Hi Jo. The light will differ in each room so would go for different shades according to the light in each room. Maybe also consider darker accent ŵalls for alcoves and in the dining room? You could even do the woodwork and coving a shade or 2 darker than the walls. I'd go for a soft chalky white on the ceiling. Have a look at farrow and ball for matching colours or little Greenes shades come in light, mid and dark

Hello there, I was a rep for Benjamin Moore paints and have worked with a lot of paint colours - they have 3500 in the full collection! For a small room you need a colour with warmth in it a hint of yellow to reflect the light but it will predominantly depend on the colour and amount of light coming in to your room. I would be happy to order some large samples of colour sheets that are sprayed in the actual colour so you can check the tone works in your room free of charge. I would think a colour called Balboa Mist or around this tone would work, this is what the Americans call a 'Greige' a warm grey. Please drop me a email simren@jagdev.com. Thank you!

Thank you all for your suggestions! Lots to consider... Special thanks to Celerygirl and Carolina for the mock-ups. I have to say, that creme rug changes the whole feel of the room... AS, Colourhappy and Celerygirl, I have some 3 different greys left from other jobs; I think I'm going to paint some lining paper and put it against the fireplace, units, windows, etc and see what it looks like. I'm also thinking of the smokey purple we have in the bedroom, that could be an alternative. Also, I'll have to buy some of that hue Jonathan suggested (it's quite intriguing). Jen P and Carolina, maybe I could keep the beige and change the accessories... I ordered a new frame with a proper mount for Chris Ofili's painting and might put it back above the fireplace. Najeebah, I know I need to cull the accessories, we have too many all over the house and I don't know where to place them any more. But I love most of them and find it hard to think about letting some go... Hubby almost sank in the middle of the Bristol channel today and had to abandon the race, so I thought bringing up wall colours tonight would not help my cause. See, I can be sensible... and he says I'm not sympathetic to his sailing problems... :)) Thank you so much for your help again, I'll let you know the next step as soon as we decide what to do. Good night all!

So we have decided on Wimborne White on all walls. We plan to add 2 or 3 very large pictures on the radiator wall. If we still feel this is plain we can repaint either this wall or the one with the shelves. Header13 we really like blue and have used it in our south facing bedroom. Carolina I'm afraid to say no. Picking the floor seems to be by far the hardest decision. We really cant decide on light vs (warm) medium grey. We have so many samples and I think it is just making it worse. We feel light should help keep the room bright but could make it all too plain and samey? Darker may give better contrast and more interesting? Lighting in the kitchen is currently really poor (we took the lights down for plastering as they are being replaced) but here is some pictures showing examples of flooring shades we are considering. Most of the colours seem to be falling in these two camps. White oak vs a grey/smoke oak.