Oh yeah! I sat on DH's shoulders. . . kidding :P My coworker was nice enough to let me borrow his short stair ladder. I think it's a smaller version of those little giant ladders. I had DH stand behind me while I was using it. The steps on it weren't wide so it was awkward at times trying to bend/twist and be careful not to fall! Since I don't own one of these ladders that's another reason the color needs to stay for now.

thank u so much for your help! :) jessicaml, that's good advice about picking a color u like best at the time you'll see it most. i might hav to change these cfls and go warmer like u said. chocolatebunny, thanks for comparing the 2 colors for me... i think i'm leaning more toward blonde. mamiebella, that's so impressive that u have these colors. thank you so much for that picture!! i feel the same way about macadamia, it felt blah to me. ww looks a bit drab to me in the room. honestly, blonde makes me feel happy :) (maybe bc it takes me back to good memories in our townhouse!) i don't actually have humble gold on the morning rm wall yet, but it's one of the colors we're pretty darn sure about (or else dh will be so mad at me, lol). but now that i'm leaning toward blonde, i may have to change up our choice for the hallway/foyer color. it was believable buff, which was on the ww color strip, but now i may need to go w/ ivoire from the blonde color strip... what do u think? omg, dh is going to hate me, lol!!!

I'm brand new and definitely an amateur, but I would probably stay with a more neutral color, as you suggested. My entrance is somewhat similar in style and floor coloring. We used a Lowes color (back before we knew that there was a SW nearby us) It's called Cream in my Coffee and looks like it says. So I would say stay with a lighter more neutral color. But you don't *have* to I don't think. Other people here could give you much better guidance than mine though, I'm sure! You could try Sherwin Williams coloring guide on their website to see what you like or to get an approximate idea anyway. Good luck!

Tans/beiges are tough. I have SW Lotus Pod in a room and almost had a heart attack when I started painting because it looked orangey. I had that reaction despite the fact that I had sampled the paint on a large, primed, piece of drywall that I moved around the room. etc. just like everyone recommends. I continued anyway (after the palpitations stopped) and now I don't see it as "orange" at all. Just goes to show that you never know until it's done. In another room I have SW Moderate White. That's nice too but not "tan". Both are definitely more of an off-white. Good luck!