I've seen pale shades of gray used very effectively as a neutral backdrop.

I don't know if I would do such an abundance of cool colors in your climate. You will really have to balance the color out with warmth. I would just wait and save up the money and skip the room for now.

we have many rooms in our house painted the same lght blue. Upstairs we have it paired with a red for accents colors and downstairs with orange and navy. We did make the DR orange and a couple of bedrooms green, but if had to pick one color it would have been the blue. it is a BM aura color. We love it.

All of our trim is stained brown.

Thanks for replies, Jan & HTNSPZ. I erred - I should have said we're BUILDING a new house, & need to choose paint colors. Builder advises that more than one interior color will add costs, & we're trying to find places to cut expenses. Re the cool color issue - our furniture is mostly warm tones & neutrals & I think it'll balance out. I'm more concerned about whether the delicate, "feminine" light blue/blue-green walls would be too ill-matched with lodge-like decor, stone fireplace, etc.

Well, I just googled stone fireplace (images) and couldn't find a single wall painted in blue. How about a warm gray?

Have you tried the color swatches next to the stone and other permanent fixtures yet? I would worry that blues might be hard to work into stone. There are many greys with blue, green or purple undertones,maybe look into them.

That's a tough one because a light blue is actually a color of the Rococo period but the lodge concept is the opposite in nature of the period. The dark, lodginess is actually more characteristic of the Baroque Period.

Ordinarily, I love the idea of the juxtaposition but I'm not sure it would work in this case.

Additionally, I would like to add that I think I would look into the beiges and tans in your case. While you may be able to counter the cool colors of the blue with the lodginess, your view is also cool hued in nature. A beige or a tan would add a little warmth, stay within your concept and give your view a little contrast so it pops a little more.

Congrats on your new home!

I think this is the time to decide how soon you are willing to repaint, and how much.

Honestly, I don't see that pale color working in those 'heavy' designs.

Have you investigated how MUCH more it would cost to do more than one color? The color of the rooms definitely is a major design element- this is not the place to skimp. If you need to save money, find other places that you can easily upgrade or finish later. Changing out a faucet or a light fixture is nothing compared to having to repaint the entire house.

If you want the soft blue in the bedrooms, use it there. Then if you don't like it, it isn't a big issue to wait to repaint. But for the major living areas, I would spend what it would take to paint the colors you WANT for each space, rather than trying to settle for one color that is okay everywhere.

So, as I said, fFigure out how soon you are willing to repaint, and how much. If you do the blue everywhere, it affects your decor choices in a major way. If you hate it, are you going to repaint the house yourself?

Or, would you be better off going for a true neutral like a beige or warm grey? If you decide that you don't like it, at least it doesn't change your decor choices, as it sounds like it will match everything else in the space. You can then decide how soon you want to repaint to get the color you want on the walls.

No matter what, I wouldn't pick anything but a neutral without seeing it in the space, both in daylight and evening.

If you like living in a Tiffany box I would say go ahead but considering you have some glitzy stuff, I agree with someone else who mentioned a blue/gray.

Have you checked out the House of Turquoise blog? You'll find a treasure trove of inspiration there. I would do it!

Wythe blue

Hi to all & I greatly appreciate all of your thoughtful help/advice/insight! lemonline, the House of Turq.pics & blog are truly inspirational, but nanbella's point re the Tiffany box hit home, although other than the Audrey Hepburn movie, Tiffany's is not in my usual frame of ref (not being Star Jones on The View!) So many posters encouraged moving towards gray that I decided today (after a visit to the construction site) to opt for a very light powdery blue w/ a little gray undertone, & will hope for the best! At least it's a pretty color, while previously I'd always stuck to "safe' neutrals. Thanks again for all the helpful responses - this site is such a good resource for the average person (until we get into some of those glorious, but surely very expensive kitchen renos, anyway!)

I don't think I could live with Wythe Blue for very long. It's a very saturated color. If it were me I'd do something neutral and in the long run it will also be much easier to paint over when the time comes. Best of luck to you! You can't go wrong with a compatible neutral. Find one that looks great with most of your fabrics and decor then you can put off doing custom colors in the other rooms for quite a while! No way would I do a whole house interior painted blue of any shade but to each his own.

I would question the builder about why, exactly, it will cost more to have different colors. I don't see why that would be a big deal. If he doesn't already have the paint and if he isn't trying to pile on the charges, buying several gallons of one color and several of other colors shouldn't cost more, especially since he is bound to be getting a contractor's discount for whatever he buys. If you house is part of a new development, though, I can see how they would say this and I agree that a blue/gray/green would be lovely. If it is a custom build, I would have a real problem with it.

However it works out, congratulations of the house! Very exciting.

We were told 1 color also, but I negotiated colors for the kids bedrooms.
I think you can very successfully pick a light blue-green-gray and it will look great! Good luck and make sure that you show us after pix.

I agree with loribee. I have a green-gray in the bedroom that I consider a neutral. DH kept telling me when he painted it that it was beige! It definitely is not. And, cyn, painters charge more to change colors because they have to clean their brushes and sprayers between each.
Dee

When we've done homes for resale, we never have painted the entire home the same color. It really shouldn't cost that much for your painter to work with 2 or 3 colors at the very least (maybe you can negotiate somewhat). Have you considered maybe painting a couple of rooms yourselves to save a little? While I love blue, I wouldn't paint the entire house the same color. You can't go wrong with some of the neutrals as mentioned and you can always go back later & paint the rooms you'd like to have a different color.

Dee, I figured that, but these days with most painters using latex, clean-up isn't/shouldn't be an issue, IMHO anyway! I think they have been able to get away with it, so they keep doing it. I am old and cranky enough that I would look at the line item estimate, ask him how much more for several colors, and then tell him to just take all the painting charges off because I was going to bring in someone else to paint since I want more than one color in my house! :) If you brought in another painter and told the builder to take off the painting charges, I wonder what he would say. Although it is a slightly different situation, our painter whom we have had for years paints what ever colors I choose and he doesn't ever charge more if he is doing rooms in different colors-we've had him do it both ways with several rooms in one color and other times with every room he is painting being a different color.

As I said, old and cranky and tired of having people take advantage. Of course, I would do it in the nicest possible way-how I had my heart set on certain colors and how we do understand that he is the best builder in the area which is why we chose him, but we just feel we need to hire an outside painter to make the house a home, we just can't imagine having EVERY room the same color, etc., etc. Faron, you want to weigh in here???

Of course, you may discover that you absolutely love one color throughout! In that case, no worries. Sometimes, I am tempted to try that and see how it looks-problem is that I can't decide what that one color would be-ha.

Honestly...I like having one color. (except the kids bedrooms)

LOL cyn; I'm old and cranky too! When we built our custom home 13 years ago, we used a very small builder, and had a one-time closing. He didn't employ his own painters and we had to pay out of pocket for any overages. We paid extra for 4 rooms to be painted a different color. Maybe if a person is building a half-million dollar house (we weren't), they have more leverage, or maybe these days with the housing market, any new-home builder has more leverage, or maybe you're just a lot more charming than I am (that's a HUGE possibility). I just assumed since the OP said she had to pay extra, things hadn't changed much. And, as one who recently used, and cleaned, a paint sprayer, let's just say didn't love it!
Dee

I agree that a builder shouldn't be charging more to paint rooms different colors. You need to be politely assertive just like the old, cranky posters suggested:) I'm not that old but I'm picky and if I were paying to have a home built, I would expect the builder to work with me to make the house the way I wanted it without charging an arm and leg for something that costs him very little.

Dee, Not at all (more charming). I suspect I just have an especially nice painter! Lucky me. :)

It is less to paint all one color because they buy a big drum of paint instead of individual gallons...the labor is the same but the materials are less. At 50+ dollars per gallon and two gallons+ per room the savings can add up. Good luck with your color choice.

I agree that a builder shouldn't be charging more to paint rooms different colors.

It's not the builder who charges extra, it is the painter, for reasons mentioned above - extra costs for smaller amounts of paint, extra time to clean equipment, etc. Latex is easier to clean than oil, but it still takes a bit of time to do so.

Well, will wonders ever cease - had a "budget review" with builder Thurs. & he agreed to let us have 2 rooms in blue-green & the rest in beautiful-but-sometimes-boring-beige at no extra charge! Although ultra old & cranky, we're relieved & happy about this development, as had been a bit nervous re all blue, all the time. I know it seems ridiculous to have drawn the line at extra costs for paint, but this construction is the result of 4 long yrs of problems, 3 different builders, inaccurate surveys, permits hard-won & then rescinded, struggles w/shoreline regulations, savings lost in 10/08, etc., & we're nearly tapped out, but SO glad to have finally had the chance to be worrying only about paint color! Again, we really appreciated all the comments & great advice - many thanks to each of you!

That is great news! So glad it is working out for you!