Pick colors you like from Farrow and Ball, even for the upstairs and then match them or pick out something very close from the Benjamin Moore fandecks.

What are you bringing with you? Rugs? Any upholstery that is staying?

When I had to pick paint for our new house, I started with fabric as that's what speaks to me, making sure that rooms that were open to each other coordinated well. I pulled colors out of the fabric to come up with the paint scheme. The library is open to the dining room, so I put the wall color from the DR on the ceiling in the library, and then picked a darker shade for the library walls, which then went on the ceiling in the foyer. Ceiling color in the library went on the walls in the foyer. So all the spaces blend and work together well.

Library walls: BM Dark Beige, Ceiling Powell Buff

Laundry room was a color I saw in someone's home and fell in love with it...BM Tropical Dusk

Powder room (my wild a$$ powder room that is) is BM adobe orange which was inspired by the artwork in the room: Hunt's Lady of Shalott

Great room was based on the fabrics for the space. Also had to consider the color of the stonework.

Walls BM Wilmington Tan, Ceiling Powell Buff

Guest room was inspired by many pics I had cut from mags using blue and white and yellow...I especially wanted something bright as the room is in the lower level. So I found a fabric that I loved and pulled the colors from there.

Walls BM Pale Moon, Ceiling, Cumulous cotton

So each room had something that triggered the color scheme. About the only exception is the exercise room which I did in BM Palladian Blue which I just fell in love with. I think if you focus on an inspiration piece...a fabric, a plate, a piece of art, a rug, a pillow, anything....it will help a lot with driving a color scheme. Also look at houzz.com to see rooms that might inspire you for color.

Thanks, Annie for sharing advice and your lovely photos. I
Don't have fabric for any rooms yet, should I? Is that how it works? As anti-historic as this sounds, I envision generous duppioni silk curtains in ethereal colors in the some of the rooms, want to use my family tartan in the paneled library, but have no further thoughts for the rest if the house!!!!

The tartan sounds great. If you have silk drapes in mind in some colors, look on houzz.com to see if you can find rooms that use those color drapes.

For me, fabrics work best as my mother taught sewing and so I grew up in fabric stores. I am the kind that needs window treatments and knew I'd be making them all, so to the fabric stores I went. (In fact the fabric I used in the library was the same as the swatch I showed the architect when we first met as an inspiration for the house...it took us 8 years to get from there to completed house!)

If fabrics don't speak to you but you have other things that do, then go with them. The important thing is to have something that you love to draw the colors for the room from...if you love that thing, you will love the room. Do you have art that you would like to use in any of the spaces? Or perhaps there are upholstered pieces you already have that you can use. I helped my GF with her kitchen and she was floundering (no pun intended) until she came up with her inspiration..which was clay and ceramic fish of all things! But she loved them...we then picked the granite, the tile, the lighting and wall colors pulling from the fish...her kitchen came out really lovely.

Probably the best thing to do in the bedrooms is start with the bedding because it's easier to pick a paint that matches the bedding than the other way around.

Also, remember you can always repaint....you just need something to get started. We've been in the new house for less than 2 years and I repainted the wall behind the sofa in the library....I always had eggplant in the back of my mind but didn't have the bandwidth to do it when the painters were here with all that was going on. It's now eggplant and i love it. I didn't like the color in the kitchen once I did the backsplash so I've repainted the kitchen and i'm much happier with the new color. After all, it's just paint.

Years ago my designer gave me this advice on a new construction. "Go to your clothes closet. Notice which colors dominate. Work off those in fan desks because you already love those."
It worked then and has whenever I repaint. About every 7 years my mood or taste changes and so does the color scheme.

Many people will tell you to just choose a neutral or white now and then paint again later, since they think that you really have to be in the house with your furnishings--and to be able to see how the light hits the rooms prior to picking paint. And in an ideal world that's true, but unfortunately the easiest time to paint by far is before you move in, and before they put in your flooring...and so builders push for those paint colors from us.

Since you have to pick colors now, think of what you envision for the room and then go with that. Your plans sound beautiful, so check out houzz.com for pictures that appeal to you and see what wall colors were used.

I hear you on making the trim show up. That was on my mind, too when we just had to choose for our house recently. I'm very color shy so just selected a neutral beige called Devine Ginseng in the main living areas and kitchen. It seems to work well with even the dark grays/whites in the kitchen, but what I picked for some of the other spaces is called Devine Fog, and many who come to the house comment on how much they like that paint. It's a blue gray that I've fallen in love with. Devine Colors in a regional company I think, and I noticed that the painter may have used SW to color match. When I saw the sample, I really wasn't sure it would be great, but on the walls, it's perfect for what I wanted. I've tried taking a picture of it, but it just looks gray and loses the blue (at least with my phone camera), so I've attached a link that I googled instead. I think it actually is better in person that what this shows. This blog also has tips on choosing color.

IMHO, I would say that if you like FB, find a FB or BM light gray blue, and I suspect it will look wonderful with your black/gray white flooring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Devine Fog Bedroom--Scroll about 2/3 down the web page

Keep in mind -- contractors will always push you to pick paint first, because it's easier for THEM.

I'm in the camp that says, pick your paint color last. Your contractor will squawk, but remember, he works for you.

There are a gazillion paint colors to choose from. It's far easier to find a paint color to go with a sofa than vice versa. In a perfect world, it should go like this -- furniture, then fabric, then paint. I know, I know, it's not always an ideal world. But remember who is writing the checks.

thanks, everyone.

unfortunately, we can't afford to buy furniture now and will be dealing with what little furniture we're taking with us until about a year after we move in. i'm not going to complain, it is what it is. so, i can't choose paint based on furniture because that furniture doesn't exist! :)

the idea to look in my closet is interesting. i tend toward rather classic clothes instead of following trends and mostly have black, white camel, and a few pale pinks, pale blues, pale yellows, and lots of navy. our current house is covered in taupe, but our master bedroom is an incredibly deep inky blue. i can see how this relates to my closet! :)

silly as it sounds, i envision a very pale, diaphanous pink room, but have no idea where I'd do that.

I sort of think I need to pick the kitchen color first since those cabinets need to be painted soon. then i need to choose the family room since they are connected, then the foyer and hallway after that?

this is so overwhelming!

forgot to ask, i should get a chunk of my countertop marble and take it to the next house's kitchen with my fan deck to choose the wall and cabinet color, right? is this the best way even though there is no electricity in the kitchen yet?

thanks.

Run, don't walk to your local Restoration Hardware to take a peek at their neutrals~they're TDF! The walls in the store are a rich deep taupe, and as much as I love it, feel a whole houseful would be too much. I could envision one or two rooms(DR/LR)in the color, with the rest of the house in a lighter tone. Anyway, check the online site to view the colors, but seeing the swatches IRL is even better.

I've used a medium warm tan on all the walls with trim/doors 3 shades darker since I considered white too 'colonial' for the look I wanted. A Georgian house, definitely white, or consider black for extra drama as well as very unique. I've also been in the home of a decorator where the walls were a medium-to-dark gray with trim/doors 3 shades lighter~very pretty! ;o)

The first thing I bought for my home was an area rug I fell in love with. I had an idea of what colors I wanted, but the rug sealed th deal~black/ivory/gold became my choice of colors. It's been 4 years, and I've never regretted it. In the fall/winter months I play up the black with accessories/ lampshades/pillows, and in the spring/ summer change it all out w/ ivory. I've never given repainting a single thought! ; o )

Sherwin Williams color palettes were a lifesaver when I had to paint my whole house. I never had to worry about room flow or clashing undertones. They have chip brochures at the store that I took with me to help pick my rugs and furniture colors. The coastal cool palette worked great in my house. You can take the chips to Benjamin Moore and have them color match.

"Liveable lux" or "neutral nuance" might work for you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Color palettes

Funny you should say that about pink...pink has been on my mind lately too....don't know why and have never decorated with it, though MIL always had a pink bathroom. When I redid her bath, I selected a color way back called "shrimp bisque" which was very beige with a pink undertone....came out really nice. But the pink I'm thinking of is the softest palest blush...not something that would be used necessarily in a girl's room.

A pink dining room in an 18th-century style house would not be out of the question.

If it's mostly for you, why not a pink laundry room? It would look great with the dark gray floors.

Pal, whenever I see pink and gray together, I can't help but think of Mom's '58 chevy which was two tone pink and white on the outside with a gray interior. Of course hers wasn't like this one...she had a station wagon.

Yes, look at the counter top in the new space even if you have no Edison's light yet as it will tell you how the daylight will hit it in the new space.

You asked: "i should get a chunk of my countertop marble and take it to the next house's kitchen with my fan deck to choose the wall and cabinet color, right?"

Right! Good instincts!

You have a fan deck, and that's a big step. Plus, the contractors will respect you that much more.

Information is always the solution to chaos.

I toured a 1913 house museum last weekend, and there were at least 3 pink rooms: the master bedroom (redone after the husband died; I wonder what it looked like before?), the daughter's room, and the drawing room (with dark wood and silk paneled walls). I've never been a big fan of pink, but every now and then a pink bedroom will just tug at my heart! Maybe someday if I'm a widow or divorcee. :p I could envision a mauve dining room, particularly in a historic home, but I'm not sure about diaphanous pink...a laundry room or powder room might be your best bets, but I don't think a guest room would be out of the question.

On the other hand, if you don't have a clear vision of the spaces yet and are using furniture you already have, your best bet is probably to pick a few neutrals (check out Benjamin Moore's Affinity line) that go with your current things and are flexible enough that you can imagine them going with future acquisitions. Once you've lived there a while, you'll be less overwhelmed and have a better idea of what you want the rooms to look like. At that point you can repaint a room at a time if need be, and you'll be in a much better position to judge how light affects the colors.

I'm with you on living in the house to understand appropriate paint colors, but there is no way we will be repairing soon after moving in. It's just too expensive.
I think I'm going to take a trip
To the fabric store and see if anything speaks to me.

Just an FYI~sometimes if you don't do it now, you never will. IMO, it's best to choose colors now you *know* you will be happy with. ;o)