Wow, everyone seems to be in consensus against yellow. Okay, I can see that now. I've had yellow in there for 9 years and I must admit I am sick of it. .., but it's HAPPY and I like happy. There is not a ton of natural light in the kitchen, but lots in the dining room (a south and a west window), which now opens to the kitchen. I have to remember that the paint and backsplash are a background and are probably better left unnoticed, and maybe let the granite and the glass hood be more of a focal point...but to intentionally paint something greige....ugh. But yes, it would definitely be a good choice for the walls... So, most of you think: offwhite tile with light sage walls, OR mushroom/squirrel tail color tile with cream walls. Any other thoughts for "happy"???

For those who are asking about Noble Oak, it went in our house yesterday and got pulled up today. There is just way too much repeat in the pattern, especially for the high cost. Our professional flooring guys stopped installing because they felt like it was too obvious. They give Noble Oak an 8 out of 10 (1 being no repeat, 10 being lots of repeats) and they were really only able to identify 5 different patterns to choose between. They said they get less repeat on the cheap stuff. Even though the boards are cut at different lengths to limit the appearance of identical boards, since the color is so light and the pattern is dark, the repeat pictures really pop out. For example, there is a 7-inch knot we found on 10 boards out of 30. And most of the patterns are very linear, so you really see it on long runs. We stood at the end of an 8 row section (5 boards each = 40) and counted the same 5 patterns repeated 6-7 times each. This was after spending a lot of time carefully trying to avoid repeating. Also, it looks very yellow in our home. All that said, the quality and feel was amazing. It was soft underfoot (installed on a cement slab), the embossing looked great, and it seemed to be quality stuff. We will still use COREtec, but we will be avoiding the Plus Premium line (the other sample we had, Valor Oak, had the same exact repeats/pictures but with even more color variation).

Here is the Ravenswood installed. You can see more on our Instagram account. It sometimes pull pink and sometimes gray, but it's a nice saturation. Not too light, not too dark. I don't love the bevel and how wide/long they are, but they are very wonderful overall. We have lots of green trees around the house to counteract the pink in the floors, so they look pretty natural in our house. The one downside of the Ravenswood is that is does seem to change color a lot based on natural and artificial lighting, so I would suggest getting some long planks of it before you buy.

Your problem starts with selecting a blue gray white and a taupe. Look at the bottom row where I lightened Sea Salt. . . As taupe is lightened they go more beige Here are some of the selections you have tried and Pale Oak, which may work for you. You didn't specify what you didn't like about classic gray, but I am guessing it felt a bit flat. Etiquette is light enough that it really turns pink beige. Tough color to work with. Pale Oak is lighter than Sea Salt and grayer than Sea Salt, but is not so light that it goes beige. It has been known to go pink or purple if it is paired with yellows, but you only have blue and purple undertones, so I think you may be okay. An option that I didn't see anyone else suggest is sticking with Pure White. If it is glossy or satin on your trim and cabinets you could do an eggshell or flat on the walls and it will appear to be darker than the trim and cabinets. Another option is to pick either blue gray or taupe and change one of the two colors you have already selected.