Paint color for a shady living room?

[juliahenry]

We want to repaint our dull and unpleasant looking living room. It's currently a pinkish off white, and the room faces north with porches/overhangs over all three windows so it never gets direct sunlight.

i know that the room should be painted a more intense color to offset the lack of natural light, but we don't know what color to choose.

our furniture is tan (PB "walnut" slipcovers on sofa, chair and ottoman), with one dark brown upholstered chair and a coffee table, end tables etc in cherry wood. There are some bronze accents (drawer pulls, trim, two lamps) and the throw cushions are dark brown and lighter blue. Rug is an old Persian with red, navy, blue, cream and hints of tan, floor underneath is cherry hardwood. 

any ideas re color? The three main colors you see when you walk into the room now are tan, red and cherry wood. I don't love these colors, but they are what we have to work with for now.

we would also be open to replacing the carpet if there's a color scheme that could work with the tan and cherry/wood tones that can't really be fixed now.

thanks for any suggestions!

[Deleted]

My Mom's LR sounds a lot like yours. She went with a tan/beige-ish purple. At first I was kind of like "WTH is that Mom?" but the more I see it, the more I love it. Other people also comment to her on how great it is. It's still neutral, still a color and it changes with the lighting throughout the day which is great for shady spots.

[kaylie]

Our family room is exactly like that and we went with BM Wythe Blue.

[magdala]

Do you want a cool feel? Go with a light blue that coordinates with the pillows.
Do you want a warm feel? Go with a sunny terra cotta shade that is opposite the blue. Being a warm color, the terra cotta would work with a warm red (if you have a warm red). If the red is a cooler red, try out several terra cotta shades to see which coordinates best.