If you live on the West Coast Dunn Edwards has a paint color called "Golden Gate" which I find simply beautiful at all times of the day and evening. It is either a beige-tan color with a golden color... very neutral but with a hint of more color. I painted my whole house (open floor plan) and painted all trim white. I did go 50% lighter in the hallway which tends to be dark and I am happy with the finished look. My furniture is mostly dark woods, sage and rust red colors. Good luck, I know the process you are going through... I went through $200 in sample bottles from BM!! I finally took my hair dresser's advice on Golden Gate, something she saw in a model home recently and swore to me it would be perfect. Of course, bought a sample, painted, and it was love at first sight! Good luck~

A lot of people do Shaker Beige (or another neutral) throughout because they have an open floor plan, which makes it difficult to transition colors in the home's public spaces. If your rooms are separate, as is common in older homes, then you definitely have the flexibility to vary the color from room to room. If you are concerned about all beige being boring, I would definitely think about varying the color from room to room over accent walls. When varying the color from room to room, you need to think about flow and sight lines. For example, my living room opens to the dining room with a 6 foot trimmed opening. All my trim is white throughout the house for continuity. My living room is a muted mid-tone blue and my dining room is chocolate brown. The living room has some brown wood furniture and the dining room has blue curtains, and both rooms have green accents, so even though they are painted different colors, they coordinate. The view into the DR works with the living room decor, and vice versa. If the rooms in question are separated by a hallway, or there is no line of sight, you can get away with colors that don't coordinate as well.

A few things: if you went to any paint store that sold Benjamin Moore and you asked them to make you something similar to Accessible Beige, they could -- A few similar colors that come up in Ben Moore's color system for accessible beige are: 1. Inner Balance (1522) 2. Stingray (1529) 3. Smokey Taupe (983) 4. Ice Formations (973) 5. Litchfield Gray (HC-173) You can try those colors first, but they vary just a little in terms of their undertones. Benjamin Moore's paints are usually recommended by contractors because of their smooth application, their dry times, and the amount of coating you need versus something from Home Depot (takes 3-4 coats and is thinner). Revere Pewter is nice, definitely on the warm side and a VERY popular home color.

I have used Mayonnaise in my whole house and am now using it in our second home. To me it is like sunshine pouring in the room all day long. I love it. It is not yellow but when compared to some of the cold gray whites that have been popular, it may seem to be. It looks great with the same color as trim or with a more pure white.