Basement Color Help... Ideas?

DrHicks · 12-26-2011, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by casper129

Alright guys, thanks for your input. Today we are going to go get a few paint samples and see what they look like. Jay - I know what you mean by the color may look darker than it really is.. that's what happened with my grey primer. In the store, I thought it looked super light.. and once it was on the wall, wow, did it look dark. Jsheridan - The wife was thinking the same thing about putting a lighter color from the flooring. I like the way DrHicks basement looks, as I like the greyer/pale-er? colors, and the wife likes vibrant colors. Also, the ceiling will be a drop ceiling.. It will still be rather high (7ft.-ish) but we haven't picked out the tiles yet for that. We figure we will use a basic white/grey colored tile, one that is common. In the end, the wife will make the choice tho.. :/

DrHicks - We had thought about doing an egress window in the area that I pictured.. but then we ran into the issues that on the long wall, is the garage, on the back wall, is our rear cement patio, and on the "front" wall is the walkway to the entrance of our house.. I don't plan on making a bedroom in the basement for a few years yet, and the room that will be a bedroom is already planned to have an egress window. It will be a guest room. My children won't be allowed to sleep down there. (don't have any kids yet tho.. 1st one is due in 17 days

) And I'm trying to accomplish as much as I can before the little bugger gets here ...

Congrats on pending fatherhood!

I think you're going about this in a smart manner, from planning an egress window to LISTENING TO YOUR WIFE!

casper129 · 12-26-2011, 12:15 PM

She's the one that demands an egress window in the theater room, "just incase" we turn in into a bedroom in the future. I was just like.. what the f*ck! haha

DrHicks · 12-26-2011, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by casper129

She's the one that demands an egress window in the theater room, "just incase" we turn in into a bedroom in the future. I was just like.. what the f*ck! haha

Well... As one who has been married 30 years, and has 3 grown kids, I will again say, 'LISTEN TO YOUR WIFE!'

jsheridan · 12-26-2011, 02:37 PM

Casper, I would suggest that you get some poster boards, and a little mini Shurline roller kit, (the package carton is actually the rolling pan) and do some samples on the board. You can move them and position them anywhere you like to get a feel for how they'll work. Any of the suggestions posted could work. I like bolder colors. But Jay's idea works as well. A lot of it will depend on your furniture, decor, area rugs, and what your use is for the room. I've seen people do amazing things with solid white, ceiling, walls, and trim. All of the color and interest was created with the decor colors, and the room looked alive. If I chose a burnt orange color, I wouldn't put multi-color funiture, but some simple black or brown leather furniture would look sharp. A good interior designer would decorate that room based on your personality and tastes, and that's something we can't determine in a forum. Just balance the colors, textures, and the light and you'll do fine. Do some research on color schemes, some of the paints stores have info on this, but look up terms like monochromatic, complement, split complement, double complement, analogous, and triadic. You'll not only do fine, but you'll be having friends ask you to decorate their house, and be on your way to your own HGTV show. When you get there, just be sure to use drop cloths and never dip a brush into a full can of paint, or I'll say bad things about you. Good luck and keep us posted.
Joe

casper129 · 12-27-2011, 01:46 AM

Thanks Jsheridan! That's a good idea with the poster boards.. I never would have thought of that! Thanks for the tips, I will spend most of my night looking up and researching the terms that you put out there for me.

I will keep you guys updated for sure.

Jay 78 · 12-27-2011, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsheridan

Casper, I would suggest that you get some poster boards, and a little mini Shurline roller kit, (the package carton is actually the rolling pan) and do some samples on the board. You can move them and position them anywhere you like to get a feel for how they'll work.

I love this idea. That's a great way to see for sure if, for example, that beautiful royal blue that looks so good on the sample card will look nearly black in the shadowed areas of the room.

Casper, I'm not exactly sure what you you meant in your first post about making the area "open up", but one thing to keep in mind is that darker colors tend to make rooms appear smaller, while lighter colors have an opposite effect.

Brushjockey · 12-27-2011, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsheridan

Casper, I would suggest that you get some poster boards, and a little mini Shurline roller kit, (the package carton is actually the rolling pan) and do some samples on the board. You can move them and position them anywhere you like to get a feel for how they'll work.

Any of the suggestions posted could work. I like bolder colors. But Jay's idea works as well. A lot of it will depend on your furniture, decor, area rugs, and what your use is for the room. I've seen people do amazing things with solid white, ceiling, walls, and trim. All of the color and interest was created with the decor colors, and the room looked alive. If I chose a burnt orange color, I wouldn't put multi-color funiture, but some simple black or brown leather furniture would look sharp.

A good interior designer would decorate that room based on your personality and tastes, and that's something we can't determine in a forum. Just balance the colors, textures, and the light and you'll do fine. Do some research on color schemes, some of the paints stores have info on this, but look up terms like monochromatic, complement, split complement, double complement, analogous, and triadic.

You'll not only do fine, but you'll be having friends ask you to decorate their house, and be on your way to your own HGTV show. When you get there, just be sure to use drop cloths and never dip a brush into a full can of paint, or I'll say bad things about you.

Good luck and keep us posted.
Joe

Joe- see how much easier to read?? lol

casper129 · 12-27-2011, 11:32 PM

Alright guys - Update for ya... We did some wall board samples (even tho the wife pretty much already had her mind made up on color...)

I had a super busy day today.. Put 2 coats of the dark color on, and two coats of the light color on, put ceiling grid up in one section of the room, and put some flooring down to see how it looks..

Close up of the trim that we decided to go with.. It's an off-white, with wood grain. We like it a lot better that straight white.

What do you guys think of the color combinations.. ie- floor, to trim, to wall?

DrHicks · 12-27-2011, 11:33 PM

^ I like the look. More important, do you? Does your wife?

casper129 · 12-27-2011, 11:47 PM

If the wife didn't like it, I would still be down there re-doing it..

We are happy with the choices, but we're not so good at noticing when things clash, or don't flow when it comes to interior colors...

DrHicks · 12-28-2011, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by casper129

If the wife didn't like it, I would still be down there re-doing it..

We are happy with the choices, but we're not so good at noticing when things clash, or don't flow when it comes to interior colors...

You're a very smart man!

Honestly, a lot of interior decorating is pure preference. If the two of you like it, that's all that matters. Plus, if you grow to hate the color a year from now, you can always re-paint.

Your work looks good!

chrisn · 12-28-2011, 03:34 PM

before the little bugger gets here ...

that's no way to speak of you're first born child