Here are some photos of a house we just bought. I left an earlier message about the interior colour i like and our painter matched to BM Soleil. http://Www.202pickwick.com i have read your blog and see you really like BM Gentle cream. How to choose? I am a newbie and suck at this. You’ll also see the 1988 cupboards that i’d like to paint off white with maybe Grasslands… Ideas? Help?

Hello,

Love your post. I am hoping you can help me as I know have 6 different colour samples on my wall and NONE are working. We are currently renting and all the floors and casings are yellow oak. NIGHTMARE. What neutrals would you suggest? Would revere pewter work? My husband will have a bird if I go and purchase yet another sample that doesn’t work.

Thanks so much in advance it hurts.

Nisha

Hi Kylie,

Not sure where my first message went so I hope this is not a repeat. I read through your website and realized I am an emotional painter, like yourself. There’s seems to be a pattern where I decide to paint when I am stressed. I wish eating chocolate would suffice. Here’s my dilemna. I am paralyzed about picking a new paint color out of fear I will get it wrong again. If my husband supported my madness, I might feel less nervous. He thinks things look just fine. I painted my first floor 4 years ago and picked the living room and attached sunroom /tv room color out of desperation. Nothing was working and I just wanted to get it over with. Being the daughter of a housepainter, you would think I would have learned about undertones. Lesson learned too late. In haste, I picked Restoration Hardware Latte but had it mixed by BM. I wanted a neutral putty color sort of like Manchester tan looks. The adjoining dining room is BM Raspberry Truffle on the upper half, with nice wood molding and crown molding painted white below. It was daring for me but always loved red and I needed the drama then. The hallway and entranceway leading to the staircase and upstairs is painted RH Cappuccino, slight green undertone in some lighting. I believe the close color match may be AC2, Berkshire Beige,but not sure how accurate that is. The house is over 100 yeasrs old. The living room and hallway have picture frame molding. It’s a pain to paint. In retrospect, I wish I painted the hallway latte as well. It would be an easier fix now.
.. My kitchen is a BM match to Rh Butter. Ok, so here’s my crisis. I had the BM store mix the Latte and it wasn’t as close as it should be. It was lighter but I like how it looks in the less natural lit living room. However , in the east and west facing sunroom, it gets this horrid, urine green cast, especially when the sun shines in late in the day. It loses that oatmeal soft color. The rooms look two different colors at times. I hate it in the sunroom. Previously I had BM Peaceful Jade so never realized how much green light comes in the room. I also have orangish cherry wood natural trim around windows and natural crown molding in that room only cause my husband thinks it’s blasphemy to paint over natural wood. I don’t. But since he did all the renovations, I don’t put up a fight as yet!. I have two choices. I can either try and tweak the sunroom color by having the lighter living room bad mix of Latte matched and see if they could take out the green undertone. I don’t even know it that can be done. Or I can pick another paint color. After the devastation of Superstorm Sandy and the trauma we went through, I thought that maybe a coastal color palette might make me feel more serene and relaxed. A designer on Houzz.com suggested I use a BM color Stone Hearth. I am unsure about it. She says it looks like a perfect putty and all her clients have loved it. I worry cause I sometimes see a pink undertone on my large sample boards. They are all over the house and my husband just humors me. She also said that the dining room would look good if I painted it either BM Misted Green or BM Gray Horse. I added Affinity Tranquility to the mix. She told me about weights of colors so I get that. No ideas what or if the Butter in the kitchen would need to be changed. You see the problem…it snowballs having me redo most of the downstairs rooms. . I worry the Stone Hearth would be too dull or dingy. I have a Farrow and Ball color called Stoney Ground? in a bedroom upstairs which looks like a similar greige and sometimes I feel it looks dirty. Other times I like it. I love it when I see colors like SW Sea Salt,or RH Silver Sage, those greyed blue/green colors. Soft and subtle without being too blue or too green. I am just not sure If I have the nerve to go in that direction even though I like the look in photos. I even painted a large swatch of Revere Pewter an that looked greenish. We have white oak floors that have yellowed through the yeasrs. Style is similar to your first photo of your eclectic room. I just got a slipcovered sofa in the sunroom in a cream color and we have a espresso leather couch in the living room. We have some antiques mixed in and people comment how cozy my house is. I just feel like I want better flow and a more modern feel, more sophisticated. without losing the charm. I know grey is all the rage now, but not sure how that can be worked in with my presently warmer palette. This is my last attempt to send an SOS out there. I really need some support, suggestions and guidance. Since I am doing the painting, I don’t want to have to repaint again and have my husband say “see there was nothing wrong with it the first way” Again, I apologize for this “essay” and hope you have some time to help me out. Thanks,Denise…. if photos would help, I have them on photobucket.

Hi Kylie,
First off, I just want to tell you I ♡ your blog! It is definitely one of the most informative on the Internet. Your information is clear, concise and you help take the ‘fear’ out of painting.

My dilemma is: I am redecorating my 650 square foot condo and I am extremely nervous about my color choices and I do not want to have to paint twice or three times etcetera. So before I splash my colors on the wall I would really appreciate it if you could confirm that I’m on the right track.

The aesthetic I’m going for is modern/ contemporary. My all time favorite look is Hollywood Regency.

I have a southern exposure.3 large floor to ceiling windows in the living room and 1 floor to ceiling windows in the bedroom. My floors are Charcoal Maple laminate throughout except in kitchen and bathroom (still need to choose the tile) Anyway, I was thinking of painting the kitchen and hallways all in Benjamin Moore White Dove- eggshell finish, living room Revere Pewter – matte finish. I have Amherst gray in my office which I think needs to be changed as it doesn’t seem to work with the new flooring.

Kitchen (unfortunately the base cabinets cannot be seen from the other rooms) – white lacquered satin finish upper cabinetry sprayed to match Formica Colorcore2 countertops -New White-7223C-58 – matte finish
continuous grain walnut veneer base cabinets with a clear varnish satin finish and stainless steel appliances

I haven’t purchased the furniture yet but I’m thinking a white area rug and gray furniture. So what do you think am I on the right track and if not could you please give me some suggestions I have to give the painter the colors in 3 days.

Thank you, thank you. You can’t see it but I am bowing down to you, lol.

I desperately could use your help. I just got done painting my kitchen benjamin moore’s dry sage, and I love it. I’d now like to paint my living room, what color would complement dry sage. I have a red/maroon sectional. I am confused and am not good at this type of thing. Thanks for you help

I have just bought a new home that has cherry oak cabinets, doors and molding throughout. I am looking for advice on what kind of colors to paint it. Leaning toward some warm creamy colors. Any advice?

Hi Kylie, I love your site and blog! I have just redone my kitchen (I could send a photos, how much do you charge for consultation?). I’m color-blind, so, therefore have a problem. I’m not sure what color to paint the walls. The cabinets are creamy white, the floor (I thought was cream/beige) I now believe it’s a cream/beige/grayish. I would not have chosen this flooring, but what’s done is done. So, I was going to paint the walls muslin at first. And, my painter suggested going a little darker. Possibly HC-39. What do you think? I have a contemporary raised ranch. So, the walls go from one room to the next, i.e., my kitchen wall is the same as my dining room wall. I need help!! Thanks so much.

I need your help! I’m about to go crazy.
I’m looking for a good cream color without pink, green, orange, or yellow undertones. It’s been nearly impossible finding a decent cream color for my room!

The original color was an ugly sponge yellow. About a month ago, we painted it ‘Soft Beige’ by Benjamin Moore and it was too orange for my liking. Then this past weekend, we painted the room ‘Jute’ by BM and it’s too dark.. It looks like mud with a green undertone.

What are we doing wrong? Could you recommend a good cream color without any weird undertones? I live in Manhattan if that makes any difference.

My husband and I are looking to repaint our house and are at a brick wall. We went to a local Benjamin moore store yesterday and I was overwhelmed with all of the swatches that I brought home. My husband is now overwhelmed with me 🙂

We are first focusing on our living room that has a good amount of light. It has an arched entrance into a smaller L shaped hall(no windows in the hall and into the large Country kitchen that has a decent amount of light as well. Half of the kitchen is wallpapered with a chair rail over it., so only the top of the wall and one back wall will be painted. We have a lot of wood in the house. Oak floors and trim in the living room and brick fireplace with wood mantle (which we are painting white and whitewashing the brick). The kitchen and hall have light tiled floors. The kitchen has oak cabinets and chair rail.

We really want to avoid gray undertones and stick with cream(beige). The more read, the more I get confused. I would like the colors to be cohesive but a bit different. We were thinking of going a bit darker in the hall to break it up, but not too dark(as it’s small)

As for the colors in the living room. The art work is not up yet so its is really a bare canvas. The couch is brown/taupe. Curio cabinet is light oak and the price of furniture under the tv is from Thomasville (wood as well) but a bit darker. We have a chair with a pattern(very neutral with cream and a grayish brown(very subtle) and 2 special order ottomans which have a burnt orange color. The rug is neutral with cream background and some other fall colors mixed inn (again, very subtle).

The kitchen has a print wallpaper with neutrals again. There is a piece of painted furniture deeper cream(distressed a bit) with some green. The china cabinet is oak. Granite counter tops and backsplash yet to be determined and we will be changing out the hardware on all of the kitchen cabinets.

I hope that this was not too much info!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I did read that sometimes its recommended to mix a white with brown/beige to get a cream color. e

Thank you, Elyse

Hi Kylie! I’m trying pick a fabulous off white for my exterior! There are so many that I am getting overwhelmed and at one point, they all start blending together! ???? Our home is be stucco and I have a black metal roof! I’m thinking about doing my front doors salamander (dark green) by Benjamin Moore. Do you have a favorite go to off white for exteriors? We are on 14 acres and are surrounded by trees, but our home does sit in a nice clearing! Thanks you in advance!

Jill

Hi Kylie,

I love reading your blog posts and paint color reviews. It helps a lot when you can understand lighting and LRVs when picking colors.

I am planning on painting my open concept dining room and living room area. The kitchen is open to the room as well, but has enough separation that we could paint the kitchen a different color. A few years ago we painted the kitchen Benjamin Moore Sea Urchin to compliment the counter top and espresso cabinets.

I am looking for suggestions on what color (preferably a neutral or off white ) I could paint the living/dining area that would be lighter but still work well with the Benjamin Moore Sea Urchin paint color.

Our floors are chocolate brown and our furniture in the dining area is a dark red/walnut color and grey/cream. In our living room, our couch is a dark army/olive green and the accents are grey, light blue and cream.

Do you have any suggestions for a color to paint the walls in the living room/dining room?

Thanks!

Help! I thought I had a color for my living room/dining area, open room-BM Pale Oak. Then I painted a poster board and Pale Oak turned yellow in the room. Ugh. I have 2 problem Area in a small condo-dark (!) bedrooms, a bath with white wainscoting and a living/ dining room with a lot of light. Then there is the grey counters with blue undertone that front the dining room. Warm colors clash with those counters, which I hate, but then again i will need to learn to love them for awhile-no money to put in new counters. Do I get off the greige/grey bandwagon and go towards warm colors? The rooms are quite close to each other and I don’t want my home to look like a bunch of M &M’s with 2 many colors and want colors to blend with each other. Ideas? Peg

Just stumbled across this and while it’s an old post I’ll bet it’s very popular. I too love cream and my home is painted mostly in Ballet White, which I love. Thanks for the details on the others. I like the idea of Timid White as the white counterpoint to something creamier. Merry Christmas!

Thank you for being so generous with your talent. I read your blog regularly and enjoy the banter as well as the information.
Teresa

Hello, I am having the exterior of my house painted hale naby… However I am drowning in white/off white/light cream paint samples for the trim! 😭 Do you have any suggestions? I’ve read to be careful about painting outside trim stark white because it ends up looking to “harsh”. I also usually lean toward “warmer” colors, yet I do want it to really pop. I have not liked the cooler whites as much as the neutral and warmer whites up next to the navy. I want it to really pop but for the blue to come off a rich warm navy. Thank you in advance – Rebecca