1) Neutrals will take an undertone, so it is important to know which neutrals according to the primaries...red, yellow, or blue? 2) Then, once you know that, choose cool or warm of those undertones. Then, light or dark. (think skin here. Why does gray look so bad on some people and yellow look great? Why does yellow make some people look sick, and gray makes them look fresh and hip?) 3) Natural daylight. No natural light in the house? Unless you like a cave-like feeling on a Sunny day, limit yourself to the first top 3 colors of the card in the paint fan. If you like a cave look during the day, go ahead and use the bottom 3 or 4. If you have a house with tons of windows and natural light, lucky you, paint every room in deep saturated color....it's great in the day with light, and there is nothing like dark walls at night. Okay......that being said, here are some great colors I've used. BM Aura .... HARMONY This is the ultimate beige/ neutral. It goes with yellow, taupe, green, blue. It can be warm, or cool, depending on what's in the room. It's nice. Cut it in half and the color is a light, pleasant creamy color. BM SMOKEY TAUPE....the EXACT color of that beautiful linen sometimes called 'flax' (the sample looks like it has a green undertone, but it goes competely gray gorgeous taupe in my cream and white bedroom. It's classy, and fabulous with white trims. SW NUTHATCH: Dark and gorgeous brown without looking like you tried too hard. I had it in a bedroom with white trims and off white carpet. Caution: Ceilings look really bad when you have these dark colors if you leave them white. Paint the ceiling a few shades lighter (go up the card sample in the same color....that always works.) BM - PATRIOTIC WHITE. This is a quick change white. It can go white with a tinge of ocean blue, or ocean blue-green. It's cool one minute, then turns warm in the sunlight. At night it's warmer. It's a very fresh white. It's great if you need light in the room from lack of windows. Pair this wall color with very white trims. With ebonized floors,blacks, browns and greys, driftwoods, and touches of sunny yellows this color would be so chic. SW Spaulding grey, Garret Grey, : these are great deep colors of taupe/brown. I painted my exterior with Garrett Gray....it was a dark purply taupe. I had blue-green shutters, soft white trims, and a cherry stained front door. Very, very beautiful. Inside, Spaulding grey is a dark purply brown. Very nice with cherry wood, or maple. Great for a feature fireplace wall. Makes medium or light stained wood, stone, brick "pop". SW Mystic Beige: a medium light nice warm beige...goes with everything. Some people would call it boring, but if you have nice architecture, or nice furniture, fabrics, or paintings, this color will let them be the star. One opinion: I really don't like the paint "rules" you'll be told at the paint store. I'd stay away from asking advice in there. Find out if they have a color consultant on the payroll who you could talk to. Also, if you read decorating magazines, keep a file in your file cabinet for "paint color" .......almost all of these magazines have a section on what colors to use. Rip out the pages, and stash them in the file. When you need to pick a color, you'll have the names, and the descriptions, and sometimes pictures of the rooms using the colors.

Maybe you made up your mind... if not... I had a lot of problems in my dining room because of tan colors with pinkish or greenish undertones, a big mismatch with my dining room chairs which have a "goldish" undertone... Seperately the colors looked great, but together the undertones were just terrible, really fighting each other... I am finally very happy with SW Row House Tan... it has a bit of a goldish undertone in it... and this tan goes perfectly with my dining room chairs.... By the way, after many, many experimentations, I've learned that there is no such thing as a neutral beige... one thing I now know for sure...

Actually, the opposite is true. A deeper color is going to feel warmer and brighter in winter months and lighting, while light colors will feel cold and washed out. For example, I live in NE, also a cold, snowy climate in winter. When I first bought my house, I painted the "winter living room" (LR used in winter, versus the porch used in the warm months) BM White Sand. It was blah and cold. I got cabin fever. Last fall I repainted that room using BM Lenox Tan. What a transformation!!! I never wanted to leave the LR. NO cabin fever. It was warm and cozy and just wonderful (BM White Dove trim). The LRV of Nantucket Gray is very close to the LRV of Lenox Tan, so the light play would be similar. This is all especially true if the room you are painting doesn't get a lot of natural sunlight.

Without much light any of the neutrals will tend to read dull and muddy. I would try and find a color that actually has some color in it. Maybe a soft blue/gray to play up the blue/green sofas?