Antique Look for my Guest Bedroom

I am planning on redoing my guest bedroom. The room is 11x15 with two windows.

It has beige carpeting. The only furniture in the room is a full antique mahogany spindle bed, a dark oak roll top desk and chair, an antique wicker table and a black toll house lamp.

The windows face North and West.

I want an antique look to the room. The quilt for the bed is light green with a little light blue.

I am unable to decide on a color for the walls. Do I go dark or light? I know I don't want blue but I am thinking a light green (which is my favorite color), beige or gold.

Usually I can pick colors easily but I want the dark furniture to stand out, especially the spindle headboard which came out great after I refinished it.

I plan to put old family photographs on the wall over the bed. I have photos dating back to 1880.

I am also undecided if I should paint the molding. The house is over 100 yrs. old and I think the medium dark molding might look more authentic.

Please give me some ideas.

Thank You, M.J.

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Antique Look for my Guest Bedroom

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Nov 16, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Golden Delicious... Apple Green?
by: Charlotte

Hello MJ

You sound as if you have some really lovely pieces for your guest bedroom, and I think you will end up with a really authentic antique look.

Any of the colors you mention would look good in your room, but I'll try to explain some of the options for you...

You don't say where abouts in the world you are from?

If you are from the northern hemisphere for a room facing north and west one of the beige and gold colors would be a good choice - the green may make the room seem a little cool.

(The beiges and golds would also work well for southern hemisphere too)

More about colors and the way your windows face, here...

Do you want a cosy look for your room? This might be a good idea for a bedroom - in this case the beiges and golds would be a good choice.

Green is a very relaxing color - which is a good mood to create in a bedroom too - and can create a cooler and fresher feel.

How large is your room? Small spaces can be made to feel larger by using cool colors and pale colors on the walls to reflect all available light around...

Green is usually a cool color, which could help your room to feel larger and lighter...

..but equally a pale beige or gold (although these are usually warm colors) can still keep the room feeling spacious, but also bring a more cosy feel too.

A dark color, whether green, beige or gold, may tend to make the room feel darker and smaller.

Yellow colors in particular can make rooms feel smaller, but in contrast to this the uplifting, cheerful feel of colors containing yellow tones can counteract this by making your room feel more cheery and bright.

Any of the colors would also look great against the mahogany and dark woods - paler colors will, of course, provide more of a contrast.

Green would be a dynamic contrast between the green and mahogany. The reason for this is the reds and oranges in the mahogany wood would 'bounce off' the green tones.

Green and red are opposite each other on the interior design color wheel, which means a very dramatic look.

The beiges and golds would also look good, but this would be more a question of a 'harmonising' scheme between those same orange and red tones in the wood, and the yellow gold tones (next to each other on the color wheel)...

...or a scheme of differing brown tones with the wood and beiges.


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Nov 16, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Continues from above comment
by: Charlotte

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Whichever you decide on, you might want to choose the other - gold with green, or green with gold...
...or either/both with beige, for an accent color - to give your room design scheme just that little added 'oomph'.

Choose heritage or period paint colors for your guest room, so that you achieve that authentic heritage look...

...rather than choosing a lovely color only to end up having it look rather modern once you've got it on the walls.

Is your molding already a dark wood? - dark moldings did tend to be more common in earlier periods - I would be tempted to leave it dark and see how it looks...

...if you think your whole look might need lightening and brightening a little, this can be easy to do by painting covings and moldings in a clean, bright white.

More about period properties here...

Hope some of this information helps you to make your color decision.

Your room sounds like it's going to be a stunner! I'd love to see any photos of the finished project

Best wishes

Charlotte

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