Take into consideration how much and what kind of light you receive in that area. Check out Benjamin Moore's line of paint by visiting their stores. They usually provide lots of visual materials to see their colors. Look in magazines and pick out your dream scheme. That's really the only way to do it. I have an open downstairs and have chosen a BM color called Richmond Gold. Everyone who comes in admires the color and says that they never would have thought to use that color. I found it in Traditional Home Magazine. I dare to use color and I dare you to use it too.

Henrik--I'm envious of your Broceliande. The colors on yours are what I was hoping my Broceliande would show, but no luck, alas. I'm beginning to wonder if what passes for Broceliande in America is different that what at least the Swedish are growing. Mine is a quite lovely mad hatter pink and white--but that isn't what I was looking for. And you have so many other petal-packed fat and beautiful blooms on your other roses also, Henrik. Wish I could tour your garden. Kentucky--love your Rainbow Niagra and Joy! Lisa--Princess de Monaco is gorgeous! Doesn't anybody have a bunch of those "sunrise/sunset" type roses--like Tahitian Sunrise (or was it Tahitian Sunset)? At one point, nurseries seemed to be offering lots and lots of those. I found them very attractive. Kate

Thanks for answering all my questions. I understand your plan and tastes much better, and I love that you are very clear on your likes and dislikes. I don't have a strong opinion either way on the light vs. the dark flooring, just that you should stick with one or the other. Given that you liked the off-white tile in your previous place, the my guess is you would prefer the lighter color. I don't think you need to have to choose the same neutral throughout the house. That's a very conservative "safe" choice that seems to fly in the face of your stated preferences. My feeling is that the private spaces of the house can be whatever the occupant wants them to be. It's the connected public rooms where you really need to think about how it all works together, whether that is choosing just one paint color or choosing colors that coordinate where there is line-of-sight. I love Benjamin Moore's Caliente but I am not fond of accent walls, which if I understand your plan correctly is what the one red dining room wall would be. When it comes to dark/bold paint colors, my philosophy is "do or do not"--"do" meaning do the whole room in the bold color, don't just dip your toe in the shallow end. But if you really think you just want an accent wall, I'd probably start with the whole open floor plan area in the same neutral, get the room furnished, take some photos and then come back here to try to get one of our very talented photoshoppers to do some imaging for you to see how the Caliente or other potential colors might look before settling on the accent wall color.

Ceiling, Alabaster in flat finish, trim, Alabaster in semi-gloss finish. Because the cabinets are abutting the ceiling and Alabaster isn’t true white, I would worry that a ceiling “white” would make the cabs look drab.