Lighting is everything in a basement. And white walls in any shade almost never work. Definite color...and it doesn't have to be dark...is almost always better. Yellow rarely adds sunlight...it actually looks best in sunlight...but if it is reflective and clear, and the light is very bright, it can work. Luminous pale blues can give the sense of sky, particularly if you also paint the ceiling...which you should do in any case to keep it from sitting down on top of you. Very clear light is key...some of the new florescent corkscrew bulbs give a wonderfully bright light, and without the heat that halogen generates. I would add big mirrors to crack the wall open visually wherever you would have a window, if you had them. You can even hang drapery to the sides to increase that illusion if you like. Lamps that are reflected in them them will throw the light around.

modar - I painted my dining room in my last home dark burgundy! Deep, dark red, not purple-ish. My DH thought I was nuts, be he did his best to keep his mouth shut, and he ended up loving it! It was a small room, and I think the color warmed up the space and made it feel cozy and rich at the same time. We got lots of compliments. I chose Georgian Brick for this house because I was trying to coordinate with my brick fireplace and brick floors in another room. I love the color! Good luck with your choices, bloomin...

@salonva preliminary picture of the new countertops and sink!!! I'm really enjoying the new countertops. The fabricator is coming to do a second layer of sealant on the countertops too. We really love how this color looks. We worked on replacing 1/2 of the hinges yesterday with invisible ones- I'm hoping the rest will be done by the end of the week and that we may be able to paint the cabinets this coming weekend (at least the uppers!!) With that in mind, after seeing the countertops installed and envisioning the pure white cabinets, I'm thinking a white backsplash will look too sterile. I think once we have the cabinets painted I will do a separate post asking for new backsplash tile recommendations! but I figured I would share how the new countertops came out, The river white really looks nice!

Whoa! Yikes! Thank you for pointing that out Marylee. So Pearl grey has a green tone to it which could change to blue. My chair is chartreuse with a bronze and black and cream ottoman. I’m so confused because now with the kitchen and the living room this color I feel like that’s a lot of effort and my husband will likely say —the walls are already gray, and you want to paint it this gray now? Maybe SW Navajo Cream or something like that would be better? I also feel like having the chimney or fireplace area being the same Pearl Gray seems like a waste. I get that since you open the front door you see that whole open space but I don’t think my mind would mind stopping on a pretty color!! though when I had my husband take the color ID test he came up as Nurturer. I was Creative.