I have a LOT of orange in my house, and in fact, my house IS orange. I've had a look at your Canyon Orange and I think the basic problem is that I would not ever think to combine it with grey. It is similar to my DR ceiling, actually, a room that has wallpaper with a cream background (and the orange in it, along with purple and green). And plain cream on the walls other than that. So if that is your orange colour, I would go with a bright cream, not grey (*and not beige!!!*). But... why is that your chosen orange colour? I would pick an accent colour to help pull together other, less flexible elements in the room, not to create another element that needs to be integrated. The accent colour would be an outcome, not a input. Do you have any prints in the room? I find wallpaper, rugs, or upholstery to be a good place to unite all the different colours. We usually start with a wallpaper, actually, and then the room is always automatically pulled together as long as we stay within sight of the palette of the wallpaper. Maybe you have a piece of artwork, or could add one, that puts your chocolate brown with a good orange and the other tones you are working with? Whatever you use, it could give you the neutral you are after, and help you pinpoint the right orange for the chocolate brown (although I think the shade you've chosen is good for the brown). I know wallpaper is out of style (other than at my house :-)), but from what you've described, a print somewhere in the room might be a welcome change from all the unicolor items. Other orange combinations that we have... the house is P&L Mineral Red and is trimmed with a mid green and Black Magic (dark purple). The stairwell is a creamsicle shade from SW with white trim. And I have some furniture painted a wonderful burnished reddish orange combined with purple in one case, and navy in another. As for brown... I like it with a soft lilac, and I love orange and purple together. You might be able to find a lilac that would work with both your orange and your brown. Sounds insane, I know, but if you keep it very subtle it could work - a clear tone, not greyed. Or a sage green? Anything but grey :-) Karin L

Thanks for the responses! I'm sorry the example pic is so terrible. It's just a pic I found on the web and not my mom's Christmas table, I swear. Sue and Yayagal, those are the two colors I thought of right away! Glad to know I'm thinking in the right direction. Fun, love your suggestions about scrapbook paper. I know that will definitely help my mom with visualizing a color. And I really like the fabric idea too. I'm hoping I can convince my mom that the old red and cream buffalo check cafe curtains have had their day and fabric behind the dishware would bring nice texture back in the room. I will try to get a picture this weekend when I go visit her. She lives two hours away and is not computer savvy. I wanted to get some direction before I went so that we could get started. My youngest brother is moving out this month (he bought the house next door....we joke that one day he will leave the block!), so it will be just she and my dad for the first time in 35 years. She is going to downsize the big table in the middle of the room (she still has a large table in the DR for family gatherings) for a smaller breakfast nook in the corner by the windows and put a moveable island in its place.

If you're attracted to/appreciate a 1920s "sanitary" klitchen, then you may well be attracted to certain 1920s greens/blues/yellows. Or not! I'd be careful of red, and to a certain extent, cobalt. With black and white, they can read really 1980s. That's most people's point of reference. But that doesn't mean you have to avoid them! Just be careful how you use them, what shades you use, what you use them for etc. I'm not a fan of theme colors. For one thing, it's too hard to keep it going. It looks too forced. And when you have to break it, it can make the other things stand out and look bad. Just find things you and your husband like, don't worry too much about the color. Cookie jars, artwork, table runners, lamps & shades, little rugs, spare mixing bowls or vases lined up on a shelf, etc. You'd be surprised how much color you can bring in with a hamperload of things from other rooms. You mention paint. Paint is good: It can easily be changed when you want a new look. B&W&wood is neutral It will look good with anything!

Beautiful kitchen! Right now I am on a teal kick and I have it in my kitchen, family room and living room. In my family room I paired it with with a golden yellow and red. I found an accent pillow with all 3 of those colors in it and picked other accents around it. If you love yellow and orange, I'd run with it. And you can easily change out those colors if you get bored.