Can you give us some idea of what colors you are leaning towards? What have you not liked about the paint you have bought? I see some red on the one wall, do you want to paint that room red? Are you looking for more neutral colors or strong colors? Are you doing this to sell your house?

PS. Sorry it's so messy:(((

I provided a link to your previous post so people could get an idea of the look you're going for.

It's a hard one to do, so I see why you're having a problem. The basic rule (I think) when you're going for this look is to have all your colors be the same value. Meaning the same deepness of color instead of some lighter and some darker.

I'm hoping someone will pop in here quickly and give you a hand. If you want red, I don't think a lipstick red like you have sampled on the wall will be right but rather a warmer orangey-red.

Here is a link that might be useful: previous post

auntjen likes jewel tones--I'm sure she could help you out here.

I'm a "neutral" person, so I'm afraid I can't be of much help. If I had to answer on a dime, however, I believe I'd say: BM Manchester Tan for the foyer, and a terra cotta (SW Baked Clay?) for the dining room.

Check out the rusts/oranges and golds on the "Gallery" side of the forum

Here is a link that might be useful: Rust Colors

Another thread. . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: Yellows and Golds

What about a purple (more lavender, really) for your dining room? I think it could look stunning coming in / out of your kitchen. Li'l Bit is waking up from his nap right now so I'll have to look at my paint chips later, but that's the first color which popped into my mind.

So, do you like the color the living room currently is? Because I think a more acid green could be so dynamite in there, like BM's Pear Green. (again, I'll have to check that paint book)

Okay, gotta go. Be back later.

One more. . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: Greens

Why can't you call the painter and cancel? It isn't worth the expense of paying him if you're not sure about the color, you'll only end up bringing him back to repaint it. Why are you buying paint by the gallon to test? Buy it by the quart or the tester sizes provided by some manufacturers. I'd stop everything and not throw good money after bad. This is not the way to go about it. Choosing paint color IS very difficult, that's why you need to take time to figure it out BEFORE you schedule a painter. Don't let him pressure you because it suits his schedule, let him wait or go do another job and come back later. You WILL find the right color but don't try to do it under stress. Maybe you should hire an interior designer to help you pick a color, their fee could pay for itself in paint. ;-)

Thanks for the quick responses. A friend who's an artist thinks our DR should be red that's why all those patches of red on our wall (he like BM caliente). I did look at Wet Concrete (purple) but am afraid it will be too dark. I finally thought that some shade of brown will work best but again can't find the right hue. We've been trying to paint this room for some time now and that's why I keep buying all this paint (4 gallons right now) because I'm thinking "I'll paint tomorrow." I am not too worried yet about the amount because I do like the colors and we have still the whole downstairs to paint. LR is BM Appalachian Trail. I am not crazy about the color but starting to like it more and more as time goes buy. I can't change now - we just painted it and my DH is kinda fed up with the whole thing. We did get rid off those brown couches / armchairs which I hated. Honestly, I don't even know what look I am going for. This is our first real home and I have no idea of how to decorate. We paint room by room and it seems I've been randomly choosing all the colors which worked OK till now. Next time we repaint our house I will plan everything out ahead of time and make sure all the colors work together. My first choice was BM coral bronze but I can't visualize it. If someone could maybe photoshop it for me, I'd appreciate it. At this point I have a clean slate furniture/window treatment wise. The only thing that's staying is the rug.

Well, red is a good (and popular) choice for dining rooms: I have a variation of it myself! (We have BM Chestnut.)

I guess I'm totally confused by what you're after, based on what you've written on this and your previous threads. (Your previous thread wouldn't have had a brown wall.)

I still love the idea of a lavender for your dining room but who cares, it's not my space! If it's red you're after but don't want it too dark what about Habanero Pepper 1306?

What's the red to the right of the window (in the first picture posted)? It looks great.

Cancel the painter appointment.

It's ridiculous to expect to be happy with a choice you rushed into when you've spent a fair amount of time struggling with it. Not to mention the expense of having someone else do it with a color you aren't sure about.

Stop buying gallons of paint. Sherwin Williams has quart samples for $5 and there is a coupon for buy 1, get 1 free. I'm sure you can have samples made up at several paint stores, as well.

Ok, I'm assuming you are staying with the imperial yellow? I like it, it's bold and I had that color in the living room of my last home. My dining room was paper-bag brown with a metallic gold ceiling I did in a kind of starburst. A little moody, but that's what I like for a dining area. I used red accents to spice it up.
Our den was a brick red that leaned toward a deep coral and it flowed off the yellow very well.

Like parma said, you want to have similar saturation of color in order for them to play well together. My cousin has an orange entry, purple front room, yellow living area and the back wall is a turquoise. It is fairly open concept and everything flows wonderfully because she used colors with similar intensity.

rmkitchen, I also like the idea of lavender ... would you mind telling me the name of a color you have in mind?

Habanero Pepper 1306 is also nice ...
I'll keep it in mind.

I am sorry my posts are so confusing - it's because I myself am really confused about what to do. I didn't want brown but then thought maybe brown will help me make my rooms a little more grown-up looking ... which I guess is not the look I already have in place ... see what I mean. Should have thought about all this before but I didn't. Thanks for all the help. I am open to all suggestions. Our children went to bed so I shall spend a good chunk of the evening still worrying about the color and searching for something that will look good in that space.

I agree with the others who say to cancel the painter. You need to get samples and keep playing.

I love Jan_in_Wisconsin's SW Flower Pot. It's a really pretty red.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jan's Kitchen

I went to the BM color viewer and picked a Hall picture with 3 walls stacked, it's on the second page of dining, den, hall choices. Helps visualize them all together easier.

I used Appalachian Trail, Somerville Red (deep lavender), and Imperial Yellow. Holy cow, it looks really good! Your soft blue-green color with your bold yellow seemed hard to marry, but the purple looks so good with each individually that it brings them together.

Palm Trees or Parsley Snips would have been closer to the saturation in your kitchen, and looks really nice on the color viewer.

I can't cancel the painter. Either he comes and does the foyer and DR or only the foyer and we'll do the DR ourselves. He's been very kind and is working with our budget but he's leaving for Greece till Sept-October. I'd rather have him paint than DIY because his work looks so much better than ours!

rmkitchen, the red in the photo is caliente - BM affinity

I agree that it would probably be best to cancel the painter. No need to be in a hurry! Since you said that you don't really know what "look" you're going for, I think it would be a mistake to paint now: you might just end up with a hodge-podge of rooms that don't really "speak" to each other. Take some time to review home decor magazines focusing on different styles (Traditional Home, Country LIving, Dwell, etc.). When you've found your preferred style, you can then begin to think about rugs, furniture, wall color. Also, try not to do everything at once--that can be extremely overwhelming. Take it one room at a time. :)

Okay, so these two are "calling" to me:

-Heather Plum 1396 (has more blue in it)
-Hydrangea 1390 (has more pink in it)

It all depends on the light (natural and artificial): Heather Plum is a little lighter in tone, Hydrangea a little darker. But, I mean, slightly -- it's the undertone which makes the difference. I held both of them up with your two colors (Appalachian and Imperial) and think they both are super!

I do like that red, newto ... but on my computer, to my eye, the living room green doesn't quite work with it. I think the red goes great with the yellow, though!

But I can't help it: when I first looked at your pictures lavender popped into my head and like a dog with a bone, I cannot shake it.

We live in one of those houses where all the spaces are open to one another; as the mother of two toddlers, I love it. As someone who loves color and used it with abandon in our previous (more separated) house, I resent it. So I'm going to live vicariously through you!

Thanks rmkitchen.
Tomorrow I will be at the paint store at 7:30 AM and will take the plunge. The yellow and green look very nontraditional and fun and I will try to keep the DR that way. Fun colors should work since I am a transitional/modern/minimalistic/eclectic/whatever else person. Definitely not traditional or country though. I'll post pics when all is done. It can't be too bad, since I also have 2 toddlers and will probably need to repaint within the next five years anyway:) I never used colors to this extent but it's lots of fun. The best part is seeing the reactions of all the people that visit our home:) I really get a kick out of it. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to help me.

I hope we get to see how this all turns out! Best of luck!