Home › Color Questions (Interior) › Greek Living Room

Livingroom Colors:
Decor Ideas & Living Room Paint Colors
For A Home In Greece

"What livingroom colors would work with my burnt-orange sofa? Could you suggest any living room color schemes for this room?" (Reader Question)

contemporary greek living room in white and cream, with a sofa in burnt orange

Hello Renate,

I have a light modern house in Greece. Attached pics show our lounge with a burnt-orange sofa, wenge furniture, and cherry dining table.

I would like to know what livingroom colors we could use to integrate sofa, walls, rugs, and curtains.

We don't have a lot of accessories at present, but we do have two framed prints which have burnt orange, a bit of jade and browns in them.

We would like the room to look simple, uncluttered and as light as possible, with clean lines and modern furniture, but very relaxed.

Originally, we chose aqua and grey as colors for the living room.

The room is large and gets a lot of very bright light and sun. We didn't want to spend a lot on lush curtains and would be happy for you to suggest something which would look good yet not cost the earth, as there are quite a lot of windows to dress.

I would appreciate whatever ideas or advice you could offer to make our home chic and comfortable.

Regards,
Rhona (Greece)

Hello Rhona,

Thanks for sending the photos along with your question! They were a great help in understanding the issues you're dealing with here.

I'm going to illustrate two living room color schemes for you; one that is already present in the room (orange, jade, blue), and the one you have suggested (orange, gray, aqua).

Livingroom Colors I: Burnt Orange, Jade, Blue

contemporary greek living room: accessories in jade and blue

The jade-colored curtains and the pattern in your ceramic bowl suggest a nice, solid combination of livingroom colors ...

... particularly as you already own a pair of prints that combine burnt orange and jade.

The illustration below shows what this color combination could look like, in particular ...

the effect of large-scale patterns (carpet/wall)
an alternative look to solid wall color
distribution of colors (repeating the orange, blue and jade in different locations in the room)

contemporary greek living room in white, cream, burnt orange jade and blue

I'm not saying you should apply living room paint colors exactly like this - I just wanted to show, on a general level, what you would get if you chose this color palette for your living room.

I've added a dark brown accent (Thomas Pedersen's Stingray Chair), because the room needs a certain amount of dark brown so that the light fixtures and the bookcase to the right don't look isolated in a sea of lighter colors (for more information on this, have a look at the pages about interior design colors and neutral color palettes).

With respect to the window treatments, I've illustrated two options that you could happily use together in one room:

white semi-sheer roller blinds on the back wall (to hide the window frames & roller shutters outside), and
lined or unlined curtains on the wall that has sliding doors.

For curtains, you could just use the same fabric throughout, and add a thin 'blackout' layer underneath for windows that don't have a roller shutter. That way, all your curtains would all drape the same - there wouldn't be a different look for lined and unlined curtains.

contemporary greek living room: cream floor tiles

There's one basic issue, though, that all living room color schemes for this lounge need to address and that you can't get around: you've got two whites that are hard to get rid of.

the floor tiles (a yellowish gray), and
the window frames & roller shutters (a 'clean' white).

No matter which living room color schemes you choose, they will all have to 'balance' between these two colors. Here's a suggestion for livingroom colors that would integrate both whites:

Livingroom Colors II: Burnt Orange, Aqua, Gray & Pale Straw

livingroom colors in Greece: white, straw, burnt orange, grey and pale blue

The pale straw color of the Roman blinds & pouffes is the magic ingredient in this living room color palette; it introduces a 'natural', multidimensional color that is related to the mottled beige of the floor tiles yet has enough freshness to hold up to the light aqua and gray hues.

You could paint all walls in a slightly creamier (=less 'clinical') white to bring them closer to the floor color, but it's a fine line to tread: the walls need to look crisp and bright, otherwise they will appear yellowed or 'dirty' when seen next to the white window frames and roller shutters.

I would suggest an 'accent wall' either in aqua or in gray; the stripes in the illustration above would be a way to visually connect the wall with the rest of the room.

And with this ... over to you! I hope some of these ideas for livingroom colors work for you!

All the best,

Hi Renate,

Thanks for your ideas, I like both of your suggestions and I will certainly have something to work with now!

Best regards,
Rhona

Great Color
Combinations

Room
Color Schemes

Complementary
Colors

Living Room Ideas
(Overview)

Check out this Mini Bookshop, too (in partnership with Amazon):

Learn how to create successful living room color schemes with interior design colors!
Check out 6½ inspiring color palettes for living rooms!
Learn how to choose living room paint colors in 5 easy, foolproof steps!
Not sure which livingroom colors you prefer? Check out the page about choosing interior paint colors to help you make up your mind.
If you feel like French, Tuscan, or 'off-the-wall' paint colors for a living room, you'll find lots of ideas in the article on room color schemes.
How do colors hang together? The color wheel chart shows how.
How will your living room paint colors affect you? Read up on color psychology!
Neutral Color Schemes - The Book:
Learn about using neutral color palettes (as livingroom colors or anywhere else in your home). Understand what makes neutral color schemes look their best, and what happens when you inject 'real' color into neutral color palettes. It's FREE!!