I received this Design Challenge from my friend, Karla the other day. Her edited version of her challenge is outlined below:
"The room extends from the front to back of our house. It contains all of my husband's bachelor days furntiure. There is a couch and loveseat in a dark sage green and a coffee table and armoire in a light oak. There is an ugly brick fireplace that I hope to paint white this summer. No other furniture other then a little lonely TV table with a tablecloth and lamp (I know - sad! I've just had such a hard time since I can't stand the furniture and colors!). The walls are a golden yellow and there are four windows with Smith and Noble relaxed roman shades. The shades are tones of light green. I like the walls and the shades. The current area rug is FLOR tiles. I had no clue what colors to use so I went with a pale yellow and sage green checkerboard. Well, it is too darn dreary for the room - needs more color - everything is green and yellow but I don't know what other color to work in! Plus the yellow tiles are completely wrecked from the dirt the dog drags in (though I clean her paws all the time!) and my husband's shoes as well as guests shoes. I told Jeff I wanted to replace the yellow tiles but he decided to tell me he hates FLOR and never liked it and doesn't want to use it in the room any longer. Honestly, fine with me as I would rather have something more fun and vibrant but I just don't know what to do in terms of color and something that will hold up to the heavy foot and dog traffic!"
OK, so here is my design advice on this. Ironically I just did a color consult on a similar house with dogs. Since you like the wall color, the next big surface of color is the floor. Probably one of the best floors for dogs, that is warm, would be a laminate, wood floor. It resists scratches better than a real wood floor and isn't as expensive. We also have a rule in our house..."No Shoes." Most everyone respects it and it really makes a difference in what dirt is tracked in. But then, there are those four legged little guys who don't really care about that rule so we go back to durability. Sounds like you may be able to get away with a little pattern and color here. I think that red and/or blue would accent well with your yellow and green. For rugs, I would look for a nylon (even commercial grade) carpet if the dog traffic is really heavy. The other option is to use a carpet designed for indoor/outdoor use. Dash and Albert just came out with a new line of these carpets in bright, cheerful colors that may be your solution.
Sounds like a little furniture rearrangement can make a big difference too but for that I would need a picture. :-) Hope that helps!!! Dash and Albert