Paint Colors for a Neighborhood Clubhouse

[anonomom]

I've been put in charge of making the design choices for the redo of our neighborhood clubhouse (which, yikes! I am a TERRIBLE decorator). It's one big room with very high cathedral ceilings, lots of windows, and a small bumped-out space for a kitchenette.

I've tentatively chosen a stainless steel fridge, modern-looking metal light fixtures and white cabinets, wooden blinds and trim. But now I need a paint color. I tend to gravitate towards light, airy, just-barely-not-white shades of blue, green or yellow, but again, I'm bad at this and absolutely not up on trends. Do you all have any suggestions? If your neighborhood has a clubhouse, what does it look like? I'm afraid to go with a grey or with a dark shade because I'm worried that it'll just look institutional in this context. The floor, which will not be changing, is beige tile. The neighborhood itself is very traditional colonial-type suburban.

For reference, my top color picks right now would be Sherwin Williams White Mint, Daybreak, Bravo Blue or Sensitive Tint.

[legaleagle]

Is it a yellow, pink or green undertone beige for the tile? I would stick to light colors personally. What color are the blinds and trim?

http://www.mariakillam.com/vancouver-colour-expert-reveals-what-everyone-should-know-about-beige/

[NCGrandma]

No help (I'm terrible at decorating) but I assume you're NOT choosing the paint color for the exterior of the clubhouse. I suspect you live in/near a town that is noted for its ... ahem .... lack of flexibility re: decor [emoji3]


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[SnuggleBuggles]

Go with a beige or taupe. I'd prefer a neutral if I was having an event in that space.


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[bisous]

Is it a yellow, pink or green undertone beige for the tile? I would stick to light colors personally. What color are the blinds and trim?

http://www.mariakillam.com/vancouver-colour-expert-reveals-what-everyone-should-know-about-beige/

This is a good starting place. I'd definitely do a neutral and I'd pick the color based on 1. the existing finishes, 2. the light! I know that doesn't help very much, lol. The fact that you mention it has lots of windows and cathedral ceilings is a GOOD thing. That is much easier to work with. I wouldn't necessarily write off gray. If the gray is warm enough it doesn't have to feel cold, by contrast there are actually "cold" beiges. If I were you I'd look at some of the most popular neutral colors out there, like Revere Pewter or Agreeable Gray. I'd buy samples and paint posters with it and bring it to the space. I'd try to coordinate with the beige tile and anything else already in the room and then just try to go with what feels good.

Choosing paint can be hard. I really do find that using "tried and true" colors is helpful. Enlist the help of your artsy or design oriented friends too. Having another opinion is really helpful.

[twowhat?]

Without seeing the space, Revere Pewter is almost always a safe choice. I have it in my home office and it's soft, calming, and inviting - definitely not institutional. Gray Owl is also a GORGEOUS color and if that room gets lots of natural light, it's so pretty. It has that "barely there" feel that you describe. To me it looks like whispers of gray linen on the walls but it has enough presence to contrast with the white trim. We have it in our living room/greatroom and I just LOVE the color. It does steer a pale blue/green at night with artificial lighting but that may not be a bad thing at all for a neighborhood clubhouse!

http://www.kylieminteriors.ca/all-about-benjamin-moore-gray-owl/


And then I would consider painting the bump-out kitchenette portion a different color, maybe something fun and bright. Or would let let you do a cool patterned wallpaper for the kitchenette area?

[anonomom]

Thanks, all. Trim and blinds, if I have my way, will be white, as will the cabinets. The floor tiles tend towards the yellow-orange shade of beige. The walls are currently a light yellow that honestly looks more like a halfhearted cream in context (I was shocked when I held my pretty yellow paint chips up to the ugly wall and they almost matched).

I'm leery of doing something bright in the kitchenette. It's currently sponge-painted bright orange. I imagine that whoever picked it out 20 years ago thought it was a nice little pop, but it looks so dated! I live in fear of having my name associated with a decorating choice that people may feel strongly about. :-)

I love those photos of Gray Owl. I"m going to have to get some samples.

[California]

If the floor has yellow undertones, you might also want to test Gray Wisp by Benjamin Moore. We used it based on recommendations on here, and have gotten a lot of positive feedback on it from a wide variety of people.

[Dcclerk]

This is a good starting place. I'd definitely do a neutral and I'd pick the color based on 1. the existing finishes, 2. the light! I know that doesn't help very much, lol. The fact that you mention it has lots of windows and cathedral ceilings is a GOOD thing. That is much easier to work with. I wouldn't necessarily write off gray. If the gray is warm enough it doesn't have to feel cold, by contrast there are actually "cold" beiges. If I were you I'd look at some of the most popular neutral colors out there, like Revere Pewter or Agreeable Gray. I'd buy samples and paint posters with it and bring it to the space. I'd try to coordinate with the beige tile and anything else already in the room and then just try to go with what feels good.

Walking around with at least poster sized boards of the colors next to the fixed elements is probably the most important and least followed advice out there. The fixed elements are going to be there no matter what, and they really influence whether a great color actually looks great in the room. I learned a ton reading from Maria Killam's blog. Here is an article about it: http://www.mariakillam.com/largecolourboards/ I've seen what a huge difference it has made in various rooms that did not use the technique!

[infocrazy]

At least a few years ago Sherwin-Williams paint store would send somebody out to do an on-site consultation for the purchase of a $75 gift card that you could use towards the store for supplies or paint. Not sure if that would help since I assume you're hiring painters but thought I'd throw it out there. We had them do it and they helped pull out colors from our here before us and not at all the color I would pick ceramic tile in our kitchen.