Opinions On Painting Project...Open Floor Plan

I love to see different colors in a home as long as they flow together. If the rest of your open plan is neutral your paint color would be a nice contrast.

I have a semi open floor plan and have dealt with this question every time we take on a home project. I am always concerned with the flow regardless if it is the wall color or the floor pattern/material, etc. I know I drive myself crazy but the end result needs to be worth the work and money. I varied the shades and textures of ivory on my first level where the public spaces open onto each other. (foyer, living room, dinning room, kitchen, hallway, stairway)

I think you could use a different shade in the foyer because it is the foyer. It needs to compliment the other colors in the open area but it does not need to be the same color. I think your paint color should be what pleases you. I also try to remind myself that it's only a can of paint. If you don't like it, you can paint over it. I would paint a piece of poster board and tack it up on one wall in your foyer. Stare at it for a week and see how you like it from the different views that you have. I've used this method when deciding on a technique for the living room walls. It's worth the extra days.

As long as the green compliments the paint that you currently have, I don't see why not. The foyer would be the perfect place to use the green that you love so much.

Love the idea of the foyer being that shade of green. Maybe just try to work in a few accessories in that same green shade in those adjoining rooms to make them really all seem like they work/flow together.

I have a townhouse with an open floor plan, so all the walls can be seen from all levels at every angle.

What I did was use the same tonal family. The last time I painted, I used Martha Stewart's paint colors (I used Glidden Duo, but they mixed them using Martha's color recipe). Martha categorizes her colors like Giranimals. Everything with an Apple symbol on it goes together. So even if I used green and blue, the colors went together because of the undertones.

The other part of the equation is deciding which wall or wall part goes in which room and gets which color. There is no wrong answer, you just have to be consistent with how you map it out.

We have a similar layout. I think the green foyer would look nice! We had our foyer a different color than the kitchen, living, and dining areas even though you could see them all at once. It looked nice.

When we repainted, we painted the kitchen walls only a different color, so we then had the foyer, living and dining areas all the same. We didn't want to see 3 different colors at the same time.

So now our foyer is the same as the rest and the kitchen is different.

On 10/20/2014 ~moxie~ said:

I love to see different colors in a home as long as they flow together. If the rest of your open plan is neutral your paint color would be a nice contrast.

Hi moxie...I've seen some of your threads showing pictures of your home and how much you love decorating with bright colors, like turquoise and red...Your home looks lovely...very warm and cheery...and it appeared that you also have an "open floor plan" or "great room", as they call it also.

I think you are right on the mark about the soft green shade being a nice contrast for our foyer and it will also bring out the soft green accents that I have throughout the rest of our home making it all complement each other and completing the overall look.

I appreciate your input!...Thanks so much!

On 10/20/2014 DeePa said:

I have a semi open floor plan and have dealt with this question every time we take on a home project. I am always concerned with the flow regardless if it is the wall color or the floor pattern/material, etc. I know I drive myself crazy but the end result needs to be worth the work and money. I varied the shades and textures of ivory on my first level where the public spaces open onto each other. (foyer, living room, dinning room, kitchen, hallway, stairway)

I think you could use a different shade in the foyer because it is the foyer. It needs to compliment the other colors in the open area but it does not need to be the same color. I think your paint color should be what pleases you. I also try to remind myself that it's only a can of paint. If you don't like it, you can paint over it. I would paint a piece of poster board and tack it up on one wall in your foyer. Stare at it for a week and see how you like it from the different views that you have. I've used this method when deciding on a technique for the living room walls. It's worth the extra days.

Hi DeePa...Yes, you mentioned about the flow of the flooring in an open floor plan also which can be another challenge, along with the wall colors...Oh and don't let us forget about the window treatments either...LOL...I have learned a lot since moving here and it's a good thing that I love decorating and fussing around as it can take trial and error, as well as lots of patience.

As you suggested above, I'm going to paint a strip of wall along the entryway into the living area and that will give me a really good idea of how it will look...It is a really lovely, soft shade of green that I have fallen in love with and it just so happens that I have soft green accents in each of my rooms so, as you can tell, it is one of my very favorite accent colors to play with...I think it will complement the overall look very nicely and give me that final finishing touch that I need!

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply!

On 10/20/2014 brii said:

As long as the green compliments the paint that you currently have, I don't see why not. The foyer would be the perfect place to use the green that you love so much.

Yes, brii...I absolutely agree about the foyer being the perfect place to showcase the beautiful soft green shade and, from the input that I have received here, it has made me realize that it will also be a great way of complementing the soft green accents that I have in the rooms that are visible from the foyer, so it will all come together very nicely!

I appreciate your taking the time to reply...thanks so much!