Give me your thoughts on lightening up my living room!

[Nicole A.]

Hi everyone!

This is my *personal* home...not a rental. 

I live in a contemporary-style Cedar home. We have updated it a lot over the years and now I'm beginning on my living room.

The living room has a cathedral ceiling and you can look down on the room as you enter the home. It is about 5 steps lower than the rest of the main floor.

I want to lighten it up by painting the brick. At least for now, I want to leave the cedar wall alone at its natural color. I'm not sure that I would want to even paint it, which is why I want to just start with the bricks.

The ceiling is also natural cedar color and I do not ever plan to paint that!

Question is, do I paint the brick a shade of white similar to the drywall to its right? Or a very light shade of grey or something? With white drywall to its right and brown cedar to its left, I'm not sure the best color to choose.

The first photo shows the fireplace with cedar and drywall.

The second photo just shows another view from standing in the living room to show how it's open to the main floor above.

Unrelated, I also plan to rid of those built-in seats.

[Marcia Maynard]

Originally posted by @Nicole A.:

@Marcia Maynard lol See, now you have me going back to not painting the cedar. This is difficult! The drywall option that's been mentioned by a couple people could be an idea for the fireplace area. What would I do with that large brick hearth if the rest is drywall'd? 

Also note that I eventually want to put wood flooring in there (with a large light-colored rug) and that will affect the look of the room too.

The ceiling you see is the very same in that living room. The ceiling just follows the shape of the roofline (no attic). We do have a large beautiful ceiling fan over the living room. Perhaps I should do a video tour of this; it'd be much easier to get an idea of the entire design/look.

Our family has a Lindal Cedar Home on the Oregon Coast, so I appreciate what it means to own a cedar home. What you would do for a cedar home can differ from what you might do for another type of home. That's why looking at Cedar Home catalogs might be beneficial.

Since you have so many design ideas, such as changing the flooring and removing the built-in seating, changing the look of walls, etc... perhaps you should start with creating an overall design concept and then go from there. Are you aiming for a classic cedar, a modern contemporary, a cabin feel, an urban feel, etc?  What other elements are you seeking for your lifestyle? Your home should reflect that. 

If entertaining is important to you, then plenty of seating is a good idea or a big kitchen island or an outside entertaining area. If cozy and retreat like is appealing, think of what elements bring you that feeling. Do you gravitate toward the natural environment and those elements? Do you like an eclectic style? Formal or casual? Kid friendly? Artistic expression? Ethnic? Regional? So much to think about. Of course all of our comments will reflect our own biases.

Elements of your current home remind me of classic contemporary design, such as the built-in seating, as you see in many Frank Lloyd Wright homes. Pairing that with the use of wood is lovely. I like how the back of the couches create a low wall that makes stepping down to the sunken level area feel natural and avoids the use of tall railings between the two levels.

As someone else mentioned, start with removing the mirror wall. That is very dated and doesn't fit well with cedar home design. Also change out the dusty rose blinds (if that's what they are). Two easy moves that can improve the look without too much expense and without changing too much of the fixed design elements.

If you go with the idea of adding a mantle and dry-walling above it to the ceiling, you can keep the brick fireplace surround below the mantel and the brick hearth; it will go with the black fireplace insert that you already plan to keep. You could also consider covering the brick below the mantel with a backing material for stone or river rock veneer, if you want to lighten it up and create a cabin feel. Or another veneer if you want to make it a modern contemporary look.

It all starts with you and your immediate family members who live with you. What does HOME mean to you? What are the elements you need to have to make it a home that fits who you are at this point in time?