Diamond Enthusiast
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How in love are you with sage?
If you would love to use then, then by all means put it on the wall above the wood.
It’s the 21st Century and let me tell you anything you do short of a wrecking ball will be acceptable in the way of decorating.
You may want to use the bead board as a way to connect all of the wood together in the house, yes including the kitchen which you can see. This becomes your visual "tie in" which doesn't make the kitchen stand out like a neon orange blinking sign in the middle of a dark moonless desert. That is a good thing. The wainscot will also tie in the focal point (fireplace) bringing the eye around the wall to take in the rest of the room after first being captured by the fireplace.
Ideally your Fireplace should be your focal point, meaning you will want to make it look like it is the show piece of the room, thus most people put large mirrors or a portrait of a very important person in the household. In your case you can play off the mantel and have the eyes run their course, Starting at the top, working left to right scanning downwards as we English speakers read and write.
Dark under light is soooo institutional. Why dark under light is most often used in office buildings, institutions and other public places is to hide the dirt and debris that collects on the lower half of walls from people passing by, scuffing, etc. In your home you can have Dark over light especially if you have a nice bead board wainscot to show off. Sage would be a nice color to put on the wall above the bead board. The lighter color beneath a darker color will draw the eye downward to show off that nice wood work.
Back to that fireplace. Above the fireplace, depending on its design and location on the wall, you may want to run the bead board all the way up from the mantel to the ceiling, finishing off the sides and top with decorative molding to frame in that space, then anything you hang over the fireplace will be showcased in that space. Also this will help with the continuity of the maple color of the wainscot. Set against a field of Sage this will add more focus to the fireplace. The eye will be drawn to the maple color in the middle of a wall of darker sage. If you have a picture above the fire place, the eye will linger there taking it in, then the eye will scan down, and going from left to right scan everything on the mantel. Then the fire place will be seen, and then the maple wainscot going around the room, thus (left to right) the eye will follow that wainscot around the room picking up everything in that path
Carpet color: Now this one can be tricky depends on what you are aiming for and if you are willing to live with a carpet that is not going to blend well with future changes go wild and get any color you want. However chances are you will change the room around, or move or want to hide dirt in the carpet, thus I would go with the tan or beige because these two colors go well with everything; they are neutral and give you a firm foundation for any color scheme you may choose now or in future. The trick is to use rugs over the carpet to break up the monotony of the sea of blah with white and maple ships floating about (furniture, tables, etc.)
I would recommend an area rug that reflects the color on the wall (Sage) broken with other colors in the room – say the grey of the fireplace, the white of the couch, maybe a hint of other colors that may be found in accessories. This would be in the middle of the room an island where the ships (chair and sofa) are docked with the coffee table in the middle. Ideally the rug should be at least as long as the sofa, it can be slightly longer than that.
You may want to get a matching or similar smaller area rug to place before the fireplace, adding more stature to your focal point. Depending on the shape of the room and the flow of traffic, another area rug connecting to doors and doorways may help to hide the fact you have a sea of blah. Victorians knew the value and the elegance of layered materials on the floor.
When you get that big area rug, and if you do find one that has other interesting colors, say red in very tiny amounts, you can use those colors to tie in with throw pillows, or a throw over the sofa.
Now what are you planning for window treatment? Please don’t say Just blinds, blinds are soooo 20th century. I would select a common color of the furnishings (sounds like white to me) to fabric the windows. That will tie in the whole room to the furniture. Since you may not want leather drapes (like fabrics you see) you may want to play off the difference and select either a fabric that has a definite noticeable weave, or one that is has a pattern weaved into it even though it is all one color. If you have blinds, then I would suggest a nice set of thicker curtains with an insert of sheer panels. The sheer would help to hide those blinds, and always change the light in a nice way they also provide the illusion of privacy even though they are see through. Since you would be using blinds for privacy instead of the curtains themselves, you could skimp on the curtain material and have that hanging like pillars on either side of the window.
If stark white curtains are not your idea of “pretty” in a sage room, then you may want to use white sheers framed with a contrast curtain, say a lighter shade of sage, or even bamboo/maple. Thus each window will be a white rectangle, framed in with two pillars of fabric which helps with the transition between the sage of the walls and the white of the sheers.
Your accessories and throw pillow and possible a throw blanket over the couch and similar will present you with plenty of opportunity to throw splashes of other colors. If you get something along the lines of a Persian Rug that has a nice pattern with a main color theme but also a lot of other colors through out which blend with the over all design, you would pick out of those colors and throw your splashes of color (throw pillows) onto the furniture. And of course the goo-gaws and nick nacks and wall hangings also introduce a lot of various colors into the room.
Hope some of that helps.
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