I like the 3rd option. I'd restain the mantle to come closer to the floor.

Why paneling? Have to figured out where the TV and the wall art will go in the room?

Thanks Beverly!

I want to break up the room a little make it more cozy (I don't like the look of a lot of sterile drywall). The panels should be large enough to allow for art (although there is not a lot of open wall in the space, lots of windows). We put wiring in for TV on the fireplace. And yes, the mantle will be stained to be closer to the wood floors (it's raw wood right now). The ceiling beam will also be cased and stained.

What direction does your room face? I am sitting here in my south facing large vaulted ceiling room and BB does not look anywhere as dark as the middle picture. My fear with Accessible Beige is that it would look very light.

RNmomof2, the room is west facing with two stories of windows, so a large amount of afternoon sun.

The two-tone option (light on top, mid-tone on bottom) looks terrific -- brings the fireplace to life and draws the eye upward, emphasizing the vertical dimensions of the room in a good way. Put a large, snazzy sconce or a fabulous painting of the right shape and proprortion on on each side = ooh la la! (I see dark, moody "hunting lodge" paintings up there, but that's just me and my taste -- obviously base choices on your own taste/style...)

The light monochromatic mock-up is much too blah and does nothing to enhance the fireplace.

I love the second option because it lessens the gray! Those colors really add the needed warmth.

I'm a Balanced Beige lover so that is my vote! Have seen it several places and loved it in all of them.

Thanks everybody!! I’m going to stick with my first instinct and use Balanced Beige!

AI alters the room to make it look good.

Notice how the color of the stone matches with the color of the walls in each of the AI Produced views. The color of the stone won't change - you have to pick a paint color that works well with the stone.

You can mix grays and beige, but it often works better with a greige.

Our neutrals fall into one of the following categories:

Pink beige

Orange beige

Yellow Beige

Green Beige

Greige - mix of green beige and green gray

Green Gray

Blue Gray

Violet Gray

Taupe - mix of pink beige and violet gray

See how Agreeable gray (Actually Greige, not gray) is still warm but blends so much better than Accessible Beige with the gray stone.

Agreed that accessible beige seems to not play as well - soft suede seems to be a better made for the lighter option. I’ve attached some non AI pics. Agreeable gray is the first one and washed out really strongly in the room, the second one is balanced beige. The third is top to bottom: Natural Tan, Accessible Beige, Taupe of the Morning, and Soft Suede

This one shows accessible beige and balanced beige together (next to SW Pure White)

Based on how the colors are showing up on my screen I am liking the Taupe of the Morning/Soft Suede best. Accessible beige and Balanced beige seem really yellow next to the gray stone and even too yellow next to the more orange wood.

The only way to get the best color would be to narrow it down to 2 or 3 and paint them on very large pieces of poster board. It’s a large area and you can’t get a good feel from those small samples.

I like your idea of paneling and think a medium to dark color would be very nice.