Hi Laurie,
This won't be much help for you - my cabs are Ikea Lidingo (white).

I do feel your pain though, as I agonized over paint colours in my new home. Wish there were not so many to choose from! :)

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(excuse the photo-shopped backsplash - it's another tough decision in the making, lol)

Dawn

Thanks, Dawn. It's really pretty with the white cabinets and I wouldn't have known the backsplash was photoshopped if you hadn't told me. It looks good.

boysrus2 - Do you see any green in Bennington Gray?

Laurie

Have you looked at any of the Affinity colors? BM Hush is a pretty color and very popular. I was helping a woman in the paint store with colors for her family room. She had two chips and I kept goiing to this one chip and it turned out to be Hush. The paint clerk did the same. Seemed to go with everything.

Here is a link that might be useful: BM Aura

I haven't even thought of looking at affinity colors. I was looking through paint samples at the hardware store the other day to make sure I hadn't missed anything and I don't recall seeing the affinity ones? They do put out samples cards for them, don't they?

BTW, I got my mirror today and that thing is so heavy that if it ever falls off the wall, it will kill somebody. I wanted to hold it up there and take a picture, but I need to wait until I have some help.

Laurie

I have Lenox Tan in my kitchen, dining and living room. I've never been in love with it. It's just an "ok" color for me. My tile looks a lot like yours. I consider it more of a taupe, I guess. But, if I look at the walls and tiles together, it makes the floor read more pink. Now, it's not something I notice unless I'm looking for that. If that makes sense. I don't think people walk in and say "wow, that wall color really makes your tile look pink".
I didn't want to out right match the tile, because I didn't want taupe walls. The color samples I tried for did nothing for my furniture. And at the time..oak cabinets.

I've been where you are, and it's frustrating.
Good luck!!

Yes, they do have the samples at a BM store. Also, if you have an Anderson's near you, they have big samples, around 11x14.

Laurie, my eye doesn't read green in the Bennington Gray. I'm not the best with undertones though.

momto4boys - Do you have pictures of your kitchen? I think of taupe as being more of a cool color and that's not what I really want. I thought I found the "one" when I saw Roseabbey's picture of Behr Harvest Brown, but she said it's actually more taupe and a deeper color that her picture shows. I picked up one of the sample cards and it look very green in my house. Anyone know of a color that would look similar to this?

Roseabbey's Behr Harvest Brown

On my screen this looks gold without being too in-your-face gold.

I also tried to get a sample of Hush today, but the hardware store doesn't carry Affinity samples, so I guess I'll have to order one from BM.

Laurie

Laurie, I think that colors looks similar to BM Northampton Putty that's in my laundry room. On my screen Roseabbey's room looks like a tanish/olive green color.
My laundry room doesn't get any natural light though.
{{!gwi}}
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According to colorcharts.org, "excellant" color matches to Behr Harvest Brown are - BM Sandpiper at 97.1% match, BM Greenbrier Beige at 96.3%. A "very good" match is SW Outerbanks at 90.8%. There are other brands that are showing up in the list but some I haven't heard of. Ace is listed. General Paint, Frazee Industries, BASF Wall Systems, Inc.

Here is a link that might be useful: Color Charts

I'm wondering if my monitor is off. Isn't Northampton Putty green? Your picture looks more brown to me. I don't have Sandpiper, but I do have Greenbrier and it is really close. Maybe I'll look for some pictures of it online and see if they look green or brown.

Laurie

It's a brownish green. A very mucky color honestly but I really like it. It's more brown that BM Olive Branch.

Mldao has Northampton in her house too. If you're not wanting green and you like Roseabby's paint color, you might want to stick more to what colorcharts said for a match. Just going off monitors, hers and the Northampton look similar but could be very different IRL.

I miss Mldao. Haven't seen or heard from her in a long time. Hope she's ok.

Here is a link that might be useful: old thread but mldao posted lots of different pics

I did have Northampton Putty in my livingroom for a bit...it was an 'ok' color in my space but no 'wow' factor..for me there was better color for my space and ended up repainting it to Decatur Buff.

Its a real muddy color with a 'greenish' color to it but not outright green.

I may consider that harvest brown for my kitchen..I love it.

Laurie, try Behr Gobi Desert. It is one step down from Harvest Brown, might be the one.

I too have been where you are with picking a paint color!! I understand the whole back-and-forth/undertone thing!!!

In the end I picked SW Whole Wheat for the whole open area (LR,DR, kitchen) and absolutely love it!!

In one of your last posts, you mentioned wanting a "gold color that's not too in-your-face gold". SW Whole Wheat is exactly that in my opinion. Search it here on GW. It comes up alot. A friend of mine is a interior painter, and uses a lot of the colors from the next strip over too....Not sure of the numbers, but it is the one with Latte and Hopsack......

Good luck, and I hope you will pick up a sample qt. of SW Whole Wheat to try! :)

The Harvest Brown does have a green cast to it. That's what I see on my monitor too. Do you want a tan with green undertones, yellow, gray? I think Behr's Brown Teepee is a nice tan that doesn't seem to go to green or too yellow. It looks taupey on the link, but I've seen it in the 'My Sweet Savannah' blog and RMS and it looks so pretty.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Sweet Savannah

Roseabbey - I actually picked up a sample of Gobi Desert when I got Harvest Brown. It's so weird, because they both look grayish green in my house. I'm almost positive they wouldn't look like that on the wall, but how do you pick out a paint color when they look so different on the small samples.

kmcg85 - I'm actually torn between yellow and green undertones. I'm leaning towards yellow to warm things up, but I also like green. I definitely don't want gray and I don't really want taupe.

luvnlife - I've seen Whole Wheat before and I love it. I'm thinking it's too gold to go with my tile, but I'll get my sample back out and check it.

Laurie

Laurie, what you need to do is get some large pieces of white cardboard and paint them the colors you are thinking of. That is what I am going to do with the reds, (and what I did with Harvest Brown) when I get down to the one or two I think will be right red. Then move them around the room and see how the light changes the color and also how it looks at night compared to day and how well it goes with your accessories. I dont think you can pick from a small chip, well I couldnt anyway.

When I picked Harvest Brown, I wanted a neutral tan, taupe,beige, what ever you call it, with an undertone that went with reds, and the was the green undertone as it is opposite of red. I get a lot of compliments on it because it goes so well with my accents.

What are the accent colors in your home, maybe thinking about it that way will help you decide what undertone you should chose.

roseabbey - Just saw your last response. I really don't have any accent colors right now. It's probably a little backwards from how most people do it, but I was going to find a paint color I like and go from there. The colors in my sofa are burgundy and dark green which I don't like any more, so I'm just trying to ignore that until I can't get new furniture. I can't wait to see what red you go with!

I know I'm probably driving you all crazy, because I know I'm driving myself crazy and my 16 years old son because he has to look at all the paint samples laying around. I'm still trying to figure out how dark of a color Lenox Tan is. Is it light, medium, dark, between medium and dark? I have a sample of Decatur Buff that shee sent me and I've always thought of it as being much darker than LT, but they don't seem that different. BTW, I fell in love with another paint color today, although I don't have a clue what it is. This was on Cote de Texas's blog today.

I haven't gotten a sample of Wheeling Neutral yet (at least I don't think I have) and I wonder if it would be any where close to this. Has anyone tried it?

Laurie

It is backwards imo, maybe that is why you are having a hard time deciding. Most designer shows I have seen pick the paint color last, since there is so many colors and variations of color. The only designer show that picks the paint colors first is Colour Confidential. The homeowners pick the colors for the room and then the designer accessorizes around those colors. It always looks great so it can work. Good Luck.

Yep, I know it's backwards, but all my furniture and things are from my previous house and my marriage of 22 years. I still like my tables, but the rest of this stuff isn't me anymore and it's time for me to move on. The only problem is I can't afford new furniture yet, so I'm starting with what I can afford...paint and accent pieces! I actually think one of my problems is that I keep going back and forth on the style I want. I saw a Ralph Lauren ad the other day with golden walls, red print curtains, leather furniture and I thought it was so pretty. Then I saw Becca's dinging room makeover in her blog and I love that look too. I actually think I like the style of Becca's room a little more, but it's probably not very practical with teenage boys and a dog :)

Laurie

Here is a link that might be useful: Becca's Adventures in Decorating

I'm thinking Wheeling Neutral is lighter than your pic. I have a chip of it and it seems like it would be lighter. Don't know if you've seen any of these:
Behr Oat Straw
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Porter Paints Soft Suede
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Behr Mochachino
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I love that color you posted from cote...My sil just painted her family room bm palm desert tan. It's very warm and looks fabulous. She has dark furniture like your cabinets. It looks darker on the strip than it does on the walls. I have never seen it mentioned on this site and couldn't find any pics online, but if you are still undecided, take a look :)

Laurie, I found the very old post of Renofan's kitchen and she does say the paint color is BM Wheeling Neutral: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0914501116105.html?16 I do think it is at least similar to the pic you posted.

kmcg85 - I went to HD yesterday and picked up the ones you mentioned and I'm still looking at them. Is Porter Paints by any chance the same thing as Glidden. I just happened to pick up Soft Suede by Glidden when I was there.

elle3 - I've never heard of Palm Desert Tan, so I'll definitely have to check it out.

luv2look - Thanks! I forgot how much I love reno's old kitchen. Of course her new kitchen is great too.

So, anyone that has used Lenox Tan, can you tell me how you would describe it? Is it light, medium, dark, medium to dark? Hope y'all don't mind me posting your pictures, but here's the ones I've collected so far and you can see how different they look.

#1 Momto4boys
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#2 bethpen
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#3 monicakm
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#4
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Laurie

Does anyone think that Lenox Tan is a pretty close relative in color to Decatur Buff? Dawn? - perhaps you could answer this too having painted with both.

Haley, althought I would say both Lenox Tan and Decatur Buf are a medium colour (not too light nor too dark), they are noticeably different to me.

In my windowless powder room, the Decatur Buf reads deep gold to mustard. The Lenox Tan is beigy tan, more beige in daylight and picking up a slight greenish cast at night (with room lighting).

Not sure if that helps or hinders?
Dawn

Thanks Dawn that does help. After awhile with so many colors they all start to look the same! ..much appreciated.

Haley

I have had Lenox Tan in my downstairs for 8 or 9 years. I believe it is mixed at 3/4 strength. My house is very shady and I am certainly not a photographer but have included a picture of my living room. I have white ceilings and I would describe Lenox Tan as a light khaki.

I have Lenox Tan in my living room. I can tell you that I don't get much light in there and of the 4 pics above it looks like number 3 at night and number 2 in morning. (I get just a bit of morning sun in there. It is a rich khaki, I don't see any pink in it. here it is with sun in background.

My new home has Wilmington Tan everywhere! I lvoe it but it does change with lighting so paint a whole wall to see...

{{!gwi}}

Thanks, Nancy. Maybe that's what I need to do is have it mixed at 75%. Do you feel like it would be too dark for your room if it were mixed at 100%?

peytonroad - Is that LT in the front room too or just the back room? My problem is that I want it to look like #1 or #2 in the daytime and at night :) Is WT more yellow compared to LT. I love WT, but I've only seen it in pictures.

I'm going to go ahead and get a sample of Harvest Brown & Gobi Desert to see how they look in my house and I also ordered several sample cards of Affinity colors.

Laurie

I just wanted to post another picture of my house, so y'all can see why I'm hesitant to go too dark. I have 12 foot ceilings and my family room, dining room, and kitchen are all open to either other. Shaker Beige, which is one down from LT, seems a little boring, but I have alot of area to cover and I don't want to feel like I'm in a cave.

So, those of you that have used LT, would you hesitate to use it in this big of an area?

Laurie

Laurie
I remember when I was putting samples of Lenox Tan on my walls ... they seemed dark (kinda muddy) but once the entire room was painted it has never seemed too dark. My ceilings are 9' except in Living Room which is 12' and the ceilings are all painted white. I held the strip that has lenox tan and shaker beige next to my walls and my walls are the same intensity as the shaker beige (my walls are lenox tan mixed at 75%). They look most like pic #2 (bethpen) above. Hope this helps.
Nancy

Hiya Laurie

Sorry if this has been mentioned before but have you taken a look at Latte from SW?

I took the plunge the other night and painted my kitchen this color and it is pretty fab - just a real straight forward tan - no strong undertones of yellow and green...just a nice sophisicated tan with a hint of taupe.

I never felt like LT was a dark color - and I have to agree wtih you I too feel that shaker beige is on the boring side.

I got to the point I could not look at another swatch...so I just dove in and picked a color. Honestly there are no colors mentioned in this thread that are 'wrong'..they are all really nice colors so I am sure you will pick something beautiful. Please post pictures of your final choice.

Haley

Nancy - Yes, that definitely helps!

haley - OMG! Here I am still trying to decide and you've already painted. You gotta post the pictures. I haven't actually gotten a paint sample of Latte, but in looking at the card, I was afraid there might be a slight pink undertone. I may have to break down and get a sample.

Laurie

LOL ya I painted like a crazy girl the other night - was not my plan that day but just said "thats it I am painting!"...

In my space no pink at all...just Latte goodness! I wil take pictures today and post for you to get an idea.

Latte has a pretty good reputation online in other forums, real estate staging and decorators blogs as a real great 'go to' neautral (lenox tan has a great reputation too but I think LT is a little lighter). I am not sure of the LRV rating for Latte...I could not find it.

You might do this too but I often find a color and research info on it to get the scoop about what people are saying about a color. Actually that is how I find most of my colors.

Hi Laurie, justs wanted to give you my 2 cents again. I dont think you will go wrong with a mid tone color. Your flooring is pretty light, your cabinets are darker, your walls can definately be in the middle. I thihk it would bring the balance you are probably looking for. Harvest Brown is a mid tone, I am not saying you should pick that particular color but something with that depth of color. It wont look cave like at all. It will look great.

Thanks, roseabbey. I did end up ordering a sample of Harvest Brown, so I'm just waiting for it to get here. They had a special where if you order three samples, you get free shipping and it was rainy and blah Sunday, so I didn't feel like getting out :)

Laurie

your picture looks very beautiful.I will look for some picture of it online and see if. For More sample visit our site [url=http://www.modularhomes.org/Alaska]Alaska prefab Houses[/url]

Here is a link that might be useful: - Alaska Prefab Houses

Ha ha! If it doesn't work out you can always move to Alaska! Igloochic can help pick paints IRL!Sorry, got off track. Anyway, I wanted to post about a combo of two colors I read about in Sept.'s BHG mag. The color section listed warm latte color's from several mfg's. Olympic Cracker Bitz C 17-4 was one of them. One designer suggested her go to color which is a 50/50 mix of BM OC-34 Marble White and BM HC-83 Grant Beige. She says it cuts the gold and you end up with this gorgeous color! You can get a pint sample can of each and mix togther! Sounds interesting. I might have to try it! Just wanted to pass it along...

I'm 99% sure I'm going with Lenox Tan, so don't tempt me with more colors :) Actually, I still have 4 samples from HD sitting on my kitchen counter that I need to try out before I make my final decision. I get BHG magazine, but I may have already thrown it out. I'll have to look and see.

I also got a bunch of paper samples that I ordered from BM today. I was surprised by how light Manchester Tan looks. Definitely too light for what I want.

Laurie

Laurie, I don't know if you have an Ethan Allen store in your area, but there 3 not far from me, and they use Benjamin Moore paint. I sometimes go just to check out the paint colors. I have seen Lenox Tan, Decatur Buff, and Wheeling Neutral, among others. I really liked the Lenox Tan and Decatur Buff and am considering using one of them for an office. They are similar in value, but the Decatur Buff was a little bit warmer with more gold undertones. Sometimes it is hard to see the difference on a paint chip but you can really tell up on the wall. Eathan Allen stores have lots of flood lights which probably affect how the color looks, but you can get an idea what they look like if they have any of those colors in a store near you.

I honestly think that you should try it...you have such a lovely space, I think you will be happy. :)
Don't kill me, but try to find some matching pillows for your couch in the lenox tan?? :)

I think the Lenox is a great choice. I agree with what Roseabbey said.

Well, I'm glad to read the positive comments about LT, because I just got home with a gallon of it. I'm just going to paint the one wall in my kitchen right now to make sure I like it and then I'll probably wait until I can get some time off work to do the rest. Our local Ethan Allen closed down, but I may have to find the closest one. I would love to see Decatur Buff in person.

Laurie

WOO! Why aren't you painting? :) Post pics when you're done!

shee - I hate painting, so I had to psyche myself up for it :) I'll be starting here in a little bit. How long do y'all typically wait before putting on the 2nd coat? Also, I have one lightswitch on the wall I'm painting. Do I need to turn the breaker off if I'm going to remove that?

karoloke - If I decide to go to Ethan Allan, how do you know what wall colors you're looking at? Did you take you samples or were the salespeople able to tell you the colors?

Laurie

msrose-I have BM Stonehouse in my computer room and it looks exactly like the room you posted from Cote de Texas's blog. it's a great color but for your whole house, you could probably go a tad darker. Good Luck

Do you have any pictures of your computer room? I may be interested in that color when I paint one of the smaller rooms in my house.

Laurie

Laurie, It used to be if I saw a paint color I liked in an Ethan Allen, I would just ask them and they were able to tell me. But lately, the stores around here have been posting a little card on the wall of each room that tells the paint color of the room. If you had to drive far, you might want to call ahead to see if they have a room painted in one of the colors you are considering, or just go and maybe you'll find one you like that you haven't considered. If you have model homes near you, that is another way to see paint colors in person. Sometimes they can tell you the paint color, and sometimes not.