Colors are very important in home renovations. So are the correct materials You don't want all that time, effort and renovation money to be wasted by poor color or inappropriate materials selection. We had used the color-coordinator, Debbie, from the store where we purchased our paint in a prior home's main floor and because of the nice job she did there we had her come out and give us color recommendations for this entire house. However, it was the material selection that came first.
BEFORE
The first picture is the 'before' picture of the family room. Notice the blue carpet, blue walls and floor to ceiling fireplace. While blue may bring the sky into the house, it does nothing for bringing the forest directly behind the house inside. The carpet is man made. It does nothing to accentuate the view from the windows along the southern exposure. The floor to ceiling brick fireplace overpowered everything else. The curtains were at least 10 years old an935d there was no lighting other than floor lamps and the southern exposure windows out to the backyard & forest.
AFTER
The picture below is the first of two 'after' photographs. Pot lights on a dimmer switch were installed in the ceiling. The blue paint was replaced (after double washing of the walls with TSP for the smoke/ nicotine) with an earthy green to complement the forest view our the windows. The blue carpet was replaced with natural hardwood, Jatoba Espresso, which we think complements the wall color, the trees of the forest out back as well as the color of our kitchen counter of which a sneak peak can be seen to the right in the picture (more on the kitchen in further posts).
Also, we had the part of the fireplace above the mantle covered with fire-retardant drywall so it no longer is the focal point of the room; the focal point becomes the forest out the windows. The window coverings were replaced with a pull-down, see-through fabric shade. We chose this to keep the sun's rays from directly hitting the hardwood (and in time fading the dark brown stain) yet allow us to still see outside.
If the strategy is to bring more of the forest view inside the house, then the techniques of complimentary natural products (e.g. hardwood, not carpet), complimentary paint colours (earthy greens and browns vs light blue) and non-obtrusive products (see through curtains or wood shutters) can be very powerful.
For the photographs referenced in this article, and other articles on our home renovation experiences please use the link in the resources section to access our blog, Daily Home Renovation Tips.
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