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Dear Annie:
I need help with my living room. It's time for the red to go away.

I want something more sophisticated. We have a "great room" layout with a vaulted ceiling that attaches to the dining area and kitchen. I'd like to use one color for both rooms. I'm thinking of a pale bluish-gray. Or maybe Wedgewood Gray. I hate tan, but I could live with something closer to taupe. The room doesn't get a ton of light.

I'm confused. Please help! - Lynda


Lynda, you poor dear. Do you ever dream that you're in Hell? As in, the place?

Let me hastily say that I'm not being snarky, because I know whereof I speak. I myself once had a red living room that led into a gold dining room. I thought it looked fabulous for about 10 minutes. Then I felt like I'd joined the circus.


Here's what I love:

• That you love color. Hooray!

Here's what I don't:

• The red is too dark
• The contrast with the gold is too stark
• The overlap of the colors in the dining room looks odd to me

So where does that leave us?

I agree that painting both parts of the great room the same color is the solution. Good for you for coming up with that.

You say the room doesn't get much light, so let's stick with a lighter color. Alas, much as I love Wedgewood Gray (and you know I love it), it's just too dark for your space.

Go for a light, warm neutral on the walls and - here's the kicker - wrap that color up the vaulted ceiling and onto any horizontal ceiling above. One light color, everywhere. Including on the natural wood baseboard I see peeking out in your pictures.

So what color? I'd love to see you test Benjamin Moore's HC-172 Revere Pewter, because it (like all colors) behaves so differently in different settings. At its best, it's a soft, warm, sophisticated, contemporary-but-not-frighteningly-edgy gray.

(Gentle Readers, let's just consider this post the Best of Bossy's Colors for Revere Pewter, shall we? I haven't gotten around to writing a special entry about it, but it really is an all-star color.)

I don't want you to go too cool, though. I see some country stuff in your home...the American flag, the quilt, the Windsor chairs...so also test some warm off-whites, such as Benjamin Moore's OC-91 (or 2153-70) Ivory Tusk.

Ivory Tusk veers yellow, so as long as you're at the Benjamin Moore store, also pick up a sample of OC-1 Natural Wicker. Slightly darker and beige-er, but not boring. Give it a shot.

Then, THEN, you must promise me that you won't lose your color mojo just because you've gone all upscale with your wall color :) Please promise me that you'll splurge on some fun throw pillows for your sofa and chairs in red, orange and pink. Yes, they clash. Yes, you can do it.

I have faith in you. Good luck, and keep me posted, Lynda!



Those three adorable, affordable throw pillows are by color maven Susan Sargent.