smoky mountain is a pretty color.

Here's the color palate I'm considering for my new house.
Some of the colors are more muted/darker IRL:

pps7

Thanks for sharing your colors for me. I think the reason I am having such a hard time is that I have nothing to go from. We moved cross country and rather than taking all of our possessions with us, we sold everything and put the money into our new house. So I don't have furniture, accessories, flooring to go off of. I would have thought that would be easier, but it is making it way harder. Maybe, I should just paint everything white for now.

I really like the green and the two browns on the top row. Care to share names? Are they BM colors?

~Jen

All colors are BM

fairview taupe, iced marble, lenox tan, gray wisp, fernwood green
silver fox, edgecomb gray, simply white
grant biege, hot apple spice, rockport gray

My problem is that I don't like some of my furniture anymore. I'm picking colors that I think will go with the stuff I eventually buy.

I know what you mean about starting from scratch. Not a new house for me, but renovating a lower level and not planning to use anything pre-existing. All new drywall, all new flooring, no furniture or window treatments to work from.

I sort of figured out that wood treatments (something we aren't getting rid of) and flooring would be our starting point. Got the tile picked this week. Used it plus a piece of wood trim to get our paint picked. We'll have the walls primed by the middle of next week and then check the paints.

Meanwhile, I'm going around now with the BM paint sample strips (the ones that are about 8" x 5"), a piece of tile, and the wood trim piece and tire-kicking on possible fabrics for furniture pieces.

1. So, will you have wood elements? (Floor, built-ins, baseboards or trim?)

Mine's golden oak! That's the only pre-existing thing on this lower floor. In addition, there's golden oak hardwood flooring on the stairs down to this level and elsewhere in the house. It's not something we will change. It's a bit tricky to work with, but it is a given for us.

2. Have you selected flooring type(s)? We're switching to tile with a heating layer or element beneath. It's pretty pricy, so it doesn't make sense for a paint color to dictate our floor. Since it's tile, I'm sure hoping it's permanent. Elsewhere in this project I'll also have carpet, but it will be a neutral beige, and doesn't play in as urgently.

Our new floor will be tile over a heating element. We've chosen Terra Antica in the color called Oro. We also plan to remove a skimpy brick hearth and use our tile plus a few decorative tile touches to modernize the fireplace.

3. Drag what you've got around with you and begin to get an idea about the paint. Plan to try it out before final selection.
The paints I'm considering are sort of two ways of thinking about the same thing. I know I want a pretty greyed blue with a hint of green (or the other way around) as one of my colors.

But do I want it:
a. On the walls, or
b. In furnishings and accents.

The paint colors that seem to work best at the paint store with the tile and wood trim piece are BM Mount Saint Anne or one lighter BM Beach Glass

The small decorative tile border has one square that has this blue-grey color (or near enough). It's just a hint, but a nice touch.

If I go with walls in this color, then I'm thinking neutrals for a sectional or main seating sofa. / love seat. Pillows will pick up the blue and a toffee / soft terracotta color.

I'm also considering BM Toffee Cream. It looks great with the tile, picking up one of its colors very closely. Blues would contrast with it beautifully ... at least I think they would?!

I have, by the way, no clue whether my process of deciding makes any sense. I may just be living in a semi-delusional state and all these choices will prove to be wrong!

Wellspring

Wellspring,

Your process sounds like it make sense. Your colors sound beautiful. I really like mount saint anne. But then I like most blue grays. Don't ever remember seeing toffee cream and it is not in my sample deck of colors. But it sounds like it would look great with the saint anne.

No, no floors or anything. Well, plywood sanded, stained and varnished. The only room that is going to be finished is the first floor bathroom. But it seems like before I can paint that, I need to know all my other colors so that once I do get around to painting everything, the colors flow with each other.

We are also going to eventually do in-floor radiant heat with ceramic tile/hardwood floors. And when that time comes, I don't want to have my wall color limit my tile options.

I think I am obsessing too much. Maybe I should just go ahead and paint everything white and worry about color later. Just seems silly to spend time and money on white, when I know that I will want color someday.

Oh, well. Thanks for posting. You have given me some things to think about.

~Jen