September 02, 2013

Den Changes...What color to paint the built-in?

I guess nothing is as permanent as change, especially when it comes to my house ideas. Since I posted the first Den Decision Option, we got some more family hand-me-downs that are changing my whole idea for the space. This rug is the "culprit."



And when I say "culprit," I mean that in the best way possible. I really like this rug. It BELONGS in the den for several reasons:

1. It's very large, and so it make sense to put it in the biggest, most used room
2. It's very soft and feels good to bare feet, unlike the sisal rug I was planning to use. And the most-used room needs a soft rug, right?
3. The only other place to put it is in the front room, and it competes with the yellow sofa. I'm just not sure I could make those two work together. Or that I want to try.

But, this means I have to ditch my previous idea. This rug doesn't need the room to match it, but it does need the other elements in the room to embrace it's beauty. I just don't think the black/white stripes will embrace it properly.

Oriental rugs are kind of difficult for me. I grew up loving them and I love so many of them that I've seen in homes but I've never had one available, so I've never thought about them in terms of my design. And now, we have 3. And lots of carpeted rooms. So as a result, I'm a little confused about what, exactly to do with them.

So, in my attempt to make this rug SHINE in this room without being too matchy-matchy, I've decided to go with a navy or dark blue sofa. I've ordered lots of fabric samples in those colors, and hopefully they will arrive tomorrow. I'm thinking of something like this:





So I've pretty made my mind up (for once) on this. BUT what I can't decide is to do with the built-in bookcase aka "bar area." Sadly, this is what it's looked like since we painted the den:


So, I felt like I should do some labor on Labor Day so I decided to plan out the layout of the "bar," so that I could figure it everything fit appropriately. It did! Here's the "rough draft:"
Sorry for the poor photo quality. I always take pictures after I've been working on the actual project and I tend to get shaky hands...need to try to get better about that. Don't worry, the bottom part will be covered by the cabinet doors so none of that stuff will show...(and most of it will go in the basement after these projects finally finish. After I set up the shelves at the heights I needed them, I finally finished priming all the wood. I just need to choose a color and start painting.

I want to paint it a contrast color...something different than the walls. I'm just at a loss as to what color to paint it. I'm thinking an almost-black navy...much darker than the sofa. Or maybe a pale aqua? Or a blush pink? I'd also like the do the back of the built-in a different color...unless you think that is a bad idea.

Any ideas of a good color for the bookcase that will complement the white walls and navy sofas?

4 comments:

  1. Great rug! I think navy or aqua would be great for the built in. I'm leaning a bit more toward the aqua though. That'd look nice with a few aqua accents in the room to tie it in.

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  2. how about a golden mushroomy taupe? deep enough for good contrast, but not a big distraction. that would pull from the gold tones in the adjacent stonework, but also still allow for a cohesion or flow. i vote for one color in the built-ins and let the items you arrange provide for the visual "interest". otherwise, I wonder if it might start to look choppy. btw... I love the idea of the blue sofas. the rug looks pretty! in the example pics, my fav fabric was on the third pic down (the one where there's a guy in a khaki shirt). it's a pretty color and looks soft. i guess it's an indigo blue.

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  3. I wonder what it would look like to paint the wood the same color as the door beside it that looks grayish. Might make it tie in well. Also - grasscloth could be really pretty on the back of the bar - or if you want it to be really snazzy, how about that antique mirroring you can make or buy? That could be really neat at a bar:) Would probably be pretty with a navy color also.

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  4. The first thing that came to my mind was a a dark charcoal gray or maybe a lighter shade of gray that would tie in with the fireplace stonework.

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