You are so right about dark spaces, as far as I'm concerned. Since I've had a health issue, I find I feel much better mentally in an enclosed dark place. Nothing morbid, just a safe, relaxing feeling ❤
@@Nick_Lewis Exactly! I'm always buffled and tired to hear people using the word "cave-like" like it's something negative. Enveloping! Moody! Mysterious! That's all beautiful adjectives!
The biggest issue I have with "rules" is that they are someone else's opinion. Now, if we all want to do the same thing, have the same look, I say, "go for it". However, expressing oneself when decorating our environments has zero rules other than BE WHO YOU ARE. If I like it, that's all that matters.
@@vlrissolo Nick's livelihood? doesn't come before anyone's decorating choices. It's perfectly do-able to present beautiful things as well as ugly things and talk about why they work and why they don't work according to a personal/occupational opinion.
Standing ovation on "wood is beautiful, stop stressing". Before there was an internet, people inherited real furniture from their parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles, even great-grandparents. No one rejected a beautiful old sideboard, dresser, or armoire because the wood tones didn't match your hardwood floors or mantle. Sheesh. We certainly didn't paint something gorgeous & sturdy with baby-blue chalk paint just because it was made from walnut and not oak, or had a few dings in the wood, or didn't fit our vision of the month. Seriously. If I see one more person paint over a FABULOUS Mission-era buffet with lavender chalk paint I am going to scream & throw things. Treasure the beauty, durability, and class of real wood furniture made well, or pass it on to someone who will understand and greatly appreciate its value.
I broke a big rule in my home. Living in Scandinavia, your home should be bright, light and have light wood and such. When i bought my farmhouse it was light and bright. Now 6 months later, it is dark. Dark brown furniture, dark wallpaper and paints. And i love it. William Morris beautiful wallpaper, dark earth tones in the paint and almost all white is gone. It is not all wrong cause in the 18th century, these types of farmhouses was in a darker palette, and this old wooden house deserves to be brought back to its former glory. Its bould and like you said so well, its comforting and cavelike, without being to drastic, like living in a black hole.. ;) The house told me what it wanted and it said get rid of the white! Thank you for sharing Nick!
Re wood tones: friends were renovating an old Ontario cottage that had layers of paint on the walls and trim and layers of paint and linoleum on the floors. After months of work, they got down to beautiful birds-eye maple trim and the entrance hall, which extended down the centre of the house, was alternating narrow strips of cherry and oak for a vivid striped effect. It was stunning. Congrats late 19th-century Ontario!
Finally someone said it! A huge fan of moody dark mysterious spaces, I'm sick and tired of people using the word "cave-like" as something negative! I LLLove that! My favourite underused adjective about interiors - "mysterious". And in white walls I just feel outside. Not that cosy.
At some point in the 90’s my mum swapped out most of her wood furniture in various tones for pieces all in the exact same shade of oak. The result was…not good. She loved it, everyone else was polite and pretended to. I rescued some of her cast offs and they all still live happily together in my space.
I have a tip for you!! I accidentally had the combination of paints to use up and ended up doing first coat in satin and then two coats on top in flat. O M G! Best of both worlds. Rich sumptuous matte! Yet it has this feel of satin underneath that doesn’t shine through, but it lends the sturdiness somehow. Doesn’t feel chalky, naked, flat paint. Feels more substantial. Try it, you’ll love it!!!
As someone who is stuck with light grey walls and grey wood floors in my apartment, my solution to the wood tone issue is to make every other wood surface warm so that the "cool" grey tone becomes the outlier and not the focus. I have the thick, textured wool-jute rug, walnut legs on the coffee table, a beige-ish colored fabric on the sofa, a brass arm floor lamp, rattan accents on the media console, jewel tone throw pillows, etc. and it helps to take your eye off the fact that the base of the room is cool toned
The classic color that goes with grey is whites and blues but that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, a lighter warm brown like you are using is a good choice as well as the beige/cream colors but at the end of the day it’s your home and the things that you have that speak to are more important
The one thing I think is MOST important about dark walls is you have to have proper light and variation for night time. You CANNOT skip good lighting with it.
Definitely good advice to break the white/light walls in small place. We live in a 400sft rv park model (tiny house living). Walls were initially white. Last remodel, I painted the walls a warm gray (valspar mountain hideaway) and love it! I think it makes the place seem so much more "expansive". Probably because the subdued color makes the walls recede, where as the white walls were more noticeable and made the place seem boxy. Our place also has lots of windows, so no problem there with light during the day, and at night, very comfortable/cozy feel to it, which I didn't get with the white walls.
Did you say tiny house with walls that are NOT white? Yay! 🥰 I love watching tiny house content, both for entertainment and to get ideas for my own very small house, and 99.999% of them have white walls. I love a colorful tiny.
In a windowed/light/sunny space you can go with a really dark color opposite the light source, with lighter colors on the other walls. I have a narrow long hallway with windows on of the long walls. The oppose long wall is a matt dark gray. It looks fantastic and doesn't look closed in.
@user-kp8kx2gt7j Yes, and it's pretty tiny. The front living room/kitchen area is only around 12'x22'. And this warm gray looks so good compared to the white it was before. Also, it really sets off and compliments other things we have, like pine wood furniture and accents; the semi sheer off-white curtains I put up; etc. I have the same color in the bedroom, too. Only our bathroom is painted cream white, but has a near-black accent wall behind the sink (another experiment that turned out better than expected). .... I, too, am always looking for ideas that I can use in our very small home. It can be quite a challenge at times.
@@tammlen2284 your space sounds lovely. Yes, decorating a tiny house is quite the challenge (sometimes I wonder why I decided to come up with my own decor scheme) but I'll bet the satisfaction of getting it right makes it all worthwhile.
Flat paint of good quality applied to walls is indeed cleanable! And train those kids to keep their hand off. I grew up with five siblings and we all learned!
Years ago, I was able to visit Monet's home at Giverny. The robin's egg blue kitchen ceiling had the glossiest finish I have ever seen. It was stunningly beautiful and still vivid in my mind years later. The whole eat-in kitchen exuded joy.
At my old place (a working horse farm with two small kids and 40-60 students) our walls and trim were high gloss, bright white- recommended by our painters. Very little stuck or stained that paint and what did was easy to bleach out. When I went to sell it 13 years later, all I had to do was wash the walls with a bleach spray cleaner and they looked brand new.
I think there are 2 types of people, those who find dark rooms cozy and those that find them oppressive (I'm not talking so much wall colors as actually the amount of light coming into the room.)
There may be a third type - those that find them pretty to look at (for a short time) but just could not have them in their own home because it would not meet their own physiologic need for natural light, and they would get depressed. Thats me! 😊
@@karencski711 First thing I do in the morning is open all the drapes and shutters. I think some people keep drapes closed because of heat in the summer but I hate gloomy houses.
100%. I don’t understand why people don’t do anything but white on ceilings. I have found that it’s a great place for an accent color since it’s typically already a different color than the walls and the color is then spread across the entire room.
@@Nick_Lewis Took a F and B paint chip to Benjamin Moore and they matched Lamproom Gray perfectly. It's been on my bedroom walls for 9 years now and I don't see changing any time soon. Also BARE birch wood floors and coral/subtle floral bed coverings and walnut and butternut dressers. The walls both set it all off and bring it all together somehow.
One of the most beautiful paint jobs I've ever seen was in a dining room. The owner had painted the room a jewel tone (red? I think?) in 12" stripes, alternating between semi-gloss and satin finish. The natural or indoor lighting hit each strip differently, giving the room an incredibly different look. All it took was painter's tape and a yardstick.
As you suggested with mixing metals, I think mixing wood tones tends to work better when there's contrast. It's often hard to be "matchy-matchy" with wood because it's a natural material.
I agree. If you have to mix woods, go for big contrasts rather than staying in the same color family. For example, mixing two reddish woods like mahogany and cherry is utter 🤮🤢.
I think it can be an interesting and organic decor theme if there are LOTS of different woods but I think they should all be close to the same smooth/rough-ness (not mixing a very rough chunky table with a very satin varnished sideboard).
Yes, we've done that in our family room. We have a dark walnut traditional fireplace mantel and furniture legs, and whitewashed pine tables that looks quite whitish gray.
Yes the only way to match exactly is buying from the exact same collection, otherwise, there will always be nuances in tones and shades even if they are the same color family.
@@vaderladyl I had some tables from the same collection that didn't match. The coffee table was noticeably darker than the side tables. But the warm/cool tone was similar.
I love walls painted with flat paint. I think they're gorgeous. One advantage to them is that it is easier to fix any marks. Simply paint & feather it in. Don't try that with a glossier finish. Lesson learned.
Something interesting about paint: I have an old home, and my closets were very dark. I painted them with the shiniest white paint I could buy, and they were transformed. These were long, walk-in closets that got little light from the doors. Another time, my church had to start using a dark, narrow stairway during renovation. We painted it with white, high-gloss paint, and the difference was amazing. Suddenly it was clean and bright, and you could see every step.
I never understood the problem w/mixing metals or woods. I think it adds such a personality to the space. It speaks of the time you’ve spent curating your life. Especially if you’ve lived through different trends. I love my more classic dark wood floors with the honey colored armoire I bought in the 90s etc. I always purchased whatever was considered “timeless” or “classic” for the period, the things that “would never go out of style” (spoiler: they never were and always did) but b/c they were never too trendy they still kind of work. My house tells the story of my life, where I’ve been, who I was. I would never toss it all out and buy a set of matchy-matchy showroom furniture.
Yes! As a play on Nicks words, look at the forest, have you ever said 'That tree doesn't match the other trees!' Mixed woods are beautiful together and tell the story of your life. Except gray. Only a barn wood frame or small accessory in gray is ok.
7:01 wow okay, I never thought I'd say this because I really lean towards light pastel colors, but I think I want a dark bathroom like this that's so gorgeous and would be perfect for relaxing baths
Thanks Nick, you’re a breath of fresh air in the interior design space. Classic, quality, and timeless interiors > trends / thirsting after passing faddish design trend sycophants. Conventional wisdom is often not wisdom.
I’ve taken your advice about dark spaces. I absolutely love them. Summer last year I moved into my first ever 1 bedroom apartment. 528 ft.². I put a very dark gray peel and stick wallpaper that almost looks black throughout most of the apartment. The space is absolutely stunning. It’s cozy and intimate. Especially at night where it looks like a lounge. I have large windows so during day light can come in. I have to thank you Nick because you were the reason why I had the confidence to make my apartment a dark space and it payed off
My husband always used matte finish paint for the walls even though we had kids and pets. He couldn’t stand to see any shine on the walls. My father-in-law was a professional painter from Wales, so maybe he influenced him. I always had a Magic Eraser handy and we had to touch up the paint more often.
Only once did I paint walls in an eggshell. They looked awesome, BUT you can not touch them up cuz they flash back a guy less u repaint the entire wall. A lot of work if ur just want to relocate a large mirror or something that leaves a large hole to be patched. Really bad idea especially if u have high ceilings in that room and will have to hire someone to do it for u!
The house I'm renting is done all in matte white paint, including the kitchen, and the walls are very textured as well. Trying to keep the walls in the kitchen clean is an absolute nightmare, especially because they never bothered with a backsplash.
I was fortunate enough to inherit my parents beautiful mid century modern Scandinavian furniture, mostly teak, some walnut, and our wood floors are maple. The wood tones look great together.
I think the trick with small(er) spaces is to reduce the contrast against the walls. If you have all light toned furniture and art, then painting the walls dark will increase the visual contrast and make the room look smaller. If you have all dark furniture, and the walls are all light colors again the same thing applies so to make a small room look bigger you need visual harmony. I’m not saying everything has to be all dark or all light colored, but for the majority to be similar.
Also, I once knew a guy whose Mom had recently divorced and moved massive amounts of antique furniture into a small flat. It was difficult to walk. BUT the walls of each room were intense dark colours, blue, burgundy. It was bizarre, but amazing. Just for a visit though. It was too tight in there.
I like the your point about dark cosy places, which might work for a small bedroom or a nook/cove. However, I think there are practical reasons why a bathroom, or any water-using space, should be bright and well-lit: cleaning. You'll spot mold or leaks right away in a bright room and go about fixing them asap, while in a dark room you might be breathing mold for months before realizing there's a problem.
None of my wood matches but they are all on the darker side. I think it works. Rules are really just suggestions when applied to decorating and dressing 😊
I completely agree with you on the use of dark paint or paper in a small room. It can work out in a beautiful and 'comforting' way. When I was a child, I made a 'secret room' for myself in the closet space under the stairs, that I practically lived in. So, I get what you mean by humans having this desire for cozy, more intimate, warm spaces. I also like your statement on mixing metals, and wood. I think if done well; mixing either can show more personality, rather than always going for a strictly cohesive plan might. Thanks, as always. :)
Worth noting about the pain sheen is also that wall paint used to be quite matt in the past. It was generally when new plastic based paints started appering post WWII that you really started to get a bit more sheen on your walls. So if you have an older home and want to decorate more or less true your home's time period, that might also be a reason to consider matt wall paint.
Matte paint - interesting that you've suggested matte walls are a very modern look, in my old French farm-cottage with rough plastered walls I've used an Annie Sloan chalk paint- looks very traditional, allows the walls to breath and gives wonderful depth.
Regarding wood tones, pick two undertones and stick with them. For instance, I have an orangey oak in my home as my main tone (cabinets and mantel, ect.). I keep most of my woods in the tone family of orange oak. Then, I have a secondary wood tone that is a dark walnut with reddish undertones. These two wood tones are implemented throughout the space creating a dynamic and CURATED look.
I have many wood tones throughout my house because of the antiques I’ve inherited. I’ve noticed if I keep the rest of the color palette neutral with small pops of color, it feels very homey and timeless.
I put matte navy paint above the chair molding in my home office (and on the ceiling) and I love it. My kids are rarely in there and even if they are, it's out of reach and safe from them.
Thank you about explaining the sheen of paint so well, I never knew, I had a dog that would rub the wall as she walked down the hallway, I had to repaint that wall a few times :/
My dad is a plasterer and he always advises against shiny paint on walls/ceilings as they show every imperfection in the wall. I hadn’t heard of using satin/gloss on walls, not sure if it’s a bit different in the UK.
I had seen a lot of satin, eggshell and semi gloss paint on many rentals here in the US for decades and in other countries, like in the Caribbean (more for weather protection than not) as well, it is more common than you think as using flat is actually a recent trend here from like 10 or so years ago. Yes it can show imperfections but it looks great on walls that are perfectly even and smooth.
Benjamin Moore makes a new finish called “velvet. “ It falls between flat and semi. It has a fantastic and very very subtle sheen to it. I used it in my art studio because I didn’t want the light reflection of semi gloss but I’m not a fan of the surface texture of flat.
Also, I realized why I love your channel so much, I'm sensitive to light and love dark spaces. I have a whole pinterest board about cave spaces hahaha.
I really appreciate your common sense approach to interior design! Your suggestions always exemplify class and subtle elegance. Most are timeless yet still modern. I have learned something from every video!
I never worry about wood tones and have always mixed them. We are all individuals and should decorate our spaces to feel comfortable and have a cozy place to escape the madness. Nick, I enjoy your videos and perspective on decor. It was interesting how light values can enhance our spaces.
Followed somebody's advice to paint "small rooms with weird angles" all one dark shade. People now consistently walk into that deep blue-gray bathroom and say Oooooooooo! We kept it simple with dark faux marble tile and white /chrome fixtures. Dark is stunning.
Just bought a flat/matte dark highly saturated olive (LRV 17) paint for my fireplace room walls today. Lower half of the room is a white gloss board & batten. (and a fabulous "tribal" pomegranate red area rug going on the hardwood floors)! I'm getting braver with design choices, thanks to you, Nick!
After watching interior design trends over a period of over fifty years, I can tell you now that there has never ever been any hard and fast rules about interior design. Look at the weird crap from the seventies or the idiocy of the boring oversimplified neutral colorless present design. It kind of proves my point. The only real rule is to repaint your house all white before you move out or sell it.
Good point ! When we bought our house 20+ years ago , all the walls were white . Really liked it this way to get the sense of space , proportion , etc. & envision our future color palette , furniture placement , etc. Clean slate !!
Funny how rules vary from country to country for ex where i live mat finishes for walls is the rule (except heavy trafic areas such as hallways) or regarding wood finishes the more you mix and match the better.
The "RULES" are sort of the default setting. It seems like if you want to do something different, you have to do it with intention, and be prepared to say, "I did it because I like it. You got a problem with that?"
I had a small room made into a den and I did it pretty dark, my favorite room that I’ve ever had in any place I’ve ever lived warm cozy inviting... love the small powder room dark too
These rules and rule breaking conventions are helpful. Because there are future home sellers out there and renters that want to appeal to the masses. Having a wide appeal can translate into money in the form of offers or security deposit (returned in full if you’re a renter). For the rest of people, have at it.
Welcome to personal choice, no "rules". This is decorating, not the Roman Catholic church pre- Vatican II. These are all rules of thumb, or helpful hints, to make decorating easier not harder. The decorating inquisition won't carry you away for mixing your wood tones.
Matte wall's velvety look is lovely. If you paint with matte, just get an air tight vessel (not the original metal can as that is hopeless) for your extra paint and some cheap touch up brushes. If your paint is latex it's easy to do quick touch ups and wash your brush.
I always do this. I have small canning jars that I put extra paint in from different walls. I label them and the seal on the canning jars keeps the paint great. Plus, it’s easy to carry around a small little jar and a cheap foam brush and go around and touch up boo-boos.
Rules are made to be broken, but in decoration we talk about taste and flavour and principles that are objective such as the colours wheel, simmetry and repetition in the same way every different kind of music have to follow certain schemes such as refrains to avoid dissonant results
Finally, a person who understands the "rules" come from centuries of principles like the colorwheel,design principles that have lasted through the test of time!👏 Nice work,Valerie
@@lydiabond5393 thanks Lydia, in fact even drivers can break the speed limits but because they are based on rational reasons they Will risk to face bad results
the rule about paint sheens really intrigued me, because in germany you only ever see matte paint everywhere, on all walls. Im definetly going to be thinking about playing with sheens in my next apartment.
I broke the small room, light paint color rule for my office and love it!! I went with Sage Green Light by Sherwin Williams, which is pretty dark (especially when the second darkest paint color in my home is Repose Gray) and it is gorgeous! I feel like I can focus well with it and that it actually expands the room in a sophisticated kind of way.
I have been leaning towards satin paint for a bit of drama in the rooms I paint. It's not in your face like semi-gloss, but it is enough to make the room a bit more high-end feeling. I also love painting with dark colors. I never thought I would, but just painting one wall black or dark green just cozies up a space.
Love your channel, but what a shock today! Not that you think that one should break I.D. rules, but that you broke one of your own! At about 17:50 minutes in, you show a room with a PINK couch! You certainly wouldn't have a pink couch in your house, but were brave enough to show that you don't disapprove of pink as a pop of color.
Rules are here to be broken...😉 Mix together all the colours that you like. It will look good if you are going bold. Mix old and new and vintage and design and your grandparents furniture and embrace the result.
Love this video! I’m so glad you touched on wood tones as this is something I’m currently stressing about. I have an oak bed frame with white drawers and a white dresser. However, I have walnut nightstands and chair in the same room. The way I have made it cohesive is by tying in the color from the oak with wicker. So, the nightstand drawers are wicker, the seat of the chair is wicker, and I put a wicker tray on the dresser. Also, I am seeing mixed wood tones more frequently!
I broke the sheen “rule” in my basement and painted the ceilings in a satin. WOW, does it bounce light around the room! I’m so happy I did it since the ceilings are only 8’. I also ❤️❤️❤️ a dark bathroom. My half bath has mid-dark blue walls and a black ceiling. Love it!
I love wallpaper in small rooms, especially the bedroom. It just feels so cozy! And thank you so much for explaining paint sheen. Now I know to paint my paneling in a satin instead of flat to bring out that nice texture. Also, when I bought my 1939 house, I was definitely one of those people stressing about wood! All the original wood is old growth pine, which you can't really get anymore. Not to mention that it was stained/lacquered a cherry wood color, except for the floor, which the previous owner refinished natural. I am NOT going to refinish any of that original wood -- it's still in great shape and just needs a bit of polish. After much trial and error, I found that what looks great is a mixture of natural oak and natural cherry. Of course they don't match exactly, but the oak has a similar grain pattern to that old growth pine while adding a lighter tone so that everything doesn't look that orange-colored cherry wood samey-samey.
We went flat or matte with our walls and it looks fantastic and sophisticated. We do have pets and kids here, but it's not hard to clean or paint over. Flat allows you to paint and it matches without blending.
I love lots of different wood tones mixed together. I have a few beautiful antique oak pieces mixed with midmod cherry, mixed with a dash of 90s unfinished pine hutch that has mellowed and darkened with age, and it all absolutely works in -get this - my contemporary style house with the cathedral ceiling in the living room. the wood helps to bring down the ceiling a little while keeping everything very neutral, which is my aesthetic. Because we tend to move often (or did in the past) I am married to cream walls for quick home sales…I bring my color in via art, pillows, etc. dare I say…play with wood more? 😯😊
20 years I go flat on walls always. Covers all imperfections. Put a little in a jar and you can touch up easier than all other sheens. I have paint over 8 years old and yes it still covers perfectly.
I use to always only want bright, light spaces in my house, I liked dark broody spaces but mostly for like English manors in the country side. I then saw a photo on pinterest (when looking up green living rooms) of a room with massive floor-to-ceiling windows with very dark green walls, a black obsidian fireplace, low hanging dark bronze lighting (dimmed) and a bunch of plants filling in the space with dark green lounge sofas strategically arranged. It looked like the best place to curl up and read a book on a rainy day. I became obsessed and now I want my own super dark moody lounge room with massive windows.
Matte/flat paints tend to burnish, developing shiny spots, when you clean them. Behr had a "flat enamel" that was flat, but scrubbable. Great stuff. High-gloss will reveal EVERY FLAW ON THE WALL ... you need to take the time to fix all the issues, add a flawless layer of drywall mud and sand it smooth, then prime and paint. Eggshell is my fave. One trick for matte walls is to paint your choice of colors then apply a flat clear coat water-based top coat. TEST THIS because it will change the color slightly. *********** Color cohesiveness: If you are going to do a "pop of color" it should be a KABOOM as Nick shows. ********** Wood tones? The choice of wood in the past was based on the use: oak for durable flooring; walnut, cherry, oak, pine, or whatever for furniture, mahogany if you were rich, and no one worried about it.
hi Nick, i agree that i don't like accent color walls, but i find it difficult to understand how to use color, apart from painting THE ENTIRE room one color. and even then, it's kinda hard cause if the rest of my apartment is white and i just wanna paint my room pink, and i don't wanna do an accent wall, would i paint the whole thing pink and then feel i'm in a peptobismol bottle and then i step out into a completely white thing? idk, i really don't understand how to transition colors throughout the place, and also what to do in homes with defined rooms vs open floor plans. a video on this would be so helpful!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
I don’t mind mixed finishes, but I don’t like mixed metals, if that makes sense. So like matte black with nickel, but not gold with silver. I think the biggest issue for me is mixing warm and cool. I just don’t like it. I can see brass with gold because they’re both warm and too much bright gold isn’t my thing, so you can temper it with brass. Rose gold and copper I think also go together, even if rose gold fixtures aren’t quite my thing.
I had an average sized bedroom that did have one window but it had an outdoor walkway over it so it didn’t get any sun. I really lived there a while to decide. I finally decided that nothing was going to make it bright and sunny so go with cozy. I painted it the color of milk chocolate. It turned out great and everyone who saw it loved it. When I sold it was almost the favorite room.
As someone who had to hand scrub liquid sandpaper on every wall and ceiling on the house I bought before I could paint because the former owner used high gloss paint, that first point was a bit triggering 😂
Totally agree, and the paint sheen one meshes with my experience. Unintentionally glossy ceilings are a nightmare (think shabby student rental with glossy white ceiling- not good!) but your examples were lovely. Flat paint on the walls is excellent too if you are covering up an unfortunately textured wall- like plastic faux wood paneling. I was childless with no pets and the trim was just pieces of 4x1. Did everything in flat (even the trim) and it looked quite classy with rugs covering the sub-flooring and a curvy chaise lounge commanding attention.
Mono-metals, particularly in large kitchens and bathrooms, can be ... well ... monotonous, even overbearing. You are absolutely right on how to break the rule also. Thank you!
My husband & I re-did the Master bath a few years ago & we used semi-gloss white on the ceiling, and I love it! It reflects light so much better in this relatively small space & makes the whole room look cleaner & brighter.
Thanks for teaching about LRV. Somehow, I didn't know this. I'm choosing paint color for my new place, and now I'm comparing this bit as well. Overall, it was a great video!
I received mahogany furniture that I really like from my maternal side of the family, bad news is, the house we got is from the grey days. I guess it's safe to say I'm getting those tiles replaced in a few months time.
The 2020 place I was lucky enough to rent when I needed to move to another city for some reason chose the hardware of 2010 and is all brushed nickel/ chrome in the kitchen of the open living space, all of it with greyish 'wood' floor. I didn't want to buy new decor to match with weary colour schemes. I wanted to use my own beautiful furniture. So I put in all rose gold/copper colour lights, mirror, accents. Even a touch of toned-down brass. It may not have been a decorator's ideal situation, but I somehow made it work for us. I think it's a lot to do with undertones, intentionality, and creative combinations with less-expensive accent decor like cushion covers & other accessories. Also Nick's tip about grouping by function, although TBH that was mostly accidental!
Thank you for always putting the little audio cue whenever you show an image. I listen to your videos more than watch them, and those audio cues help me know when to watch the screen 😄
It never occurred to me why you paint walls and ceilings and trim in those different finishes but now I’m looking in my main living spaces and I REALLY wanna do a gloss finish on the ceiling now lol.
I passionately hate anything but matt on walls. I hate shiny walls. I don’t get them dirty so can’t see why I should change. It’s refreshing to hear someone agree!
You are so right about dark spaces, as far as I'm concerned. Since I've had a health issue, I find I feel much better mentally in an enclosed dark place. Nothing morbid, just a safe, relaxing feeling ❤
Right? I love a cave.
I love my small house and it feels safe and warm with its dark walls
I agree. I like bedrooms to be on the darker side. It's like a warm hug. 🙂
We painted our bedroom a dark color. I called it "womb to womb." It was so comforting to be in there at the end of a stressful day.
@@Nick_Lewis Exactly! I'm always buffled and tired to hear people using the word "cave-like" like it's something negative.
Enveloping! Moody! Mysterious!
That's all beautiful adjectives!
The biggest issue I have with "rules" is that they are someone else's opinion. Now, if we all want to do the same thing, have the same look, I say, "go for it". However, expressing oneself when decorating our environments has zero rules other than BE WHO YOU ARE. If I like it, that's all that matters.
You are Good Nick💜🤗💞
I agree but this is a channel about decorating. Nick's livelihood.
@@vlrissolo right? Rules is just a phrase. This gets rehashed so much and is such an obvious thing by this point.
@@vlrissolo Nick's livelihood? doesn't come before anyone's decorating choices. It's perfectly do-able to present beautiful things as well as ugly things and talk about why they work and why they don't work according to a personal/occupational opinion.
💯agree, well said!
Standing ovation on "wood is beautiful, stop stressing". Before there was an internet, people inherited real furniture from their parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles, even great-grandparents. No one rejected a beautiful old sideboard, dresser, or armoire because the wood tones didn't match your hardwood floors or mantle. Sheesh. We certainly didn't paint something gorgeous & sturdy with baby-blue chalk paint just because it was made from walnut and not oak, or had a few dings in the wood, or didn't fit our vision of the month. Seriously. If I see one more person paint over a FABULOUS Mission-era buffet with lavender chalk paint I am going to scream & throw things. Treasure the beauty, durability, and class of real wood furniture made well, or pass it on to someone who will understand and greatly appreciate its value.
I broke a big rule in my home. Living in Scandinavia, your home should be bright, light and have light wood and such. When i bought my farmhouse it was light and bright. Now 6 months later, it is dark. Dark brown furniture, dark wallpaper and paints. And i love it. William Morris beautiful wallpaper, dark earth tones in the paint and almost all white is gone. It is not all wrong cause in the 18th century, these types of farmhouses was in a darker palette, and this old wooden house deserves to be brought back to its former glory. Its bould and like you said so well, its comforting and cavelike, without being to drastic, like living in a black hole.. ;) The house told me what it wanted and it said get rid of the white! Thank you for sharing Nick!
Re wood tones: friends were renovating an old Ontario cottage that had layers of paint on the walls and trim and layers of paint and linoleum on the floors. After months of work, they got down to beautiful birds-eye maple trim and the entrance hall, which extended down the centre of the house, was alternating narrow strips of cherry and oak for a vivid striped effect. It was stunning. Congrats late 19th-century Ontario!
Wow! That must be absolutely STUNNING! Why would anybody paint over birdseye maple? 😢 Can you send pics?
Finally someone said it!
A huge fan of moody dark mysterious spaces, I'm sick and tired of people using the word "cave-like" as something negative!
I LLLove that!
My favourite underused adjective about interiors - "mysterious".
And in white walls I just feel outside.
Not that cosy.
At some point in the 90’s my mum swapped out most of her wood furniture in various tones for pieces all in the exact same shade of oak. The result was…not good. She loved it, everyone else was polite and pretended to. I rescued some of her cast offs and they all still live happily together in my space.
Good save👍
Hahah matching oak wood furniture is so 90s/early 2000s 😂 gives me nostalgia
I have a tip for you!! I accidentally had the combination of paints to use up and ended up doing first coat in satin and then two coats on top in flat.
O M G! Best of both worlds. Rich sumptuous matte! Yet it has this feel of satin underneath that doesn’t shine through, but it lends the sturdiness somehow. Doesn’t feel chalky, naked, flat paint. Feels more substantial. Try it, you’ll love it!!!
As someone who is stuck with light grey walls and grey wood floors in my apartment, my solution to the wood tone issue is to make every other wood surface warm so that the "cool" grey tone becomes the outlier and not the focus. I have the thick, textured wool-jute rug, walnut legs on the coffee table, a beige-ish colored fabric on the sofa, a brass arm floor lamp, rattan accents on the media console, jewel tone throw pillows, etc. and it helps to take your eye off the fact that the base of the room is cool toned
The classic color that goes with grey is whites and blues but that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, a lighter warm brown like you are using is a good choice as well as the beige/cream colors but at the end of the day it’s your home and the things that you have that speak to are more important
That sounds lovely. Well done!
The one thing I think is MOST important about dark walls is you have to have proper light and variation for night time. You CANNOT skip good lighting with it.
“I don’t really love an accent wall”, says the guy sitting in front of his navy blue wall. 😉
If you look over the to the upper right side of the screen it almost appears that wall is navy also. Thoughts?
That may not be an accent wall at all. Since the room is a fairly open concept, that could be a way to delineate the dining room from the living room.
@@juliafees4675 I was thinking the same. I like accent walls though 😊
Exactly and I love an accent wall…
@II-wx4kv yes that's so odd !!😂
Definitely good advice to break the white/light walls in small place. We live in a 400sft rv park model (tiny house living). Walls were initially white. Last remodel, I painted the walls a warm gray (valspar mountain hideaway) and love it! I think it makes the place seem so much more "expansive". Probably because the subdued color makes the walls recede, where as the white walls were more noticeable and made the place seem boxy. Our place also has lots of windows, so no problem there with light during the day, and at night, very comfortable/cozy feel to it, which I didn't get with the white walls.
It sounds pretty, and I like that you love it. That feeling of love for your home will make you a fun host. Good job 😊
Did you say tiny house with walls that are NOT white? Yay! 🥰 I love watching tiny house content, both for entertainment and to get ideas for my own very small house, and 99.999% of them have white walls. I love a colorful tiny.
In a windowed/light/sunny space you can go with a really dark color opposite the light source, with lighter colors on the other walls. I have a narrow long hallway with windows on of the long walls. The oppose long wall is a matt dark gray. It looks fantastic and doesn't look closed in.
@user-kp8kx2gt7j Yes, and it's pretty tiny. The front living room/kitchen area is only around 12'x22'. And this warm gray looks so good compared to the white it was before. Also, it really sets off and compliments other things we have, like pine wood furniture and accents; the semi sheer off-white curtains I put up; etc. I have the same color in the bedroom, too. Only our bathroom is painted cream white, but has a near-black accent wall behind the sink (another experiment that turned out better than expected). .... I, too, am always looking for ideas that I can use in our very small home. It can be quite a challenge at times.
@@tammlen2284 your space sounds lovely. Yes, decorating a tiny house is quite the challenge (sometimes I wonder why I decided to come up with my own decor scheme) but I'll bet the satisfaction of getting it right makes it all worthwhile.
Flat paint of good quality applied to walls is indeed cleanable! And train those kids to keep their hand off. I grew up with five siblings and we all learned!
Agreed, the better paint brands will have a flat paint that can be cleaned.
Me, sitting in my oak chair in my home office with its pine desk and teak coffee table: yes
Years ago, I was able to visit Monet's home at Giverny. The robin's egg blue kitchen ceiling had the glossiest finish I have ever seen. It was stunningly beautiful and still vivid in my mind years later. The whole eat-in kitchen exuded joy.
At my old place (a working horse farm with two small kids and 40-60 students) our walls and trim were high gloss, bright white- recommended by our painters. Very little stuck or stained that paint and what did was easy to bleach out. When I went to sell it 13 years later, all I had to do was wash the walls with a bleach spray cleaner and they looked brand new.
I think there are 2 types of people, those who find dark rooms cozy and those that find them oppressive (I'm not talking so much wall colors as actually the amount of light coming into the room.)
There may be a third type - those that find them pretty to look at (for a short time) but just could not have them in their own home because it would not meet their own physiologic need for natural light, and they would get depressed. Thats me! 😊
@@karencski711 First thing I do in the morning is open all the drapes and shutters. I think some people keep drapes closed because of heat in the summer but I hate gloomy houses.
Don’t be afraid of painting your ceilings s dark color. White is fine, but I do love a dark room that goes from wall to ceiling.
100%. I don’t understand why people don’t do anything but white on ceilings. I have found that it’s a great place for an accent color since it’s typically already a different color than the walls and the color is then spread across the entire room.
Here in England, the posh paint brands for walls are deeply saturated matte paint. Eg Farrow and Ball, The Paint and Paper Library, Zoffany.
Totally. Farrow and Ball always looks stunning for this reason.
I found three cans of F&B in the trash once. Happiest day of my life.
@@Nick_Lewis Took a F and B paint chip to Benjamin Moore and they matched Lamproom Gray perfectly. It's been on my bedroom walls for 9 years now and I don't see changing any time soon. Also BARE birch wood floors and coral/subtle floral bed coverings and walnut and butternut dressers. The walls both set it all off and bring it all together somehow.
I matched farrow and ball " ball green" to sherwin Williams historic collection green stone. Flat, matte. Stunning.
I matched farrow and ball " ball green" to sherwin Williams historic collection green stone. Flat, matte. Stunning.
One of the most beautiful paint jobs I've ever seen was in a dining room. The owner had painted the room a jewel tone (red? I think?) in 12" stripes, alternating between semi-gloss and satin finish. The natural or indoor lighting hit each strip differently, giving the room an incredibly different look. All it took was painter's tape and a yardstick.
Interesting look in the late 90’s /early 2000’s, but today, that look is terribly dated. JMO.
Not only do you deliver solid design concepts but you do it in a witty manner. Really clever and funny moments scattered throughout.
I love it when he playfully admonishes "calm down"!! 😂🎉
As you suggested with mixing metals, I think mixing wood tones tends to work better when there's contrast. It's often hard to be "matchy-matchy" with wood because it's a natural material.
I agree. If you have to mix woods, go for big contrasts rather than staying in the same color family. For example, mixing two reddish woods like mahogany and cherry is utter 🤮🤢.
I think it can be an interesting and organic decor theme if there are LOTS of different woods but I think they should all be close to the same smooth/rough-ness (not mixing a very rough chunky table with a very satin varnished sideboard).
Yes, we've done that in our family room. We have a dark walnut traditional fireplace mantel and furniture legs, and whitewashed pine tables that looks quite whitish gray.
Yes the only way to match exactly is buying from the exact same collection, otherwise, there will always be nuances in tones and shades even if they are the same color family.
@@vaderladyl
I had some tables from the same collection that didn't match. The coffee table was noticeably darker than the side tables. But the warm/cool tone was similar.
Love the cave analogy- yes! Especially in bathrooms. You're on to something here, Nick:)
I love walls painted with flat paint. I think they're gorgeous. One advantage to them is that it is easier to fix any marks. Simply paint & feather it in. Don't try that with a glossier finish. Lesson learned.
Something interesting about paint: I have an old home, and my closets were very dark. I painted them with the shiniest white paint I could buy, and they were transformed. These were long, walk-in closets that got little light from the doors. Another time, my church had to start using a dark, narrow stairway during renovation. We painted it with white, high-gloss paint, and the difference was amazing. Suddenly it was clean and bright, and you could see every step.
I never understood the problem w/mixing metals or woods. I think it adds such a personality to the space. It speaks of the time you’ve spent curating your life. Especially if you’ve lived through different trends. I love my more classic dark wood floors with the honey colored armoire I bought in the 90s etc. I always purchased whatever was considered “timeless” or “classic” for the period, the things that “would never go out of style” (spoiler: they never were and always did) but b/c they were never too trendy they still kind of work. My house tells the story of my life, where I’ve been, who I was. I would never toss it all out and buy a set of matchy-matchy showroom furniture.
Coordination is far better than matching! Good for you! 😊
Yes! As a play on Nicks words, look at the forest, have you ever said 'That tree doesn't match the other trees!' Mixed woods are beautiful together and tell the story of your life. Except gray. Only a barn wood frame or small accessory in gray is ok.
7:01 wow okay, I never thought I'd say this because I really lean towards light pastel colors, but I think I want a dark bathroom like this that's so gorgeous and would be perfect for relaxing baths
Absolutely. I love dark bathrooms personally.
Thanks Nick, you’re a breath of fresh air in the interior design space. Classic, quality, and timeless interiors > trends / thirsting after passing faddish design trend sycophants. Conventional wisdom is often not wisdom.
'Black, grey, navy, charcoal.. all the diferent colors of the rainbow' yes... charcoal is my favourite rainbow color. Love you Nick!
I’ve taken your advice about dark spaces. I absolutely love them. Summer last year I moved into my first ever 1 bedroom apartment. 528 ft.². I put a very dark gray peel and stick wallpaper that almost looks black throughout most of the apartment. The space is absolutely stunning. It’s cozy and intimate. Especially at night where it looks like a lounge. I have large windows so during day light can come in. I have to thank you Nick because you were the reason why I had the confidence to make my apartment a dark space and it payed off
That "what's-her-face" Lilly Allen will be flattered haha! :)
My husband always used matte finish paint for the walls even though we had kids and pets. He couldn’t stand to see any shine on the walls. My father-in-law was a professional painter from Wales, so maybe he influenced him. I always had a Magic Eraser handy and we had to touch up the paint more often.
Matte walls look sophisticated
Only once did I paint walls in an eggshell. They looked awesome, BUT you can not touch them up cuz they flash back a guy less u repaint the entire wall. A lot of work if ur just want to relocate a large mirror or something that leaves a large hole to be patched. Really bad idea especially if u have high ceilings in that room and will have to hire someone to do it for u!
The house I'm renting is done all in matte white paint, including the kitchen, and the walls are very textured as well. Trying to keep the walls in the kitchen clean is an absolute nightmare, especially because they never bothered with a backsplash.
@@violetmoon2283 Professional painters love matte paint. If you pick a matte, the better brands clean up better than cheap paint.
I was fortunate enough to inherit my parents beautiful mid century modern Scandinavian furniture, mostly teak, some walnut, and our wood floors are maple. The wood tones look great together.
I think the trick with small(er) spaces is to reduce the contrast against the walls. If you have all light toned furniture and art, then painting the walls dark will increase the visual contrast and make the room look smaller. If you have all dark furniture, and the walls are all light colors again the same thing applies so to make a small room look bigger you need visual harmony. I’m not saying everything has to be all dark or all light colored, but for the majority to be similar.
Also, I once knew a guy whose Mom had recently divorced and moved massive amounts of antique furniture into a small flat. It was difficult to walk. BUT the walls of each room were intense dark colours, blue, burgundy. It was bizarre, but amazing. Just for a visit though. It was too tight in there.
I like the your point about dark cosy places, which might work for a small bedroom or a nook/cove. However, I think there are practical reasons why a bathroom, or any water-using space, should be bright and well-lit: cleaning. You'll spot mold or leaks right away in a bright room and go about fixing them asap, while in a dark room you might be breathing mold for months before realizing there's a problem.
agreed …. dark is great and fun for power rooms
None of my wood matches but they are all on the darker side. I think it works. Rules are really just suggestions when applied to decorating and dressing 😊
I completely agree with you on the use of dark paint or paper in a small room. It can work out in a beautiful and 'comforting' way. When I was a child, I made a 'secret room' for myself in the closet space under the stairs, that I practically lived in. So, I get what you mean by humans having this desire for cozy, more intimate, warm spaces. I also like your statement on mixing metals, and wood. I think if done well; mixing either can show more personality, rather than always going for a strictly cohesive plan might. Thanks, as always. :)
Different woods definitely go together. That’s why wood inlay floors are a thing
Worth noting about the pain sheen is also that wall paint used to be quite matt in the past. It was generally when new plastic based paints started appering post WWII that you really started to get a bit more sheen on your walls. So if you have an older home and want to decorate more or less true your home's time period, that might also be a reason to consider matt wall paint.
I love that you used the British PM's front door as an example! Made my day! :)
Matte paint - interesting that you've suggested matte walls are a very modern look, in my old French farm-cottage with rough plastered walls I've used an Annie Sloan chalk paint- looks very traditional, allows the walls to breath and gives wonderful depth.
I think I’m actually going to follow this. I love color, but I think using a matte paint will be a good way to make colorful walls a little less loud
Did you use Annie Sloan wall paint? How did you like it?
Matte paint is necessary for those of us stuck with textured walls. Any sheen makes the texture look super obvious.
Regarding wood tones, pick two undertones and stick with them. For instance, I have an orangey oak in my home as my main tone (cabinets and mantel, ect.). I keep most of my woods in the tone family of orange oak. Then, I have a secondary wood tone that is a dark walnut with reddish undertones. These two wood tones are implemented throughout the space creating a dynamic and CURATED look.
Regarding mixing woods, I think of some traditional Japanese homes with many different woods and tiles, but all natural tones. Looks great!
gloss would also bounce more light I would totally pick an Lrv gloss to brighten up a space
I have many wood tones throughout my house because of the antiques I’ve inherited. I’ve noticed if I keep the rest of the color palette neutral with small pops of color, it feels very homey and timeless.
I put matte navy paint above the chair molding in my home office (and on the ceiling) and I love it. My kids are rarely in there and even if they are, it's out of reach and safe from them.
Thank you about explaining the sheen of paint so well, I never knew, I had a dog that would rub the wall as she walked down the hallway, I had to repaint that wall a few times :/
My dad is a plasterer and he always advises against shiny paint on walls/ceilings as they show every imperfection in the wall. I hadn’t heard of using satin/gloss on walls, not sure if it’s a bit different in the UK.
I agree. It is certainly not done in mainland Europe to paint walls and/or ceilings in anything but mat / flat
I associate it with outdated student accommodation lol
I had seen a lot of satin, eggshell and semi gloss paint on many rentals here in the US for decades and in other countries, like in the Caribbean (more for weather protection than not) as well, it is more common than you think as using flat is actually a recent trend here from like 10 or so years ago.
Yes it can show imperfections but it looks great on walls that are perfectly even and smooth.
I had always heard that semi-gloss is for kitchen, bath, & trim. It's definitely easier to clean.
@@vaderladyl it’s interesting, I think it’s a US/Europe difference. Might even be partly down to different plastering techniques.
I’m thinking about doing the pop of color in my guest bath. Everything white, gray, black, but the vanity in a aubergine or some shade of purple.
I like the use of the word “advice” rather than “rules.” It feels more flexible.
Benjamin Moore makes a new finish called “velvet. “ It falls between flat and semi. It has a fantastic and very very subtle sheen to it. I used it in my art studio because I didn’t want the light reflection of semi gloss but I’m not a fan of the surface texture of flat.
Hi in the UK the trend is for Matt or flat Matt finish for walls and ceilings, wood work would be eggshell or soft sheen the contrast is lovely.
Also, I realized why I love your channel so much, I'm sensitive to light and love dark spaces. I have a whole pinterest board about cave spaces hahaha.
I really appreciate your common sense approach to interior design! Your suggestions always exemplify class and subtle elegance. Most are timeless yet still modern. I have learned something from every video!
I never worry about wood tones and have always mixed them. We are all individuals and should decorate our spaces to feel comfortable and have a cozy place to escape the madness. Nick, I enjoy your videos and perspective on decor. It was interesting how light values can enhance our spaces.
"...what's her face" 🤭 ~ I love you!
Semigloss on my trim and ceilings. Sheen on ceilings reflects and reminds me of lake or beach cottages with reflections of the water. My happy space!
Followed somebody's advice to paint "small rooms with weird angles" all one dark shade. People now consistently walk into that deep blue-gray bathroom and say Oooooooooo! We kept it simple with dark faux marble tile and white /chrome fixtures. Dark is stunning.
Just bought a flat/matte dark highly saturated olive (LRV 17) paint for my fireplace room walls today. Lower half of the room is a white gloss board & batten. (and a fabulous "tribal" pomegranate red area rug going on the hardwood floors)! I'm getting braver with design choices, thanks to you, Nick!
After watching interior design trends over a period of over fifty years, I can tell you now that there has never ever been any hard and fast rules about interior design. Look at the weird crap from the seventies or the idiocy of the boring oversimplified neutral colorless present design. It kind of proves my point. The only real rule is to repaint your house all white before you move out or sell it.
Good point ! When we bought our house 20+ years ago , all the walls were white . Really liked it this way to get the sense of space , proportion , etc. & envision our future color palette , furniture placement , etc. Clean slate !!
Funny how rules vary from country to country for ex where i live mat finishes for walls is the rule (except heavy trafic areas such as hallways) or regarding wood finishes the more you mix and match the better.
The "RULES" are sort of the default setting. It seems like if you want to do something different, you have to do it with intention, and be prepared to say, "I did it because I like it. You got a problem with that?"
I had a small room made into a den and I did it pretty dark, my favorite room that I’ve ever had in any place I’ve ever lived warm cozy inviting... love the small powder room dark too
These rules and rule breaking conventions are helpful. Because there are future home sellers out there and renters that want to appeal to the masses. Having a wide appeal can translate into money in the form of offers or security deposit (returned in full if you’re a renter). For the rest of people, have at it.
Welcome to personal choice, no "rules". This is decorating, not the Roman Catholic church pre- Vatican II.
These are all rules of thumb, or helpful hints, to make decorating easier not harder. The decorating inquisition won't carry you away for mixing your wood tones.
Very grown up here! 🙋🏻♀️ no kids, no pets, not even visitors. And my flat walls didn’t last 6 months. Its a nightmare.
Matte wall's velvety look is lovely. If you paint with matte, just get an air tight vessel (not the original metal can as that is hopeless) for your extra paint and some cheap touch up brushes. If your paint is latex it's easy to do quick touch ups and wash your brush.
I always do this. I have small canning jars that I put extra paint in from different walls. I label them and the seal on the canning jars keeps the paint great. Plus, it’s easy to carry around a small little jar and a cheap foam brush and go around and touch up boo-boos.
Rules are made to be broken, but in decoration we talk about taste and flavour and principles that are objective such as the colours wheel, simmetry and repetition in the same way every different kind of music have to follow certain schemes such as refrains to avoid dissonant results
Finally, a person who understands the "rules" come from centuries of principles like the colorwheel,design principles that have lasted through the test of time!👏 Nice work,Valerie
@@lydiabond5393 thanks Lydia, in fact even drivers can break the speed limits but because they are based on rational reasons they Will risk to face bad results
the rule about paint sheens really intrigued me, because in germany you only ever see matte paint everywhere, on all walls. Im definetly going to be thinking about playing with sheens in my next apartment.
I broke the small room, light paint color rule for my office and love it!! I went with Sage Green Light by Sherwin Williams, which is pretty dark (especially when the second darkest paint color in my home is Repose Gray) and it is gorgeous! I feel like I can focus well with it and that it actually expands the room in a sophisticated kind of way.
I have been leaning towards satin paint for a bit of drama in the rooms I paint. It's not in your face like semi-gloss, but it is enough to make the room a bit more high-end feeling. I also love painting with dark colors. I never thought I would, but just painting one wall black or dark green just cozies up a space.
Might I warn against glossy dark
Love your channel, but what a shock today! Not that you think that one should break I.D. rules, but that you broke one of your own! At about 17:50 minutes in, you show a room with a PINK couch! You certainly wouldn't have a pink couch in your house, but were brave enough to show that you don't disapprove of pink as a pop of color.
Saturday...coffee and Nick....PERFECTION......
Rules are here to be broken...😉
Mix together all the colours that you like. It will look good if you are going bold. Mix old and new and vintage and design and your grandparents furniture and embrace the result.
Love this video! I’m so glad you touched on wood tones as this is something I’m currently stressing about. I have an oak bed frame with white drawers and a white dresser. However, I have walnut nightstands and chair in the same room. The way I have made it cohesive is by tying in the color from the oak with wicker. So, the nightstand drawers are wicker, the seat of the chair is wicker, and I put a wicker tray on the dresser. Also, I am seeing mixed wood tones more frequently!
You could try to match the hardware of the dresser and nightstand to add a little continuity if it looks a bit out of place.
Great thoughts Nick! I like having a neutral room so that I can pop in colors that work with the season to freshen things up a bit.
I broke the sheen “rule” in my basement and painted the ceilings in a satin. WOW, does it bounce light around the room! I’m so happy I did it since the ceilings are only 8’. I also ❤️❤️❤️ a dark bathroom. My half bath has mid-dark blue walls and a black ceiling. Love it!
Thank you for helping me not stress so much on wood tones. My apt has a gray tone floors and we own MCM walnut furniture. I’ll stop stressing
I love wallpaper in small rooms, especially the bedroom. It just feels so cozy! And thank you so much for explaining paint sheen. Now I know to paint my paneling in a satin instead of flat to bring out that nice texture. Also, when I bought my 1939 house, I was definitely one of those people stressing about wood! All the original wood is old growth pine, which you can't really get anymore. Not to mention that it was stained/lacquered a cherry wood color, except for the floor, which the previous owner refinished natural. I am NOT going to refinish any of that original wood -- it's still in great shape and just needs a bit of polish. After much trial and error, I found that what looks great is a mixture of natural oak and natural cherry. Of course they don't match exactly, but the oak has a similar grain pattern to that old growth pine while adding a lighter tone so that everything doesn't look that orange-colored cherry wood samey-samey.
We went flat or matte with our walls and it looks fantastic and sophisticated. We do have pets and kids here, but it's not hard to clean or paint over. Flat allows you to paint and it matches without blending.
Flat used to be the normal for walls but it's hard to clean especially if you have children or pets.
I love lots of different wood tones mixed together. I have a few beautiful antique oak pieces mixed with midmod cherry, mixed with a dash of 90s unfinished pine hutch that has mellowed and darkened with age, and it all absolutely works in -get this - my contemporary style house with the cathedral ceiling in the living room. the wood helps to bring down the ceiling a little while keeping everything very neutral, which is my aesthetic. Because we tend to move often (or did in the past) I am married to cream walls for quick home sales…I bring my color in via art, pillows, etc. dare I say…play with wood more? 😯😊
20 years I go flat on walls always. Covers all imperfections. Put a little in a jar and you can touch up easier than all other sheens. I have paint over 8 years old and yes it still covers perfectly.
I use to always only want bright, light spaces in my house, I liked dark broody spaces but mostly for like English manors in the country side. I then saw a photo on pinterest (when looking up green living rooms) of a room with massive floor-to-ceiling windows with very dark green walls, a black obsidian fireplace, low hanging dark bronze lighting (dimmed) and a bunch of plants filling in the space with dark green lounge sofas strategically arranged. It looked like the best place to curl up and read a book on a rainy day. I became obsessed and now I want my own super dark moody lounge room with massive windows.
Matte/flat paints tend to burnish, developing shiny spots, when you clean them. Behr had a "flat enamel" that was flat, but scrubbable. Great stuff.
High-gloss will reveal EVERY FLAW ON THE WALL ... you need to take the time to fix all the issues, add a flawless layer of drywall mud and sand it smooth, then prime and paint. Eggshell is my fave.
One trick for matte walls is to paint your choice of colors then apply a flat clear coat water-based top coat. TEST THIS because it will change the color slightly.
***********
Color cohesiveness: If you are going to do a "pop of color" it should be a KABOOM as Nick shows.
**********
Wood tones? The choice of wood in the past was based on the use: oak for durable flooring; walnut, cherry, oak, pine, or whatever for furniture, mahogany if you were rich, and no one worried about it.
hi Nick, i agree that i don't like accent color walls, but i find it difficult to understand how to use color, apart from painting THE ENTIRE room one color. and even then, it's kinda hard cause if the rest of my apartment is white and i just wanna paint my room pink, and i don't wanna do an accent wall, would i paint the whole thing pink and then feel i'm in a peptobismol bottle and then i step out into a completely white thing? idk, i really don't understand how to transition colors throughout the place, and also what to do in homes with defined rooms vs open floor plans. a video on this would be so helpful!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
Don't overthink. Just do it and enjoy your happy room
I don’t mind mixed finishes, but I don’t like mixed metals, if that makes sense. So like matte black with nickel, but not gold with silver. I think the biggest issue for me is mixing warm and cool. I just don’t like it. I can see brass with gold because they’re both warm and too much bright gold isn’t my thing, so you can temper it with brass. Rose gold and copper I think also go together, even if rose gold fixtures aren’t quite my thing.
I had an average sized bedroom that did have one window but it had an outdoor walkway over it so it didn’t get any sun. I really lived there a while to decide. I finally decided that nothing was going to make it bright and sunny so go with cozy. I painted it the color of milk chocolate. It turned out great and everyone who saw it loved it. When I sold it was almost the favorite room.
As someone who had to hand scrub liquid sandpaper on every wall and ceiling on the house I bought before I could paint because the former owner used high gloss paint, that first point was a bit triggering 😂
Totally agree, and the paint sheen one meshes with my experience. Unintentionally glossy ceilings are a nightmare (think shabby student rental with glossy white ceiling- not good!) but your examples were lovely. Flat paint on the walls is excellent too if you are covering up an unfortunately textured wall- like plastic faux wood paneling. I was childless with no pets and the trim was just pieces of 4x1. Did everything in flat (even the trim) and it looked quite classy with rugs covering the sub-flooring and a curvy chaise lounge commanding attention.
Mono-metals, particularly in large kitchens and bathrooms, can be ... well ... monotonous, even overbearing. You are absolutely right on how to break the rule also. Thank you!
My husband & I re-did the Master bath a few years ago & we used semi-gloss white on the ceiling, and I love it! It reflects light so much better in this relatively small space & makes the whole room look cleaner & brighter.
Thanks for teaching about LRV. Somehow, I didn't know this. I'm choosing paint color for my new place, and now I'm comparing this bit as well. Overall, it was a great video!
I received mahogany furniture that I really like from my maternal side of the family, bad news is, the house we got is from the grey days. I guess it's safe to say I'm getting those tiles replaced in a few months time.
The 2020 place I was lucky enough to rent when I needed to move to another city for some reason chose the hardware of 2010 and is all brushed nickel/ chrome in the kitchen of the open living space, all of it with greyish 'wood' floor. I didn't want to buy new decor to match with weary colour schemes. I wanted to use my own beautiful furniture. So I put in all rose gold/copper colour lights, mirror, accents. Even a touch of toned-down brass. It may not have been a decorator's ideal situation, but I somehow made it work for us. I think it's a lot to do with undertones, intentionality, and creative combinations with less-expensive accent decor like cushion covers & other accessories. Also Nick's tip about grouping by function, although TBH that was mostly accidental!
Thank you for always putting the little audio cue whenever you show an image. I listen to your videos more than watch them, and those audio cues help me know when to watch the screen 😄
It never occurred to me why you paint walls and ceilings and trim in those different finishes but now I’m looking in my main living spaces and I REALLY wanna do a gloss finish on the ceiling now lol.
I passionately hate anything but matt on walls. I hate shiny walls. I don’t get them dirty so can’t see why I should change. It’s refreshing to hear someone agree!
Is that a new picture off to the right? Pretty colors.