The basement was partially finished when we bought the place. It had icky tile floor, a beautiful brick, wood burning fire place, a small bar and crappy fakewood paneling. The wood paneling has been painted a neutral khaki color. The floor is being carpeted in a neutral berber as I type. We have a modern foosball table and a dart board down there, and a modern microsuede sofabed will be in the basement by night fall. I would like to put some color down there to make it less beige, but want to keep the walls beige for easy of resale. I am considering painting the space between the brick and the ceiling on the fireplace wall to draw even more of a focus.
So, I'm not afraid of color, and it is basically a blank palatte to work with. However, I do have a suede rug that I would like to keep in front of the fireplace. It is a burgundy/maroony/reddish purple. It is all one color, but it's hard to describe. I bought it in purple, but it looks more reddish with time.
I would like to hand some of those vintage prints of old ads for champage, etc. I'm thinking of putting these three on the longest wall (it's a very rectangular space)
And maybe this one next to the bar (which is opposite the longest wall). It's smaller than the rest, so it needs to go on another wall.
I was considering going will a sapphire blue, kelly green and green apple color scheme, and thought of framing the posters either with black poster frames, or with black poster frames and a nice blue mat.
I'm afraid that will be too much with the posters and the rug, but really wanted to make that color scheme work.
So, not I'm looking for ideas, suggestions and comments so I can get this thing done. It's going to be my winter snuggle space, so I really want to get it done. Plus, we are having a huge shindig next weekend, and I want to have it finished before we have company.
I love the vintage ads, but I'm not sure about the blue and green idea. It seems like reds and golds would be more harmonious. I can see teal/peacock blue as an accent since it's a warmer tone, though. (Like the color in the 'Golden Sable' ad?)
A brick or winey red would also be great over the fireplace - maybe something that matches the rug a bit so that it's more linked in? I have a marigold color (like freeway stripe orangey-yellow) on the walls in my entry and dining room, and I really love it. Dark picture frames pop off of it really well. It's vibrant but still sophisticated.
Once I got down in the space and working with color, the cool tones had to go. It needs the warmth.
The beloved suede rug just didn't go any longer, and so I was able to use warm tones throughout.
I'm using a reds and some yellows. I have a small ottoman that is stripes with warm hues, and only has a small amount of a deep teal and a small amount of just-brighter-than-olive color.
It's coming together nicely. Still needs some accent pieces, but I'll go antiquing and get some unique shaped glass pieces for the mantle.
The warmer tones can be maximized by adding nice lighting (a few table and floor lamps, check Target). I like the honey tones in those posters and agree with the accent color idea of that peacock/teal.