Thanks for all of the responses! It sounds like the majority here like the green, with a few votes for the brown. flyleft - yeah, I showed the pics to hubby. It's not that he dislikes the idea of a colored ceiling, it's just taking on the project. He actually has a point about getting involved in a project like that at this point. We've been moved in for a few months and we still have a LOT of 'settling-in' to do, to put it mildly. Once spring comes we'll also have lots of landscaping projects. Also, this ceiling is so high, and the room is large enough that it probably isn't as easy as getting a large stepladder and would require scaffolding. Also, it is continuous with the area over the stairs, so it would be somewhat of an undertaking. Funny thing is, when the painting was being done originally, I wanted to paint the ceilings something other than white, but came by one day and it was already painted (the contractors worked very fast, which was a blessing and a curse.) I just didn't want to get into asking them to re-do it, and I let it go...well, sort of, obviously. :-) lmalm - that's a wonderful transformation! Must be a lot easier to relax in there now - LOL. Thanks for posting the pictures, your color looks very similar to mine. prairiegirl - thanks for the compliment on the fireplace. It's a full masonry natural stone woodburner. There's a smaller version in the basement. So far we love them. Love the real wood fire. Someday, when we're more settled I plan to post lots of pictures around the various forums, since we got so much info here. That is IF I ever get settled enough to take post-worthy pictures. maxsam - thanks for the pics, and the light fixture compliment. I almost got a different one, but I'm glad I didn't! I REALLY liked some of the lights at the site below, but then I called for prices.... If I remember right, one of their smaller chandeliers (like for over a dining table) was in the thousands, and then they went up from there. I called hoping the lights would fit my budget, and I'd be done looking, but when the first question they asked was "are you working with a designer?", I just thought, "Oh crap, guess I'll have to keep looking." Here is a link that might be useful: Pretty & pricey lighting

Cross post this on the Home Decorating forum for more responses. And with pictures of your rooms - we need pictures! Here is a link that might be useful: Home Decorating Forum

You bet!! One thing i do is to put the paint chips side by side, just so then i can see which one has which hue in it. You will be surprised of all the red you see in a white when it is next to a white that has a lot of gray. We were doing so much painting earlier this year you have no idea how many cans of BM paint we went through to find the right colors. And thats why my user name hehehe.

White is only white when light is reflected off the surface. The ceiling has less light being reflected off the white than the walls and the angle of the light is hitting your retna at a different angle. Many people will try to cut white or light paint colors and have the color shift and they do not get the color they expected. I have a can of paint handy that is a BM Satin Advance Base 1 custom color. Bright warm white that was a color match to Devine Icing - one of my favorite whites for trim, cabinets, ceilings. The formula is simple: Y3 (Oxide Yellow) 0x0.75 and W1 (White) 0x31.25 So they added a pinch of Yellow Oxide - a slightly orange yellow and they added a good dose of Titanium White No sense adding a picture of white - the description of the color from an artist pigment manufacturer explains it better than a picture will. Titanium White is known for being bright white, almost bluish, and has excellent opacity and high tinting strength. When mixed with another color, it rapidly lightens the color. The drawback of Titanium White is it can be over-bearing at times, especially when you are just looking to lighten the value a bit and not greatly change the color it"s mixed with. If I cut the pigment by 25% I am going to end up with a color that is darker and grayer than the original color because the main additive is Titanium White which is whiter than the Satin Advance Base 1. To make it lighter / Whiter I actually would need to increase the W1 pigment. and may need to increase the Y3 to combat the blue of the W1. Honestly, I don't know that lightening the white will do anything in your circumstance. No matter how light you make simply white you still will not have light reflecting off the ceiling and will end up with something that appears darker than the walls. This is not always bad - it is expected and appears normal when we walk into a room with all white walls. Our brains compensate for difference in colors based on light and shadows. Personally, If I loved Simply White on the walls I would paint the ceiling in the color, same brand and line of paint and just use flat on the ceiling, eggshell on the walls and satin on the trim.