Interior Design Q&A: Styling a New Home

Daunting but do-able, styling a new home can be one of the most exciting times in a homeowner’s life!  Let’s drop in on this Q&A between a new homeowner and Tuckey’s Interior Design crew:

Q.

My husband and I recently purchased a new home. The home has very dark trim and dark wood molding and beams in the family room, which also has a brick fireplace with a darkly stained mantle. I would like to paint the beams a solid cedar stain color and the mantle white. My husband thinks the mantle should be the same color as the beams. I have seen many photos where the beams and the entire ceiling is painted white. This would be all right with me as well because I think the room will look larger and more open. The floor is going to be wood laminate, honey newport natural, which has dark and light coloring. The walls are going to be painted a light or medium green color. My goal is to lighten the room, which is very dark now with all the dark colored trim and beams. Also does the molding on the windows have to be the same color as the trim? Do you think all white is too much? Please help. Thank You.

A.

If your goal is to “brighten” and “lighten” the room, then it seems that you are headed in the right direction. If you want to emphasize the beams on your ceiling (some people like the character that they can add to a room), you may not want to paint them the same color as the ceiling. However, if you want to have the beams blend in, painting them all white could make the ceiling seem higher and the room “lighter” and “brighter.” Regarding painting the moldings and trim white, it would be dependent on the remainder of the house. (Is all of the trim in the house dark? Light? Do you want just one white room?) If the rest of the house is dark, you may just consider lightening only the mantel, ceiling, and beams. Otherwise, with the flooring and wall color that you’re considering, white could look very clean and fresh. Good luck with your project. Please contact us with anything you may need.

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(Picture by Wikijazz (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (https://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons)