There's nothing dull about gray walls in the dining room.
Get past the all-purpose white dining room and choose something arty and adventurous for a truly distinctive room. Dining room color can be safe and inhibited or assured and bold--get inspiration from famous artists, contemporary interior design and your own furnishings. Three leading color choices for breakfast, lunch or dinner spaces are red, yellow and gray.
Garnet to Scarlet
Sculptor Alexander Calder once said, "I love red so much that I almost want to paint everything red." He would have been in good company with a red dining room. Red is an enduringly popular paint color choice for dining room walls. A deep, rich red complements the wood of fine old furnishings and floors, casts a warm glow over the room and provides a strong backdrop for art. Most red dining rooms are trimmed in sparkling white paint with white ceilings, but stained and varnished wood trim and cream or linen ceilings are also compatible with formal or contemporary style. Almost anything makes a good accent for red walls: pale blue velvet chair cushions, black and white table linens, gold picture frames, and fern and moss green candles. Try a matte red wall paint next to champagne silk taffeta drapes that start at the ceiling and pool on the floor for dining room elegance.
Daffodil Impressions
Yellow is the color of one of the most famous dining rooms in art history and a cheerful choice for your home. The most popular room in Monet's house at Giverny is the bright yellow dining room---soffits, window frames, cupboards and all furniture including the chairs, mantel and fireplace surround are all painted yellow. The walls are covered in the Japanese woodblock prints that Monet loved, but the paint spills over everything like sunshine or flowers from the garden. Yellow still works to showcase personal art---although today the art might be a single contemporary painting or a Tibetan tangka. Use any shade from pale butter cream to vivid yellow. Colorwashing yellow paint or applying it as faux suede are interesting treatments to highlight the walls and the paint color itself. Even Monet accented his very yellow room with a white ceiling.
Clouds and Stone
Gray walls will turn your dining room into a gallery. Any gray, from pale dove to deep slate or charcoal, displays sculpture, framed art, tapestries and textiles or antique furnishings to advantage. A dark gray with white trim is a crisp look when paired with a matched wood dining table and chairs. Pale gray paint with eclectic furnishings, oriental carpets and a red lacquered Chinese chest pulls the room together. Test shades of gray on the walls in various light conditions to see what works for your space and don't forget to test light bulbs as well---a harsh white fluorescent could be too stark; an amber incandescent might turn your gray walls to mud. In general, gray wall paint is most attractive in a flat or eggshell finish.
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