Virtual Decorating

The winter lives on and we are held captive by the cold. Actual progress on the house is stagnate, so when I get in the mood to work on the house I have been thinking about the details that will personalize our space. Besides what kind of flooring and cabinets, I'm currently pondering color. What colors will work best with a vaulted living room ceiling and a fireplace? How will the colors I consider interact with dark woodwork? Stained woodwork changes the way wall color works in a room, and most magazines show white. Huh. I want a lot of light, but I don't want white walls. You know, these are the kind of questions that I am wrestling with. Really deep stuff, right? :)

I'm subbing and I have some time on my hands. So I was playing with my google theme on my iGoogle page (you know you're guilty of the same occasionally), and I clicked on a beach theme. Normally I'm not into the beach, but when the homepage came up, the effect was a noticeable Calm. As I scrolled through various themes, I paid attention to the influece of the color. As much as I love red, it's loud and kindof abrupt. This turquoise color is really in, but it is busy. Maybe that would be a good color for the mud room. The living room should have a calm, easygoing feel to it. Green? Or maybe a warm, brown neutral? Something fun for the entryway, really welcoming. A blue?

We would like an arts and crafts feel for the house and plan to be consistent with our theme. I have a color palette that is suppose to go well with the wood colors of a craftsman house, so that is somewhat helpful. We'll see what happens. If you have any tips, I'm all ears.