Help me decorate my new house!!?

Question

We had a new house built and it is all white and I am dying to paint, but Im so nervous and cant seem to find the perfect colors! Im thinking maybe an lovely earthy yellow and some dark plummy colors, but im not sure. I love rich colors (jewel tones especially!), but I also dont want all the walls to be dark. The whole first floor is very open, so Im thinking it may be best to use a lighter color all over and accents in darker ones, I dont know!?! Any help would be great! The house is pretty large and we dont have everything to fill it up yet so I'd like to at least have some actual color on the walls. This is a link to pictures of the first floor of my house and my kitchen, and farther down the page is a picture of me holding a dog on a couch and that is the color of our couch and chair, and our wood furniture (table etc) is as dark or darker than the kitchen cabinets. Thank you so much for your help in advance!

http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o122/darce_me/

Answer 1

I don't think that yellow will go with that couch, you should use very light earthy greens, sage or tan on the walls and because it is open you should just use lighter and darker shades of the same colour tone, so pick a colour for the living room and go darker in the same family for the kitchen and maybe the wall up the stairs...use up to three shades of the same colour for depth and definition of this space. And you can still use plum accents, like plum throws, large pillows, artwork would look good with either of these colour palettes, it will look great. If you love yellow I would save it for your bedroom, or the powder room or somewhere else not in here.

Answer 2

Since you have the dark cabinets and stair rails you should stick with light wall colors. With the gray carpet you could use a very lite beige tint or til green or lime green tint. You might stay with the white satin or gloss painted base trim. Maybe wallpaper the kitchen with some of those dark plum colors in a pastel with some lighter color tones like lavender peach, but not too glossy. In the bath go with some of those earth tone wallpapers, tans, ivorys, and bronzy colors. Don't try to make it hard, just let it flow and get it going while everything is new and you are energized. Sometimes less is more.
I hope you enjoy your new home.

Answer 3

You two are a beautiful couple! As far as the house goes, don't be afraid of color. I, too, would want to go neutral though. Add your color with accent pieces...art work, candles, flowers, pillows, vases, rugs, throws. If you like jewel tones, paint just one wall in a deep plum, the rest in cream or taupe. Paint is cheap and quick so if you don't like it, don't panic. You won't know until you try.

Answer 4

since your woodwork is dark you will want to stickwith light colors. what you already have in mind would be great. other than that go with the jewel tones in your accent pieces to really make the colors pop. Good luck