Please advice :(

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If I were advising you on color I would abandon the white white and use off whites that blend with the floor or if you like some of the warmer grey tones in the kitchen tile. The white white is too bluish (cool) and feels stark. If you just repainted with a warmer white of which there are unlimited numbers the place would feel much cozier I think

@bombayhills: I already gave my painter a deposit and they are scheduled to start painting in a week. I actually heard about the waiting period for a new home walls to settle. You are 100% correct but I know my lazyself! if I don't do it now, it will be painted when I put our home back on market for resale ;).

@Todd: Thanks for your advice Todd. So if I choose off whites, how would SW Alabaster look? Do you have any favorites? Can I use off white as main color and add darker warm gray on couple of walls for contrast? Would that work? I like off whites but I am also craving to use some color :). Please advice.

@Andea: Thanks for sharing Andrea! I heard lot of good things about colonnade gray. I will surely add it to my list ;). As you picked colonnade gray in the master bedroom, which color did you use in master bathroom? Did you ever use Repose gray? It is also a light warm gray.

@Sandy: Thank you Sandy :). I have a dining table which matches the espresso color of Kitchen cabinets and stair railing. I have a beige light grayish couch. I will have to shop for big area rugs. We will be adding plantation shutters throughout the home which will match our trim.

Anoosha,

Much better to paint before you're living there! I would take Andrea's advice, as she did the job the right way with a pint or so of the actual paint and large area to see how the lighting really looks.

The first time I painted a house, I went so far as to paint one wall! Three or four times! I was much younger then...

On the current house, I got fairly lucky with chips; they were the large 3x5" chips. At least my main wall color turned out great. My painter also prefers Sherwin Williams -- but they matched Benjamin Moore's Brandy Cream from the chip. I am not recommending that color for you! It is beige with a hint of gray, instead of the other way around; but it works great with our flooring, and the tint changes throughout the day as Andrea describes SW's Collonade Gray doing.

Other than that, I always go with warm over cool for living spaces. Unless you have a room you don't WANT to relax in!

PS We did choose the flooring with the paint chip in hand (although at that point the paint could have been changed). We chose the sofa and rug with the 2x3' flooring sample along! Fortunately my mom picked a recliner that came in a near-matching tan, and the color of the storage bench/hassock on my screen turned out to be true-to-life. It took only two tries to get well-harmonized draperies!

Like you, our wood furnitures are enough darker that they make a contrast and not a clash.

@Thank you Leeza! My painter offered me to make 5 boards of color samples for free. All I have to do right now is give them the names and she will order. If I wanted more samples I pay extra ($6) for each. Once she gets the boards, I will put them in different places and test them as you and Andrea suggested.

@Andrea: Will do Andrea :). Right now I have to come up with some pretty colors to give her, so the process can begin.

The carpet will be installed in couple of days. 1st floor is all tiles.

You should have the carpet by now, right? Not having furniture or accessories for the house is not unusual and needing to paint before moving in is very common.

What that means, however, is you must use the fixed elements to inform wall color choices. The trim color, cabinet color, carpet and tile - and in your case a "beige light grayish" couch all matter.

These elements are the framework against which you compare paint colors. If a paint color doesn't look pretty next to these elements, then it's not the color for you.

What you are doing is creating a cohesive, well-harmonized envelope of a space that will hold future furniture, rugs, accessories. If all the elements of that envelope harmonize, you will have an easier time choosing textiles, rugs, bedding, etc. going forward.

That's how you choose paint colors for a new house that has to be painted before you move in.

Also, full spectrum paint colors are ideal for this situation because they enable you to create atmospheres that will gracefully morph and adapt – like a chameleon. Chameleon-like colors are an advantage because they offer flexibility like when you are settling into a brand new home and slowly acquiring furniture and decor.

There are several brands of full spectrum paints:

Ellen Kennon Full Spectrum Paint - I think Ellen even includes a free consultation if you buy paint.

C2 Paint

Painters and designers rarely understand why full spectrum paints are different. So you have to be prepared. No matter what anybody tells you, full spectrum paint colors can't be matched. It's the specific colorants and combination of those specific colorants that make a full spectrum color what it is.

@Leeza: I am glad it worked out for you! We signed the home almost 6 months back. We were rushed in the design center and were in and out in 2 hrs. For me Houzz did not even exist at that time :) lol...This is our 1st home and are living in an apartment (plain white walls) right now. I had no idea colors can be so complicated!

@Lori: Thank you so much for your advice. It makes sense. Yes, carpet is installed now but I forgot to take pictures last time. The carpet is also tan color like our tiles.

wow beautiful color palettes...Thank you so much @Irene! I like your name :)

FYI...our outer color scheme is gray too..Builder did not give us choice to pick it....we just got lucky :)

Okay friends, I finally choose BM Gray Owl as my primary color after lot of samples..let me know how it looks!