How to choose interior paint colors?

How does one go about planning interior paint colors for an entire house all at once?  I know I have mentioned this before in an earlier post...but this question is still weighing me down.  I feel like I need to know exactly what color I am going to paint all 12 rooms+hallways in my 3300 sq ft house....and the sooner the better!  

After searching many great blogs, I did come across a great blog post at www.emilyaclark.com today.  She shared that sometimes using the various colors on a single paint strip would give a cohesive look to your whole house.  She used the same Sherwin Williams paint strip to paint all the rooms in her current house.

www.emilyaclark.com

I really like this idea!  It gives an overall color scheme that will definitely compliment room to room, while allowing other colors to be added with accesories.  I could then add additional color to the walls later, as I spend more time in the space.  I think this might really work, or atleast start me in the right direction.

I have really gravitated lately towards the color trend of Gray as a great neutral paint color.  I am SO over all white walls (1st house), and creamy yellow, burgundy, and sage green walls (2nd house).  My current home is creamy yellow with greens and blues.  This time around, I want a simple color scheme that remains flexible and lets pillows, art, and other accessories shine through.  Which brings me back to the many shades of Gray.  

I actually found a swatch of fabric today that I would love to use in my dining room someday, that would pull the Gray color together with my antique red transferware dishes.  I think this fabric would look amazing as floor to ceiling curtain panels in a room with soft, gray walls and white trim.  I like that this fabric has green in it, since that is another color I would like to use in the mudroom.

Arabella

I guess it is unrealistic to think that I would have the whole house figured out by now, but I really needed a place to start.  My mind is resting a little bit easier.

Has anyone else ever had to pick their paint colors for the whole house all at once?  Did you go with different colors, or stick with just one neutral color throughout?

I'm dreaming of a pantry...

I'm sure you have noticed by now, in previous photos, that there is a wall of pantry cabinets in the hallway by the back stairs and desk area. It is one of the many things that I fell in love with when we first walked through the house. My husband just wants to keep the existing built-in cabinets, however they are poorly constructed and have very random door sizes. I'm just not absolutely happy with them.  I could live with them, but will most likely regret not changing them while I have the chance.  Here's a picture of the pantry cabinets now:

What I'm picturing is something more uniform in size, and includes drawers as well as cabinets.  I want something that will look like it's original to the house.  Here are some examples of pantry storage that I really like:

www.houzz.com

www.bhg.com

Farmhouse Hall by Traverse City General Contractors MAC Custom Homes

I think that addition of drawers will help organize those "little" items that can get lost in pantry cupboards, such as seasoning packets, birthday candles, boxes of tea, bags of chopped nuts for baking, etc.  I can't even imagine filling up all that space, but I tell you...when all the kids are home...food goes fast around here.  Having all that space will help keep me stocked, organized, and ready for whatever family and friends come over.  Garry and I like to make homemade jams, and would like to start canning tomatoes.  I think we would have plenty of storage for those as well.

Are wishing you had more adequate pantry space?  Do you have pantry drawers and love them?  Do you have any tips on what would help keep a pantry organized?  Please share...I'd love to hear from you!