Thanks Virginia! Yes, I did order Pax last year. It was a bit tiny so I put it in a pot to grow on a bit. Sadly, I'm forgetful when it comes to watering, so it didn't do much all year and is still tiny. I think I'll just put it in the ground this winter. I wonder what your mystery rose is? It's lovely anyway. My camellia hedge is doing well! (Probably because I didn't torture it by putting it in a pot and forgetting to water). It's still not really recognisable as a hedge, more a series of tiny plants doing battle with weeds. But I went with Brushfield's Yellow, which flowers in late winter, so if I'm lucky I might see one or two blooms in a few months :)

Thanks for your responses. It's a fun topic, isn't it! I should point out that there are scores of fabric manufacturers that were not represented here, so who knows how true my post is! But Beacon Hill, Stroheim, and many more that I saw are industry leaders. Oceanna--upholstery fabrics used to follow by a few years, but now its right on the heels of the clothing industry. BTW, I'm loving your cottage posts. mqmoi--Sorry I don't know how to find Sequoia by Richloom, but I'll but there is somebody here who can. tinker--I think the rust/spice colors are pretty neutral and easy to accent, as already stated; depends on how light or dark (saturated) you go. meg711--what happens where I am, is the distributor shows the newest fabric samples "to the trade", and these samples are constantly coming in; some stay longer than others. For someone like me, who goes maybe 3-4 times a year, the changes kind of jump out more than if I went weekly or daily like some clients. The new stuff filters down to retail showrooms almost immediately, where they are added to the samples that already exist, and their staying power can (and should) be a lot longer there--often for years. Sample books are almost immediately provided to the retailer as well. So you basically see the new stuff fast, but generally not on the same huge scale. In other words, there are no real surprises lurking in the background to blindside us; just general directions that get tweaked constantly. I was also thinking and wondering about browns when I left the place, because I didn't really notice browns. Maybe I just spaced it. Someone else may know the answer to that. At any rate, they didn't jump out at me, but I wasn't really looking. Syllabus--I agree about the greens. Some of them were very pretty though, by themselves. I think for traditional, country, cottage, shabby chic, etc. that sage green will always have a place; as well as any other color that you would find at, say, Williamsburg or other places of our heritage.

I am far from a color expert, but here's what I think. Does the granite have a gold/caramel color in it? If so, I would choose a color similar to your dining room color, maybe lighter or a slightly different shade, and pick up the caramel in the granite that is similar to the dining room colors. The dining room color you have really works with the light and table color. If there is no light brown/caramel in the granite, and it is more taupey-gray, then I have no idea what color to choose. The rug you have in the dining room, at least on my monitor, has the taupey-gray color in it, and I would like to see a rug with more rust colors and red-browns in it. I made a huge mistake and got carpet on the taupe side for my whole house about 10 years ago, and I am just now realizing that it doesn't go with all the wood with orange/red tones in my house. So, I'm a color dork!

There appears to be a light tan color in your granite. What if you use that for the walls? It might go better with your couch too. Neither of the colors you're choosing from seems to coordinate with the couch. I also like the original gray green color, although I see that it could be too much like the granite.