I only looked at the first photo and it is showing a fairly neutral beige on the walls. The color and style of YOUR furniture matters, as does the actual color of the rug. So, other than people throwing out some names of generic beige colors which may or may not look good with the natural lighting in the rooms, with the rug or with your furniture, there is a limit to how much help you can get at this point. And there is the matter of personal taste - I might pick a soft buttercream color, but maybe you want a warm gray?

That said, there there is a thread on the Home Decorating forum titled Favorite Paint Color of all time - take a look at that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Favorite colors

Wait until you get there ... I can give you the names of a bazillion colors, but the lighting and reflections in YOUR rooms will change them. Sometimes you have to use different shades in different rooms to make them look the same shade (it's that bad).

Read the "Colour Me Happy" blog, especially the ones on picking Beiges and greys, and how to really test color. She explains things extremely well.

http://colourmehappyblog.blogspot.com/

Thanks! Let me ask a follow-up. What would you think about a color other than beige/gray? I am pondering a sage green or pale yellow. Would that be too much of one color over a large downstairs? I am less worried about picking a particular shade and more interested in choosing a color more generally.

Our furniture could really go in any direction, and I am open to buying new accessories.

Thanks again!

It is possible to select paint colors before you move. There is, however, a very specific strategy and very specific product that is best suited to that circumstance. But... people have to do it that way sometimes because the option of waiting simply is not feasible. Color selections have to be made all the time in preliminary stages - a new house is no exception.

Have to decide where you really, truly fall in the wait or can't wait scenario. Here's a recent blog post about that very thing.

Here is a link that might be useful: To Paint or Not to Paint - that is the question

Wow, how nice to hear someone say "what about a color other than beige or gray?" There are so many great colours, why not use them?

For me, many colours can function as a base neutral, and I am going to quote a poster called "ideefixee" on home dec, as well as my mother, who both believe that you should look good in your rooms. Thus, a good option for your situation might be to choose a colour that you, and ideally the rest of your family, look good in. If I were to do that for my family, I think I would come up with a light blue. I actually have a light blue coat that seems to go with everything else I have. In your case it may be a sage green or a yellow tone (my family would all look 40 years older in yellow, and if it were beige, we'd look like corpses plus we would all fall into a deep depression).

I've never lived in a house like yours (I always have had small discrete rooms) but I think if you pick a subtle shade of a colour you like and would wear, chances are your furniture, accessories, yourselves, and your future paint choices will fit in just fine.

KarinL