I actually think White Dove would be a good choice for you. It's not going to look identical in a matte finish on your walls against the somewhat shiny surface of the kitchen cabinets, but you wouldn't have to worry about clashing undertones. You need a touch of yellow in low light, north facing rooms. Without some yellow the color will look dead. I have Pale Oak in a south facing room and I wouldn't say it's yellow. I wouldn't use it in a north facing room, but it would be lighter than Mindful Gray, so it might look good to you. So much of this is subjective. You need to get Samplize samples or paint a board with a couple options and see what you like. Having to complement the sofa and the cabinets at the same time could be tricky. If Pale Oak looks too gray for you (it might against the sofa), try Edgecomb Gray. It is warmer. For something lighter, but not as light as White Dove, try Ballet White or Feather Down.

Thank you. I plan to order some swatches but wanted to try and narrow down some colors. Interesting you mentioned white dove. I had so many white tone samples for our 1/2 bath, became too frustrated and just went with white dove and in the bathroom, no windows, it looks completely different from my cabinets and love how it looks. Thank you again for taking the time to respond

How aout an actual color I love this cut 50% it is ahint of color but not too much and works with literally any wood or other color It is a BM color

Thank you. Hoping to get to the paint store this wk/end

Your room is facing North, so I would not go nor with blue and green undertones but something warm, may be off-white.

Calm BM

Silver Satin BM

American White

Vici W - thank you, one picture I could find not where the floor wasn’t covered with dog toys
Celery, thank you as well for your color choice selections. There are times during the day the current color almost takes on a sage green color. Who knew choosing a paint color could be so difficult

I feel your pain! i am also trying to pick colors. Have you looked at BM Seapearl? i think its lighter than Pale Oak.I love Simpley White too. i think its a great neutral

As an alternative to painting, I'm wondering if you could hang a beautiful light fixture (that doesn't hang too low for TV viewing) and then add a large mirror to bounce some light around the room???

Sherwin Williams Rain is a lovely soft white with faint grey undertones

Hi there, HU-, I saw what you did there with--I don't MIND the Mindful Gray, lol... you have a beautiful home, I think the gray tones are not showing off it's true beauty! The cabinets and furnishings look different colors because you have a cool white light in the ceiling lights. If you swap them out for warm white lights (it's the same color as the old incandescent bulbs) it will cast a better color on the cabinets--they won't look gray. Your walls will still look gray because--well, they are gray. I know gray is the popular color these days, but I'll never understand gray walls with an oak floor... that's just so wrong. You have beautiful hardwood floors, rich brown and beige furniture so play off of that color. There is a dark brown in the painting--bottom left corner, and the browns in the cutting board with the handle that you can try to match up. Grab as many cards as you can with those colors. After you have changed out the bulbs, go through the sample cards. Pick from the top two chips on the cards for your walls. Then pick a darker shade chip from the SAME card, and use that on an accent wall, maybe behind the couch. Then get two uplights and put them on the floor at each corner of the couch...same warm white light bulbs. The darker shade of brown behind the couch will make the couch and the artwork pop.

I also have a north facing living room. One of the first things I did in that space before even moving in was to totally change all of the lighting. These days we have wonderful LED lights that can do wonders for a dark room with very little energy usage. So... rather than change wall color, I suggest that you do a major upgrade in your down lighting. I would add a light for the painting above your sofa. A light should be added that is centered on the fireplace mantle. Another light should be directly above your coffee table. There should be a light over the side table between the two chairs. I not sure where else in the living room focus lighting is needed. I suspect that you could place 4 downward spots around the chandelier over your dining table and similar lighting in your kitchen.

Light color is very important as is the type of bulb you use. I tend to like PAR20 bulbs in the 3000k-3200k range. Bulbs should be spot lights (never flood lights, flood lights always look slightly blurry to me). I suggest that you purchase several bulbs that are different brands because there will be differences in 2 spots that are supposed to be 3000k. Always use dimmers on lighting.

My suspicion is that after you upgrade your lighting, you will not feel the need to change your wall color. You may of course still want to change the wall color. :)

Best wishes on your project!!!

Nimrod, sue,mepaint, HU - thank you all for your comments. Would love to have a light fixture however smack dab in the middle of the ceiling is a sprinkler. We did change the lighting to LED and we can change the brightness, cool, warm, etc. It took a bit to get used to what I guess are ‘daylight’ but im thinking with older eyes, i can see much better. Small living room and not much ceiling space to add more lighting and, we rarely have the ceiling lights on because my hubs doesn’t like, floor lamp only at night. The home was painted this color when we moved in and have contemplated for several years to repaint and this is why I give up, I find it overwhelming and worry I’ll make a huge mistake. If we were good painters and could do ourselves i wouldn’t worry as much, just repaint if it doesn’t look good but unfortunately we’d have to hire someone. Since I cant do a nice ceiling fixture im kind of thinking about a light over the wall art, thanks!!

One afternoon I was looking through the slider that was half open. Noticed that the glass had a blue-green tint. You might check your windows.

Also suggest checking your LED bulbs/lights for the Color Rendering Index (CRI). It should be 90 or greater. Many LED bulbs are rated at 80. For comparison, sunlight and incandescent bulbs are rated 100.

Most pros recommend 'light layering' so in addition to the overhead can lights & floor lamp you could bring in a few table lamps; pretty & functional (and clearly you like accessories as much as i do.) It's why relators have you turn on every light in the place when you're showing your home. Light makes a huge difference. It was your main goal after all.

Too. Much. Gray. Walls, furniture, cabinets, tile, artwork, accessories, and the overhead lights. North-facing rooms are cold-ish to begin with, and decorating them in all gray or white (even warm whites) is not going to warm them up.

Lucky for you that you have nice warm wood floors. I'd start by changing out some of the furnishings first. A new rug with a pattern and more colors. Change out the pillows and accessories to add some more color. Then work out the wall color, which is dead last in decorating.

Unfortunately not all of us have dispensable income, changing out furniture is not an option. Painting would be the only option and some of us would post do have to work with what we have. Thank you

I understand your predicament, HU.

If you can't replace anything, and can only paint, try a white with a yellow hue. Ben Moore Mayonnaise, Linen White, Monterey White, or Ivory may work. If not, beige could work. Ben Moore has a lot of beige colors that could work with your sofa--Monroe Bisque, Dunmore Cream, Putnam Ivory or Powell Buff.

But if whites or beige don't work, then just keep what you have.

I can’t recommend a color but I have painted walls Pale Oak, while it looked beautiful in the room, I would say it has a slight pink undertone

I also live North facing on the back side of a mountain in a middle townhouse unit. Through the winter the sun doesn't come over the mountain either. Our original wall colour felt like I was living inside of a peanut shell. We repainted the main floor Behr Marquee Snowy Pine, so clean and bright even on cloudy days.

Palladian Blue HC-144 by Benj Moore? It's a soft, airy blue that looks beautiful with White Dove and will make your sofa pop a little. Just a thought - something to consider other than white. It might look more gray than blue in low light but Samplize will help you determine that.

Pretty roon! Good luck!!

Let us know what yu decide!

I also think you should paint a color. You just have so much beige, grey and white that it reads very bland. I agree with the healing aloe or palladian blue suggestions but you could also consider a terra cotta color. We also have a north facing living room and it can read cold. We are painting a very deep indigo from F&B called wine dark.

I, too, am working with a large north facing room and used a yellow-based white tint, which leaves the room light and airy. I was leaning toward grey flooring, but have since decided to move to something again, with yellow; Warm colors on the north face help make the room feel warmer, in general, as opposed to cool colors. Lighting will also effect how the color reflects in different light so....get your paint samples, make some sizable samples and place around the room to view in different light, time of day, etc to get the full effect of how that color will work with the space and light. Texture, color/rugs and pillows will help tie in your existing furniture. You have a neutral pallet and can work in some red, teal, greens, etc...to bring it to life. You don't have to buy new...FB marketplace has a plethora of decor options and I find great pillows in thrift and consignment stores for pennies on the dollar.. Give them a 15 min. steam in your dryer or set in the sun for a couple hours then place on the sofa. The colors can be pulled from existing art on your walls, ground the room with a rug in warm colors and add textured pillows! You got this!!

I think your home is very beautiful as it is and that is why I was suggesting lighting upgrades so that wall color don't need to be messed with. I truly love the elegance of a monochromatic design.

I have been thinking about why your husband doesn't like the ceiling lights and I suspect that it's because the lens is so very visible and they are floodlights not spot lights which have a rather directed beam. Based on what you said about being able to adjust the color, I suspect that the light and fixture are one. If that is the case the fixture (baffle) would need to be changed out in order to test out other light bulbs. Should you choose to do that, get the deepest baffle that can fit in your ceiling so that the bulb can sit higher in your ceiling. As I mentioned before, I prefer PAR20 bulbs with are smaller in diameter than your current PAR30s. You might also consider track lighting in white to disappear in your white ceiling. Home Depot has a house brand that looks good and is inexpensive. A track could provide lighting for the table between the chairs, the coffee table and the painting over the sofa. If you have a discreet power source the entire project can be an easy DIY Saturday afternoon.

Years ago, I had a raw silk sofa that was about the same color as your sofa. I put chocolate brown grass paper behind it. It was a gorgeous combination. I know that is the total opposite of the direction you are wanting to go. :(

If you have an artist friend, you might enlist that friend to help you select your wall color. You might also consider a colorist to help you find the right color. Your paint store can probably recommend some colorists to you.

Whatever route you go to find paint color, buy a sample and paint a good sized square (3' x 3') behind your sofa and live with it for a day or two before you commit to that color.

Again, I wish you all the best as you move forward with your project.

This spring I painted the laundry room in Behr's Crean Puff to match the rest of my house...it remained a 1990s dusty Robin's egg blue, on my lower floor, under a balcony, and while South facing gets no sun as there is a large hill 250 meters away which the sun never rises above for 2 months in the winter...great yards for tomatoes in the Summer however. The yellow/cream is surprisingly cheery and goes well with my white crown molding, and chrome hardware. One more thought to help brighten the space is to install a mirror. It doesn't even need to be at eye level. My living room faces north, and I installed a narrow mirror flush with the top of my window and it reflects plenty of light into the room even catching the floor and table lamps.