If you want RH Cappuccino, have it color matched in Ben Moore paint. Have it made it a quart first. In the base and sheen you will ultimately use in the house. If the builder dictates SW, you'll never get a color match to RH Cappuccino without it showing with a green undertone in your house. I don't know what you mean by "3rd down on a color chart". I think you might mean that you want the value of the color you choose to be that of the average color that holds the third position down on a typical paint color strip. Value is the lightness and darkness of a color. Not to be confused with intensity. Intensity deals with how pure or muted a color is -- how grayed or dulled. If you are using value when selecting paint color, you need to understand LRV. See link below. THE POSITION A COLOR HOLDS ON A STRIP OF COLORS MEANS NOTHING relative to any other strip or anything else for that matter. Color strips and fan decks are simply a method to organize color and that method of organization does not provide any guidance or specific direction to coordinating, conceptualizing, or developing color schemes. Can't even count on the colors to be arranged in a literal light to dark sequence on the strips -- the colors are arranged from light to dark, yes, but it's not necessarily the SAME COLOR mixed to different values. You can have a half dozen colors that sit in the "third one down" spot and they would have absolutely nothing in common -- they would be at all different intensities and have a variety of LRVs, etc. Have to know how to evaluate individual colors. Understanding LRV is a good first step. Here is a link that might be useful: Understanding Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

I've been thinking about it because it's the look I really want too. I also recognized it immediately in Palimpsest's father's room. I think it's hard to get that look with just paint, at least I'm not succeeding, although dark paint might work better. To some extent a more layered look is part of this, and it's easier to carry off with dark backgrounds. Wall covering. Softly patterned wallpaper or grass cloth. Texture. Serene, harmonious colors. Simple elegance. No mistakes in scale or balance. A gently upholstered feeling without oppressiveness. A relatively high proportion of soft, sound-gentling surfaces to hard. Filling the space enough to feel cozy without cluttering it. If you're doing a rug on carpet, a very large one because I saw a picture of a bedroom with plaster walls, and a spectacularly large, fine Persian rug on the floor almost accomplished the ahh! for me all by itself. An original Renoir over the mantle, like Aurora's bedroom in Terms of Endearment. Well, anyway, the look of a room that's meant to fulfill emotional needs, not just to sleep in. I've noticed many bedrooms somehow look static, unifunctional, in spite of silk drapes and comforters. Even if they do have sitting areas included, it looks like extra furniture was brought in to fill too-large spaces. THIS room should be a comforting promise to yourself while dealing with long, aggravating days. :)

Stinky! The job is amazing, but the hours and stress level is something I haven't had in a few years, so it's been a real life adjustment. Love what I do, though, so it's worth it. Pal and Cyn, that entry opens into a very large, open, empty, light filled living room. I think the size of the space and the 8' ceiling adds to the contracted factor. The idea of making the whole wall surface wood is actually not a bad one, but this house has a lot of wood, and I'm afraid it wouldn't work for us. The master bath is almost entirely floor to ceiling wood! Oy! I'm still shocked that DH said that. He's usually the one to leave ugly well enough alone. I think removing the paneling on those three walls will solve a number of difficult problems, and we'll be free to paint it whatever color we want.

Thanks for the thoughts! Glad to hear the Aura Matte wears well, I've only used the eggshell so far - which seems a little shiny to me. I do LOVE how the waterbourne ultraflat looks on the ceiling, and minimizes the (many) imperfections and patches. Painting all three bedroom ceilings in 1 day wasn't so fun though! Tomorrow I'm taking the day off work to prep baseboards, maybe paint the first coats on them, and work on the hallway and great room ceilings. Unfortunately I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I need to learn to let some imprfections go or she'll never get to move in! Yes, it's her house and her mistakes to make. (But I'm the one forking out the paint money and the free labor as a housewarming present.) She picked up some great distressed leather couches off of craigslist that are a warm brown. I think I'll paint posterboards of "Harmony" and my choice "Hush" for her to see the difference against the furniture. Here's a pic that shows the floor color, and the pinkish beige that was there before. I think that a more neutral yellowy or even greenish beige/tan would look so much better, but I do realize that I need to keep my mouth shut sometimes. Thanks for the advice!