Sewing room color

Does color affect you, Donna? Do you have a favorite? and what's the window situation? Polly

wrote

Thanks for asking Polly, I'm not particularly affected by color except that the room is shaded by a gigantic cedar tree most of the time so it is dark, no direct sunshine but the room doesn't get hot either. DH has promised lots of lights to compensate. I thought that I had read somewhere that the color of the walls had an effect on the appearance of the colors in the fabric. Did I just imagine that? I may be stewing over nothing but that's what I do best. I need to decide soon before DH loses momentum and my dining room and sewing rooms change places. Right now all the stuff from the sewing room is in my dining room. Luckily we eat in the kitchen. In the modifications, I'm giving up my Horn cabinet with the lift. I sure hope I'm not sorry or DH will have to build me a new one. Donna in Bellevue

My sewing room is white with an overhead light and also a lamp that clips onto the sewing table. I prefer white so that a room color won't interfere with the cloth color, but that is just me. Grandmother had her machine up against a red brick wall and it seemed to make all the cloth seem darker. It was also more difficult to thread the machine. She soon moved the machine to a white room. HTH Barbara in SC

My walls were painted white tinted with peach years ago - it was only one of three white tints available then that had no VOC's! As the years have passed, I no longer see the walls because they are all lined with shelves and filled with fabric and other accoutrements. The window blind is peachy too. Barnyowl

I'm partial to a warm cream color. It's just slightly off white- a bit to= the brown side- but not beigy. My fave is a rich cream color called Count= ry White by Kilz bought at WalMart. VBG It looks lovely with crisp white s= emi-gloss trim paint around the windows and doors or with stained trim. Pl= us it stays the same color no matter the time of day or the sun exposure. = My least favorite off white is a grey-ish (too stark and cold) or a yellow-= ish off-white (looks dirty and icky to me???). Flat paint hides flaws on t= he walls much better but satin is easier to clean. If handprints on the w= alls are not an issue for you I'd stick with flat or eggshell. Yeah, I've = done a LOT of painting over the years and chose the paint colors when I wor= ked for a custom home builder. I've made plenty of mistakes before I foun= d Country White! ;-)

Good luck with finding the right color the first time and remember you can = return a partial can of paint for a refund or exchange if you paint a patch= of wall and don't care for the color.

Leslie & The Furbabies > I'm about to embark on the "great sewing room remodel". The room is empty=

and almost ready for paint. My quandry is what kind and what color. Do I w= ant semi-gloss or satin? Do I want cream or off white or pale blue or green= or something else? I've never had the option of room color before. Ideas p= lease. Donna in Bellevue

When we added my sewing room in my old house, I used a paint color called "Pina Colada." It had a teeny tiny amount of brown in it - you couldn't really see the brown, but it kept it from being a bright, bright absolute white. I like light walls, but I don't like them so white they're "glary!" I'm pretty sure I used semi-gloss. I did have two pretty good sized windows in that room, but still added lots of light - both fluorescent and track lights.

My new house has all the walls painted "Artist's Canvas" an off-white. Probably a little darker than I would have picked, put since this was a spec house I took what was here. Don't dislike the color enough to repaint.

Hey, Donna I was going through some pictures last night and stumbled on the pictures we took when we met you & your DH at Spokane. That's been awhile - I think it was 2004!

D> I'm about to embark on the "great sewing room remodel". The room is empty

Yes Donna in Idaho, that was fun to meet you and your DH. We still try to meet up with folks when we can. There are really nice people all over the world, some of whom I've actually met in person. That's really fun. Thanks so much for the input to my color quandry. I think I'm leaning toward a whiteish color. It's just easier that way. DH likes walls any color as long as they are white. He shocked the heck out of me when he not only agreed to rust and beige in the bathroom but actually suggested it.I guess it doesn't matter how long you've been married there is always something new to learn about the other marital unit. Donna in Bellevue

Thanks Barbara in SC. I'm definitely leaning that way. Donna in Bellevue

LOL. Returning the paint is the least of my worries. Convincing DH that I need to redo is where the plan falls apart. Donna in Bellevue

I remember when my mother wanted her bedroom painted lavender. She and the painter kept at the paint mixing until it was just what she wanted. She loved that room and my dad loved what she loved. Donna in Bellevue

Den 06-09-2012 23:36, snipped-for-privacy@oz.net skrev:

My sewing room is also my office (I teach and spend a lot of time grading papers). I painted it BRIGHT light blue/turquoise! I haven't been here long enough to unpack, and haven't been sewing here yet either, so I don't know if the wall colour will affect the fabric colours, but it affects my mood every day - it is so cheerful.

And so far, 5 kids have visited and had a good night's sleep in there, so clearly not too bright for a guest room.

Whatever you do, get samples and paint them on the wall or on large sheets of paper that you can hold up at different points. Colours look different in big than on the little chips.

Hanne in DK

Make sure you note the color on the 8"X10" paper--back side--with light pencil strokes, especially if they are close in shades. Went with a bit off white (tan tone) for the Studio becasue of the Desert sun glare that we get out here. It worked very well. I did use white cotton batting for the Design wall that was bigger than the size of quilt I worked on so I didn't have to worry on wall color interferring with fabric colors. The off -white was easier on the eyes.

Thanks for your insight, Hanne. I love bright colors but I think I'd better stick with something more mundane for my walls. Trying a larger area is a great idea. I'm going to see if I can get some samples after I narrow it down to a few paint chips. I doubt I would have tried that. All you guys are really helping. I just have to narrow my palate and I'm sure I'll find just the thing. After all "it's just paint". Donna in Bellevue

Hanne's right. Colors look different in big And they look different on the 'other' walls. Half of my sewing room is dark paneling. The first owner/builder used it as a pool room, the architect intended it as a 2 car garage. Whatever. The truth is, I'm so happy to have a sewing room, I wouldn't care if the walls were roofing shingles. Polly

I suspect that after all is said and done, there won't be much paint peeking around shelves, design wall, etc. to matter but I want the fun of picking out my own color. One perk I have with a house that is much too big for two people is that I have a bedroom dedicated to my sewing room. DH has his hobby room, too. Donna in Bellevue

Just happened to remember than occasionally I will see the Sherman William's ads where they will offer a pint or sample of paint at a reduced price so you can try it on the wall. Also, at Lowe's & Home Depot where they mix paint especially for someone, it won't be the right color so they offer these "wrong" gallons of paints at a reduced price. If this happens to look like the right color for you, then you save a lot of money. Barbara in SC

Donna -

I'm having the same issue. I want to repaint so bad but can't come up with= a color that I think will look good. I love all colors. My sewing room i= s huge (thankfully) and I have 2 windows facing the front of the house and = then 2 more windows on the side. I get a lot of light from them but I have= 3 fans with lights plus my OTT light and then another floor standing light= . Reason is, is because the current room color is darkish. A dark, dark, = dark tan....I do know that I DO NOT want white walls or tan walls. There i= s tan is every other room in this house and I NEED COLOR.

Cindy

Cindy, maybe what you need are color accents more than colored walls??? U= se off white walls to not distort the colors in your fabrics and paint cabi= nets, trim, etc. with colors you love. Or add a wildly floral or print up= holstered chair or two with contrasting pillows on the seats. I once spen= t many hours cutting away the background of a lovely wallpaper border and a= pplied it on the walls about 12 in. from the ceiling- it looked like a very= intricate stenciling project. Or I have a 30 in. tall wallpaper border i= n my kitchen that appears to be an English flower garden growing out of the= base trim. Or use a chair rail and paint whatever color you love below t= he chair rail and an off white above it. That shouldn't create a problem w= ith fabric color distortion. Add some crown moldings at the ceiling level a= nd you'll have a beautiful place to create amazing quilts. I'm a bit envio= us of your large sewing room- I am now sewing in a wide spot in the hallway= in my tiny Victorian cottage. I gripe at the tight quarters at times, but= I finally got old enough to appreciate less living area to clean and more = time for what I love... quilting, my HairyButt Gang, my massive flower beds= , baking..... ;-)

Leslie & The Furbabies > I'm about to embark on the "great sewing room remodel". The room is empty=

and almost ready for paint. My quandry is what kind and what color. Do I w= ant semi-gloss or satin? Do I want cream or off white or pale blue or green= or something else? I've never had the option of room color before. Ideas p= lease. Donna in Bellevue