Going Green?

Repainting, but not sure if the colors clash? Get free advice from a local decorating pro

Here’s a decorating question from someone signing herself Confused in Cragsmoor:

“My living room is yellow, and I want to repaint it a color that will look good with the adjoining room, which is also yellow. I have an Oriental carpet that’s red with yellows and greens. Would a rich green work? My worry is that it will make the room too dark.”

Rich green sounds lovely (as would any color preceded by the word “rich,” perhaps), but if you’re in doubt, why not get a free consultation from a design pro at Sun Wallpaper and Paint?

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Interior decorator Patricia Boyle, who has been making homes stylish for 22 years, is on hand at the Poughkseepsie flagship store, and can help with paint colors — as well as wallpapers, upholstery, slipcovers, curtains and draperies, if you like. (Now, there’s a service you won’t find at the mall!) “You can put almost any paint color with an Oriental,” she says. “I’d go toward a green or a rich taupe, or a neutral, like putty. Or if you’re brave enough, a dark red.”

Boyle wouldn’t hesitate to put a rich color in a dark room. “I love dark colors. They really add a wow factor.” White trim or white mirror frames can keep the room from looking gloomy, she says. Or you could just put the dark, rich color on an accent wall, or around a fireplace.

If you want Boyle’s help choosing the right shade among the gazillion now out there, make an appointment, and bring along an arm cover from the sofa or a throw pillow — whatever suggests the colors in the upholstery — and a stick of the yellow paint you want to complement. Photos of the room may help. Then take home a selection of paint chips to see how they look in the room.

If you prefer, a mere $40 will get you an hour-long consultation at home. “I’ve got a trunkload of samples,” Boyle says.

I’ll toss in some hard-earned advice regarding paint: Spend a few extra bucks and get the good stuff. I once bought the house brand at a big box store, figuring it was just white paint to refresh a white ceiling, so what difference could it make? Here’s the difference it made: The ceiling had to be painted three times — the third time with a better brand to cover the patchiness. It’s even more important to get good paint if you choose a dark color.

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Sun carries high-end paints by Farrow and Ball, Fine Paints of Europe (“beautiful, glossy brilliance,” Boyle remarks), and by architect-slash-designer Donald Kaufman, who is such a perfectionist, he (or a trusted minion) actually mixes the luminous colorants himself. (“Gorgeous,” declares Boyle, as you would hope at $120 a gallon.) If those are a tad too pricey, Pratt and Lambert is a good, reliable brand for under $40. “And, of course, there’s wallpaper,” says Boyle — Sun has 400 pattern books.

For an appointment with Patricia Boyle, call 845-471-2880. Designer Joan Ronk offers all kinds of decorating advice in the Fishkill branch, if that’s more convenient for you: 845-896-6200. (The Beacon outpost is mostly a paint store.) For more info, check www.sunwallpaperandpaint.com.

green interior

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