Green,green,green

.........I'm not talking about the term for eco-friendly products but the actual color.  Green is considered a neutral color by the color institute.  So forget the days of painting your home beiges, tans, creams, with the thought that later these colors will make the home more appealing if you were to sale it.  Go for a shade of green! 
To keep up to date on the latest color trends check out the Pantone Color Institute website:
http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/index.aspx

I receive the Better Homes and Gardens magazine each month and they always have a decorating color theme mentioned in each issue with coordinating paint manufacturers and numbers.  Check out their color choosing guides on the website below:
http://www.bhg.com/decorating/color/choosing/

Add chair rail to break up tall ceilings

 In this picture you see a bare white wall dining room space with new dining room table.  For most this is the reality these days when you purchase a home.  If the home's previous owner was afraid of putting color on the walls.  This narrow yet tall space (20' ceiling ht) might scare some from taking on the painting themselves.  Yes you could hire a professional to paint the entire room floor to ceiling with a warmer color but how do you make the space more intimate and cozy?  A chair rail at 30"-33" around the room can draw the eye down within the space.  Don't stop there consider a darker color on the bottom of the chair rail to ground the room and give it weight while painting a lighter shade above.  If you are doing this yourself you can elect to use a laser level to create a nice straight line to stop the upper paint color at a convenient 8-9' above the floor.  If you may be hiring someone at a later date to continue this color to the ceiling make sure to purchase enough paint ; )

This is the after picture.