Thank you so very, very much for the kind compliments on our LR, Janie. When I look at it all I see is my, ahh, eclectic (some would say eccentric) collection of furniture, the trim that isn't up yet, the sofa that needs to be recovered (got the fabric, just need the $$ now), the rattan chair that looks like the sad, little cast-off that it is, etc. Your kind words truly overwhelmed me and mr. sandyponder and are sincerely appreciated (and have been re-read several times, heh heh). WRT C2, yeah, I hear ya, I wish they were closer to us. We made the 2 hour trip to the C2 store in Rochester, NY once, but the paint is less forgiving than BM (I am no pro!), so I bought the fandeck off their website, cuz I really do love their colors, and have our local BM store mix the C2 colors in BM matte (my fav new finish). I felt the say way about using red in the DR, and now I have it on a hutch in the kitchen and in the mudroom/pantry. Easy for me to say, but why not go for it? It's only paint, and it's easy and fairly cheap to change, especially cuz you do your own. My advice for a deep red is to use a grey primer, it makes coverage a lot easier. Your home sounds lovely, and how wonderful to be so connected to your family like that and on 200 acres, how heavenly. We are kinda, sorta finished building a house on Lake Ontario about 1/3 mile from where, in 1904, my great GF built a one room "camp" (what we call cottages in NNY) and which my mother and uncle still own. We moved here from a booming area that we had grown to hate and we are very, very happy in our little podunk town in NNY. Here's a pic of our view: Here are a few random pics of the house, and again, thank you so much for your compliments and for noticing mr. sandyponder, the actor who is ever on stage, even for his wife taking a pic for GW. DR hutch with too much stuff on it (it's getting a pare down this weekend and the TV is so outta there, mr. sandyponder can watch his noon news in the den): Kitchen hutch, with a too stiff, too stilted arrangement on it (since the pic was taken, it's been changed several times): LR with too much stuff on the table (it's a problem of mine): sandyponder

I did - our island is French Gray with a black glaze. It sometimes looks like a blue color in pictures, but it is more green than gray. (link below). At the bottom of the kitchen pictures is a link to my walk-in pantry, which is painted French Gray (last few pictures). Rococogurl is an F&B expert. If you don't get her here, you should try in Kitchens. You could also try searching AM for more F&B posts. She used them in her NYC apartment and country house. Look under House Tours > Our Houses Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen

I love FnB for the reasons you mention. Ive used used Farrow's Cream in the vestibule and LR and a dressing room in my old house. Its the rare color that looks exactly as it does on screen. I've used Ringwold in a MBR, and found it a bit too peachy at some times of day. In our new home, Ive used Lime WHite, Pointing, WHite Tie and SLipper Satin, and love them all. BUt I think you are going for something darker than those? I also like Charleston Gray and French Gray, which I used on some fixtures. I did not like Ball Green, as it it far more green that it looks. Hope that helps. I just noticed in this second post that you have cherry bottom cabs and painted uppers --- i like it!

I've used Pointing for the trim in most of my house at this point in time. I'll disagree with rococogurl in her assessment that it is a "basic white" - although I think that to a lot of people who do use lots of colour, it is a basic white. F&B's "All White" is a proper basic white to me - Pointing is much more pigmented than that. I would call it a bright cream. That said, it is a cream with a red base. It is bright, however; I don't think I'd want that bright a white on the walls. White Tie is deeper than that although, as roco properly says, it is an ivory - although in a yellow base. If you go to the following link on the F&B home page, you can get some insight into the colours and their families. Page 29 gives you the bases that these colours belong to - White Tie and New White (which I haven't used) - are both yellow-based. I like Ptg very much in most of the places I've used it for trim, so colour me a believer as I've happily lived with it. I've seen New White and White Tie at Rococogurl's and they are gorgeous ivories for an off-white. To me, I think they'd be a happier colour to use in a room if you're looking for an off-white because you want to knock down some of the brightness of pure white AND you want a warm colour. On the other hand, if you are looking for a warm white that keeps the brightness of a pure white, then Pointing's your man. That said, if you're looking for an off-white and are coming off a cool blue, let me just give a plug to "Strong White" - which is a cool, greyish off-white that I've recently painted much of the living areas of my house. It is less bright than Pointing, very easy on the eyes and is in my house a very interesting shade. It is a cool grey though - unlike the warm colours that you've asked about so you may not be leaning in that direction at all. Good luck! F&B has wonderous colours.