I can not figure out what color to paint my bedroom walls, as to match the deep red carpeting. In my head nothing works. It is a smaller room, and the same red carpet carries into the bathroom. I can't afford to replace the carpet, and I feel it could be georgous if I only had the right color or colors. I love to use different textures, and am open to any suggestions? charchar

How about a warm beige? If you wanted to make it more interesting you could "wash" the beige walls with like an off white or lighter beige. I washed 2 of my rooms and am very pleased with the results. I've also received compliments from just about everyone who's been in my house. All you have to do is paint the walls normally (I like to use the darker shade). After they dry, mix 1 quart of another color paint (I use the same color, but a few shades lighter than the base color) with a gallon of glaze. With a 4-5" brush, make a series of overlapping "X"'s on the walls, blending as you go (you shouldn't be able to actually see the "x"'s). It's sounds strange and complicated, but really it's not.

I wonder how that would work over paneling? I hate those paneling lines. This room leads to the bath, I want the bath to be some sort of yellow (sunshiny) color, I think that could work! Just have to tie it all together somehow those colors are not that different. Maybe new bedding and curtains with all those colors. I am not good at this!!! I can paint wonderful murals on my walls but can't coordinate colors worth a darn! Thanks

It's a tedious project but you can mud over those panelling lines, check with the guys at your paint store for which product to use....you'll spackle the lines, sand the spackle level, prime, then paint....or you could go with a textured wall finish, or wallpaper.... As for colour choices, that's difficult without seeing exactly what colour your carpet is, but the first thing that popped into my head was a warm vanilla or taupe shade with trim done in the colour of your carpet... Good luck.

Choices, choices.

One can "mud" over paneling. It is tedious, requires lots of palster and in many instances one has to sand the paneling to remove the glossy surface so the plaster will stick and not crack.

One can remove paneling - but then you can discover either layers of wall paper, or lots of cracks or in some cases that there is no plaster & lathe/drywall beneath.

One can play up the paneling with faux painting techniques - some times one gets a good look some times not.

Paper 'Plique:

One can use craft paper (Comes in rolls, usually brown, now days in assorted colors) Rip up and ball up the paper, hand smooth, using drywall paste (latex, water based) stick these uneven pieces to the wall allowing the wrinkles to remain. You get a texture (wrinkles and lines, plus the uneven ripped edges of the paper. It worked rather well at hiding a lot of wall flaws in our trailer (Yep I live in a trailer). When we first applied it we used grey craft paper which had slight differences between the color on the front and the color on the back. The over all effect went rather well with green floors and white ceiling and multicolored furniture. After a few years we painted it a gloss bright white. We lost the contrasting shades of grey, but we still hade the wrinkled paper effect.

Here is an example of that:
http://www.hesterdecorating.com/portfolio_interior25.htm


I have seen this technique used with patterned and textured wallpapers to get different effects. I have seen this also used with tissue papers which are thin enough to allow the color of the wall show forth.

Here are some examples: http://www.usmurals.com/faux-leather.html

Color

I could spend hours talking on the subject, but with out seeing the carpet color I can not give you a spot on wall color. But there are some sites that can let you paint a virtual room, combine colors, try on different flavors.

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pro/
Middle of the page is a hyper link to Color Visualizer. Click on that and you can virtually color a room and its various components.

http://www.glidden.com/visualizer/visualizer.html?imagecode=usbedroom_015
Is another one, this one I was allowed to paint the floor to get a red base, then paint various components of the room to check out different colors.

Wow!! All good ideas. I tried Sherwin Williams, that helped, I think I will go with lighter beige in the bedroom with that crumpled paper technique, then to cream and pale yellow (old world) in the bathroom. I may even do a couple faux pillars in the bath for drama. OOHH! I need some crown molding, I'll have to wait on that though! Yes I can see it now!. I'm so excited, can't wait to get to the paint store. Thank you all!!! Charlotte

I have to differ on the beige. When trying to neutralize a color, the best color to use is it's compliment. This is the color directly across from it on the color wheel. I know you will likely think it's crazy but a pale neutral green would work best. Try a green that is like "Baize Green" from Sherwin WIlliams (I say this because it looks right on my monitor, but you'll have to check in daylight) You want a green without any blue in it and not too much yellow... lean towards greens that have brown tones underlying.

If you choose a pale neutral green, the room will look put together. You would do well to stick to greens and whites in your decorating and possibly reddish browns. I would stay away from beige... it's a common approach when you have something like red carpet, but I assure you that it will make the red carpet stand out much more prominently than if you choose a complimentary green to go with the red.

I think going with pale green on the walls, white for moulding and ceilings and red for accents in the room along with green and white accents would look great. If you choose to go in the beige family, let it at least be "tan" rather than beige... red carpet will really stand out if you go with a light wall color.