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Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design It is always best to paint a sample on poster board before you actually paint the walls. That way you can look at it day and night and think about it. As you mentioned, the Valspar Fireside came out brighter than you anticipated. In fact, I think you need to address that problem before starting on the living room. Or if you have learned to like the red, then I'd go for tan or taupe walls in the living room, not gray. Some designers say that gray goes with anything, but I'm not one of them.

I'd like you to look at Sherwin-Williams SW6120 Believable Buff and SW6106 Kilim Beige as possibilities for the living room, and even for the kitchen should you decide to repaint it. If you must try a gray, look at SW7036 Balanced Beige, which is a very taupey gray that I like a lot.

Consider an area rug to bring more color into your home, or some colorful art. You need a large accessory for your cocktail table. Perhaps a lacquered box would look canton decorative box there and be handy for storing your remotes. I don't know how large the one pictured below actually is, but it will give you an idea of what I mean. You could equally well use a large bowl and fill it with seasonal items. living room

houssaon Benjamin Moore's Shale is a nice light grey: Shale 861 by Benjamin Moore

Or Ow Gray, which is very light: Gray Owl OC-52 by Benjamin Moore

Northern Cliffs has a warm undertone that bridges grey and beige: Northern Cliffs 1536 Paint

Any of the these greys would work with the red and your sofa. Sample them.

olldbobbi I really like that red you painted in your kitchen, but not with your cabinets. I agree with Carolyn you should address that first.

I also think that beige is your best bet unless you plan to paint your cabinets.

Elise Go with a soft bluish toned gray and repeat some more red elements in art , patterned pillows and throw, etc... Then it will work. Remember gray is a cool color so red accents with the brown will warm it up.

felicia111 I love the paint in your kitchen very pretty. However, you have to take account the color of you furniture in you living room ask yourself, what color will make more since.

Manon Floreat I recommend painting the entire area in a warm and deep taupe color and accenting with a warm red on the kitchen bar or other area - if you are attached to the red, that is. The red you have is a blue red and I think an orange red would be more compatible temperature wise with your cabinets and furnishings. Take a look at Spanish Red by BM for an accent option:

Here's what it looks like:

Red Study

A few taupes to look into:

Taupe Fedora
taupe fedora CSP-260

Fairview Taupe
Benjamin Moore® Ben® Paint, Fairview Taupe HC-85

Texas lether
Texas Leather

Elise I like the gray owl sample best by Houssaon. Don't forget to bring gray into the kitchen as well. Stainless steel hardware on the cabinets to start, and then think about some soft gray and white glass pendants over the island bar area with black, gray, white, and red textiles for kitchen.

lefty47 HI - Even though the red is pretty it is not reading well for your kitchen. I think you need a lighter tone of a blue grey like Grey Mist and also" paint the pantry door" the wall color. Then have a more greyed down blue for the living room .See how nice the blue pillows look with the sofa , so a lighter tone of that only greyed down . Then you can have the red as an accent color.

Lindsey I was afraid of the comments I'd get about the kitchen. We made a mistake and bought the red without testing with the cabinets bc from the swatch we thought it would match. It looks a little better in person than the picture but we plan to keep it for now. My husband loves it.

Thanks for the opinions about the living room. I agree, the gray won't go as we'll as the beige. We've picked Valspar Tawny from sampling it and I think it will go well with the red. Just need to bring a couch cushion to put up against the wall bc we haven't moved into this house yet.

Opinions? Thanks in advance :)(first time home-buyer!)

olldbobbi On my monitor, the Tawny is reading green. Let's see what everyone else thinks.

Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design Yes, it looks green, but goes beautifully with the red, as it should since red and green are complementary colors. I think you should, however, go a shade lighter.

felicia111 I think a yellow will go very well too.

Sherry Mau I painted my living/dining/kitchen(its open concept, so they all connect without any walls) revere pewter by BM. depending on the lighting it comes across as gray, beige, and sometimes even looks white. I really love the color. I actually did what everybody suggested, I painted a whole lot of colors on the walls before deciding on a color.

Natalie Noooo do not use beige or tan. All your colors are warm and hot, you need some cool in there to balance. Your kitchen color is fine-leave it! I like Texas Leather Manon suggested-but it might have a purplish understone when next to the sofa and carpet-do check into it though- I suggest a gray with a blue undertone... Try SW 7074 Software and SW 7067 Cityscape. Add interest to your kitchen so the focus is taken off of the red walls---a wallpaper backsplash in a fun (attached photo) retro print would certainly kick it up a notch. Have fun and I hope this info is helpful to you. Good Luck!
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Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design Well, as you can tell from reading answers from several houzzers, we don't always agree. But if you pick up paint chips of all the colors that have been recommended, you can then study them at home and narrow your choices down to 2 or 3. Then you can buy actual paint samples of these colors and paint large samples of them on poster board. Tape the samples up in various parts of the room and see what looks best with your furniture in your very own room.

Lindsey The finished product! Looks great with the red...the lighting in this picture begs to differ but in person it's fantastic! Very happy with this choice.

Deborah Butler, Brickwood Builders Looks nice. What color did you end up with?

Lindsey Valspar Tawny in satin finish

Paradise Restored Landscaping & Exterior Design You glow girl! Looks nice - now add the huge bowl with accents to the coffee table as Carolyn suggested!

Lindsey Oh yes, thanks for the reminder bc I have a huge bowl!! We just moved in yesterday so haven't hung up pictures or upacked everything yet!

Elise Beautiful paint color!