Flat for me. I agree that it has a certain unpleasant feel, but what's with all the need to stroke the wall? Kidding, people. :) I can still hear my mom telling me to take my hands off the wall. I have flat everywhere in my house except for eggshell in the bathrooms. In the right light, at the right angle, it does have a certain glow about it. But at just about any other angle/light my knock-down texture with an eggshell finish can look decidedly reptilian. I grant you, it has a slightly better feel to it, but then it sets off memories of my mom nagging at me.

The bookcases and trim will be the same off white. I have some off white choices selected from the green, pink, yellow, gray families of off white. I just do not know which of those casts to use. Is yellow cast, green cast, gray or pink the right complement to use? Right now I have some very yellowed oil base ivory and have no idea which hue is was originally.

Sorry - meant to post this earlier, but pesky work calls had to take priority. . . As for choosing a color pallet for your home, again you are looking for harmony. Step 1 - Use poster boards for each room. Add samples of the colors that have to stay. (Can't afford to change or love and won't be changing). This often includes cabinets, countertops, flooring, finishes, appliances, newer furniture that you don't want to replace at this time, art that you love, an area carpet that you love. May also include a fireplace surround or stained glass window. Step 2 - Figure out the colors that make your heart sing. We all have those few colors that just make us happy or sexy or romanic or relaxed when we see them. They bring us joy. Funny how this works - I have found that most people are drawn to colors that look really good on them. These are colors you want in your home. My sisters and I are great examples. Lisa - blond with big blue eyes - decor is country and primary colors are cornflower blue, cream and peach. Susie - olive tone skin, golden brown hair color, brown eyes - looks good in fall colors and muted colors. Home is sage greens, orange reds, muted golds and browns. Betty - light brown eyes, pale skin, hazel eyes - wears a lot of navy and pastels. Bright colors and black make her wash out. Her home colors are light blues, light greens, pastels and tans. Me - I have dark hair, dark eyes and ivory skin. I look great in Red, purple, teals - clear colors. My home decor is dark purples, teals, deep burgundy and taupe. We all picked home colors that look good on us. Didn't think about it when we selected the colors, but it was a natural process. You learn to love what makes you feel good about yourself. Step 3 - adding the colors that you love to the boards. With the colors that must stay, which of the colors that you love can work in each room. This is not your final paint color - it is the basis for your color design. Now think about walking through your home - You can't change the colors that must stay, but you can move the colors that you love around, narrow your selection down to 3 colors that work with what must stay and work with each other (I love purple burgundy and teal. I also love lime green - but eliminated it from my color selections for my house because it doesn't work so well with the other 3 colors.) The three colors that you have selected will be repeated throughout your home. Sometimes using a lighter shade or a slightly more subdued shade or a brighter or darker shade - but the same hue. Step 4 - Find a neutral - This is one of the hardest parts of the process. Finding a neutral that works with everything you have selected. Again, we are looking for a general choice, not the exact color. The basic families are nicely shown by Maria Killam: (Inside colors are the undertones) Hint - red and purple undertones can be much more difficult to work with than the other undertones. Green undertones are probably the easiest to work with. Step 5 - Pulling everthing together. This is where you begin exploring how you want the colors to flow from room to room in your home. Start with your entry - what colors are going to greet you and your guests. Do you want the room to be painted with your neutral or with a color? How bold do you want this first room. What do you want it to say to those who are coming into your home. Safe - paint it neutral and use your furnishings and accessories to add color. Bold - paint the walls orange and placing your sofa and area rug in this room: Now you move from one room to the next - do you want neutral walls or colored? How does it coordinate with the previous room. Will it feel harmoneous as you move from room to room. Using your 3 colors you can use more or less of each color in every room, but always bring a bit of the main color from one room into the next room so that they relate to one another. Think about each room and how you want it to make you and your guests feel. Energized, relaxed, thoughtful, hungry. (Most restaurants use a lot of red and orange colors because they stimulate the appetite. Orange also stimulates social interaction.) Most people use neutral in the main living spaces and hallways, colors in bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry rooms. Dining rooms and kitchens are sometimes color and sometimes neutral. Don't change wall color unless there is an architectural break (The wall ends at a corner or at a post or beam). (Don't try to draw a line down a wall and change colors if two rooms share one wall). Step 6 - Begin selecting wall colors. You really can't see wall color with a tiny sample. You need enough paint to see what it will really look like. I buy samples, but have seen a ton of samples and have a pretty good feel for what I want. If you haven't done this before it can get overwhelming and expensive to buy 100 samples to get to the perfect color. Walls are huge, so a little color goes a long way. It is easy to go too rich, too bright. What looks dull and very neutral on a 2" sample may look very blue or green or pink when you paint a 10'x10'x8' wall. The undertones come to life as we paint larger spaces. As you get to this stage ask more advice on Houzz to help get you close to the perfect color. If you love a color on the 2" sample go about 2 levels more subdued (greyer, muddier) I love the color reviews done by kylie m interiors. You may want to start looking at her blog and videos. https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/  Maria Killam also has some great advice. She is great at explaining undertones. https://www.mariakillam.com/ You can paint your own samples, but this company makes life simple: https://samplize.com/ Let us know how your color scheme is coming along.

Thanks Beverly! The timbers are actually painted in the same chocolate brown color as the window and roof line trim as well as gutters. And the house is painted wood (been painted several times over the years house circa 1980) although we've only been here two years and inherited the bad peachy sandy beige siding and chocolate brown trim. I agree the darker pic you attached is appealing. Right now I'll be taping up several colors I've picked up. They range from mid toned to darker grays mostly with a green undertone. (I'll post some pics this afternoon.) And we don't see a choice of keeping the chocolate brown trim if we really want to enhance the appeal of the house. So we really ought to get rid of the chocolate brown trim for good--which will include also replacing the gutters and downspouts to a different color (they need replacing anyhow). I'm attaching a closer image of the timbers in the front door area and one looking in from the driveway to the front deck. After paint, trim and gutter color is chosen, we'll tackle a paint color the front door. It's scary now as it has some sort of faux finish with actual leaves embedded and painted over. Since it's an oversized custom door size we are trying to fix it rather than replacing it. The front door is to the immediate right in the deck pic. The two doors in deck photo lead to the dining room and the other to the kitchen. Will also replace light fixtures. It's always a domino effect major project to redo an exterior but it's sorely needed. Thank you again for your time, interest and sharing of talent.