I am trying to choose a new paint color for my living room. My home is a 1940 Spanish Mediterranean-style home in the San Francisco Bay Area and the interior walls are hand-troweled plaster with wood baseboards and no crown moulding. Please see pix but try to ignore all furniture and mess since it is all in flux right now and the furniture is about to be either replaced (ciao, giant cranberry couch) or reupholstered (blanket-covered victorian chairs), each to its own fate. The fact that there is no moulding makes it especially difficult for me to commit to a non-traditional mediterranean wall color because I don't really like a sharp contrast between ceiling and wall when there is no crown moulding. While I appreciate the natural, creamy, and yellow tones of many mediterranean designs, I may want something little different. My style overall is eclectic, but not over-the-top, although you can't see that in these photos. I would love to have a subtle blue/green color on the walls, but I either would have to deal with the sharp contrast in color, or risk a home that looks like a cave with similar color all around from walls to ceiling.

I'm looking at Farrow and Ball colors because they are GORGEOUS, so I would love to find something that works. So far my favorite choices are Mizzle and Vert de Terre on the gray-green side, and Light Blue (which is much grayer than a typical light blue). Maybe a 50% of one of these colors? As mentioned earlier, I do like the creamy colors, as long as they are both warm and cheerful (Cream?, String?), without being too yellow, and don't make my house feel like boring tract hotel decor (sorry, Archive). Maybe some sort of magical paint technique?

Two more things: After I choose my overall color, I'll choose a strong color for one or two walls in the dining room (possibly Hague Blue, Studio Green, French Gray, or Brinjal, depending on the overall color, though I'm open to any other color), so keep that in mind as you consider my dilemma; and secondly, I prefer not to use bright white for the window trim and baseboards, so I'm leaning toward White Tie, or perhaps Dimity, Clunch, or Pointing, depending on the paints I choose. I love the idea of darker trim than wall color, but my window frames are white, so I prefer to use a lighter trim color there to bring the attention away from that. Before we moved in, the original wooden window frames were replaced with new white double-panes, so it is practical, but not a very romantic or warm look.

I have been looking at colors for months now and am really torn. I even went so far as to paint poster board size samples for each, but am still having difficulty committing to a color because it is hard for me to imagine the outcome. Any advice is welcome and much needed . . . and kudos to anyone who read through to the end of this heartfelt plea. Thank you! Warm regards . . . .