While we didn't slave ourselves to any specific set, but we did pay very close attention to sets of colors that designers and paint manufacturers present on their websites. For example, this is from Benjamin Moore:
We didn't put two colors in the same room, but with an open plan like ours, colors are going to come into contact with each other, so that makes it even more important that colors are compatible in this way.
And going from pale colors and off-whites to this kind of bold color scheme was like Dorothy walking out of her famliy's drab farmhouse and stepping into the bright, cheery Munchkinland, in the Wizard of Oz.
We actually just repainted our entire home after loads of water damage this past winter. We didn't change the color scheme much, actually - it was already pretty close to what you see in the photo above. What we did do, since we had the opportunity given that we had to repaint after the damage, was take each color a little bolder.
We actually went with something very close to the red and yellow in that photo, above, but instead of the blue, we opted for a deeper blue-green, to match our hearth.
Anyway, the point isn't to go with those colors, but rather to exploit the good work done by folks who are experts in putting together attractive and appealing color combinations. We're not alone.
I agree with the comment earlier that stark white baseboards and trim make a very big difference!
