I have a taupe camel back couch, off white 12x14 rug, large white cedar chest coffee table, black iron and wood side tables, white distressed TV entertainment table that's shallow. The other side of the room (not in the pictures) has a large entertainment unit with doors that I use as a pantry for my can goods & pots and pans, there's a brown & black zebra print chair with a white throw next to the unit. All of which I like and hope to be keeping in the room. I have a light brown tobacco basket hanging on the left wall of the fireplace with a light brown side table underneath. This room is the only one with the warm wood flooring, the rest of the house has a medium gray flooring all of which was in place when we purchased the house.

Beverly, I'll say it again. GO GET SAMPLES! all of us are just spinning our wheels here. Get the ones that you think will work and paint them on the walls.

Get a few that we have suggested and paint those on the walls ( paint diff swatches over diff areas)

Now wait and look at them throughout the day.

Bring in some more lighting.

bring in your furniture.

take pictures.

come back here with them

Thank you Flo. Yes I was considering filling in the mortar lines on the FP but want to change the paint color first before doing something drastic to the FP. I will and have looked at the color Beth suggested and I will be putting large samples swatches on several of the walls to observe for a few days.

Thank you again for all you feedback and help.

I hear you, Beth. It's frustrating when pros like you weigh in, and the OP goes off in a million directions. I say, paint the primer now to start the process and see how things look lighter then try 2-3 suggested samples AND MAKE A DECISION!!!

Here is look without changing stone or walls.

Now I would clean fireplace for sure but hope you can see my point. AND TIP. I don’t recommend painting directly on current wall. Get samples from samplize.com. Easiest way to assess color. Get 3-4 colors so you can compare and contrast. Narrow to 2 and then try on wall. You should prime those walls. Especially any spots you paint. Sample paint is usually “satin” finish and it will look different in flat finish.

I would paint brass fireplace surround probably black for a more updated look.

Just saw your post about your exist furnishings. If you could post photos I could do better mock ups with your pieces.

I love the furniture Flo! looks very nice w/the stone

flo, the problem w/the sampleize is that you can only do a square on one part.

If you have a small area (like a bathroom) and lots of colors to try out, fine. but for her room, I'd get the samples from Behr and paint small swatches on both walls. in the morning the color is going to look different than in the afternoon. or maybe nearer the windows is going to look diff then 15 feet away in the other direction. you need to compare the two.

Tthose are 6 bucks each (plus shipping if there is any) and the behr samples are 2.99 or so. I do color matches to BM colors all the time w/the behr samples. While they won't be EXACT, they are close enough. And honestly, I like the Behr paint better than BM Regal, so if she likes the Behr color match, I'd just buy the paint from them.

some other mood boards that follow what Flo suggested (you can substitute these gray accents for more of a greige or a linen color, or even a soft sage color)

Maybe priming the walls is a good idea. It will make the samples easier to assess.
Can you post photos of your furniture?

The best way to "lighten" a room is to add light. I don't see any lighting here. Windows don't really count as light at night or when it is cloudy or rainy. What kind of lighting are you planning? I wouldn't even sample paint until I had the lighting right.

Yep. I started there in above comments.

How can the room be facing both East AND West if it has only two windows and they are on the same wall? If it is EAST facing, then that would explain the gray looking green. The light from the east will make ANY color look more green. You can try to fight it or you can lean into it and choose a greenish neutral, such as BM Gray Owl. But you should prime and try out paint samples on the white primer.

@Beth H/ I am not a pro at this as apparently you claim to be. I can empathize with Beverly in try to choose the correct paint color. If it were me in this situation, I would go for a stronger wall color. For yellow, try Sherwin-Williams-Lemon Chiffon, or a lighter yellow Benjamin Moore Buttermilk, or for a neutral yellow try Benjamim Moore Crisp Linen. If you need to go with an off-white try Mascarpone also from Benjamin Moore.

I also find that Kylie M’s ”suggestions” are to drab for my taste in wall colors.

I have an exposure similar to yours in our great room. I too wanted light but not yellow. I chose SW Alabaster. We love it and I have it paired with whites, off whites and blues and whites. Great combo. You might like it in your space too. It is an "off white" but doesn't read yellow in this light at all. We did the whole house except the dining room in it and it is great!

Here it is.

At the risk of adding to the confusion – may I throw out another candidate white paint color? I like Behr paints, having used them for many years, and 8 years ago I painted the inside of our house in Behr Swan Wing. I tried a number of different Behr whites and I found that Swan Wing was the best white to complement the red oak, mahogany, and redwood in our house and the most neutral white against which to display our highly colored prints and photographs. It is a very very slightly warm white; the only tints that get added to the base white paint are tiny drops of yellow and black. I used flat (matte) paint for our ceilings and walls that are untextured (they are not as smooth as current level 5 quality but as smooth as we could get back in 1978). We have 3000K LED ceiling flood lights throughout the house which give just enough warmth while not being as yellow as 2700K light nor as blue as 4000K light.

Lighting is key.

Beautiful room Flo. I thought about Alabaster for her room, but thought it might be too warm for her lack of light.

HU- she said she wanted something without yellow.

It is a perfect spot between warm and cool and leans a bit cool. My lighting needed beefing up which we are recommending to Beverly for best overall look.

@Beth H - sorry I missed that…I also thought you were a bit harsh in your comments in responding to Beverly. ”Beverly, I'll say it again. GO GET SAMPLES! all of us are just spinning our wheels here.” Not nice! Beverly is just trying to get different opinions from different people. Have a bit more patience with folks, they are looking for help, not sharp responses.

@Beverly, In my humble opinion, any paint color with any gray in it wiill not help.. Again if I was in this situation, I would try at least try Benjamin Moore Aura-“Color Stories” line of paint. It is my understanding that they use 4-6 colorants with no black or gray in it.

Another nice paint color that I would consider in the Sherwin-Williams line is Panda White.

If you want light and bright, watch the LRV of a color. I would stay above 80 for good level of light reflection. Panda White has an LRV of 72.

You started out wanting to smear the fireplace to lighten it, perhaps you might first contend with what changes you want to make there (mantle, fire box, etc.), the lighting, then put furniture in there you will keep, then paint samples on the walls so you can choose. This is a fun project, you got this!!

Thank you SM - I have a SW account and they don't have a Simply White or White Dove. I have compared those two paint colors extensively with the SW visualizer and come up with the below colors. I will be painting swatches on the walls this weekend. I did look at Panda White and it appeared too cream for my low light room.

Shell White

Marshmallow

Alabaster (has a green hue compared to the others)

Greek Villa

My favorite on a computer screen is Marshmallow. Will see what they look like on the walls this weekend. I'll live with them for a week and make a decision.

I thank you all for your help and posting Mood Boards. Thank you ALL again for your help. I was completely frustrated and now have I have a direction.

Thank you Jackowskib

Honestly, white paint is the hardest of all. Luckily I have two color “savants” in my life who pick whites for me. But I’ve learned A LOT here on Houzz. Try to find the fun in this as @jackowskib said. Everyone here is only trying to help so you’re not alone.

Oh yes... I completely understand and appreciate the advise and recommendation. Like I mentioned I have paint samples that I'm trying this weekend and I'm looking forward to a changed room.

If you paint directly on wall, you need to prime a wall first. The existing color will bleed thru and affect the new color. Use the same finish too. I prefer flat/matte for walls and ceilings. Check the LRV of any color you try. SW prints the LRV on their paint strips and on chips too. Stay under 80.

There's apparently a shortage of paint at all the hardware stores even SW. No one has the small samples only Quarts.

So I went with Marshmallow SW-7001 in qt size for testing (matte)

Will post pictures after the weekend.

did you try Home Depot and their little samples? just have them color match any of the SW or BM colors

Flo I have lots of primer from when we renovated out kitchen.

Here is most whites from SW and BM. This is great guide. The further toward the green part of the wheel the starker the white. The further up toward red the warmer even some pink look. Good luck. Print this out if you can and take it with you to the shop.

Here is the Colorography DNA for SW Marshmellow. It’s got an LRV OF 82 which is light reflective. But it’s Hue Family is yellow-red. That means it might go pink in low light. We will see what it does in your light. Yes, there are paint shortages due to ships sitting offshore so base supplies are not getting distributed.

Couldn’t post Marshmallow. Trying again.

thank you for the Wheel. I printed in and will take it with me.

Flo, what do you think of these?

White Heron is another White that's a little creamier

BM Natural Choice. Too beige?

All depends on how much color the OP wants. All those lean beige except SW Pure White. That one is whitest of the ones you posted. We will see how Marshmallow looks. 🙄

Update. Marshmallow test swatches were painted after primmer of course. The pictures don't do it justice and we both really like the color. I'm going to leave it for a week to make sure we are totally happy. Lighting definitely effects the shade as it does take on a light gray tone in the shadows. The trim around the doors hasn't been painted; I have High Contrast White left over from painting the baseboards when we moved in. Over all it's better than the gray/blue currently and my furnishings will warm the room nicely. I have a huge mirror that will be going in the room as well. Yes, I already have the white switches and plates to update those as well.

As you can see in the 2nd and the last pictures the hall and the back room are very dark. The entire house is painted with the same gray/blue color in our living room. The color is terribly dark when the rooms are not lit. I'm glad I made a choice and will be painting and updating for a few weeks I'm sure.

Three months ago I grab swatches for Shoji, White Heron and Natural Choice and hung the swatches all over the room. The colors didn't look great in my East facing room; too warm and with the rooms shadows they darkened significantly. I do have a sliding door that faces West and a front door that brings light shooting down the kitchen hall way (South facing front door). The room gets very little light from either of these.

Tonight I am updating the bulbs in our fixtures for additional light.

Thank you all again for your feedback and I'll update with full room pictures once it's painted.

Good choice!

That looks really pretty from here. It will surely brighten things up!

We are painting the entire room this weekend as we both love the color choice. At times on one of the smaller walls it's stark white but if we get a creamier color it's too much for the other walls. I will use furnishings to warm the room up and new bulbs as well. Will post final pictures of the room soon.

OH my Goodness! We LOVE our new living room painted HGSW Marshmallow. I even LOVE the fireplace now and the floors totally pop. The light in the room is amazing and we couldn't be more happy. I'd share pictures but we just finished yesterday and haven't redecorated yet.

Truly, thank you to everyone that responded to this post I am completely amazed at how paint transformed this room.

Hi, everyone! I agree the room is not getting good natural light. A paint in a bright white, Benjamin Moore Decorators White, has blue undertones and is very white. That would be my suggestion.

You mentioned modern farmhouse, so, don't freak out, but here are some suggestions to lighten up the fireplace:

Paint it the same color as the walls.

Add a giant mirror on the stone

Add wood panels and mantle and paint same as wall color. Add light sconces.

Instead of window coverings and blocking the little natural light you get, suspend clear glass shelves in front of the windows and display colored glass, to get this effect:

Wide large white mantle, mirror, and reflective accessories

Hi, everyone! I agree the room is not getting good natural light. A paint in a bright white, Benjamin Moore Decorators White, has blue undertones and is very white. That would be my suggestion.

You mentioned modern farmhouse, so, don't freak out, but here are some suggestions to lighten up the fireplace:

Paint it the same color as the walls.

Add a giant mirror on the stone

Add wood panels and mantle and paint same as wall color. Add light sconces.

Instead of window coverings and blocking the little natural light you get, suspend clear glass shelves in front of the windows and display colored glass, to get this effect:

Wide large white mantle, mirror, and reflective accessories

Hi Denise. Great to see you back. Hope you have been well! I love the idea of art glass on glass shelves in front of windows. You could use etagere’s too.

Here is one example. I think this metal would work great with your look.

I currently like snowbound it's a white with the with the Warmness

Hi, Flo! As always, you give the best and most professional design advice. Now, if everyone would just listen. haha Packed up and moved from NYC to LA, baby!! Happy to see you are well.

Awe. So nice Denise! Gosh you went from frying pan into fire! But closer to your son hopefully. All good wishes to you too.