We are painting bedrooms & baths as well. The 2 color combinations I am struggling with & where I thought I should start is with the main "living" areas.

Yikes...the pressure!

Go check out the Sherwin-Williams website-there are lots of color palettes presented...SW colors can be matched at BM. I found this as a starting point because of the grays:

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/hgtv-home-by-sherwin-williams/color-palettes/liveable-luxe/

Main HGTV color palette page:

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/hgtv-home-by-sherwin-williams/color-palettes/

Color Forecasts:

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-collection/color-forecast/

Lifestyle Palettes:

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-collection/lifestyle-collection/index.html

Good luck!

Consider a SW (or other brand of paint) color strip that you like. Use the colors from ONE strip light, medium and dark ---it will help things flow and coordinate.

You ought to start with your fixed elements and most expensive permanent pieces of furniture. What color is your floor? Do you have any wood which will be staying, and if so, what color is it? How about your sofa and other upholstered pieces? Your kitchen cabinets?

All of these should guide your choices as they all have color undertones which will either clash with your paint choice, or -- if you're lucky -- they'll blend beautifully.

I agree with a previous post. Stick to colors from one strip. Your rooms will flow better, then use accent colors.

Agreed. But beyond the color strip, use the paint shops large color fan deck. This will show every available color and you will be able to see the color you want to use vs. a lighter tone. I used some of the grays you are showing was about to go with La Paloma Gray and ended up with classic gray, which is just a hint of gray! Small room therefore went lighter. Good luck!

light and bright. Keep it neutral so you can change furniture over the years without having to repaint. Add color with pillows and such.

Thank you for the suggestions! If anyone has a complimentary color for brushed aluminum that is not leaning too much toward green that is where I am struggling. The floors are dark, stained Jacobean the kitchen cabinets are white and the island is BM anchor gray.

I agree with the prior posts to go neutral and then accent with throws, pillows, accents. We built 2years ago and this was great advice for me. That being said it suits my personality also. We used a lot of dark espresso stained woodwork (my island, mantle, over range cabinet, stair pillars) and used BM white dove painted cabinets and trim so this created enough contrast it is not boring. An idea for your bath...warmed cognac...it is the most beautiful warm orange. The laundry and baths I used more "fun" colors. Also I can't tell from your pics about the brushed aluminum but I held the paint strips next to a piece of the tile and flooring, etc in natural light in your room and see which looks best. I know a couple women who picked wrong and it is expensive to repaint! You are smart to think hard about this!! Some greige type colors I looked at were Shenandoah taupe, Stonington gray, bleeker beige, revere pewter. I was loving the grays and researched colors often recommended by pros, I wanted revere pewter somewhere in my home!! But, in the end my other design features leaned towards tan rather than gray. I used Shenandoah taupe in master and bleeker beige throughout my open concept kitchen, dining, and living room. We love it and it was a good choice for us. You need to narrow down to two favs and look at them during diff times of the day. When I got stuck, putting all the elements together helped me see the best match. Good luck to you..remember these are best kind of problems in life..you are blessed to have such a 'dilemma'.

An open floor plan needs one color...not 8. Beautiful whites, creams, and even soft beige would look timeless.

My cousin used a great shade of Ben Moore grey called "Smoked Oyster". I liked it and choose another color from that color strip called "Elephant Grey". Then she later painted her kitchen an even darker shade from that strip. I liked them all - there was an interesting warmth to the colors. She found the color in a Pottery Barn catalog. Gotta say, when I'm not sure about a color, the PB catalog usually makes really good choices and combos.

With that said, when I makd an open floor plan, and put color samples all over my walls, in the end I went as bright of white as I could find (Ben Moore's "Chantilly Lace") - I realized I just wanted my space as bright as possible and to accent it with bright pops of color. First I painted my bedroom pink, then changed to Ben's "Elephant Grey", and in the end wished I went with a lighter shade on that strip or just went bright white - I love the flexibility of decorating with white! And I love using bright colors for a bathroom - why not? It's a mostly unused/closed off space, why not have fun with it? I did a lime green ("Fresh Cut Grass" from Ben Moore) and never regretted that either.

Guess I'd say be carefull of too much grey. The condo I was in put grey on the walls, trim, and floors. One contractor said it looked like "Early Prison". :-) It really became dull - especially with the dark grey trim: it made the light grey walls look dirty, not grey. White trim would have made a huge difference. Good luck - not sure any of that helped! (BTW, when I bought my 1 bedroom condo the prior owners had 6 colors on the walls, and a yellow-ish off white for trim. Can't tell you how much better it looked covering it all in a unified color. Some people have a real gift for choosing multiple colors that work great. They didn't.)

Your contractor's "need by" date was two days ago: what colors did you choose?

With an open floor plan, where one sees all rooms, it has been my experience as a renovator, artist, realtor & stager, one should stick with the same color throughout those rooms or you will be diminishing the flow of openness for one of "disjointed" rooms. Not a good idea. And, gray, in my opinion, must be very light to not make a room feel smaller and uninviting. My experience is to make your walls a blank canvas to add your pictures/furniture/accessories to add color and personality. My favorite, all time color for walls in rooms w/ open floor plan would be Innocence, which is a Behr paint color, but can be matched by Benjamin Moore (my preferred paint) or any that your painter might prefer working with. It's a beautiful, "vanilla ice cream" background that works well with all furnishings. For a bath, my favorite "go to" color is "Shore" at Restoration Hardware, cut w/ white by 50%. It's a very fresh, calming color. Remember to put large samples of the colors on each wall in all of the rooms to get an idea of how the color looks from all angles. Sample size on walls should be roller width, 10 - 12 inches high & 2 coats. Good Luck!

The very nice painter is going to start with brushed aluminum in the kitchen/family room and than allow me to choose the living room color. I had sampled Chelsea gray but it is a bit dark. There is a wall separating the 2 spaces (with about a 8 foot) opening so I thought I could get away with another color family in the living room but maybe not....

Is this the BM "Brushed Aluminum" paint color you chose?

Looks like it apple_pie_order! It's a bit "minter" in those pics more gray undertone on my test area

I agree with using the same color throughout but if you are stuck on a different color then consider one from the same paint strip. Go one or two shades in same color family. Just another thought. Please post pics when done so we can all see how it turns out!

maybe a blue/gray color paint would work. looks great with stainless.

An easy solution is to pick a white that goes with the BM Brushed Aluminum to use as the trim color throughout the whole house, then use the lightest color on the same card (as many others suggested) - or the Brushed Aluminum cut by 50% or 75%- for the open plan walls. Carry the white trim through to bedrooms and bathrooms. Pick colors for the bedroom walls from the bedding (kids rooms change every few years anyway).

In our last house the previous owner had so many different colors that it sent me dizzy! None of the rooms seemed to flow. I chose one color for the entryway, hall, kitchen, dining & living areas. The result was a soothing palette, that was attractive, and opened up the whole area to make it seem larger. I did make the mistake of choosing very different colors for each of the two bedrooms & bathrooms, and the office. Initially, I loved the having some color in those areas, but by the time we came to sell the house, I had really grown to dislike the mix of colors! We now live in a house that is one neutral color throughout, which I would have found totally boring years ago. We love it! The suggestions for slightly different shades of the same color family are excellent advice, and would provide a subtle difference between your areas, if that is your goal. Good luck with your decisions!

Keep in mind the undertones in the fixed elements of the room -- flooring, any wood tones, tile/stone that is used. You probably want your paint to be in the same "family" as the fixed elements, eg, blue-gray, green-gray, greige. Since you have white cabinets, I would continue that same white for the trim in your house... or have a good reason why you are choosing a different white. One neutral color for walls in adjoining rooms creates a cohesive look. Also, think about how each space will be used and how you want to feel in that space. For an open area with lots of natural light that will be used often, I would go for a lighter shade, while I love darker shades in a cozy dining room that will be used mostly in the evening. I love colors from Benjamin Moore's Historical Line and they tend to play well with each other. SAMPLE them on the walls (plural!) in various light and times of day, even if that means spending $100+ on little paint cans and spare foam paint brushes. You are making a $10k + decision, and this small investment will go a long way!

For some specific colors that have worked well for me, all by Ben Moore. I am assuming that you are using a bright white for all trim to create a crisp contrast. For a light neutral to carry through several rooms, Edgecomb Gray (warm putty gray) or Gray Owl (nice light gray that veers a bit toward blue). Wickham Gray or Stonington could be lovely too. Or even a whiter shade light White Dove (neutral grayish white) or Swiss Coffee (neutral white that leans a tiny bit towards yellow, looks awesome in my daughter's bedroom when set off by gray, white, and pops of color). Revere Pewter is Edgecomb Gray's slighter deeper cousin. For a little color I love Woodlawn Blue (light blue with lots of gray) or Buxton Blue (used as a fun but grown-up color in our basement). For deeper colors, eg, dining room, I love Amherst Gray (deep warm gray) and if you want to steer towards a darker blue, Van Deusen Blue or even Hale Navy are both awesome. I agree that you don't want everything to be gray, but stick with mainly neutrals on the walls and add color through accessories that you can change out as seasons or your mood decides. Good luck!

Use some of the swatches that are on the sample with Dior Gray. There should be a grouping. Usually those colors all work together. Gray and all the hues of gray are great neutrals.....and it's only paint.

It doesn't appear that the colors on the wall are in the bright light that you are placing the colors in. It is a good idea to always try them in the rooms they are in. One point I want to express is you painted the letters on the wall. My contractors can't stand when people do that. They have to hide those strokes better. (More labor if they are not using pre-primed paint or 2 coats.) Consider as some have mentioned previously the tones that are in the flooring already and furnishings that will be going into the rooms. You do not want to have 8 different paint colors. Continuity is the best thought a home. Good luck!

If you are using brushed aluminum and white dove, with anchor gray accent, but you want something with more drama for your formal spaces, test bm fieldstone. http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/fieldstone

another good choice is bm cape may cobblestone http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/capemaycobblestone

Chelsea gray is around 22 LRV (light reflective value). Brushed aluminum is around 55 and fieldstone /cape may are low 40's . . good rule of thumb is that tonal changes aren't really visible until you get about 10 LRVs off and 15 is more typical ..

One thing to keep in mind with dark colors is that they fade over time especially the walls that get sunlight. Paint touch ups a few years later may be a bit obvious.

Hey there. I have a blog post that may help you out.

http://timothyriversinteriors.com/2014/12/24/masterbedroomdesignideas/

Happy Designing!

Sherwin Williams has huge help to pick colors..I got my color combos from there. Majolica Green, Muslin and Macadamia.
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/

We just painted my office SW Sedate Gray. Because it has an underlying green tint, it works with wood furniture but has a very contemporary feel. My personal style is contemporary with an elegant feel. It is lovely. In the morning light there is a light blue glow. I just love it. I would recommend this color to anyone!

Hummmmm, Interesting I would love to see the home and your furniture, I at one time did a one color scheme in every room, picked a soft white for the doors and windows trim, I painted the ceilings and ceiling trim if any the same as the wall color, it was a lite gray/taupe color, it was the 90's! The current owners have since repainted a couple times, and went with the same scheme...........Their furniture and rugs and everything else added the color. 8 different colors will drive you Mad, But do what makes you happy, I am sorry I don't have any digital pics to leave on here, but for this open concept townhome, it still works. Good luck.

Photos of my office in SW Sedate Gray 6169. Ceiling is one shade lighter - SW Moderne White 6168. Room is in morning light. You can see the tint of bluish green. Its a very restful gray. Elegant but not to formal, easy on the eyes, compliments a transitional and modern decorating style. I love this color! As you can see, I am still working on this room as far as décor goes! (My husband's artwork is seen through the French doors, artist Don Bristow. His work can be viewed at www.lightrayphotoimagery.com)