It's tough to find photo examples of paint colors that coordinate with natural wood trim. I want to update/refresh my home with the wood trim in tact. I haven't done a lot of decorating since moving into my house. It's a slow processes trying to hone a style on a tight budget. I know most articles on choosing paint colors suggest having other decor in place before choosing paint, but it will likely take us years to get there, and I feel painting is an affordable step we can take right now that will help us improve the feel of our space. I'm going for an updated look that meshes well with historic elements in the home, such as the wood trim, wood floors, and original antique silver-colored radiators. Original wood work is american chestnut so it's not super dark and has a variety of red and orange undertones. My furniture is a mix of antiques and custom Amish-made pieces. My decorating style is somewhat eclectic with a mix of bohemian, equestrian and subtle gothic elements. There will be custom paintings of dragons, crows, horses and unicorns, but nothing girly. Paintings and decor will have a dangerous or creepy vibe. I intend to keep the blue/gray/green antique wall paper in the powder room, and in various closets throughout the house. Stained glass will be used for privacy on select windows. Thus far, I have chosen Sherwin Williams Needlepoint Navy for the living room, Chelsea Gray for the kitchen and dinging room, and Jade Dragon for the foyer. There is currently a green very similar to the Jade Dragon in the foyer. It looks great with the trim and the gray/green tile throughout the foyer, kitchen and mud room. It blends with the tile and really brings out the red in the trim. All the other walls are a neutral cream color that looks very yellow at night in artificial light. I hate it and want to cool that down. The paint chips look good against my trim in afternoon and evening light. I will try in morning light tomorrow... but I'm still nervous about how they will look in full on the wall. I'll paint test swatches before making a final decision. Do you guys think these colors would work together? These rooms are all connected and have sight lines to each other so need to work together. Any other color suggestions? I'll need more than 3 colors for a whole house scheme. I think the Chelsea gray might carry well up the stairs and into the upstairs hall. I'm thinking I'll start on the first floor and then work my way up and down the stairs to the other floors. Does anyone have examples of these colors in action? If you have wood trim, what colors work well on your walls?

Comedy of errors (only after we had a few drinks was it comedic) 1. We greatly underestimated the effort to paint textured walls, especially on the ceiling. That and we're 15 years older than many of the projects we've done the past. 2. Turns out we got the wrong color paint. I'm not sure why I had a different color paint stuck in my head and even though I checked color swatches I still got it wrong. And now that we're going to pay someone to do it I definitely want to make sure the color is right. Only after I came back to this post did I realize I gave the store the wrong color. We're going to suck it up and pay someone to do it which is good because that also includes trim and doors. Although now I have to take a week off of work. Good news: we can donate the paint to Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

See my remodel pictures in my profile if you’d like to see what Classic Gray looks like throughout my entire house. I wanted a neutral “white gray”, I tried many colors before landing on it. It’s truly neutral!

Here is the DNA on SW Sea Salt. It has an LRV (light reflective value, or how much light does it absorb or reflect.) of 65 so 100 is most reflective. 65 makes it not very reflective, kind of mid range. It has a Hue Family (what is the main color that is most likely to show thru) of Green/Yellow (cool segment) and it has a moderate Chroma which means it has enough black to "gray it down" and helps define how much "color" is in the paint. This one has a fair amount of Chroma, so it is pretty "colorful". So, if you want a more "quiet" backdrop, look to the "off-whites". Some to get samples of and compare are SW Chantilly Lace (pretty white); SW Extra White (not quite as bright but still white); SW Cotton Balls, SW Pure White is nice too. Then you can get some of the more colorful choices like SW Sea Salt, SW Agreeable Gray, SW Accessible Beige, SW Alabaster (more yellow Hue Family) or SW Worldly Gray which has much more color but fairly neutral tending to gray tones. Worldly Gray has an LRV of 57, so it is mid-range light reflective. Not as reflective as SW Sea Salt for example at 65. LRV is measured from 0-100. The closer to 100 the more reflective; the closer to 0 the less reflective and more absorbing of light.