Decorating living/dining room-any ideas for colour scheme please?

Google painting brick .. ... or stone fireplaces, lots of exciting examples. I was a little nervous as there is no going back once started. And it was my idea.

Please take note I have a very realistic, but electric, stove in it, so no heat.
Take advice if you use the fire. Dust etc so may need a semi sheen/eggshell paint that can be wiped.

Will look into that. Thanks CoolGran. We use the fire at weekends in the winter. Weekdays nights we use an electric wood effect, like you.

I'm trying to lighten my dark little cottage rooms. All the walls are white and I've got a mirror opposite each window but I still need lights on almost all the time.
Like Coolgran, I've decided to paint a brick fireplace in the kitchen (white again) but I despair of the sitting room. I have antique furniture which is dark and no, I'm not going to do fashionable chalk paint on the walnut piano.
I often think that energy-saving lightbulbs don't save much if you need umpteen in each room.
Any ideas?

Why not go with your name? A soft pale apricot paint would look lovely with the dark wood.

Arranging furniture so it draws the eye outward adds a space and light feeling.

x

You could use light reflecting paint on the walls. Could the curtains be draining the light out of the room. The fashionable chalk paint really did transform a lot of my rooms [couldn't quite believe the difference it made to be honest, but the colour of pine seems to soak up colour] but older houses usually look better with darkwood furniture. Energy saving light bulbs don't give out much light either [they have a depressing feel to them]; maybe it's the lights that you could tinker with in some way?

How do you do that J52 , with the furniture? Might be something I need to consider.

I really don't like long life bulbs.

I'm not sure you can do a lot about the comparative low light in an old cottage. Just accept it really as part of the charm. Perhaps have a table lamp or two on full time?

And perhaps a string of fairy lights somewhere?

apricot I have tiny diamond lattice windows in my old cottage, so it can be dark on some days, but since moving in, I've put glass doors between the kitchen and sitting room, and to replace the back door. Still in keeping but I've got lots of borrowed light now. There are dark wood pieces of furniture, but I have a large white and blue cotton striped rug that brightens up the room, and the curtains are ivory, walls are off-white. There are two table lamps that have daylight-type bulbs in them, pale lampshades, too. It's much lighter and appears more spacious than when I moved in.

No one is painting over my beautiful fine grain satin finish Portuguese limestone fireplace ever! Or it will be over my dead body. Or theirs.

www.peakfireplaces.com/surrounds_natural_stone.asp
Faro fireplace in natural limestone

The lovely stone is like this, full of tiny sea creatures. www.cabecaveada.com/

I love my fireplace. Before that we had a dreadful late 1980s rough red brick fireplace which came with the new house.

But my house is seriously in need of redecorating. I can't do it anymore.

Some of you seem to live in some delightful places.

I have to admit to hoarding an indecent amount of 'old' lightbulbs because the house is fitted with dimmer switches everywhere and the energy saving bulbs couldn't be used with them(I think that's changed now). I suspect that the bulbs will outlive me

I seriously dislike the lack of light from energy saving light bulbs, I can't put my finger on why? They're certainly not sufficient for knitting or needlework for me.

I also detest the saver bulbs and always just use lamps.

They are based on the same principle as the old fluorescent lights that people used to find a bit depressing [unless they've changed again over the past couple of years]. The chap that used to test the electrical equipment at work told me that.

Energy saving bulbs are yesterday's technology. They have been replaced by LED bulbs that are now available in a range of light levels and give instant full light.

I am currently writing this under the light provided by 6 LED bulbs in two spotlight bars. The light they give out is sufficient to light Wembley Stadium. I think the total wattage is around 40 watts.

Red brick fireplace is no more.
It has it's first coat of masonry paint - limestone colour, and will get a second coat.
The hearth will be black slate tiles.... or ... I've had a recent thought, and wonder... once the old tiles are trailed off I'm assuming there will be a concrete hearth shape and wonder how this would look painted in black matte paint. Perhaps a bit too rustic ??
Haven't said to DH yet.

I have uploaded a pic of it onto my profile.... at least I've tried to !!

I don't think we'll be able to see it, Coolgran as you're not 'blue'.

You could try painting the hearth, Coolgran and see how it looks. At least it will be easy to tile over it if you don't like it.

Agree with FlicketyB that LED bulbs are fine (though quite expensive, but they're going to last!). I only wish they'd make them in a 25W equivalent.

The lowest they seem to come in is equivalent to 40w which is sometimes a bit too bright. (I'm talking about ordinary lighting, not spotlight bars).

merlotgran that's what I thought, paint first.

Regarding pic.
Yes, I'm in a pickle.
I've found my profile and it was set 'not visible' so I've changed that. Can't find pic... that I sent. Will continue to fight with technology

I give up... Updated my profile and set it to show to all Gransnetters, clicked save, and get a whole screed of technical gobbledigook that task could not be completed.

Just got back to thread. Loopylou 19:47 Re taking the eye through furniture, it might be slightly difficult with things you've already got. The principle is to arrange the room so no solid pieces block the sight lines.

So, in small dark rooms it is better to have dining chairs that don't have solid backs, sofas that are raised on legs, and make a clear pathway through the furniture.

The sight then travels to the outer walls and the brain thinks the room is bigger. The same thing happens with the mirrors placed opposite the windows.

Lighter coloured curtains are less of a barrier against the light outside so the eye travels past them and brings the outside lightness into the room.

x

J52 you have lots of good tips. White loose covers on my sofas would look lovely and bright and so practical with two dogs and a cat and little grandchildren!

Thanks Apricot. I'd be wary of pure white, anywhere. The contrast with dark wood tends to make a room seem darker. x

At last... I think there is a pic of my 'no longer a red brick fireplace' on my profile

Nelliemoser... if my fireplace had been a lovely limestone there would never have been a paintbrush near it.