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Melanie's "Everyday is Halloween" Living Room

Everyday is Halloween



Name:

Melanie

Location:

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Division:

North

Colors Used


I started with a neutral gray on the walls to balance out all of the honey-colored woodwork and floors. There is a large tree outside the windows that blossoms with hot-pink flowers every spring and the gray acts as a beautiful counterpoint. Because this is a north-facing room which gets only minimal sunlight the gray seems very mysterious and mecurial depending upon the lighting. In addition to the gray I used olive green, orange, teal, and black.

Color Inspiration


As strange as it sounds the large, disembodied head painting. The painting is moody, dark, and a bit creepy Against white walls the contrast seems too stark so I took hundreds of samples of gray paint and found one that complimented the painting. After I purchased the disembodied head painting I found other paintings from local Twin Cities artists that had a similarly dark theme and also had orange accents. It was not a deliberate attempt to find coordinating artwork (I just must like the macabre) but with a neutral color the artwork really pops.

Color Tips


My art work dictated the choices of paint, lighting, and even the crazy, olive green velvet couch. I think when you have a neutral - but interesting - color you take more chances with the furnishings and decor.

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Comments (10)

Very nice room, Melanie! Interesting color combo...and I love your beautiful velvety green couch.

posted by Honore on October 20, 2010 at 10:46am
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An area rug that incorporated the orange and black and green would have really tied everything together.

posted by slowdown on October 20, 2010 at 11:25am
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@slowdown You are totally right, it is very unfortunate that some goons had to go pee on my rug man.
The dude. It did really tie the room together.

posted by LKFotography on October 20, 2010 at 7:13pm
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Love it and the disembodied head painting! where did you get it??

posted by jpl1173 on October 20, 2010 at 7:18pm
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I'd love to know the name of the gray paint you used.

posted by Holy MoLi on October 20, 2010 at 9:12pm
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@Holy MoLi, the paint color I used was Benjamin Moore's Sidewalk Gray. It's a nice, complex gray and doesn't seem as quite as cool and clinical as some grays can.
@jpl1173, I actually purchased the painting from the artist himself (he was having a "moving sale" at his house and people were actually waiting at the door when we arrived - and we came early). You can read more about him here -
http://www.allenbrewer.com/profile.cfm

posted by cleo57 on October 21, 2010 at 6:31am
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@cleo57 thanks!

posted by jpl1173 on October 21, 2010 at 11:20pm
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I'd love if every day were Halloween. Think how easy it would be to get dressed with the goal of looking awful!
But this is a very pretty room. The things in it are very carefully chosen and go together beautifully.
I think you will continue to make this room richer and richer.
Look for a beautiful rug on E carpet on the hot deals. I found the link on AT once and check often.

posted by Kate (NC) on October 23, 2010 at 11:37am
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Love the unexpected color combo. The green sofa with blue pillows is priceless! Like a big green monster - in a good muppets sorta way.

posted by trixiegoodbits on October 23, 2010 at 4:08pm
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Very Adams Family in a not-so-depressing way.

posted by Gloria Graham AKBD, from on October 24, 2010 at 11:18am
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