on it or something. It was supposed to be a cheerful spring yellow instead.

This is what it currently looks like.

With this rug.

I'm fine with switching out the curtains, and I plan to refinish the wood piece on the right this spring and paint it black (or take it out of the room completely).  The hutch on the left is a built in that I won't touch since it's original to the house.

The room has these 2 windows, but faces North.  So there isn't much natural light in there.  It is somewhat open to the room next to it, and that room is a sage green (if that makes a difference).

amccul20

from this picture it all just looks a little to similar in tone.  you need maybe a lighter color on the walls (like vale mist from benjamin moore) and some color in those curtains

cloudymeatballs

I actually like that piece you have on the right side. Like the dark finish. I would put a darker color on the wall, like a light shade of green and maybe some gold colored curtains. Are you keeping the table and hutch the same wooden color?

islandmonkey8

I would do curtains like these:

in either wheat or forest.

Linky

I would do the walls in a color like these:

Benjamin Moore

LuckyAngel07

I agree that it's all too similar in shade right now (the floors, the built-in, the table, the window frames are all the exact same wood shade). I get leaving the wood alone, but in that case, I'd bring in color with the rug, the walls, and the curtains. I see a misty blue-gray on the walls looking really nice and giving you a great jumping off point for some bright accent colors in the your curtains and rug.

If you consider painting the moldings/window frames/built-in a white (or off white) to go with the blue-gray walls, I think it would really brighten up that room.

lindsayandjamie

I was half written and then had to tend to an urgent work thing, but I was going to write almost exactly what Lucky said.  I would personally paint out the wood Decorators White (BM) including the built-in, trim and dining table and paint the walls a blue-green colour depending on what you can find that works with your adjoining room.  I would intall white curtains (high and wide) from floor to ceiling to brighten it up. 

I get not wanting to paint the wood, but white trim brightens up a space like nothing else and allows your gorgeous floors to be the showcase wood in the room.

brij2006

@cloudymeatballs For now we're keeping the hutch the same wood color since it's original to our house.  We want to get a new table at some point, but that will be 2-3 years from now.  So for now it will look the same.

@luckyangel07 Can you link in a similar color to what you're thinking of?  I've thought of a blue-grey, but am afraid it will be too dark for the light in the room.

H is also 110% against painting any trim or woodwork in the house.  So I'm trying to play with what's already there.

LuckyAngel07

I was thinking something like this:

or this:

Something very light, since all the wood is going to darken the space up. The first two on this paint strip (though more the second one) would work well:

iwalktheline

The majority of our house is geige, so that's always my pick. That or something really dramatic, like navy walls and cream curtains. I like a little drama in a dining room.

KonaCoffeeBean

I love the blue/grey that Lucky posted.