Here is another view of the room where you can see a little bit of the paneling and furniture.

And please ignore the lamp on the buffet. That is going ASAP!

I know you said you'd like a blue or gray but I think BM Carrington tan would look fantastic. It still reads fairly neutral but it compliments the rug, the wood and your moulding so well. At least try a sample and see what you think. On the site below, if you have a laptop, you can bring it to the rug and see how it plays out. Beautiful room you have there.

Here is a link that might be useful: BM Carrington

Could your room handle something dark and dramatic to set off your woodwork and rug? Check out Kevin's room a few threads down.

How about this one?

The key to using a deeper tone on the walls is to add sparkle and shine -- silver accessories like crystal and silver lamps on your buffet or a silver mirror or a round silverplate tray on your table ....

Here is a link that might be useful: BM-Chelsea Gray HC-168

Thank you so much for the suggestions! I had actually looked at Chelsea Gray and thought that might be a possibility. I will take a look at the Carrington Tan. And I do love Kevin's room in the mantle thread. That is a gorgeous blue he has on the wall. My ceilings are high and I get southwestern light, so I'm sure my walls could handle something dramatic. I just don't want it to look heavy and old because of all the dark wood furniture. I'm so not good at accessories - I know what I like when I see it in pictures, but as far as going out and buying things on my own, I'm terrible!

I really love these window panels. Think they would work? Or are they too casual? I guess it would depend on what paint color I put on the walls.

I think the scale of that curtain stripe is too large to work with your intricate rug. I like the idea of a rich tan on your walls. Then a smaller scale horizontal stripe in a slightly deeper tan and bright navy could be good.

Thank you Lyban. I have two beautiful rugs from him. He restored a historic home and bought several rugs to go in them. He loved them so much, and I am so glad I can have them since they remind me of him.

I have fallen in love with BM Bennington Gray.

Bennington gray and Chelsea gray are both terrific. Both can have olive undertones so be careful with that.

You can also do a navy with alot of brown or gray in it. Take a look at BM hale navy or flint. For window treatments I'm partial to solid, raw silk.

You don't see many real orientals on Houzz or in magazines these days. It seems so strange to me. They are the handcrafted, classic, expensive giants of the home decor world, but everybody wants area rugs that look pale and/or non-classic, or that resemble sisal. Compared to the look that is "all around" these days, an oriental does have a heavy look. I like to think that weighting the floor can make the ceiling feel higher. Don't feel sad about having an oriental rug on your floor!

This is a trend I do not understand, except in the sense that trends gain momentum and become trendier.

I recently experimented with red walls in an Oriental rug living room. It really looked good, I have to say, even though I don't like strong colored walls. I would have seriously considered it if it were a dining room. In my case, with only one living room, I couldn't really do red comfortably. But if it had been a DR, an FR or office/library, I would have gone for red if the moldings were good and plentiful, like yours seem to be.

I ended up painting SW compatible cream. That's a color that had peak popularity here a few years ago, so don't expect people to endorse the choice. It's nice in that there is absolutely no green tinge, yet it has enough color to set off the moldings nicely in my shaded room, and it is ok with the rest of the yellow walls in my home.

Huh. I posted here yesterday and must have forgotten to hit submit.

What I would do would be to try and match a color in the rug using the BM colors and then go lighter on the strip to find a wall color. For example, (I'm working in the dark here so I can't really see) but, say you wanted to go for a gold tone on the wall, there's a gold tone in your carpet, say BM amber waves...then look at wheatfield for the walls....or say the navy is BM blue note... then look at mt rainier gray or winter lake for the walls...

Also you have a picture on the wall which we cant see...is there a color in there that you'd like to bring out? After all, the paint will be a lot closer to the picture than to the rug....

Hale Navy is also a great suggestion. With your white woodwork, it could look beautiful.

[Traditional Dining Room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2107) by Boston Design-build Joseph B Lanza Design + Building

Annie, I think you posted on my same question in the paint forum! So you didn't forget to hit submit :). Thanks for the suggestions. The picture may or not be staying on the wall there, so I don't want to base anything on that. I would rather have a mirror there. I love the way navy blue walls look, I am just afraid of looking too heavy. I do think the right gold/mustard would look good, too, if I could find the right shade.

Hale Navy is an amazing color.

Leave your wainscoting and trim white. It will not feel dark at all.

Your furniture will look brilliant against it - and it appears that you have a nice painting above your buffet. With the gold frame, it will pop against the blue.

Don't be afraid of the dark blue.

Just curious... what is your light fixture above your Dining Table?

The light fixture is a dated brass chandelier that I either need to replace or spray paint. Any ideas?

I went and got a bunch of samples at BM, and the ones that I think look the best are Chelsea Gray, Van Deusen Blue or Hale Navy (on the same strip), Decatur Buff, and Shelburne Buff. Any experiences with those colors? And what about ceiling? I hate to paint it, but right now It is true white (not the same as my molding or wainscoting).

I have used both decatur buff and shelburne buff. They are both great colors -- but so many people use them. They are truly versatile and can go with so many design palettes, making them almost a neutral. (ok, they are not neutral, but I think you know what I mean)

Chelsea Gray is bold - but it has definite brown tones

If Hale Navy is too dark/navy, then I would definitely consider Van Deusen Blue. It's a great color.

I recently re-painted my entire first floor - moving away from the golds/browns (decatur buff, mystic gold, georgian brick...) to more neutral tones. But did our Living Room in a bold blue. (BM - Summer Nights) I was hesitant, but I LOVE it. It looks great with our white trim.

In the end, you need to do what you feel comfortable with. I had a friend help me with my colors and I would not have chose the blue myself, but am so glad I did!

Would need to see a few more photos of your room re: the light fixture.

I kind of like the more teal blue that is in the rug....just a thought.

Pulling paint colors from a rug - more like incorporating a rug with numerous colors in its coloway - is something many people have to deal with. There are a lot of rugs out there and all of them have multiple colors.

How can it be so hard when there are so many colors to work with? But it is hard because the colors in the rug aren't necessarily viable *wall* colors.

I made an infographic of how I think a rug's colorway thru to arrive at paint color options. It lives on my blog. Figure if anyone has a problem with my linking to it, oh well. FWIW here it is.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to pull colors from a rug infographic