So Karly has talked me into going light and bright for the cavernous, north facing family room, and dark and cozy for the smaller south facing rooms. I'm feeling good about my dark and cozy color picks, but super skittish about picking a white -- the subtle differences are so much harder to see when the color is barely there. That's where you come in. Meet the contenders:

Up first is Sander's first string pick (did I just use a sports metaphor? who the eff am I???): Collector's Item.

Yes, I know. It looks baby pink, which is very unsportsmanlike. On the wall it looks... less baby pink. Jeffrey Bilhuber calls it "almost blush." Ahem.

In the picture it looks straight up white. That's because photos LIE.

Up second is another Sanders pick: Farrow and Ball's White Tie. This is decidedly more yellow in real life, so much so that I wonder why I even bother posting swatches online. This whole process would be a lot easier if y'all could come to my house and look at the stupid paint on the wall already.

Here it is in action:

So, what do you think? I'd say that Collector's Item has a little something more going on, but most of what it has going on is pink. Meanwhile, White Tie is a no fail choice, but is it too country trad?

In case you were wondering (and too damn bad if you weren't), I'm looking at Hague Blue and Pashmina (it really is a gorgeous, complex color) for my other major neutrals. That's right -- I just called Hague Blue a neutral. Because it is. Just ask Tandy -- she has a similar color in her living room.