HOME DECORATION : New Colors Add Sparkle Around Old Furniture

Question: I have a bedroom with an antique-yellow bed and dresser. I want to change the color of the walls, which are now yellow. The woodwork will remain white, and I have white mini-blinds. The floors are hardwood. I need color suggestions for the walls, window treatment and carpet or area rugs. Because I have always decorated from scratch, I find it difficult to combine the new with the old.

--BEVERLY BRYAN

Answer: Combining the new with the old is an exciting decorating assignment, and you will have fun bringing a new sparkle to your bedroom. Paint the walls rich azalea pink, a deep and happy color. The drapery print can feature pink, lavender, apricot and azalea flowers entwined with green leaves and aqua-blue ribbons on a jonquil-yellow background. Find an antique Oriental rug in light beige and cream shades, accented with rich burgundy and deep blue. Select a bed skirt of rich azalea and a top spread of soft apricot. Add a hint of glamour to the room with a white bed canopy, edged in yellow.

Q: I want to decorate our living room and dining room. I intend to keep the light-blue carpet. The woodwork is white, and the cherry furniture in both rooms will remain. What colors should I choose for the walls, window treatment and upholstery? I am enclosing a sample of the foyer wall covering. The living room faces north, and the dining room faces south.

A: Thank you for sending the sample of your foyer wall covering, which features a peacock design of soft melon and light blue on a cream background.

Paint your living room walls soft cantaloupe. Leave your woodwork white. For your dining room wallpaper, select a simple soft-cantaloupe and white stripe. At your living room window, hang a fabric to match your foyer wall covering. If the coordinating fabric does not exist, hang light-blue draperies and valances, trimmed with melon and white fringe.

White louver shutters would work on your dining room windows; top them with a white valance trimmed in melon. Strawberry-pink would be my choice for the dining room chair seats. For the sofa, select a soft mossy green upholstery and accent it with pink and melon throw cushions. Cover a living room club chair in a strawberry tweed and a pull-up chair in the fabric that matches the drapery and foyer wall covering.

Author’s notes: Blue and white are two of America’s favorite colors. But they are also decorating favorites in Europe and Asia. Traditional bearers of this classic combination are fabrics, porcelains and, of course, tiles. Blue and white delft can be found all over the world on mantle pieces, kitchen walls, table tops and even on wood-framed headboards. In a country garden, blue and white tiles look lovely around a fountain or on a garden wall.

Why not take inspiration from delft tiles when decorating a kitchen/family room? Apply a crisp white stucco to the walls. Cabinets should be in the woody vein, either cypress or lightly bleached pine. Select a happy jonquil yellow for a ceiling with pine beams.

Eighteen-inch soft blue and white vinyl tiles, laid on the diagonal, are best for the floor. Use blue and white delft tiles for the back splashes at sinks and ovens. At the windows, hang rich-blue louver shutters. White Corian would be my choice for the countertops. (But don’t forget to leave space for a butcher-block surface. You’ll need a place to cut vegetables and loaves of homemade bread.)

For seating, select sectional sofa pieces and cover them with a blue and white tablecloth check. Accent cushions can be bright yellow or bright red.

Accessories in your kitchen/family room should sparkle. Best bets include brass lamps, blue and white bowls filled with colorful flowers, and a white table service that is edged in blue.