I use myperfectcolor.com for a quick reference (have not tried sending for samples) but you have to be really careful since the browsers and computer screens will alter the paint colors. And I’ve noticed some big differences between what’s seen on the screen and the actual color.

But they do a nice job at giving you color combination ideas.

Thanks for call our attention to the site.

-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach

Since you have a mix of styles in your room anyway (and that’s okay), I would go ahead and paint the chair rail an off white. Ordinarily if you’re trying to make the room contemporary, we would remove the chair rail altogether so there is no hint of traditional style. But since you have a traditional table and it sounds like you’ve already painted (which would make removing the chair rail less than optimal), I would go ahead with the off-white. Just make it match the curtains so it doesn’t call too much attention to itself. That way, the painting will be the focal point and not the chair rail.

Hope that helps.

-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach

another question for you. With contemporary look now in mind, I am thinking a sage feature wall and maybe a taupe for the majority for the wall, to give the formal feel.

Does this sound okay with our dark chocolate furniture? what colour or style of tiles, would you suggest? And would a lighter coloured wood cabinets plus dark granite benchtop for kitchen work with this colour scheme.

I love the picture you have to shown for a peaceful room.
I have 5 children between 18months to 9 years. And I am ready to create a part of the house that is for me and my husband.

The sage sounds really nice especially against the dark wood. But if you’re replacing the floor, I would settle on that first and maybe even lay the tiles before finalizing the paint color for the rooms. The terracotta tile makes a wonderful but huge statement in a room and you may want to move to something more neutral for the walls and stay in the warm family of colors for the dining room. But sage does go terrifically with dark cherry and other dark wood so maybe in the kitchen.

Finalize the “bones” of the room first and then pull a paint color from that.

Hope that helps a little.

-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach

I have a lovely dark malaysian wood dining table with 8 cream leather chairs. Dark choc lounge set. With the furniture in mind, I am thinking sage blue/green walls, I am still questioning this. And the floor replaced with a terracotta orange/brown tiles.
I have little idea as to what to do with the kitchen. I wanted to replace cabinet doors and benchtop, maybe cherry wood and dark granite benchtop. the cherry red, oranges and sage are opposite eachother on the colour wheel, is this all too wrong?

You can always remove the chair rail — it tends to make the room quite colonial in style and that’s not what you’re trying to achieve. You can still paint two (or several) tones of grey in the room. They would be stripes instead of areas above and below the chair rail.

A really contemporary look is to paint wide horizontal stripes in three-five tones of grey moving up the wall. Or if that’s too much, you could do just two tones of grey (or one tone in different finishes) and make the stripes really wide. Like 18″ or more. The effect widens the room and since it’s quite unexpected to see the stripes going horizontally instead of vertically, it is very dramatic. Great for a dining room.

But after all that, if you want to keep the chair rail, it is fine to paint it the same color as the wall and it will go away on its own.

Hope that helps.

-Barbara
Your Home & Color Coach

I work closely with color psychology and find that certain colors can reduce stress. And; we all have stress today.