What color should I paint my new listening room?

[beatcomber]

My daughter went off to college this past August, and she has given me her blessings to convert her 11' x 14' bedroom into my new listening space. Even though the numbers don't sound that much bigger, this is a significant upgrade over the cramped 8' x 12' office downstairs I've been using for the past 13 years! In the old room, I felt like I was in a box, but there's actually room to walk around in the new room.

I spent some time playing with speaker positioning on Sunday. I started with the Cardas calculator, and that put the speakers 5' out into the room, which is nearly halfway! Pushing them back a foot, my Spendor SP3/1R2's sounded rather thin and what bass was there sounded kind of loose and undefined. I pushed them back further, maybe 2.5' from the front wall, and that sounded very good. Much fuller, tighter and dynamic, with little loss of imaging depth. They are also about 3' from the side walls, with OC703 panels at the first reflection point.

There is still a lot of work to be done in here. Before I can fully move in, I need to repaint the walls, which are presently a pale blue color. I'm nut sure what color to go with, so suggestions would be appreciated. I want this room to have a relaxing atmosphere, so a warm color is what I'm leaning towards. The Ikea shelves are the dark brown/black wood color, the speakers have a cherry finish, and the turntables have walnut plinths. (The one in the middle is a 1958 Rek-O-Kut B-12-GH with a walnut Grado tonearm, currently a work in progress.) The fabric on the OC703 panels is a maroon color.

Grey walls would look good, but I think it would be too cool a color. Should I go with a shade of cream/beige/tan or...?

Here's a current view:

 

[Old Ears too]

I'm a very 'bland' type of guy and like Navajo White. My current 'listening space', which doubles as our livingroom, is a pastel yellow with white ceiling.
I initially was going to recommend a very light pastel shade of green as that would be relaxing to me. With all your wood accents I'd go with a tan, which Navajo white is a variation of.
Best of luck. When my kids finally moved out my wife took over both of their rooms, one now has her quilt frame in it and the other is a guest bedroom.

 

[Harvestor]

 

[Old Ears too]

Too dark, I mean a really pale green.

 

[greymatter]

A color that works with different lite and changes the hue ,it is Benjamin Moore ,egg shell finish is the color code # 967 . Used to paint a lot of interior homes and this was a color that a lot of people loved .

 

[FONSguy]

Very light grey with gloss white trim. Use some cheap Ikea LED lights behind your speakers to light your listening room, but not blind you.

 

[toxcrusadr]

Polyfill Stuffing White with Foam Surround Gray trim.

 

[Wildcat]

Polyfill Stuffing White with Foam Surround Gray trim.

So, what's wrong with Cerwin Vega Foam Surround Red trim?

I used to have a color by Pittsburgh Paint called "Cumulus" which was like a grey with a slight purple/blue tint to it. Like a cloud, in other words. For a grey, it was a really nice color. But in recent years I have gotten far away from "cold" colors like grey, white, etc. I want something with warmth, especially due to our constant gloomy weather for 7-8 months out of the year.

I once painted a larger bedroom (20x23) in what might be called a "slate blue", with an off-white ceiling (a color called "Spilt Milk" which was actually part of a Nickelodeon Rugrats color theme that one of the paint companies was selling at the time) that looked really sharp. One accent wall was a Venetian plaster in shades of caramel.

A darker color would possibly make the room look too claustrophobic but on the other hand, I like the idea of a darker listening room, with strategic lighting to see the audio rack and any shelving (like LP storage). Not dark like greys, but dark with some hint of richness to it (like a muted burgundy). I'm thinking of a low key, cozy retreat that is softly lit and conducive to distraction-free listening.

 

[beatcomber]

A color that works with different lite and changes the hue ,it is Benjamin Moore ,egg shell finish is the color code # 967 . Used to paint a lot of interior homes and this was a color that a lot of people loved .

Very nice.... I like!

 

[beatcomber]

A darker color would possibly make the room look too claustrophobic but on the other hand, I like the idea of a darker listening room, with strategic lighting to see the audio rack and any shelving (like LP storage). Not dark like greys, but dark with some hint of richness to it (like a muted burgundy). I'm thinking of a low key, cozy retreat that is softly lit and conducive to distraction-free listening.

I painted my small room downstairs a deep orange color, and it looked great at night with some muted lighting. It had a small window high on the wall (the room was set slightly below street level), so it didn't get a lot of natural light.

My new room is on the second floor, with a window that extends almost the whole length of the side wall, and from my chair I have a view of the tops of trees. It feels inherently rather airy in here, so I'm thinking that a soft, but not dark, color would best, sort of like how Scandinavian rooms are done.

 

[SpruceMoose]

How about yellow? Think about the other colors you have going on in there.

 

[xero-D-hero]

I'd probably go with Khaki for the walls and leave the trim/door(s) white so they'll match the baseboard heater.
The khaki should contrast nicely with the furniture's dark wood hues (and the floor too) and IMO it should still look ok w/the maroon acoustic panels.
I'd probably do the ceiling in that cloud white,that would be a nice looking shade of white for that.

Now if you wanted an accent wall,that would take some actual thought,I got nothing for that off the top of my head.

But feel free to ignore said advice as I'm color blind.
Not horribly so mind you (at least not as bad as my brothers are),but sometimes it can lead to some color related issues.

FWIW

Bret P.

 

[sKiZo]

I went with color shifting paint here so I wouldn't have to obsess over the color. <G>

* Base color is a dark ivory, but it changes with whatever lighting is on. And if you want infinite possibilities, get yourself one of these ...

But then again, I'm crazy ... ask anyone!

 

[greymatter]

Just remember the colors red / bergundy, and deep shades of yellow don't cover very well , so expect to put on 3 - 5 coats of paint . If it's new construction or covering a very dark color,I would tint the primer coat , 50% of the wall color

 

[DeeCee]

I used a paint I accidentally found when looking for a shade of “butterscotch” that we could never find. We ended up painting most of our home with this:

https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/find-your-color/color/af-330/soleil?color=AF-330

It’s a nice shade of yellow which seems to work in ANY light. Not too strong, not too pale.

 

[greymatter]

All so another trick is paint your stereo wall a darker color than the side walls for accent, or box the ceiling color of half of your wall paint mixed with half of your flat ceiling white . A very nice touch .

 

[Wildcat]

Just remember the colors red / bergundy, and deep shades of yellow don't cover very well , so expect to put on 3 - 5 coats of paint . If it's new construction or covering a very dark color,I would tint the primer coat , 50% of the wall color

I did that for my master bedroom project with the slate blue. Two coats weren't quite enough--I still had a few scattered spots around the room with poor coverage. Third coat was the charm. And as luck would have it, Rust-Oleum made a spray paint called Slate Blue that matched the wall color so closely that I used it to paint all of the outlet covers.

The ceiling had that stucco crap on it. It took me almost three gallons to cover that with Kilz, as it had never been painted before--that stucco soaked it up like a sponge. But it worked so well that when I did the color coat, it only needed one pass.

Seeing the room was a bland ivory color beforehand (and the whole freakin' house was painted this bland ivory color ), it made a huge improvement.

 

[Wildcat]

BTW, a power roller is your friend. I find it cuts the painting time in half, if not more. No more dipping in a tray for paint--you can quickly buzz around the room rolling paint and be done rather quickly.

And a quick room treatment tip--put some crown moldings up near the ceiling. Sharp corners trap a lot of the sound waves, and the crown molding will break them up at the ceiling.

 

[Harvestor]

There's a couple of cool colors in this video with different rooms

 

[beatcomber]

Just remember the colors red / bergundy, and deep shades of yellow don't cover very well , so expect to put on 3 - 5 coats of paint . If it's new construction or covering a very dark color,I would tint the primer coat , 50% of the wall color

Good advice! My wife, who is a professional fine artist, painted a cute mural on the wall behind the listening area when our daughter was very little, and that will need to be covered over. It was wonderful for a little girl's room, but it needs to go.

In fact, in the picture at the top of the thread, you can see a little of the mural in the recessed space to the right of the door - it's a tree on a rainy day. My daughter specifically asked me to keep that section intact, which is fine with me.

I used a paint I accidentally found when looking for a shade of “butterscotch” that we could never find. We ended up painting most of our home with this:

https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/find-your-color/color/af-330/soleil?color=AF-330

It’s a nice shade of yellow which seems to work in ANY light. Not too strong, not too pale.

Very nice!

All so another trick is paint your stereo wall a darker color than the side walls for accent, or box the ceiling color of half of your wall paint mixed with half of your flat ceiling white . A very nice touch .

I was actually thinking of painting the front wall a darker color.