I think you are on the right track. Why repaint? What are the colors that your son seems to be drawn to? A good inspiration would be to pick and area rug and pull colors from that. I like the idea of the light greys (undertone of blue) industrial feel.

Well, this isn't really the answer you are looking for and it's only one person's opinion, but here goes...I sort of agree with your husband. I would paint the whole place beige with no accent walls and allow your son the joy of figuring out decor for himself. I know we all want our children to live in pleasant surroundings, but it's good for them to struggle a bit to figure out what that means to them. How can they learn if we continue to do it for them? I think it's great to offer resources and/or opinions if requested. Otherwise, I like to let them fly solo.

Here's a third opinion.
It's harder to match furnishings to paint than the reverse.
With no furniture, carpets or window treatments to draw from, I would go with your DH's suggestion.

You don't necessarily have to pick a builder's beige, but I would choose a very neutral colour.

As your son furnishes his home, he will develop his own style, and then it will make sense to select colours for him to live with longer term.

My two cents and worth about the same. :)

I agree that unless you have a lot of time to put into planning future furnishings and picking colors to coordinate, an off-white everywhere would give you a neutral backdrop while he gets some stuff together. An alternative would be to pick his favorite color or one that goes with the stuff he already has, and paint the whole place a light, muted version of that color so it isn't overwhelming. The benefit to using a color is that it will instantly make the place seem more furnished and decorated than it actually is.

If you go with a color he really likes, he can choose furnishings that go with it down the road, or repaint things that can be painted to work with his color as much as possible.

Just beware the pinkish beige, as it is very difficult to work with when choosing decor. If you go with a neutral, before you buy it, hold a sample of it next to something yellow. If the yellow makes your sample look pinkish, run away.

Good luck!

I agree with painting everything a neutral, but I would go with a pale gray or greige. I think it goes better with a masculine decor.

BM Sailcloth

What colors does your son like? What colors does he usually wear or prefer on his motorcycles or cars? If your son has no opinion, I tend to agree with jeane_gallo: consider a light gray or greige. Sounds like your son likes clean, simple, modern. Gray is very modern/contemporary and should look fantastic with warm wood floors. I would not paint any accent walls.

Thanks so much everyone for the speedy replies ... having a completely open palette is rather overwhelming, especially when its not my house!

I think I will pick up some paint chips and see if our son will shed some light on his likes and dislikes. He just got out of the USMC, I think that he is overwhelmed with all of the decision making!

Thanks to everyone and Happy 4th!!!!

My brother bought his house a few years ago. He'd been in the military and didn't have much good furniture and wanted to replace most of what he had, anyway.

He left his house the builder's off-white for two years. During that time, he started to buy some good quality furniture--a couch, an easy chair, a dining table. And his favorite colors started to emerge, mostly blues and grays.

Then he started to paint. A light gray in the living room, with it's dark blue couch and chairs. A deep red in the dining room. Red and black in the kitchen. Gray in the sunroom. I don't venture upstairs in that house, but I know the bedroom is a pale blue-gray with blue and white bedding, only because he asked me for help with the bedding. The only thing I know about the study/guest room is that it has 4 computers and a huge TV and a beanbag chair, and that's all I want to know. (And I never thought I'd see the day when my dear brother, combat veteran that he is, would panic over which of 6 shades of red paint he should buy.)

So I agree with PPs, start pretty neutral and let him live in the space for a while before starting to decorate.

My all time favorite greige which goes with just about anything. BM Revere Pewter. A little more bite than your average builder beige, at the same time a very good neutral that plays well with oak and hardwoods. I just painted my college aged son's room that color as I wanted a color to work for him as well as when I use the room on occasion as a guest room while he is away at college. It plays very nicely with tranditional or contemporary, and looks fantastic paired with black accents. I've also hung drop cloth drapes in his room--definitely a beer budget option, but also great masculine look, very organic and textured.

Most paint stores will color match from other stores' paint lines so you should be able to get the paint from whatever store you like.

If you want to try out some samples on the wall, then Home Depot can make up samples for you of any paint, including paint from other paint stores. I believe Lowes does as well.

I would highly encourage you to let your son participate in the process, picking colors (you can narrow it down to 3) and doing the painting. It will help him appreciate the walls and to keep them nice.

My brother who is 40, recently had the interior of his house repainted. It was really dirty before, due to ignorance of basic wall care.
Anyway, after having it painted (I picked out the colors)
he has become super nit picky about the walls!
A week after the painting he called me concerned about some recent dirty marks.
He got the education about not touching the walls and how to deal with smudges and other areas.

He is a changed man! I never would have thought it possible but a full year later, his walls still look great.