Thanks for the replies. I picked up a quart of BM's Rich Creme to test drive in the hallway. After paying for it, I thought of using some of the "Spool" paint from the offfice, cut it 50% with white, and try that, too. Southern Heart...Yes, I'm lost in the deep ox-blood red of my office. I do love it; but it will need tweaking sooner or later. It may morph into Bangkok Rust. (I'm originally-and-long-ago from the South, too! After 30 years of living in Texas, Delaware, Spain, Indiana, California, England, and North Dakota people still "hear" the southern in my voice...especially if I get upset.) Mairin...I bought a BH&G house and garden planning program last winter, loaded it in the computer, and promptly "lost" the disc in the remodeling mess. I am so hoping I find it soon. Shea...You got me thinking (not an easy task, LOL) that the pale grey might be a nice play off of the black and white bathroom, too. The real problem is there are simply too many choices when it comes to color!

Thanks for your thought lukki! You are right, white would be a very practical choice. I hope we will move in the next couple years, so from that perspective a practical, safe choice is probably the way to go. And if the doors stay white I am fine to paint the trim (it's minimal, not fancy) as well. Maybe a fresh, brighter white will look better than the current "white", which seems quite dingy.

Wallpapering seems daunting. Here are two pics of my staircase. (Second one won’t post, but there is a small window at the top of the stairs) Until I can replace them, I plan to paint the wood rails Benjamin Moore, Kendal charcoal, which is the same color as our kitchen cabinets. To the right, when you walk in is the staircase and to the left an open living room with these curtains hanging. (See link below) To give an idea of my colors. I have lots of green in the hosue as well, its my favoite! https://www.houzz.com/products/signature-everglade-teal-blackout-velvet-curtain-single-panel-50x96-prvw-vr~132701761?lid=65582148

I'm thinking maybe just the open kitchen area will have the gray trim. There are two other rooms plus a powder room and the entryway, but they're fairly separate. So it might work as the big, sunny, airy room gets a special treatment and everything else is the same. I'm with you on all the trim being the same. It's how I've always done it, but the very light gray/fawn trim with white walls looks SO much better in the big new room. It'll be the kitchen cabinet color, too, so it's not something we can just repaint if we don't like it. :-/