Jeff's got his own rental apartment and wants to know how to paint his bedroom.  And it seemed like just yesterday when he was pulling himself out of his crib...

Q:  Hey, Guys, I am faced with a home design problem. I am twenty-two years old and about to move into my second apartment, only this landlord has given me the opportunity to design as I see fit. The den, living room, kitchen and guestroom have been a breeze, but my bedroom is another story. My desk, lamps and dresser are all mahogany and for once I want to steer away from the standard white walls. On the other hand, I also don't want people to say "Holy Hell!" every time they enter my room either. What would be a good wall color to match to my mahogany furniture?

Thanks, Jeff

A:  Jeff, the furniture sounds great and because mahogany’s a flexible color, you can compliment that with something neutral or a bold color with presence. Before we talk colors, think about the size of the room - dark paint makes a room feel smaller, lighter paint makes it feel more open.  Second, painting the ceiling makes the room feel smaller, keeping it white gives the feel of more openness, especially if you go for a darker color. 

Now to your bedroom, a warm, medium grey will work, as would a deep tan (butter cream, parchment, khaki) or a pale yellow if subtle is your intent. You could do a grey-blue, which would look great with the red-brown of the wood. All will work, but none are particularly exciting, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since bedrooms are for sleeping -- shocking as that may seem to many. It's a place to unwind and that means you want soothing and calm. It has to make you (and whomever you have over) comfortable and relaxed and not saying "Holy Hell". You can get things like lamps and art work for some flash and color. Depending on how you like your sleeping environment, you can go dark (smoke) or light (pale green -- think celery).  For the last several years, cocoa brown has been a popular color and gets paired with everything. It would look good with the mahogany, but two years from now you might wonder why you went with such a strong color. Then again, the easiest and cheapest thing to change in a room is the paint.