I know not what you want to hear, but I love it as it is now.

But a light gray like stonington gray or Coventry gray might work.

We painted the woodwork here in high-gloss white -- and still love the look after 20 years ....

Paint it fresh, milky white -- which would work SO well with your bedding and blue-and-white china accents! :)

You have a beautiful room.
I used an old village paint color in my kitchen. I believe it is called "mustard." One of my large cupboards is similar to your blue, but the mustard is much lighter. I think it would work well with your blue and white bedding.

If you're just wanting to lighten up the room, could you mock up a white/light sheet to imitate what a white headboard would look like? It will break up the blue (which I have to admit I like) and might give you just enough lightness in the middle of the room to get you the change you're looking for.

I would find new pillow shams and coverlet that you really love for inspiration and pull a color from them. Keep the white one (love the combo). Replace the lamps with much taller ones. That will help make the room feel taller. Also wouldn't hurt to hang mirrors behind the lamps, this will make the room feel lighter. I really think just about any paint color would look nice but you need a jumping off point as inspiration.

Wow. Your room is so beautiful.
But, we are human and we crave change. I get it. How much change do you crave? How much are you ready for, personally, and pocketbook-wise?
It is just that, the color wood trim currently, co-ordinates so well with your bedding. If you are changing the bedding too, give me some inspiration. I could see Pottery Barn's Pamplemousse Bedding with a russet wall color. But, what do YOU want?
if you are keeping the eixsiting bedding, which is lovely, we need to go complimentary: Gold, Red, Green....

Benjamin Moore has a historical line that has some nice colors that you may like. I'm not sure white is the way you should go, but that's just my opinion. I just think that would be too stark and not really what I think you're trying to achieve.

Perhaps a deep tan or gray as pps7 suggested. That would give you a good neutral color in case you decided to change up your bedding. I do love your paneling. It makes the room really cozy.

Crazy idea--keep the color on the paneling (as-is) but add some stenciling on the panels in a white similar to your bedding-- and maybe throw in some red accents.

Here is a link that might be useful: stencil library

Ya gotta get that bed off the fireplace! LOL. I hope you can flip it so the headboard is on the opposite wall. If not, 12 Ft is fine if you center the Bed on a short wall and leave about 3ft each side. That is what we have and it is fine.

Color ... I don't think you can go wrong painting the paneling white. By the time you hang some things and display that fireplace, it will be splendid. Alternatively, I like pps's suggestion above about gray.

I LOVE your shams and quilt. Consider using those tones ... Olive, Greyish Blue, or Lavender ... how romantic!

BM now has a Williamsburg Color collection based on historic colors...you might find inspiration there.

You might look at greenhow blue which is a much lighter shade of blue and will brighten the room, or you may want to go toward the yellow side with chamber yellow.

And I agree, don't block the fireplace....

Here is a link that might be useful: Wmsbrg colors

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Fri, Jun 28, 13 at 8:45

I totally missed the part about the bed covering the fireplace! I agree, move the bed so that you can see the fireplace. Love those Williamsburg colors!

Y'all, I don't think she can move the bed. The room is 12' x 20', and you can see the closet doors on either end of the paneled wall. That means she can't slide the bed down the paneled wall, and it also means the short walls are out of the question because the bed/nightstands would block the closet doors. It looks like the window is opposite the bed on the other long wall. Assuming the room door is in one of the window wall "corners", that leaves the only other option for the bed on the window wall either under the window, or on the window wall shoved down to the far end of the room.

Rest assured that the woodwork will look just as good in any color. Choose a color you love and just get at it. You won't be disappointed if you love the color and the feeling you get from a lighter room is amazing.

What's on the opposite wall? Could you move the bed there, maybe under the windows?

There is a white called Lancaster Whitewash in the B. Moore historical collection that might fill the bill.

It's a soft, creamy, natural looking white that is appropriate for your house while giving you the lightness you are after.

Paint the ceilings with it, too, and their low height will be less noticeable.

It looks more yellow on my monitor than it does in use, I think.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lancaster Whitewash

You guys are all wonderful. You enthusiasm is catching. I'm going to head back to BM tomorrow and get some samples of some of your suggestions. I'm a blue person. I can't seem to get away from it! I love all shades of blue. But I would like to think I could try something different and love it. Thank you for your lovely compliments about the paneling.
26 years ago we had a house fire here. We had loving restored this home on a young couple budget, raising 3 children, which means very little money!!so we started over in our early 30's putting our home back together again. When we got to our bedroom my husband said "what do you want for paneling in here?" I took a piece of chalk and drew on the sheathing boards the design I wanted and he built it for me! He even built the doors. Every board is hand planed,it was built in the room in one piece and stood up. Not one single nail holding it all together. I love this little house.

What a wonderful story.

No suggestions, but your room is gorgeous! It is paneled on all four walls?

I would also look at lighter blues. I have a room in Yarmouth Blue, which I love; also sampled BM Wythe Blue, Woodlawn Blue, Wedgewood Grey. Other sugegstions Healing Aloe, Quiet Moments. I can't see what lighter blues are in your coverlet, but have a feeling the colors I suggested may be too greenish.

I wonder if anybody here could photoshop or could you upload the picture on the BM color viewer?

You can always paint it dark again! If you want light, try it. Paint poster boards the colors you like and tape a white sheet on the wall. Hold the painted boards up against the white background so you can see which color you like. I don't have a vintage house but i painted beautiful, but knotty pine, panels a light color. I can't believe I lived in that dark room for so many years, afraid to ruin the wood! I love the lighter look. It lifts my spirits.

Marti8a, no the paneling is just on the fireplace wall in the upstairs bedrooms. Downstairs the dining room, den and living room have floor to ceiling paneling on the fireplace walls and then paneling windowsill height on the other three. My very talented husband handmade the raised paneling and feather edge for those rooms too. He learned from my dad,who was a true craftsman. I'm very lucky.

Bronwynsmom if I used the Lancaster whitewash o the cell what would I use for walls?

I second the opinion for gray, gray-blue, or gray-green. Depending on the LRV of the gray you could lighten up the room without wiping out the warmth the color adds when you live in the Northeast.

This site lists the LRV for BM paintt and I find it very helpful to check light reflective values of paint shades so I can gauge how light or dark the paint will be.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.buyaurapaint.com/