Do you have any other colours you want to pull into the room? Rug, woodwork?

We have a red/raspberry oriental rug, and the rug in the dining room also has reds and pinks. There's a brown mid-century chair, and we are going to use antiqued brass sconces--hoping to pull in some gold accents. The trim is white (lots of moldings), there are a few dark beams in the ceiling, and the engineered hardwood floors are acacia. Lots going on in the room!

What about sampling a cream like BM Gentle Cream (recommended here: https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/the-best-most-popular-benjamin-moore-paint-colours-north-facing-northern-exposure-rooms/) or maybe a buff color?

In addition to above mentioned colors, a warm white, e.g. SW Creamy or BM Capitol White.

What about yellow?

I find whites dreary and dirty in north facing rooms. How about embracing the natural lack of light and go moody and dark. Peacock blue could be stunning

Blue works very well with your colors and if you don't want deep blue paler blue will work, but you will have to pick something much warmer and greener on the sample than you'd think to avoid ending up with lavender in many northern exposures.

Nosoccer, I always want to live in the inspiration rooms you find. So nice!

I have SW Creamy in a Northern facing room with a lot of windows. It's neither dreary nor dirty looking. Room on the floor below is BM Windham Cream, which is a light yellow.

I have a close-to-emerald-green velvet sofa in a eastern light room painted with BM Bleeker Beige.

Silvery gray looks good with green also. To prevent a dreary look, you can paint the walls in semi-gloss, although that works better in small rooms. I used to have a living room with dark green walls and grey slipcovers on sofa and lounge chairs.

I may have been using the wrong whites... My attempts of using white to brighten naturally dark rooms have been failures....

I loooove the dark blue rooms, but because the living/dining is all one room, I can't do it. I sampled a billion beiges, off whites, and greys today, and strangely, the two that look the cleanest and freshest are BM white blush and BM pink damask. Both have hints of pink in them, though the white blush is creamier. I wish the greys I tried (edgecombe and abalone) didn't look so lavender, but they did. And I just couldn't go for gold. Do you think a pink tinged white would work with, say, a gold and navy wallpaper in an accent wall?

Mulberry? Burgundy? Maybe a jewel tone version of burgundy? It seems to me that a really powerful, vibrant color would work well. You need a powerful color to balance the powerful Green.

I love, love, love your couch and chair. Stunning area. I think a nice coral would work really well with your area. It is a color that is easily accented with anything. Good luck.

Without reading any responses, first instinct in pale pink. I am dying for an emerald green velvet sofa. Please post pics when done!!

I just read online that BM 904 White Blush was used successfully in a north facing living room. https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/find-your-color/color/904/white-blush?color=904

Wow, the blush pink looks lovely, especially with gold accents and in candlelight.

I've been sampling it for an Eastern facing room with a tealish blue chair but haven't found the right one, so chickened out.

First, very envious of your emerald-to-forest additions! Such a great shade with which to work.

Sorry to hear the deep blues aren't working for you because like Roarah that was my first thought hearing a dark room.

For those who've never lived with a porch shading the best source of natural light -- it creates a very shadowy look with lighter colors! Color gurus like Donald Kaufman/Taffy Dahl suggest using mid-tone or deeper colors to help the shadows blend in with the walls.

So...that's my concern with the "pink-tinged" white.

[And I don't know your locale, but if you have noticeable seasonal sun differences keep in mind warm-weather sun streaming across white looks different than other times....]

Some additional color combo ideas:

cognac (ignore walls, note couch in #1 and blanket in #2)

Make a statement · More Info

Rich shades of emerald, gold, cognac, deep warm blue, true red, and espresso com · More Info

paired with another green (celadon, leaf, jadeite?):

Explore Green Bag, Blue Green, and more! · More Info

medium to deep warm grey

Du vert profond dans ma déco · More Info

...or creating an "envelope" sensation with rug and walls by trying a berry red or purple shade like Sylvia mentioned?

Interesting that these light pinks (which I have always liked) are now being called "blush": two years ago people were calling them, and the like, "bandaid" and "ugly flesh color" and thoroughly disapproved any time pink was suggested.

Pal, it is because of that visceral reaction pink has received here in the past that I hesitated to suggest it and went straight to blue...

This is one of my favorite rooms with an emaerald green sofa. They used white or creme on the walls and they have a lot of paneling going on and it works really well. But I don't know which direction this is facing. You just need to choose a good neutral white that doesn't have other tones in it.

Sara, on my monitor those walls read pink...

Interesting, on mine they read a pure white. This is why we can't help people match specific colors, only give general advice.

@Pal :)

versus

Oh I agree there's a difference but in 2015 they were all lumped together and it's Pink that got the bad rap. I called blush after a trip to Manhattan two years ago and people shrieked Not In Their Lifetime.

And then there's this: this is more saturated than blush, but it is closer to blush than not. Read the comments about this 2016 color of the year. Of course maybe a lot of people still hate it and arent saying anything.

.....but I do not like those two colors for my home.

oh yuck...those are really bad...

Two of the worst colors known to man. The pink is especially ghastly

.those Pantone colors are just awful.

No thank you, Pantone. I consider these shades a big ol'

I like the pink, I like the blue, but they need to be used sparingly (a vote of confidence)

They can call it what they want, but it's 80s

Just say no......

Brought back many awful decorating memories!!!!

Like Bookmark

It's what you call it..... and associate it with.

I love the blush pink idea, esp. with your rug....

Your house is yummy! You have a very good eye as far as I can tell, so follow your gut! Is that a picture of Nixon on the mantel? :)

Oh they're gorgeous!

Deeper and bluer than I was thinking, so if the blush doesn't work out for you I have a few other thoughts.

While your LR/DR is *fairly* open for an older home, I think you can easily getting away with a tonal look if you want it. So (assuming a "strip" type of setup) shade 1 in the LR then one or two lighter for shade 2 in the DR.

What a great excuse to repaint. Keep us posted!

House Vixen, I'd love to hear your thoughts! I don't want to get this wrong!

I was thinking along the lines of vixen, but the other way round, i.e. couple of shades darker in the DR --- unless that clashes with the kitchen floor.

Pink in various shades is a big color with millennials. Google millennial pink and you'll get tons of hits. My millennial just bought this rug at IKEA for her living room and is looking for pink pillows for her Ektorp sofa.

I could never use it because it just doesn't go with my existing things. I could probably redo a powder room or laundry room with pink but there are many other "fun" colors that I prefer.

Hi again Erina --

When it comes to getting it "right" it's all about testing colors and seeing how YOU feel with them!

So much of this comes down to finding a color(s) that work with your home + how you live in it + your innate preferences. [This gets more complicated if you live with someone who has different preferences!]

I absolutely think you should explore the blush/pink idea.

But I think we've all been there when we can envision something in our head and then have to go to Plan B when our sample is way off and it's not really a matter of choosing a close sibling. So I like to have backups in mind. ;)

It's a little funny because a lot of the other color suggestions I have seem to be in line with the art over your sofa (from what I can see of it).

The first one is actually for:

• the 2 blushes/pinks (the medium terracotta and the lighter warm blush) AND
• the medium taupe color (but is it more or less your current DR color?)

...and I think you could use 2 of the 3 in your LR/DR vs just a single shade for both

A complex neutral that reads as a warm grey-green-brown makes the perfect backdr · More Info

Here's another example of a taupe (see ceiling!)

Peckham Rye Kitchen · More Info

Here are a few possibilities (grey and cognac already mentioned upthread) -- slate-y blue-grey (you could go with a lighter shade) and butter yellow

Cognac, tangerine, and butter yellow energize muted shades (deep warm blue, slat · More Info

(I know you nixed the deeper blues upthread but the warm medium blue IS lighter and brighter so I mention it just in case, ha!)

Here's a golden brown -- you'd have to evaluate against your floors:

animals, animals, animals · More Info

Here's that butter yellow and pale blue-grey again in a better example of the colors currently in your rooms (I don't think you're wanting a leaf green but it's here for you if you need it)

Adirondack Mountains · More Info

I also wonder if you might try something like BM Wickham Gray, too, which is a light gray that leans blue. You'd definitely want to try a good size sample and move it around, because it changes in different lights, but I find that it works well with a lot of other colors. I really like it with my green sofa!

I seriously am drooling over here! That couch and chair!!!! And I love the coffee table, the rug.. Heck I love it all! I can't wait to see what paint color you go with. :)