Why do you feel you need to consider colors that you dont like? Houses are to be enjoyed by the people that live there. You dont have to be trendy. Personally, I dislike anything tan, or beige, greige or green, so no matter how trendy, I wouldnt use them anywhere in my house. I do like gray, but that gray paint must look gray, and if any undertones, they must be blue, not the purple or green that some grays have. Put colors on your wall, that appeal to you, and that will make you smile. I use a lot of turquoise in different shades, because it makes me happy. Apparently, it makes others happy too, since I recently had someone tell me, they liked coming in my house, and found themselves staying longer than they meant to because, the colors make them happy and make them feel good.

You might have to add the pics in a new post - lots of folks seem to have trouble adding photos to an existing first post. Anyhow, I too have a north-facing living room. We moved in a few months ago and haven't painted. The previous owner had the living room painted an almost garish apricot. Point being is that it's mega cheery and bright anf does a great job (alongside lamps) casting a warm atmosphere both before and after dark. I plan to do a warm color, but tone it down. Something buttery. So the two major things I'd recommend are selecting a warm, buttery color for the walls (warm grays do not count, guys), and go hog wild with lamps. Put incandescent or incandescent-light-temp bulbs in the lamps. Having an abundance of warm lighting at human level (rather than up in the the ceiling) adds an insane amount of coziness.

Thanks! The curtains are always opened to let more light in. The only reason they were closed in that first photo was because we hadn't moved in yet. The curtains have to stay. I bought the fabric in Greece and they are custom made. I took the arm cover off the chair and I put that and the curtains up against the Samplize sample of EG that I have here. It looks like it could work, but I'll have to go upstairs into that room after the workers leave and look at it in there. I know it's hard for you guys to give me completely accurate advice without seeing it in person, but I do appreciate all of your feedback! It might be worth looking at some more creamy colors to compare and see what looks best before deciding.

I would consider painting the two rooms two different shades of white, yes even though they are connected. Even if you paint both rooms the same color they are going to look like two different colors of paint anyway because of the difference in light. So why not just pick two different shades that actually look good in each space? Who knows, because of the difference in light, they might end up looking more like the same color next to each other than actually using only one color. I just painted my home in all neutrals using Farrow and Ball. (If you don't want to pay that much for the paint, you can have it color matched in Benjamin Moore.) Their neutral colors are stunning and fewer to choose from, which actually makes it easier to select a great color. They break the colors up into 6 different neutral groupings. Check it out. I swear I don't work for them. I'm simply enchanted with the colors of my home!