Let it be said, selecting paint is tricky!! Knowing that is the first step in getting the result you desire. Any paint you are serious about should be painted onto at least one board and moved around the room to see how it looks; and should also be looked at during different times of the day. I assume you're keeping the window treatment seen in the photo. If that's true you want to pay attention to that fabric color to assure the wall color and fabric color work together. The window fabric and wall color are one of the first visuals walking into the room. Do not be afraid of buying several paint samples before deciding. As you say you're trying to avoid a $3.000 mistake!!!!!

Thank you for all the suggestions! I just love this site! I literally have to set limits for myself on how many hours I can spend here.
Incidentally, the last sofa I purchased was in 1970 and has served me well. First dressed in avocado green, she was re-dressed in mauve in the '80s. Feel like I'm betraying my long time friend but I guess it's time to move on. Hoping she'll find a new somewhat usefully life in local vintage photo shoots.

Greige, a great suggestion. Had not considered that because of my kitchen cabinets which unfortunately staying for a while.

While I love this opened floor plan, ugggg, it's really hard to decorate around.

Expecting delivery of new pieces very soon so I guess I'll wait to paint to make sure of colors as was suggested. Thanks to all!

I love paint and painting you can change a whole room in a matter of hrs, each wall in your open areas would get different lighting on it, I would recommend painting it all the same colour as the light reflections and shadows will play tricks with the colour at all times of the day. It looks like you may live in a warmer climate? I would pick the med colour and I would wait to confirm your colour with your furniture. Use your art, accents with an area rug to darken it up if you choose.

Good luck

ggail,
I have a small fortune invested in samples. :-) I've gone by all the rules and tried paint in different rooms and different walls.
Just knowing I have to live with my choice for a few years has overwhelmed me! I've even used apps where you can upload pictures and apply paint. Knowing it's not a true color example scares me more. I just need to be brave!

I had a consultant from a paint store come in! She is also an interior decorator. Cost me $125, but was worth EVERY PENNY! We did one floor of our house in shades of sand, greeny blue( Palladian Blue) and Beacon Gray with Benjamin Moore PM2 white in pearl for the trim throughout. Looks so nice to look down the hall and see all the beautiful colors. We have a front to back living room and I used Beacon Gray for the whole room.

I love Benjamin Moore colour and Behr too. On colour I painted in a house in Florida was "pony tail" I got the paint chip a walmart great colour but used sherwin Williams paint covered well.

I took 8 millions samples ha ha from all sorts of companies and put them on the floor and then start, getting ride of the ones that just don't do it, if you squint your eyes whilst looking at the colours you trying to match it can help bring the green or red background colour forward.

Just do a process of eliminating then take all the samples you like tape them on each wall for one day and night you will be able to eliminate more.

Be careful that you don't get too much red in the colour the one colour you have. Up is very pink kind of looks like the colour of makeup foundation and that you will regret.

Or

I have done this before, buy a quart and paint a wall, you will be out 2 hrs of time and $20 if you hate it :-) make sure you do 2 coats one won't give you an accurate colour.

Sorry one more thing be very very careful with the colour you choose it it has to go against the cabinetry in the kitchen area, if you can't find a common ground between the match between the wood and your furniture paint the wall around the cabinets a dark accent colour so they stand alone with the accent colour.

Wait for your furniture to be delivered please! I am concerned you will be overwhelmed by beige. There are thousands of paint colors and you need to see those fabrics in your lighting and against your permanent fixtures before you choose a paint color.

Since you have a lot of light coming in you can go with the darker color you picked out. I would paint kitchen and dining area same color. The other rooms a different color. Crown moulding would really be awesome and also around those arch ways.

Nice space. I like the copper colors on the chair. Maybe a very light rust color for desert sand to bring out the Arizona design. Large room could be a little darker and the small spaces lighter. If there are two story areas do the same. Dark on the lower wall and a lighter shade for second story

Curlycook,
I think your advice is worth my patience to wait until the new pieces get delivered so I can tell how they look in my home vs the store where I purchased them. I only hope I love, love them because they are all custom and special order too.

I just never knew I'd be so overwhelmed with paint choices!
The designer from the store is the person who suggested Dunn Edwards Floating Feather. While I'm in love with the name, not
so sure about the color. Seems to be lots of gold, especially if I keep my gold silk panel drapes. But then again I don't have the experience or trained eye.

Patience is one of my weaker qualities. Wink

Not sure which is which, but I like the top and bottom samples on the right the best. I don't like the top left sample at all - it's very, very gold. I think the top middle is too light and the bottom left is interesting, but quite dark (which may or may not be good).

Ann,
Floating Feather is top right, Sand Dune is bottom right.
All Dunn Edwards. Top left is Golden Gate.

If this makes any sense, the top middle is the lightest color on the trio card of Floating Feather. Ugg, choosing paint color is hardddd! And who come up with these names. Can I get that job?

Floating feather is pretty nice. I'm not seeing the gold in it.

Have you visited Maria Killam's blog? She's very informative about paint colors!

Going there right now jenakeroyd. Thank you

Personally, I have no issue with painting the different areas different colors, so long as they coordinate with each other. I'd save the darker/deeper shades for smaller expanses--your home is filled with light, and why compromise that?

I would be bored if my entire house was the same color, even though the rooms flow together on the first floor--the only doors are to the powder room and the laundry room off the garage. But the colors all "like" each other. As we're painting, area by area, we make sure that what's currently in the adjoining area won't stick out like a sore thumb, till we get to it.

When I am decorating my home, I like to paint first. I usually find the neutral shade of the color I love since it will act as a background color for all the items to be added to the room. Neutral doesn't mean beige. Sherwin Williams has a "neutral" section in their fan deck with strips going from light to dark. If the room gets alot of sunlight, I'll go darker. Also, the way the paint strips are set up at the store you can find the neutral color of each one. Usually the middle strip is the neutral color. For instance, if there are 7 strips of green, pick the 4th strip and that's the neutral strip. If there are 6, pick the 3rd strip. I hope this helps you with choosing your paint color. I do like painting different rooms different colors as long as they go together. You do have doorways or arches going into each room; so painting the rooms different colors it will be easier to start and stop with another color.

I love Dulce de leche by Benjamin Moore...

Color all the way to the right at top....very neutral but warm. Great foundation

I agree with vjs12; with that open floor plan and so much light, I'm worried that if you don't go with a saturated color you'll feel like it's too light once you get it on the walls.

Two of my favorite neutrals: Behr paint - creamy mushroom (pictured) and ashen tan. Although Ashen Tan can't be found on color palettes any longer (last years color) the number is N220-2 (they can still mix it). It's the perfect warm, taupe/gray blend.

Benjamin Moore Natural Cream is nice warm gray/taupe

Pale creamy-white....safest bet, and you can change accessories easier than the paint!

if you buy at Etah Allen thier designers will come to your home for free. They helped me with paint color -used 2 tones which I never would have thought of.

I think the most important thing about choosing your paint color is that it complements your cabinets, tile, and carpeting. Could you take a picture of the paint color on the tile, on the carpet, and the swatch on a piece of printer paper right next to the cabinets please?

The beautiful new furniture is such a small part of this decision, IMHO, and will work well with so many paint colors. I am concerned these paint colors are close to the tones of the permanent fixtures, so I'd love to see additional photos.

you need some contrast, perhaps a soft gray.

I agree with curlycook: you have to pick a paint to work with the extensive flooring materials. Looking at the paint colors you posted, I think the bottom right looks like the best match, but having said that, you don't want to match! If you do, there won't be any delineation between the floor and the wall. Go a couple of shades darker. I know that will seem scary, but you have very high ceilings and large rooms and you need some rich color to balance it. You don't have to do the same color throughout; as decoenthusiaste said, use several shades on the same color strip. This way, it will all tie together. At the very least, go darker on the cabinet wall.

Your room(s) can handle this much color



You don't have to go this dark, but look how much richer the cabinets look here against a darker color


Two colors in same room


Look at the play of light on these walls; they look like different colors but I doubt that they are. You have very thick walls, so would have a similar effect. This color looks very rich and not dark. You have a lot of ceiling and this will temper any darker paint color on the walls, also (very similar to Urrutia Design photo).

I have those colors as well but medium brown color hardwoods and I have SW Accessible Beige throughout home open floor plan, its awesome for these colors our trim and cabinetry is SW dover white works really well together (had to hire a decorator because I was all over the map!! Oh Myother color with the beige and blue is a terra-cotta color too. Good luck

Since your floor is very neutral, why not select a palette of colours which have some zip..in the ochre to burnt orange base range. It will warm it up and compliment your turquoises.

What about a pale peacock color in the recess above the cabinets? Are there other recesses? If so, you could treat those the same way, or maybe just do the entryway (or the enclosed area where your paint samples are) in the peacock? Or go with the warm tones, as crescenti13 suggests!

One more idea and then I'll stop lol. I see that the area I thought was a small, separate area (where you've painted) is actually the entry. Paint the ceiling in this area peacock and then the recess at the ceiling line in the kitchen. This will give you some nice surprises of color without taking over the open plan. If you have any recessed areas in the living room, treat these the same way.

Similar palette?

I think you got a bit of pinky or orangey beige thing going with the floors and kitchen cabinets. If you darkened or painted the cabinets, it would make the color easier to pick. Otherwise, maybe the kitchen can be painted a darker tone to contrast, a straight line down from the recess to form trim around the doorway. The peacock suggested could be nice. Or keep the kitchen light and only paint the room with the pony wall a darker version of Swiss Cofffee (one of my favorite neutrals) or one of your darker selected paints.

I do like the idea of peacock accents in the kitchen. And getting a good color consultant can really help you. Check out the Colour Me Happy blog for lots of advice on using neutrals and dealing with color undertones.

Online paint visualizers can be helpful too. They might even have a preloaded room something like yours, or you can load your own picture, although that is best if there isn't too much stuff to work around.

I personally like Golden Gate, or maybe find just a shade lighter than the Golden Gate. The other colors are too similar to the flooring, and the bottom left one is a cold color/has too much pink. Before you pay the painter, you should paint a quart of what you choose in different areas of the house (a good 4x6 section of wall) so you can really see what it is going to look like in the daylight and at night. Good luck!

Even if you were to paint the same colour throughout, each area with its different lighting will show different shades of your chosen colour. My painter advised not to put a dark colour around a window as the lack of direct sunlight will make it look too dark. Excellent suggestion to paint a couple of movable panels and check them out from room to room at different times of the day. I have done that. I have also hired a consultant who could detect the undertones of all colours I was considering. Helped immensely. Personally I would go with a medium shade, and accessorize with pictures, etc. Good luck to you.

Wouldn't it be helpful if everyone agreed with each other? When you are feeling overwhelmed, it can make it worse to get 50 new suggestions, right?

Take a day or two. Step away from the paint. Live with the samples you have on the walls, for now. One of two things will probably happen. Either you'll keep going back to one or two, thinking, "Wow! I really like that!" or, you'll sigh, and think about how you still haven't found the color you love.

That happened in my kitchen. I tried a sample of a turquoise green on the wall, and liked it, in artificial and daylight. But it was Christmas, and I didn't have the time to do anything about it. After a couple of days, it started to feel too pastel, too minty to me, and I knew it was back to the drawing board. Now I have a pale blue/green/gray called Top Sail from SW on my kitchen walls and I LOVE it. Found that the center color from the same strip, called Rain, was perfect for the powder room, to give it an intimacy it had been lacking.

When you have a whole house to decorate, it can make you crazy. You have shown us, by the colors you are torn over, and the lovely choices you're making in the furniture, that you have a good eye. Maybe it just needs a little rest?

I really like the two medium colors on the right. They are dark enough to give some color and make any white moldings you have pop. I had tried something similar when we bought a new home with an open concept and ending up going with Latte by Sherwin Williams - we stole the idea for the color from an interior designer's showroom. It was a great neutral - not too light (boring!) and not too dark and it went with everything from neutrals to pops of color. I would totally use that color again and again. It is similar in tone to your two mediums so that is my recommendation : )

Since you already have the furniture on order, I personally would wait until they get put in place and then choose paint colors. A new handy tool can be found at Sherwin Williams and other stores called Small Wall adhesive sample boards http://mysmallwall.com/. Good luck

Also, are you really sure you want to paint? You have so much open space; it is a real job. Putting color into your window coverings, pillows, new accessories, layered rugs, and very large wall art that makes a statement could give you enough warmth that you are looking for. And accent painting some furniture you already have could give additional decorative punch. Some additional color considerations in some of these pics are BM Bavarian Crème, BM Van Courtland Blue, BM Hazy Skies, BM Twilight Gold. Good luck
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It is not always easy to judge color from a photo. Obviously you are going for a neutral. I'd avoid anything with a pink tone to it. It can come out looking flesh toned. Not good. I can tell you a few paint colors in the tan to grey shades I have had great success with. Check out Toasty Grey an ICI color, or Traditional Tan.

I use gray when in question, it would work with the tile, and it is great with the accent colors you have shown. So, yes, get all the pieces in- and all of the designers, we will work around the clock to have the entire house decisions finished for you in the morning. Just kidding, but this busines is like this. I will pull some samples and send these to you. Good luck!

Kathy3207 .. Your couch from 1970 is probably worth a few bucks, something about the way they were constructed at that time.
I too have one from early 70's and it is still in great shape, living at my daughters house .. w/Original fabric, 70's GREEN...

go for the colors in the middle of the paint chart when confused. Usually eveyone is satisfied. they usually work good in all lighting.

I have a California home that is very similar. I used BM revere pewter. I still have bone white from Dunn Edwards in an adjacent room and it is fine. The connecting rooms are the same Revere Pewter. I love the color and it was just enough of a change from beige. I think I would wait until the furniture is in.

My favorite of the one on your wall are the right vertical and the right squarish one under. I love the fabrics you have chosen!

I think you need some contrast...go with a soft grey throughout with white trim. It looks kind of like a grey in that peacock fabric. Nice fabric, by the way. You can always paint an accent wall after you put in your pieces or just accent here and there with a shade darker grey.

Kathy, hope I can help just a tiny bit. I too live in Arizona in a very open floorplan home and, trust me, folks, builders in Arizona do everything in pinky beige - the hardest undertone to work with. I, too, have some "neutral" tile floors which were very well laid but look definitely pinky peach in most light and when I replace the carpet with tile, I'm going to have to start all over. My walls are currently a very soft yellow beige and it just doesn't work. Some of the suggestions above are great - #1 Don't rush - you do need to get your goods in first. #2 Buy sample jars of colors you like and paint sample boards (8x10s can be good enough) and then spend time moving them around in your room - you really do need to see what the color looks like in different parts of the room at different times of day and with natural and artificial light. Using a paint chip isn't good enough (I was told that often they are computer photographed rather than real paint - not surprising since they have to have so many of them - and the real paint so often looks totally different. #3 Particulary watch your floors and your kitchen cabinets - there's definitely a lot of pink going on, and a beige or greige or any neutral with any other undertone is not going to make you happy. Assuming you can't or are not going to change anything soon, find ways to work with it. Definitely check out Maria Killam at Colour Me Happy. I've learned so much from her about color and undertones just from reading her blogs. #4 I would definitely look into a greige (one with a taupey look would work well because taupe has the pink undertones but it can be a lovely sophisticated color in the right room). Your peacock fabric offers a lot of accents that might be brought in, including the teal in the recliners. If I can figure out how to send pix on house I'll try to find a couple of pix where folks in Sun City West where I live painted their kitchens, keeping the pickled oak or whitewashed pinky beige cabinets and came out with an attractive look. #5 Take a very deep breath. Houzzers are so great with their advice, as you can already see, and it can be a bit overwhelming but there's no reason to rush.

BM revere pewter and have your kitchen cabinets painted for an updated look.