You don't offer any insight about the home, your style, furnishings or location. Hopefully this isn't the blind leading the blind.

Use quality paint. It generally gives greater coverage per gallon, applies better and is more cleanable.

I believe neutrals compliment most anything - flooring, furniture and art. Accent walls are nice to enhance a room. All of my ceilings are white.

If you follow the link on "My Page", I have room photos of our home. I can respond about the colors if any are of interest.

Hope this helps.

Personal preference is likely to weigh in on any responses you get to this. Neutral colors like off-whites go with everything and are the favorites of builders because wall blemishes are hidden. The problem with neutrals is you will (probably) tend to get tired of looking at "white" walls after a while and will want to repaint. Plus if you have any kids, be ready to break out the cleaner on a regular basis to remove the fingerprints.

If you are stressed about it, I would humbly suggest NOT going with a color that's too bright and instead go for something in the muted earth tones, like a gray, brown, or tan. All of these tones look great with white trim.

To fnm's point, you will want to make sure the color you pick doesn't clash with furnishings, cabinets, etc.

Good luck!

Interior? A light color that blends with your furniture ... pay attention to the color of the sofa and carpet, pick a color that blends.

Read the link. It will help your confidence level.

And read this blog: http://colourmehappyblog.blogspot.com/ She's GREAT!

Here is a link that might be useful: Picking paint colors

The links above are excellent, but I'd also add:

1) Don't try to get away with cheap paint. Good quality paint is easier to apply and the colors are often more pleasing and subtle. Ditto, cheap brushes/roller pads, etc.

2) Remove stuff from the to-be-painted room, or at least remove everything you can while painting.

3) Buy and use good canvas drop clothes, properly cared-for they'll last you a lifetime. (And they have hundreds of other uses, too.)

4) Get good step ladders, and some lights on stands as being close to your surfaces, and being in a very well lit space make a big difference in knowing that your paint is being well-applied.

5) Think some about what colors attract you, for each type or room, and then think about why. Make a color picture file (either using printed pictures, or digitally). If you collect enough pics, then you'll see where the trend of your choices is leading you.

6) Think about those trends and the furniture, or carpeting, you already have or are likely to have right away. Think about the light coming into your house, and your geographic location (i.e. bright Miami Beach sun vs. cool, foggy, Seattle)

7) Don't expect any print or on-line rendering of any particular color to look exactly like it really is, even if the color number or name is known. Ditto, at least to some degree, even for many paint sample cards. Paints also change somewhat as they age on the wall, and the sample cards.

8) Once you've got some tentative choices, buy small cans of the fave options (some brands have sample sizes, a big plus, as the cost is much less than a quart) and then paint at least two coats on some large foam-core "poster" boards (at least 2 X 2.5 feet) - purchase boards at craft outlets or stationery stores. Hang the boards up on walls around the room and see how you like the colors. (Use folded over loops of blue painter's tape stuck on the back to hang the boards.) If you strike out on the first round(s?) of paint colors, you can just keep repainting the boards.

9) Don't use the wall as your sample site since it can create difficulties painting over a patch of rejected color, and you can't move the painted part of the wall around to look at it on different walls, and in different lights.

10) Keep in mind, it is only paint, so it's definitely not the end of the world if you find yourself in a pickle, even after you've got it on the wall. The biggest part of painting is the prep work, which does not need to be re-done if the color you choose turns out to be unappealing on the wall. At worst, you'll need to lay down an extra coat of primer to cover a really deep shade with a lighter one, but usually not even that needs to be done when repainting right away before your walls have been dinged by wear and tear.

11) Most of the trouble of painting is doing the trim work, so unless you're super confident in your color choice, stick with classic off-white for the trim. Bright white is rarely a good choice for trim as it sets up a very harsh contrast with subtler tones of almost every other color. Nor do I think bright white is good for ceilings, either, for the same reason.

12) The only thing tricky about off-whites is whether to choose one that is on the warm or cool side. Hold off on the trim/ceiling shade decisions until you've identified the main colors in your house. Then you'll have more of an idea of where you're headed. If you must pick trim before you've worked out a whole color scheme (i.e., if you must complete one room ASAP), then try to stick with a more balanced off-white.

13) Don't set yourself up for trouble with self-imposed deadlines (i.e. "got to have the whole place painted by when Mom and Dad come for Thanksgiving", or whenever) You'll make poorer decisions on colors, and predispose yourself for application issues when you're under time pressure, especially if you've never done much painting before. If you absolutely must get something on the walls (say, to cover over gang tags, or the PO's erotic drawings in the now-children's rooms), simply prep and prime with an off white. Then down tools and take your time on the next round of decisions. A clean off-white is always a good color to have on the walls when choosing among colored sample boards as you get less interference between the existing color and what you're contemplating.

14) Unless your DH is unusual, he probably won't be too interested in, or preoccupied with, the quest for just the perfect tint of a color. Ask around among your girl friends to find someone who likes these things and will happily ruminate with you over all the choices. My DH is only happy when the choices are narrowed ("do you prefer this one or that one"), but even then, be sure to only offer a choice if you're really going to be happy either way. I find it's better to offer him the choice at any earlier stage, as in "I'm thinking of painting the DR green, how does that sound"? If I ask my DH to choose which shade of green (among several), then I won't get anywhere useful, as I usually do have some hierachy of preferences and he invariably chooses the one I like least among the finalists!

Paint color choice is the fun part of decorating.

I don't blame you for being nervous -- choosing colors is difficult for most of us, and most of us have made at least a couple of mistakes over the years. You're putting extra pressure on yourself by trying to get everything perfect on your first try. It's possible, but just not likely. And keep in mind that your taste (and color trends) will change over time. Here are a few things to consider.

1) How long do you plan to live in this house? If it's a starter home and you'll be moving in 3-5 years, stay neutral and consider colors that are popular but not overly trendy. Look at the MyPerfectColor site for lists of top-selling colors by state, room, hue, etc. for ideas.

2) You really have to live in a house to choose colors and furnishings. You'll be amazed at how different the same color will look depending on the lighting (natural and artificial), the size of the room, the ceiling height, the color and type of flooring and woodwork. Since you're choosing colors for a house you haven't even seen in person, you'll probably want to err on the side of caution and choose more conservative, neutral colors. And remember that neutral doesn't mean just white or off-white any more. Almost any color in a light-to-medium, muted tone can work as a neutral. Stay away from bright colors and colors that are deep (deep colors may need three coats to look good and will be harder to paint over if you change your mind). Also, if you're playing it safe, avoid colors that are notoriously difficult to get right, such as yellows and reds.

3) Consider the style (and age) of your house. Colors that are appropriate for a Spanish Revivial won't work very well in a traditional colonial. For my old house, I chose mostly historic colors, which look good and also helped to narrow my choices.

4) What about your furniture? Is it traditional or modern? Will you be keeping it or replacing it? What kind of wood(s) is it? I chose several of my colors to go with the different types of wood furniture in I have in different rooms (mahogany, cherry, walnut, chestnut). If you're moving to a larger place, you'll probably need to buy at least some new furniture. Ideally, you'll have already picked it out before choosing wall colors.

5) Is this house new construction, or just new to you? If it's newly built, at least the walls and ceilings should be in good shape, and re-painting if you don't like your initial choices probably wouldn't be as much of a chore as you imagine. (My house was built in 1870 and the amount of prep work before painting is unbelievable.) Assume that you WILL eventually repaint if you'll be there for a while, and make things easy on yourself by using the same trim color throughout the house. This will not only give you continuity between rooms, but it will vastly simplify things if you DO repaint, because you'll only need to repaint the walls and you won't have to touch the trim (the most time-consuming and difficult part of painting). Ditto for ceilings -- paint them all white. (A lot of folks here like to use a paler version of the wall color, but, while it can look good, it means that every time you repaint the walls, you'll have to repaint the ceiling too.) Also, if your house has any rooms that would be especially difficult to repaint (a foyer or great room with high ceilings, for example), be more conservative in your colors there.

6) Consider using one of the predefined color palettes offered by paint manufacturers. For example, Benjamin Moore has the Affinity and Pottery Barn palettes. Using a predefined palette would simplify choosing colors for an open floor plan or a floor plan in which the rooms open into each other. (For bedrooms, which are generally closed off, you could still use individually chosen colors.)

7) Use good quality paint, and try to choose colors developed for that brand (rather than matching a color in one brand to another). Choose colors based on samples rather than chips. In your case, you won't be able to test the samples in the actual rooms, but you could still use the paint samples to paint a 2'x2' piece of wallboard. (Be sure to prime the wallboard and use at least 2 coats of paint.) Look at the sample board in different lights (daylight, incandescent, and fluorescent, for example) and at different times of day.

Good luck! Please post some photos when it's done.

Here is a link that might be useful: MyPerfectColor

First off, congratulations on your new home. As far as paint colors, i'd suggest you do as much research as you can on the colors you love(eg. i love orange and yellow-i painted 4 different times with 20 different sample jars and none of the colors came out right!! Insanity!!!) So i stopped and did some research and i found some info here that saved me. Funcolors(one of the members here) talked about something called LRV and it literally saved my painting life!! So whatever colors you love, research them ie. what undertones they have, LRV etc. Goodluck and enjoy!!

Reread liriodendron's point #10- "It's only paint".

I know you said " I know it's just paint but DH isn't going to repaint. Ever. "
You cam always repaint :)

My DH hasn't touched a paintbrush in years and yet I enjoy changing things up fairly often- usually I go about three years per room or so.
I LOVE painting!

Find a painting or a fabric or a print add or something (browse Art.com for an hour or two) that you are completely and totally in love with and pull your colors from that.
When I am redecorating a room I always have an inspiration piece chosen before I buy anything else and this method has never let me down yet.

Have you looked at magazines and collected tearsheets of rooms you like? That can be very helpful.

Also this book of 300 colors from House Beautiful, is wonderful. It's a small book and has photos of rooms, but also designers descriptions of favorite colors. http://www.amazon.com/House-Beautiful-Colors-Your-Home/dp/1588167399/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276744758&sr=8-1

When we bought our house I had all the rooms painted before we moved in. I like colorful rooms, but I wish I had done more white or neutrals and waited until I got to know the house better before I started adding bright colors.

Good luck and have fun!