Before I painted it Languid Blue, I had first done my bedroom in Quiet Moments, and it's a room that doesn't get a lot of natural light. I really liked the Quiet Moments. I only changed it because I wanted something a little bolder and more sophisticated.

Have you thought about painting it a buttercream color with white trim? I like the way that very pastel warm tones color north light. We've used a pale yellow, a pale orange and a pale pink (even though I am not someone who likes pink), all with just enough color to differentiate it from a true white. It seems like the palest yellow would work best with the colors in the bedding.

BM Sweet Butter

BM Windham Cream

Wow, nhbabs, I was also thinking a soft yellow or an orange yellow to go with the yellow in the comforter as well as with the blue, hence my posting the last two posts.

What if you painted the walls white and the ceiling this beautiful BM Beach Haven

How about a white with a hint of gray in it this would make the white not as stark.

My son had a white room as a teen. I think in part he wanted simplicity as so much was going on in his life. Plus he like tech gadgets so white appealed to him as did black. I did navy blue for his bedding.

Adding a few drops of blue paint to your white wall color gives a very nice open sky like ceiling. Agree some contrast on ceiling is nice.

Thank you for the suggestions! Tib, that ceiling color looks pinkish on my monitor..is it? We have Simply White on all the trim in our house and like it, but I've never thought about using a white wall color before.
Although I like the soft yellows, she doesnt care for them. In my head I'm seeing a faint icy blue color on the walls. She has dark walnut colored handscraped-look lamilnate flooring. So a purer white would not look dingy or muddy right? And would the blue bedding and dark brown floor help to warm up the overall look?
Maybe we could do a purer white on the walls and icy blue on the ceiling... hmmm.. if it stops snowing here I'll go out for some more paint chips...thanks again..

We have Benj, Moore Marble White in our north facing living room. (Not chosen by me--painted when the house was put on the market.). It does have a huge north facing window and two smaller west facing windows. We love this color--first time I've met a white wall I didn't want to paint.

very pretty crl!

massagerocks, that color is a very pale yellow, so forget about it.

I think that, with her comforter being so busy and colorful, it makes more sense to paint her walls white, maybe BM Decorator White, which has blue undertones, and paint the ceiling your icy blue. Maybe BM Iceberg.

massagerocks, am having the same issue trying to find a light bluish color for my livingroom that only has a north facing window. Was wondering how yours came out? I've researched this to death and have tried a few sample pots to no avail. My colors are either too white and washed out or too blue. Did you pick a color yet? tibbrix: I am thinking of looking at Quiet Moments for a gray green color - how did that your previous color look? Thanks!

This is so weird. I swear part of this thread is missing. I remember responding to Tibbex's assertion that marble white is actually yellow. I replied something like that in my room it reads as a white (albeit with yellow undertones).

Hmmm…I don't recall ever saying anything about marble white. Maybe someone else?

Rebecca, The Quiet Moments was pretty, sometimes a bit minty for me. I did repaint to a deeper blue. If your LR has only north-facing rooms, I suggest rethinking and taking a look at warmer colors with some depth to them (i.e.: 86 the gray). The reason light colors look blah in north-facing rooms is because there is very little light to be reflected by them, which is how light colors work to brighten up a room and which is why they are great for sun-filled rooms. Whereas rooms with very little natural light rely on the pigment in a paint color to provide the "brightness" to the room since there is no light to reflect off the paint.

I painted my LR in BM White Sand. this room gets very little natural light. It was okay. Blah. I repainted it because I didn't like the peach undertones of the White Sand, and I painted it BM Lenox Tan, a deeper color, and let me tell you, that LR is now "to die for" to be in. It is warm and rustic and elegant and wonderful, and winter is a very slow time for me, not a lot to do, so I spend a lot of time in there, hand I didn't once feel restless with the new color. I only wanted to be in that room.

Paint is all about the light, not so much the color or depth, I've learned. Why don't you start a new thread with pics of your LR and get some opinions?

Have you considered gray owl by bm? Also white wisp by bm is a lighter shade just above gray owl on the paint strip. It will read more of a light gray color in a north facing room. Here is a photo of gray owl.

Tribbix, you said "massagerocks, that color is a very pale yellow so forget about it". If you weren't referring to my post with the picture of my living room, which is marble white, I can't imagine what you were talking about.

At any rate, I posted yesterday because I swear part of this thread is missing.

Oh, I see, crl. No, I was referring to the BM Beach Haven I had posted above, at 3:08 pm.

I'm so challenged...how do I post a picture?? Its on my computer. I clicked the photo icon and then went to my picture, clicked it, then OPEN and it puts a little box in this comment box. When I hit the submit button, an error says Unable to post Comment. please help. thanks!

I think the photo link is down today-at least it wouldn't work for me either this morning.

I'll try to post my picture again tomorrow. We went with BM Simply White and the color is perfect! In daylight it's a nice clean white. At night it's a tiny bit creamy. The room looks completely different, hard to believe its the same room. Prior to this, she had brown walls with one wallpapered in a leopard skin print. She took off her closet doors and replaced them with dark brown curtains. It was dark and depressing, she would've said cozy, lol. Now its fresh and beautiful :)

Rebecca, we have Quiet Moments in a bathroom that has one small south facing window, but not much light. It looks quite blue to me. I see no green at all, but my husband sees it only as green! I'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow. You really need to sample the colors on your walls. They'll look completely different than what you see pictures of.

Atkillery, I have a sample pot of Gray Owl, I wish I could use it somewhere, I love every picture of it. In my family room, it looked green. In my daughter's bedroom, it looked like dull gray drywall. I have a piece of furniture I'm going to paint and repurpose as a TV console, so maybe I'll use it on that....

Tibbrix, I'm going to start another thread after I figure out how to post a photo. Along with my daughter's bedroom, we also had the family room painted. I'd been looking at paint colors for over a year and felt so discouraged. I posted pictures on GardenWeb and you once suggested BM Clay Beige, which is the color we finally choose. It's beautiful and exactly what I hoped for. Thank you so much!

I also have Quiet Moments in a windowless bathroom, and I see the green, not the blue.

Thrilled to hear you're happy with the Clay Beige.

tribbix, I did start a thread actually but after having tried some of the suggestions, the colors just haven't worked out for me. I think I was trying to go for the "coastal" look and I really need to stop forcing the room in that direction. I've bought a ton of paint samples and I'm just not happy with any of them. The blues are too blue, the grays are timid (but at the same time I'm afraid of going darker) and I just do not like any of the yellows and oranges or reds. I've gone through all the colors on the spectrum and nothing is 'clicking.' My current wall is yellow so I've been using posterboards and leaving a white trim to get a better read of the colors. I loved the idea of Wickham Gray and Gray Owl, but they read as very pale on my postercards. I wonder if it's because I'm just not very good at mentally imagining what the entire apartment will look like painted? Or do postercards whitewash colors and make them lighter than they actually would be when painted on the wall?

I need to paint the walls before I move in and the painter is coming Saturday! I work so can't spend all day trying out paint colors and seeing it at different times of the day. I am now stressed to the point where I'm thinking of just throwing a dart, picking a color and hoping for the best.

artikllery9, I loved your picture posted up above. Is that of a north facing room? That is the kind of color scheme that I want - gray walls, brown wood floors (carpet in the livingroom, wood in the dining area) and white sofa and couch with dark brown coffee tables. The room looks stunning! I tried Gray Owl but it read as very pale on my walls. Maybe I need a heavier coat of paint? Or maybe it will look different once the entire room is painted in that color? My room does actually get quite a bit of light and has one wall of mirrors on the far side of the room.

Massagerocks: did Clay Beige work for you in a north facing room?

I really wanted to like Horizon and Abalone but Horizon didn't show up as a color for me and Abalone was pure lavendar - has anyone else had this experience? Thanks in advance for all your help!

My current wall is yellow so I've been using posterboards and leaving a white trim to get a better read of the colors.

That's not helping you. And I know placing a white background behind/around color is an oft prescribed color tip. But here's why it's the wrong thing to do:

For the three-dimensional, built environment we always have to consider the three key attributes of color which are hue, value, and chroma.

Here's what any color of white does to a color sample:

• The hue will have a larger sense of volume or it will feel bigger
• The chroma will appear weaker, not as saturated as it actually is
• The value will appear darker

A neutral gray background is the very best option for viewing color samples. But that's not always feasible because neutral gray is hard to find.

But if you understand how adding a white frame or background influences what you're looking at, it can help.

I hesitate to post these because the color doesnt look like it does in person. In person it looks just like it does when I look at images of Simply White on my computer, very white, clean and fresh. My pictures look grayish, but it's not all gray. We're going to Ikea this week to look at curtains, will put up something white. Found a nice upholstered storage bench at Home Goods in lime green that we're considering for under the window, although there's no green in her comforter. We are debating painting the cabinet white or royal blue. I'm leaning towards royal blue but unsure of what to do the top...will replace the knobs, maybe crystal.. She's transitioning from being away at college for 3 years back to home and has way too much stuff for one bedroom, but she's trying :)

I think that cab in royal blue would be wonderful, or maybe a Greek blue. Really great.

I would look for a headboard. There are so many affordable ones out there right now. It would really make the bed look so put together!