The only good 'how' I know of is to play with paint chips until you have a few you really like and then buy paint samples, paint some posterboards or folder, and see how the real paint looks in your light. It can be hard to see the true undertones of supposedly neutral colors until you're looking at actual paint. That's been my experience, at least...some people may have a better eye.

A lot will depend on your lighting and whether you need to coordinate with weird colors (like my funky carpet). Out of the colors you mentioned, I like Manchester Tan and Bleeker Beige, but I think they need a lot of natural light to look 'creamy'. You may also want to check out Edgecomb Gray (aka Baby Fawn aka Alaskan Skies), and Sail Cloth.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sail Cloth

I would try and find creams with the same undertone as the bed. That way you know it will go with the bed and it works in the room.

How about a grey with the undertone of your fabrics. If you paint a color that should be creamy but turns grey in the lighting, then I think you would be better off just using a grey. Light neutrals are so dependent on your light in the space. I painted my kitchen in a light neutral that had gold in it (SW rice grain), but it just looked dull and grey, so I repainted with a deeper neutral and it worked much better. I painted a built-in in my living room with the same light neutral (SW rice grain) and it was much more true to what it should look like because of the difference in light.

Katrina, that is interesting about the Rice Grain. My living room is painted Ramie, which is one down on the same strip as Ramie. I really like the color during the daytime when the natural light is coming in through the windows. I also like it at night on the side of the room where I have some lamps. But on the other wall where there is no place to put lamps, it looks muddy and too dark. I am thinking I should have just gone with Rice Grain from the get-go. I really like the colors on that strip. They kind of remind me of a cream with maybe some drops of green tea mixed in. For some reason, I like those creams that have a drop of green.

I guess what I am trying to figure out is how do I know whether to go for a yellow or green or gray or even brown based neutral? That is the part that always confuses me.

I really like this room--it is from designer Libby Langdon and it BM Natural Cream. On the strip, Natural Cream looks like it has a good bit of gray in it. In the picture, I detect a faint greeny tinge, which I usually like.

Basically, this is the type of color I want on my walls. I will have accents of blue-green and some yellow. Can yall give me some colors to try that might come close to this look? Of course I will try Natural Cream for starters.

I am in the same boat! I tried SW Refuge a darker neutral blue on 1 wall for a couple of weeks and even though I picked it for my dh, I don't think he rally cared for it. I went to SW and got lots of samples and had them to mix a few sample containers for me. The one that I really like is SW Sand Beach. I liked the SW Accessible Beige on the paper strip but when I actually painted it on the wall it looked kind of grey.

Good Luck!

Sorry, no help with a color, I have SW Favorite Tan in my living room, the color down from Ramie, but at some point when I change the flooring I am going lighter. I think all those colors on that strip have gold, and umber, which I think is a green/brown/gray, so it doesn't surprize me you can see the gray. If you don't like that I would stay away from anything with that colorant. I always ask at the paint store what colors are in the mix so I know more what to expect. I don't mind some gray, I just don't like it dingy looking. I would think with a cream bed and blue in the room also, a yellow undertone neutral would work well, but I would definately test anything you are seriously considering since light neutrals depend on how much light is in the room.

That's a great inspiration room.

When I was choosing a creamy neutral for my walls, I went through the paint cards at SW and narrowed it down to a few (or maybe several based on the sample jars in my garage!).

Then I bought samples and painted several pieces of drywall, cut into approx. 3' x 4' sizes. I moved the painted drywall into different areas of my house and lived with them for a few weeks before deciding on SW Believable Buff and Camelback.

Both have a touch of green and yellow in my house so they might work for you. Believable Buff is a beautiful color -it's a yellowish creamy color that has just enough contrast with my SW Antique White trim.

I found a great blog last night that lists the favorite paint colors of popular bloggers. Rice Grain is the favorite of The Nester and The Lettered Cottage. TLC used it half strength in their kitchen and full strength in their dining room.

As for how to pick which undertone to go with, usually it's determined for you by your stuff when you're living with your sample boards and seeing how they go with things. If you're starting over and don't have to worry about matching, you'll probably still find yourself drawn to some tones more than others. That's part of the reason for sample boards.

Here is a link that might be useful: Favorite Paint Colors: Beige

Try the site below and scroll down to see the best neutral colors. Choose the one you like and you're good to go.

Here is a link that might be useful: Best neutral paints

lemonlime....last Saturday morning I had an epiphany about cream and ivory paint. I'll just link you to the post about it.

I need to comment about the photo you posted as your inspiration first though. That is a beautiful room but notice that the photo is not well lit. It appears that there is only one window wall, and perhaps that is why there is a lot of darkness/shadows even though the paint is a cream color. This will be important when you read this post.

Here is a link that might be useful: Talk about an

I just painted a sample of SW wool skein and it looked more creamy yellow than gray in my East facing bedroom. Revere pewter looked muddy green; sigh... I really wanted it to be the one.

Sometimes there are values or tones in the colors that we don't even see until it's mentioned. I was looking at a few grey neutrals when I popped into my local SW. The designer happened to be there and when I described the colors in the house she immediately pointed to one of the colors from my BM deck that I was considering and said 'This one becuase of the green undertones'. Never in a million years would I have picked up on the green undertones until she showed me the 'why'. She was dead on.

If your SW has a designer on staff def. consider talking w/ them.

My local SW store is doing a promo of buy $75 in gift cards and get an in-home design consult at no charge. I figured "why not?, I'm going to spend the $ anyway" and a second opinion wouldn't hurt. After all, you don't have to follow their advice if you don't like it. Turns out the young designer/sales person they sent has an art degree and really was helpful re colors and tones. I was looking for just the right shade of white for my LR and she nailed it as well as confirming some other colors I had chosen for another area and making some useful suggestions. I applied the gift cards to a 40% off promotion so total cost was quite reasonable.

You might check to see if your store offers the service. By the way, you can buy your paint untinted at the sale price and bring it in later to be tinted after you finalize your colors.

jockewing, which did you end up going with? I'm debating between natural cream, edgecomb and elmira white!