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Design Solutions

Room to Room
Coordinating a decorating plan for adjoining rooms requires
the careful selection of colors and patterns.

by Sharon L. Anderson

CHALLENGE: My client and her husband are in a quandary. We are working on a dining room that can be seen from the living room and, of course, visa versa. Visually, we are having a hard time choosing wall coverings and paint. Should both rooms match? Can two adjacent walls share the same wallpaper? Can the other two walls in each room be painted? Should different colors or patterns be used?

SOLUTION: Let me start by addressing your first question. Many homes that have multiple-room exposures from the entryway or from other rooms or areas in the home pose a challenge when it comes to color choices for wallpaper, fabric and paint and for decorative choices such as accessories for the home. You are definitely right in your concern about appropriately blending colors that can be seen from many areas.

The key to success in choosing different colors for adjoining rooms is to choose a color that is versatile enough to blend and mix with the colors to be used in each room. For example, a living room could be covered in a rich, gold paint and wallpaper. An adjoining room could use a tint of gold (by adding white to the original color) or a darker shade of gold.

However, you will need to choose colors with the same “feel.” Do not mix cool and warm shades of the same color. This would disrupt the continuity between rooms.

As to wallpaper patterns, let’s say you have chosen a large floral pattern for the living room. To make the adjoining room work, choose a smaller-scale pattern that does not compete with the large floral. Wallpaper books will have many excellent examples of room groupings with wallpaper selections that will work together. Be sure to pay attention to and study the photographs in the wallpaper books to see examples of how the pattern you are contemplating is used. These photos will give you an idea of how the patterns will look together.

The photo I’ve included here shows a room that transitions into a staircase. Notice how the background color of the large floral print wallpaper is picked up again in the coordinating stripe pattern used on the outside wall. Also, a small-scale floral border is used to maintain continuity as well.

A suggestion that has always worked for me is to order a sample pattern of each wallpaper you are considering and place the samples in the rooms you are working on. Place them in areas where your client will pass by every day. This will give her a feel for how the patterns will look in the room. It is worth the effort to order the samples.

By choosing paint colors, wall coverings and fabric that blend in tones and pattern, you will be able to work with different patterns in rooms that adjoin. Always remember to repeat the patterns and colors in other places within the setting. This will provide continuity to your overall scheme.

Editor’s note: This is a continuing series of articles written by Sharon L. Anderson that will answer some of the many questions we receive at Draperies & Window Coverings as well as questions Anderson has encountered in her own business. If you have a question you would like Anderson to address, please send it to:

Design Solutions
c/o Draperies & Window Coverings
1724 E. Grand Ave.
Lindenhurst, IL 60046
Fax: (847) 356-9013
E-mail: DesignSol@dwcdesignet.com