Beige sitting room

I have the same problem - except at mine, everything is grey! Fifty shades of it .

I find Houzz quite good for ideas, and sometimes Pinterest.

I'm very tempted to paint a dramatic contrasting zingy colour on one of the walls. another thing I think helps is to use wallpaper, which will add texture and interest.

for now, all I've done is to add contrasting cushions in mauve/ purple/ pink but I like a bold look anyway. Brown sofas would be an excellent foil for colours like teal blue and bright pink.

Have you done a mood board?

ps: I paint my furniture too.

Thanks gettingonabit, we do have one green wall. I will have a look at Houzz. I've looked at grey paint but just couldn't find a shade I liked. I've never done a mood board but will have a look on google.

I'm about to move into a 'blank canvas', and after 40 odd years of living with traditional 'country-style' I can't wait to get crackling on my new minimalist life. I didn't want carpets, but there is pale sage green all the way through ( except bathroom and kitchen, natch!) and it's like new so will have to work around it I'm not one of those who rips thing out just because it's not exactly right.
Walls are Magnolia which is a bit ' bleh' so I think I'll make a feature wall with something like an olive green emulsion in the sitting room , and a really OTT feature wall in the bedroom, as I'll be the only one in there . There are some fabulously exotic wallpapers being sold now, and I'm going to experiment with painted furniture, used to do a bit back in the 60s when we were hard-up but happy Late DOH hated painted furniture, so he'll be watching from afar somewhere, groaning! ! I don't care.... my bedroom is going to be my haven

We are about to move and have been looking at houses on the Internet, in Wales. It is surprising the number of houses that have bright red walls. I wonder why?

The sitting room and kitchen in our new house were painted colours that I would never have chosen. I really like them! The kitchen is Ivory shaker style, with wood worktop and painted pink! It's fantastic.

When we left our last Army quarter I swore I would never have another magnolia wall in any house I had. In our last house we chose pale sage green for the living room walls which went with the period features and it looked really nice, but it was a room that had a lot of light coming in. In this house, there's not a lot of light in the living room so we have gone pale again and will have to do the same with the dining room which is very dark - we thought to put a feature wallpaper on one wall, but everything we've looked at seems to disappear because of the lack of light.

Grey have you thought of a hint of metallic in a wallpaper for your feature wall. The light would bounce on it. There are quite a few papers with subtle shimmers out there.

We found one in JL that we put on a north facing wall. It doesn't have metallic, but seems to have a shimmer. It is called ' cow parsley '.

We love the colours that Farrow and Ball create and have some great ideas on their site, its expensive but we got it mixed at a local paint store much cheaper..

If anyone wants a look..http://www.farrow-ball.com/living-room-inspiration/content/fcp-content

This should work ...

www.farrow-ball.com/living-room-inspiration/content/fcp-content

Why not go onto Pinterest uk.pinterest.com/. They have hundreds of decor boards you could look at.

The Welsh like red BB ....dragons and all that.

J52 this is the wallpaper we were looking at. It has a lot of metallic in it and in a well lit room it looks great, but in our dining room it looks absolutely dead.

It looks pretty dead in this photo too!

Love the paper. Maybe it's the colour. Beiges tend to be flat and drain colour from a room. Do they do it in a green shade?

We have cream sofas ans cream walls. But there is not a lot of wall as the windows are huge and there is an archway into the dining room. The one whole wall is red! - and boasts a red woodburner! We have bright patterned cushions on the sofas to add a splash of colour - the cushions do not match eaxh other and are pretty random.

I've just done my kitchen/study in Cookie Dough, which is a warm, dark cream. I feel like I'm living in a vat of strong coffee.

It's nice though; kind of cosy.

I'm doing my conservatory in magenta pink to counteract the dull beigeness of it..

www.amazon.co.uk/Kevin-McClouds-Colour-Now-Choosing/dp/1849492190
Gretel my DD lent me this book and it was really helpful when we decorated the hall.
It shows many different colour palettes - what colours look good together.

Unfortunately they only do it in the (very pale) grey, above, or gold, cream or beige. It's called Ornella Ariana.

Thank you for all the recommendations. I've registered with houzz and pinterest.

I love decorating and now that I live alone I am in my element finding bits and pieces to make it look different.

In my living room, however, I've got a full wall mural of a walkway with columns down one side, metalwork over the top and trees growing over it, with lots of pink flowers and lime leaves. It is very striking and beautiful, well, I think so. So the rest of my room is olive green on one wall, lemon/lime mix on another and bright pink on the chimney breast. Other than that I am going for an oriental look in here, with Indian cupboard knobs, oriental lamps, cushions, throws and a rug. Very colourful. I don't do Kelly Hoppen! Beige!

My stairs are carpeted red and I am putting emerald green with it, paint, and a light reflecting paint in light coral. With that will be stickers of butterflies going up the stairs, voiles at the window and wall decals.

The kitchen has gone retro. Very in just now, apparently. I have a new light box which I can change the words on depending on what mood I am in, it currently says "Party, Love, Fun" with smiley faces and cake.

Bedroom not much change, just change of bedding as darling son thought nothing of snuggling under my duvet so wanted new, not teenage smell.

Bathroom, new shower curtain in pinks/purples/teal with birds and butterflies on, small coloured glass bottles on windowsill, mirror repainted in curtain colours, new bin, bits and bobs, new storage drawers instead of the ones I have had since I was this big.

It doesn't need to cost a lot. Just a rug which is colourful and then pick out the colours in it to do the decorating. I like looking at magazines but I get my ideas by trial and error really. Working from one piece and then finding things around it and seeing it grow. I love it.

I do have two throws stapled to my wall in the bedroom as I wanted different textures in there and warmth as I don't put the heating on in my room. Along with rose wallpaper it makes it warm and cosy and feminine.

Just come back from visiting my DS and family. My DiL has painted one of their rooms a deep, dark green. It looks absolutely stunning. She has also started up-cycling furniture and that looks amazing too.

I have always gone for neutral cream paint on the walls mainly because I didn`t have any better ideas . Last year I went with the very pale grey look , with one black and silver wallpaper feature wall . Furniture is mainly oriental from The Pier before it closed . I LOVE it ! and feel very calm when in my grey sitting room , I realise now that I like cool colour better than warm ones . Saving up to do the rest of the house and will have to pay someone as I am just not up to it any longer .

Oh dear, our lounge has red walls and 'brown' furniture - not fashionable at all!

My living/dining room was magnolia and beige. Now it's duck egg/white and a silver grey carpet and I absolutely love it. It's restful and light and I wish I'd been braver years ago!
B&Q valspar paint can be mixed to match literally any colour, including scraps of cloth or a photo in a magazine. They also can match Farrow and Ball, brilliant service.