I had a great orange color in my living room. It was called terra cotta. I think it was a behr(spelling?) paint. It was a gamble that paid off. It was beautiful! I accented one wall with a med-light navy and the other 3 were orange, cream colored couch navy, sage and terra cotta pillows. and a throw rug that brought it all together.
It was really warm & comfortable....I miss that room.
Jami

A terra cotta would work well in your living room, as it's a rich earthy colour and goes well with exposed beams, but I'd strip those back to the wood grain again. It would work equally well in your office, but I wouldn't over use it or you'd have a very dark room. One wall would be ok though.

Depending on both your tastes for colour on the bedroom walls, a very deep rose pink would look wonderful with your wooden bed and the wood trims. It's also a warm colour and would highlight your woodwork nicely.

Our last house was painted a deep purple in the BR and although it was actually not a colour I personally would have chosen, it really looked good and after I decorated around it, I came to like it very much.

My personal choice for your living room would be the palest of apricots. It gives you your "orange" but wouldn't darken your room. I used it myself in our living room and did my highlights in a deep rose and believe it or not, they set each other off beautifully.

Another option would be a pale peppermint green in there, with a deeper coloured feature wall.

Just a few suggestions from one who has painted a lot but if you get stuck, my DIL is an interior decorator, and I could always ask her for you.

Earl - Another suggestion. A lot of places now sell samples of paint. I know Ace does for about $3. Pick a couple of colors that you like and paint a piece of cardboard or something you can hang/tape on the wall. Keep an eye on the colors through out the day.

I have a huge roll of canvas and we bought some pods - pale yellow and pumpkin spice. That pumpkin spice that DBF liked so much looked great mid morning but come evening it looked totally different - peachy and drab. The pale yellow that I liked looked dirty and dingy by evening time. The red that we chose looks great throughout the day and with the light natural wood baseboards it looks even better.

I agree with Koala about stripping the wood on the beams. It will give the ceiling an area of interest as well as blending in with the country decor and the beautiful oaks.

If it were my place, I would paint the smaller wall. It defines the living room area.

GREAT ADVICE everyone.

We plan on doing the master bedroom first, least furniture to move around. Laura brought home many paint swatches today, we are thinking of doing the bedroom a light orange, the den we want to Diamondback's colors (red, tan) and not sure on the main rooms yet.

I appreciate all your opinion's. Keep tuned to see before/after pictures. the painting hopefully will be at the end of the month.

Another project I want to do is wood trim out the fireplace and all windows. I grew up in the midwest and back in the 70's everything was WOOD, that's a whole other (more expensive) project.