I recently moved in with my daughter and she is remodeling her basement for me. It will have a bedroom suite, living area, bathroom and hallway. All the windows have been boarded up since she had cement and stone walkways installed a few years ago. I have an antique french provincial bedroom set which is a muted antique gold, living room furniture is a muted brown and eggplant plaid. The carpeting has yet to be decided and we are using oriental rugs at present. What color should I paint the walls? I was thinking a muted ivory or gold. I want to use the same color throughout except for the bathroom which has white sink, tub and toilet. The floor tiles are a light muted gray. I will have an off white and black toille shower curtain. Any ideas. Thanks

Ivory paint and lots and lots of lighting. I can't stress enough the importance of lighting. Lamps, up lights, under cabinet lights all will help. Mirrors and/or mirror finishes will reflect light. Keep as many of your background items as you can, as light as possible. The colors you already have will provide plenty of contrast to lighter walls and floors.

is there an exit for you?
code may require at least one window...

Code does require a window in the bedroom that is big enough for you to exit from. It is not legal or safe to sleep in a room that has no egress.

Assuming you will have emergency exits, I second the recommendation to go light for the walls (tho Ivory isn't your only option) and increase your artifical lighting. A pale gold will warm the space and simulate sunshine. Going pale in the gold family is key tho. Optionally, a cream might be a candidate as it will have yellow undertones and remain neutral as well. View chips or a test board in the space for a few days to see what works w/ your furnishings and lighting.

Cavin nailed it. I agree.

I have an exit door to the garage from the living area with steps up to the garage. I thought of the light gold color because I had it in my home and know how well it looked with the furniture. Any other tips for this space would be appreciated. We are having the electrical done soon and have designated a lot of recessed lighting and outlets for my lamps.

I thought Cavin's overall advice was excellent.

If you wish, you could put up samples of several gradations of ivory or pale gold paint colors to see which you like best, ONCE the lighting is installed.

Keep us posted!

Thank you all!

No doubt in my mind that the most important feature of converting a basement into a comfortable living space is LIGHTING and controlling humidity.

I was just in a $842,000 condo with a fabulous basement living space but there were obvious signs of mildew/mold on furniture in the unfinished storage area.

In general, code requires 2 exits from a bedroom, including at least 1 to the exterior. So, it's usually accomplished for a basement br by having both a door and egress window. The garage door doesn't help you, if you can't reach it.

It's also important to verify all the required dimensions plus other relevant codes.

Best of luck -

P.S. Besides the extremely important safety considerations and building requirements/resale, I would be concerned with the insurance implications, too.

It's all JMHO.