Paint colors for beach rental (PIPs)

[Susie]

My dad bought a vacation house at the beach about a year ago.  He rents it out for July/August, and our family uses it the rest of the year.  He closed in January 2017, and made nominal changes for the first season.  This winter (actually this weekend if I can kick this head cold) I'm going to help him paint the open first floor.  I'm looking for either validation of my suggestions to him or something else to suggest

These photos from his rental RE listing are same ones the previous owners used when they listed it for rent, but are for the most part what the first floor still looks like:

Door faces out to the street, window to the side usually has shade drawn (neighbor's house is very close):


Hallway goes to laundry, one bedroom, and one full bath:


Open blinds = windows out to bay, facing NE/ENE.




The windows and sliding glass door look out onto a big deck, the dock, and the channel/bay:


IRL, the living room is like a barely-spring green, and the kitchen is a pretty bright lavender.  My dad doesn't like either color, but he wants to keep the approximate lines that they drew -- so the green walls become one color, the lavender walls become another.  His general inclination is toward muddy aquas and blues. He has already painted one bathroom and one bedroom at the beach house SW Sea Salt.  

He wants to paint the currently-green walls in the LR, SW Divine White:

in part because he is big on efficiency:  Divine White is the color of his year round house kitchen, and he likes the economy of paint cans associated with using the same colors.  (For the same reason, he painted his bedroom at the beach house the same light yellow that he already had in his sunroom in the year round house.)  I have no objection; the windows are the main attraction in the LR, and the marsh changes colors throughout the year so I think a neutral is better than a blue or green.  

He is willing to branch out to a new paint can for the kitchen (lol) and is mostly prepared to take my advice.  He was mulling over colors like these:
   
...all of which I like, and most of which I have in my own house, but I'm afraid they're not right for the space.  The kitchen/DR walls that are now lavender, don't get much direct sunlight.  The light they get is late afternoon, but the windows facing W/SW are small.  IME, that makes comfort gray/sea salt read pretty cool and green/gray.  We use the house a lot in the off season, which can be cold, so I am not sure that's what we want.  With anything that reads blue/green, I'm also worried about it not being the right blue or green for the meadow views, which change color throughout the year.  

Instead I was suggesting griege.  Maybe SW Versatile Gray, as one possible idea:

I want one that's relatively warm.  I looked at Divine White/Versatile Gray next to one another at chip size, and liked it, but I'd want to see it in the house before committing.  I will likely have minimal opportunity to see paint chips in the actual house before we commit to a specific color, but I will need to go in with a pretty narrow idea.  

I've mostly talked myself into griege, but I also just suggested it last night while looking at a fan deck on the phone with him, so ... what do you think?  About the idea of greige generally and/or the specific color.

[woowoo]

I love Versatile gray. We just bought a house with the large main living room already painted in Pewter Tankard and I had planned to paint the connecting kitchen/breakfast nook/hallway Agreeable Grey. I loved the color and the brightness, but ultimately it felt TOO gray against the cream colored cabinets that we have. We ended up using Worldly Gray and I LOVE it. Versatile seems a little dark for a kitchen without a lot of light, so it might be worth looking at one of the slightly lighter greige's in their collection.

I have also used Behr's Wheat Bread which I would paint the inside of my casket with if that were a thing.

[momin2013]

For a vacation house/rental, I like colours that are lively and fun! I like the divine white, but personally I'd pair it with something..."coastal/beachy" looking; I like the colour called "Cay" from this palette: www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/inspiration/hgtv-home-by-sherwin-williams/hgtv-color-palettes/coastal-cool

I'd also do a fresh coat of white on all the trim, if possible, to brighten it up.

[ssmjlm]

I would do one color throughout and go with something more coastal, less neutral.

I would also go with a brighter white for the trim/doors.

[LanaLang]

Jan 9, 2018 12:48:35 GMT -5 momin2013 said:

For a vacation house/rental, I like colours that are lively and fun! I like the divine white, but personally I'd pair it with something..."coastal/beachy" looking; I like the colour called "Cay" from this palette: www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/inspiration/hgtv-home-by-sherwin-williams/hgtv-color-palettes/coastal-cool

I'd also do a fresh coat of white on all the trim, if possible, to brighten it up.

Ooh, I love whatever that color on the walls of the first room.  

[Susie]

I agree that the trim needs a brighter white. We aren’t going to try to that get to this weekend, but long term, yes.

I don’t think I’ll be able to sell a bright wall color, especially a bright aqua. It’s a small and fairly open house. Muddy colors like the ones I posted would go with existing decor, and so would neutrals. I think that’s the range I’m limited to.

[lo]

I don’t really like greige or grey for a beach house. I prefer bright whites and a light muted aqua, I think.

[redheadk]

My DD's room is SW Tidewater, which is a shade lighter than the popular (but brighter) Watery. I think it might be a good choice for you. It's not quite as muddy but not gray, nor is it super bright. It's just a nice muted aqua that shouldn't turn cold. I'd consider doing the entire space in one color, personally.


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[shamrockshake]

Jan 10, 2018 1:31:06 GMT -5 redheadk said:

My DD's room is SW Tidewater, which is a shade lighter than the popular (but brighter) Watery. I think it might be a good choice for you. It's not quite as muddy but not gray, nor is it super bright. It's just a nice muted aqua that shouldn't turn cold. I'd consider doing the entire space in one color, personally.


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My bathroom is tidewater and I love love it, it’s so pretty. But I don’t think it’s a warm color, it looks gray on the card when it’s not next to other Blue/ green colors. But I agree a muted ‘fun’ color would be better for a vacation home

[momin2013]

I also think having some colour in there will look much better in pictures if you decide to include pics in your rental listing!

[Susie]

ok, so the thing I am struggling with is that the kinds of colors you guys are mostly suggesting are totally up my alley.  I love (usually muddy, but) greens and blues.  That's what most of my house is.  

I think these colors are gorgeous and coastal:





But I tend to see living rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms painted these colors rather than kitchens.  I'm having trouble getting my head around a green/blue/aqua kitchen.

Maybe I'll try some of the photos in the SW color visualizer and see how they look.

[Susie]

ok, yeah, the griege does not look good. Too shadowy and drab. I'm going to spend some more time with this later. Ugh, this is so hard to do from 300 miles away.

[momin2013]

YES - with the white cabinets a coastal colour will totally work in the kitchen! If you're able to brighten up the white trim at all it will look so pretty!

Doooooo ittttt!