Question: The walls of my family room are covered in teak paneling. They are very nice but also very brown. Draperies cover the windows and patio door; the windows look out into the backyard and pool. The fireplace hearth (red brick) extends the full length of one wall; the fireplace itself extends floor to ceiling in red brick. There is only one solid wall in the entire room. The room needs more lighting. I sit under one fixture to read the newspaper and watch TV because there is no other source of light.

Here are my dilemmas:

-- I don't know what kind of furniture to use because nice furniture is made of wood -- also brown.

-- What kind of sofa, coffee table, end tables?

-- What kind of overhead lighting? If the overhead light fixtures are my only power sources, would I need to consider track lighting to provide light in other parts of the room?

-- Should the conversation center face the fireplace or the windows?

I am ready for a complete makeover.

Eileen Leung
, Davis

Answer: Dark wood walls are always a challenge when designing a room; do you leave them dark and work with them, or lighten them with either paint or wallpaper?

If you want a more clubby, denlike feeling, leave the walls dark. If so, fabrics for your furniture should be selected to maintain a consistent feeling; leather, heavy chenilles and rich textures would be my first choice. Use earth tones with strong contrast colors for accents. For example, the main color could be anything from chocolate brown to tobacco, cafe au lait (light brown), honey, all the way to camel beige, with autumn orange, gold or Chinese red as the accent. If you want pattern, use dark plaids.

If you want the room to be lighter in tone and to reflect the garden feeling more, then the walls should be made lighter in color. In this case, the fabrics can be anything from light blue, salmon, whites and creams, or even floral prints, stripes and country plaids.

There are several ways to change the color of paneled walls. The first option is paint, either a full-cover coat or a washed effect that allows the grain to show through. The washed effect is achieved by thinning the paint and rubbing it into the wood with cloth rags. Whichever effect you choose, make sure the walls are prepared properly.

 

Come out of the cave The couch on the right anchors a social area and provides a view of the garden. For a cozy feeling, the room's color scheme could use earth tones with a bright color as an accent. For a lighter ambience, go with softer colors and perhaps a bit of complementary pattern.

You can use wallpaper to cover the wood. Make sure you choose a wallpaper that is heavy enough to mask the wood's texture and lines between the boards. If you select a thin paper, you must first apply an underlayment paper to even out the wall's texture. If you leave the wood dark, the bricks in their natural color will work nicely. But if you're going with a lighter theme, the bricks should either be painted or clad with a lighter stone, like limestone or travertine marble. Use the long wall at the far side of the room as the background for the sofa. Place the sofa perpendicular to both the fireplace and the sliding doors to the garden so you can view each easily when sitting there. Behind the sofa you'll want a console table so you have a surface on which to put a pair of tall table lamps. On the wall above the console you can place a large piece of art. This combination of elements gives you illumination on this end of the room and simultaneously creates an appealing destination. The lamps also provide good lighting for sitting on the couch and reading. If you prefer not to have a console table there, you can use floor lamps on either side of the sofa instead.

To maintain the balance of this area, I've put a pair of large plants on the floor on either end of the table. Use small floor lights under the plants and have them point up to add even more illumination to this side of the room.

Place a pair of comfortable club chairs opposite the couch to provide symmetry in the room and seating when you entertain guests. A small, interestingly shaped end table between the chairs adds visual interest when you see this area.

Between the sofa and club chairs goes the coffee table. If you want the room to remain woody and dark, use a wood table. If your design is lighter, I recommend using a table that has metal legs and a glass surface.

On the opposite end of the room I've shown a large, round, skirted table. The fabric of this table can be the same fabric as some of the throw pillows on the sofa so there's continuity from one side of the room to the other.

Place a large lamp on this table to provide balanced lighting in the room. The surface of the table can hold family pictures, a bowl of flowers, and small, interesting objects that you may enjoy collecting. The wall above this table is another place to hang a piece of art to highlight this corner.

Review the long-term objectives of the decor of your home. Do your homework first by looking at home decorating magazines and collecting pictures that please you as you see them, and move forward in the direction you like with confidence. The results should make you happy for years to come.

 

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