Q "What wall and tile colors compliment cherry wood and white bathroom fixtures? I don't know if I'm dealing in warm, cool or what."

Mike,

We’re building a new house and have no budget for interior help. Although I’m pleased with some of my choices, I'm stumped with this bedroom and bathroom.

We have a cherry wood four poster bed with a dresser and chest that I have to use and will probably have from now on so I would like to play it up and carry it into the adjoining bathroom. The bathroom has a corner garden tub (white) and his and her 6' by 5' shower on the other corner. We have a white pedestal sink and a white commode which will be partitioned with glass block as well as a glass block window beside the tub. I was thinking of getting cherry wood trim to use around the tub and faux cabinet and a cherry vanity along with cherry storage cabinets. We are also thinking of large decorative cherry columns on each side front of the tub.

The rest of the house is in medium oak. My husband is a commercial construction contractor and I am a counselor who works with problem teens so we both have stressful jobs. I weigh 160 pounds and am 5' 7". My husband is 5'8" and 220 pounds. We live alone with the exception of grown children and a grandchild that come to visit

Thanks,
Corina

A

Dear Corina,

Cherry is one of my favorite woods. It will certainly create a rich ambiance in your house! I’ve been on more than one job site where it was used as flooring to great effect. Cherry is also a highly photoreactive wood. Left to its own devices it will mellow to a deep, ruddy-amber with the rate of change determined by the quantity and intensity of light to which it is subject. But this is part of its beauty and what makes it seem so lively.

When a premium hardwood is featured in a bathroom I normally specify that it receive five coats of finish. Additionally, it is very important that all the trim be coated on six sides. This means the front, back, edges, and ends of the board. That will minimize its capacity to absorb moisture and distort. For the decorative columns on your tub, consider using mahogany instead of cherry. It’s a much more stable wood, a classic marine product, and should harmonize nicely with the cherry. Together with the oak in your house, you will have created a nice solid wood theme. For protection, use a premium product like Varathane or some type of spar varnish. My choice would be an oil base.

As far as colors go, you and your husband are earthy, so to create balance you need to make choices that are somewhat stimulating. This means you should move toward mid-tones and brights. Dark colors will generate inertia and pastels simply won’t create enough of an energetic balance for you to be a good match. Simply put, they will be too cool.

Because the white fixtures in the two rooms are neutral they will work with any choice. And because of the quantity of cherry you’re talking about I would choose a color that complements the tone that the cherry will ultimately become (if it’s not stained dark already, as manufactured units normally are). My own belief is that baths and kitchens are the two areas of a house that should be optimized with healing potentials in mind. And since baths are normally small you can take a larger risk.

For the bath, I would choose something in the orange family, which is one of my favorite healing families for bath colors. Consider Pratt & Lambert #1874/Mineral Red. For your bedroom, you could play off of that with a subtler color or drift toward violet to actively induce a stress-relieving atmosphere, but I would avoid moving toward cool colors and the blue end of the spectrum. You want to stay warm. Consider Pratt & Lambert #1038/Rose Quartz, or even #1089 Bellflower if there is plenty of light in the room.

I assume you’ll paint the bedroom with a flat sheen. In the bath, consider using a satin sheen to avoid the inevitable cooling effect that semi-gloss induces. And given the fact that the bath is not going to get heavy traffic I would even consider an eggshell sheen on the walls to impart an even warmer sheen.

Good luck with your project and congratulations on the new digs!