I have a specific "problem" that I'd appreciate input on. Our family room has beautiful cathedral ceilings, dark wood beams and dark wood floors. The only issue - very yellow, very knotty pine wood paneled walls.

I have already committed to painting them (considered keeping them or whitewashing them, but in the end just want something clean looking) and now I'm deciding on a paint color. So far I have considered BM's abingdon putty, putnam ivory, or maybe a shade darker like wheeling neutral.

I wonder if I should go more gray, to evoke that beachy wood feel. Most pictures I see of painted wood paneling is done in white, but since the ceiling is so high I am afraid doing white will make everything feel lost in the room.

What color would you recommend? Please disregard the furniture/decor - it's not ours!

Rather than picking a color cold, I would start with an inspiration piece...a picture of a room from houzz.com or a magazine, a plate, a piece of art, a landscape you'd like to be reminded of...anything.

Then, once you have a direction, you can pick your colors, fabrics, carpets, etc. to take you in that direction to achieve the look you want.