<p>DH unexpectedly is quite flexible on this color choice. He glanced at the numerous chips hanging on dining room table and said hazy skies is too green… what about barren plain?</p>
<p>So, I’m off to get a sample size and try the paint the poster board method with barren plain and hopefully we’ll both love it. The jungle wallpaper and burnt orange carpet left the BR today so it looks like this really is happening.</p>
<p>The hardwood under the carpeting is in great shape, a lovely surprise.</p>
<p>Thank you to all the great responses to my post. I appreciate everyone’s suggestions and will let you know how it all turns out.</p>
<p>Agree with others who’ve emphasized the need for poster board samples of the colors you’re interested in. I was amazed by the variance in a room I repainted (we use BM too), and seriously could not believe the effect the lighting had. That room had only north facing windows which really impacted the way the color looked on the wall. Many of our choices that looked good in the daytime, with natural light, looked awful at night–and vice versa. The color I ended up choosing in two different rooms turned out to be one I would not have expected to give me the effect I was looking for. If the room gets plenty of great light, maybe that’s not an issue for you, but sure turned out to make a difference for us. </p>
<p>To be honest, if I could start over, I’d love to hire a color consultant to come and tell me which paint colors to choose. Based on how many painting mistakes I’ve made over the years, I’d probably be ahead in terms of all the samples wasted, not to mention complete rooms (and houses!) being painted in the “wrong” color!</p>
<p>"To be honest, if I could start over, I’d love to hire a color consultant " - A few years ago, we shopped at Lazy Boy. I was surprised that the designers were willing to come to our town and look at the family room. Based on that, they helped us select couches and and a rug and a lamp. They also helped us pick a paint color based on some samples on the wall and then some painted poster boards with round 2 choices the next week.</p>
<p>I learned the hard way about undertones in whites. When we painted the DR in our first house, we had NO IDEA some whites are pinkish, some yellowish, brownish, gray, and what have you. No idea. So the slightly, um, pinkish off-white we thoughtlessly chose didn’t go with the curtains that happened to have a BEIGE ruffle. Just didn’t work. We liked the curtains, so we quickly repainted with a beige-ish off-white. </p>
<p>I think today I would change out the curtains. :D</p>
<p>At least nowadays some stores have lighting that shows paint 3 ways–sunlight, incandescent, & fluorescent. But you still have to create a large sample and live with it in your home under different conditions.</p>
<p>And I like the sample cards some brands have, that show you 3 or 4 different colors that go together to create a mood or setting. At least it’s a starting point.</p>
<p>Edit: I just realized most of our rooms have some variant on yellowish off-white. It looks good (and cheerful) in any light. The laundry room is a happy blue-green, and the only room I don’t like is the BR I painted beige cause S didn’t want a “color.” Blah.</p>
<p>That’s my secret for paint. Most of the time you love that little chip, but color can multiply as you add it to each wall. The pale blue you picked for the bathroom becomes intense by the time you finish? You need to start at half the color. I recently repainted our second guest room (AKA D1’s room). After one wall, DH wandered in and said “I thought you were painting it green, this is white”… after 2 walls it looked faintly green, after all 4 (including up to the peak of a cathedral ceiling), it looks like you are living in a honeydew melon. Which is what I wanted, with teal and white and wood… but had I started with a melon green it would have looked like crayon lime green when it was done.</p>
<p>If you want more paint advice, wander over to the GardenWeb forums. Just as nice and friendly as CC and ever so helpful.</p>
<p>Did you finally choose Alpaca? What other colors are in this room that go with it. I have Alpaca in our main rooms and want to add a blue or blue green in pillows and maybe curtains. Our sofa and love seat are off white. Plese help! I LOVE the Alpaca and the changes in color throughout the day,</p>
<p>I have chosen this color for my walls. Our sofa and loveseat are off-white. I want to introduce a blue or aqua color in curtains and throw pillows and a couple of accessories. Does anyone have this wall color and if so, what colors go with it? HELP!!!</p>
<p>GalwayGirl, our living room is Alpaca, and the adjoining room is one color shade darker. It has “worn well” with us for 2 years, and we’re still pleased with the choice.</p>
<p>As for which colors go with it, I think it’s pretty flexible and works well with a broad spectrum of accent colors, except I wouldn’t match it with anything in the yellow family. I would stay away from yellow, orange, yellow green, and all those related colors. </p>
<p>If you use aqua, I would add a few accents of either silver or brown. The popular color today that’s a cross between teal and turquoise goes very well, as do the jewel colors (i.e., the deeper colors of navy, forest green, wine, etc).</p>
<p>We have used BM “Stonehouse” in living and dining rooms and one bedroom. Love it. We have Jackson Tan in family room. I have no skill in noticing the variations in colors and need someone to point them out. Even then I don’t always see or understand when a skilled person states, “That has too much yellow in it?” “Can you see the green?” Good luck.</p>
<p>The OP reporting back:
We went with BM HC27 Monterey White for the walls. Not very adventuresome but after our previous orange jungle wallpaper walls it is heaven.
Very creamy and soothing. The ceiling and trim are decorator’s white and the combination is tranquil. </p>
<p>I am still looking for the right red flowery lamp shades and table lamps I have in my head but can’t locate in the real world. I want the accessories to be the pop of color that I can change out. The pottery barn quilt on our four poster is full of reds/creams/blues and looks great.</p>
<p>bluejay- we looked at stonehouse also. It is a wonderful color also.</p>