I apologize in advance for the length of this.

Been in our new place for a month. The 'neutral' beige is too yellow and it's driving me nuts. Also, the previous owner did some really stupid things such as touching up areas on the wall with satin trim paint (!), and obviously hiring cheap labor. This is one of the worst paint jobs I've ever seen - drip marks on the trim, roller marks on the wall, piss-poor patching of holes from the previous window treatments. Prep work here is going to be a joy. *sigh*

The style of our home is a 1985 contemporary split level. Our main floor is is an open plan LR/DR with a 2 story angled wall (not a great room - but this wall extends up to the 3rd floor hall - it's a very small area giving a sense of open while the LR and DR have standard height ceilings). This wall is also the home of the wood burning fireplace.

The hallways also all start or end at this open area. Minimal trim throughout the home - baseboard and basic sills for the side sliding windows. Interior doors are builder hollow core, and there are only a few of them (bedrooms and baths). Main floor flooring treatments are beige ceramic tile 12x12 in the entry hall and kitchen, dusky olive green carpet in the LR/DR, steps and upstairs hall (we love this carpet color - it's one of the few things we think the previous owner got right and it's in good condition).

Fortunately DH and I are on the same page when it comes to color. We've looked at quite a few colors and are finding that we really like BM's Pale Oak. It looks great with the carpeting, and really brings out the ceramic tile in the front hall. It also does wonderful things for the fireplace and our main piece of artwork that we want to hang on that wall. It also works nicely in the upstairs hallway.

Style wise, it's very important to us to carry this color through the home in the same manner as the current *blah* color. We're not into accent walls, and we feel that we have enough visual interest with the existing wall angles. The 'pop' will come with the window treatments, furniture and accents/artwork. Also, we want to minimize the doors and trim, since they're nothing special and we're a long way from considering a budget for changing that.

Right now, we're kind of stuck on what to do with the ceilings. They're currently white - and we're not talking BM's ceiling white, either. :-O (The previous owner used cheap big-box store paint, and it shows). DH prefers the ceiling color to be the same as the wall color. As much as I like this look, I'm just not sure it's going to work as well given one of the areas where the ceiling meets the wall to the upstairs stairs. My art student gut says that I need to maintain some sort of contrast here - 80's monochromatic style be damned! ;-)

I haven't had a chance to get back to the BM dealer to see if there's a shade lighter than Pale Oak (option 1). However, I know I can probably obtain the desired contrast by varying paint finishes.

I've always used BM products - especially Satin Impervo for trim and Regal Wall Satin Flat for walls. Given the high traffic areas that are to be painted in this project (main entry halls and main living space), I'm considering using the BM Matte on the walls for durability/cleaning purposes.

I've never used the Matte before - what's the variation between the finish of the Regal Flat and the Matte? My option 2 would be to use Regal Flat on the ceilings, Matte on the walls, and Satin Impervo on the trim. I think this could be a workable alternative if there's enough variation between the Flat and Matte finishes.

Also, I have one other question on primer. Over the years, I've used Zinsser products - mainly because of having to correct stain issues in previous residences. Any opinions on the BM Fresh Start primer? My walls and ceilings aren't stained, but I am going to be priming over a mish mash of flat, satin, and patched/filled areas. Since this job is going to require so much paint, I'm thinking that maybe my BM dealer will take pity on me and give me a little bit of a discount if my paint and primer are both BM products. ;-)