It is a very nice space. I agree with toolbabe about the multitude of colors going on in the kitchen. Its hard to tell what color the countertop and backsplash is, but it appears to be grey-ish. From here it doesn't look to be the greatest choice with the cabinets, but short of re-doing either, I would do all the walls in both spaces a warm grey to tie everything together. Stonington Grey, Bunny Grey, Big Bend Beige popped as potentials. Surely many others. It will work nicely with the blacks and the SS and provide cohesiveness. You could bring in something more colorful in the window treatments or maybe an accent wall in the living room. Maybe something in the orange/rust/coppery family - Copper Mountain is one. That would also connect with your cabinets.

As a tinter in an upscale Paint/Hdwr. store, I think Fun-C hit it on the head! Sure, we love to help with colors, etc...to a point... * When people start requesting BLENDING though, that's a different animal. * Some responsibility tends to fall on the STORE (in a customers' eyes), where none should exist. It's the CUSTOMERS' choice to alter colors in these cases. * Yes, keep track of your ratios. Use dixie cups, or other small/cheap mixing container. * Brush each "ratio" out on FOAMBOARD squares, maybe 1'x1'. Let them dry a day or so, then move them to different wall areas, check @ different times of day, etc. * Do TWO average coats though! You want a "real life" coat thickness/appearance. * When you're set on "THE Mix/color", buy a gallon of each, and blend each color, using scaled-up mixing containers. * It may be as goofy as..."1 butter-dish of X, to 2 butter-dishes of Y"! * Store the excess mixed paint into GLASS canning jars, leaving as little airspace as possible in each. * Keep track of the colors/mix-ratio in a "Home-paints" folder! Get a 2nd formula print-out from your store too. I'd even save the whole label from the can! Faron

i think that what they meant by only having regal in oil is the tinting system. regal uses an oil based tinting system while aura, natura, and ben all use the same acrylic color lock tinting system. as for ben paint it is a great paint and at a good price. with the color lock tinting system the hide is great due to the molecular make up of the tints. as the paint dries the tint molecules lock and iterlock forming a clean uniform paint film when dry. i have used aura natura and ben. don't be mislead by the fact that ben is the least expensive one of the bunch. aura is not easy to work with has a tendency to sag and run and does not dry any faster than regal. nor does aura cover in one coat. ben on the other hand is easy to use dries fast and has a durable hard finish. The marketing for aura has been aggressive and misleading. what makes aura different from regal is the tinting system. Acrylic versus oil. ben uses the same exact tints that aura uses. ben has the same hiding capabilities as aura at half the price. as my paint rep said to me ben is the contractors aura. it is green and it is good. in san francisco where i paint the decorators are now using ben. go figure.

Thanks so much for the recommendations. I'm going to look into several of these. He chose Dill Pickle for now and am struggling to find a neutral for the other 3 walls that compliment it. Any ideas? I'm using guilford in our home office, love it!