DECORATING ADVICE : Yellow Glaze for Oranges, Peaches and Melons

Question: I live in a turn-of-the-century town house with eclectic furnishings that I need to pull together. I have a low, deep couch covered in an equestrian print tapestry of deep carrot and green. There are two moss-green chairs without arms, two rust-carrot chairs with chrome legs, two peach chairs with wooden legs (barrel-backed). There is one off-white rug and one burnt-orange rug (room-sized). Please give me some ideas for the wall colors. Should I use flat or satin paint? What curtain colors should I choose? I’ve put burnt-orange and silver blinds in the front windows, and I intend to use nylon curtains of some color. There is a beautiful ceiling-to-floor mirror on the wall in the receiving room. Wooden columns are on either side of this mirror. The colors should be contemporary but not too bland. Would peach walls work?

A S. Green

Answer: Your color scheme is definitely carrot orange, peach, burnt orange and green. Your orange and silver blinds in the windows give your room a contemporary feeling. I’m not certain you need nylon over-curtains, but if you decide you do, install sheers of white. For the wall color, I would choose a rich buttery yellow glaze. The yellow glaze will have a contemporary feel, and it will make a super background for those oranges and melons and peaches.

Q: I’d like to change my bedroom. Three of the walls are wallpapered in a medium-blue print. The other wall is plain white. The rug is gold. I think there is enough light, since the room has three windows and four closet doors paneled in mirror. How should I change the medium-blue draperies and the bedspread? Could I go with any other color? Does it have to be a solid?

Mary Yingling

A: Thanks for sending the wallpaper sample of small blue rosebuds designed in a stripe effect. The moire-style vinyl covering is very charming, and I can see that it would work well with the gold carpeting. To give your room a little punch, I would select a pretty apple-green for the bed skirt and the drapery. The apple-green draperies can be trimmed with a soft-blue and light-beige trim. For the bedspread, choose a very pale, light blue and have the spread quilted with an apple-green thread. Accent your bed with apple-green, hot-pink and kumquat-orange throw pillows. A lounge chair in the room can be covered in rich apple-green also.

Q: What are the new fall colors?

Sandra Frenche

A: Dark, rich colors are coming into decorating vogue this fall. Many spaces will sing with walls of deep turquoise, ruby, sapphire and that new deep blue-purple tone called tanzanite. Tiffany & Co. is a seller of tanzanite stones. So go to any Tiffany store (such as the one in South Coast Plaza), stop at the jewelry counter and ask to see one.

Currently, I am decorating a library with tanzanite walls. It also has a white ceiling, and woodwork and doors of pine. Hung on pine poles, the draperies have a paisley pattern of soft lavender, red, gold and lime green on a tanzanite background. For comfort, I have placed a bright-red leather sofa against the blue-purple walls. The end tables are made of brass and glass, and the English butler’s coffee table is walnut. The club chairs are covered in the print to match the drapery. The rich colors really sparkle!

The mood of rich colors in a bathroom is as inviting as a bath decorated in whites and beiges. For a richly decorated bathroom, try malachite papered walls with accents of royal blue and ruby. When shopping for wall coverings, ask to see samples of these rich green malachite papers. Also check out the wallpapers that look like other stones. You might consider lapis walls for your bathroom. Or if you’re interested in a marble look, you might consider hiring an artist to paint a faux marble design of the wall. If sun permits, you may even want to try a marble floor! Finally, install a white, footed bathtub, either an antique or a reproduction. The tubs are not only stylish, they are very comfortable.