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i'm repaint my house, and need a great tan color. no wonky undertones....my color scheme is chocolate brown, cream, and accents of blue and/or aqua. can anyone suggest a color that would work for me? i want a light color of tan, trying to lighten up my rooms.

The only way to find the right tan is to test the color in your own home. Go and look at the color samples in a paint store and pick a couple you really like. Buy a sample pot of each color. Paint the sample on large white poster boards. When the samples are dry tape them to you wall and observe them at different times of the day and the night. Color can look radically different in daylight vs. night light. That is absolutely the only way to get color right. And a color that looks great in your friends house can look terrible in your house because of the difference in light. Again, testing is the only reliable way to choose color.

What Cocok said.
I might also add one other consideration. Most of the time chocolate brown has red in it and many times tan will have yellow in it's undertones. If you are trying to lighten up your rooms, have you considered off white?

I agree with the advice to find a few you like and view them on a test board under the varied lighting conditions of your home. Only then will you be able to determine if one works for you.

I also frequently advise that you draw scheme inspiration from a print such as a rug, an upholstered chair, a pillow, art or window treatment. If you currently have a print in this space, match chips to the tan found in the print. Again, a test board sample is highly advised. Once found, decide on which value of th e tan on a given chip works best for your specific area.

What about that cream you have present as an option?

The interior? I like BM's color selection best, especially the historical colors. I find it useful to choose some color options and then look up real life photos of those colors online in real rooms too. Not just from the paint company's website.

I have used Benjamin Moore's Stone house. It's a great tan color!!

i have many paint chips here, but the selection is daunting! i recently saw in a magazine where a designer was talking about the perfect tan...with no green, pink, etc. undertones. she said this was the only tan she used. well, of cours, now i can't find it 2 weeks later.

i will check out the b.m. stone house

Oh, there is no one "perfect tan". Just don't believe that.

One way to pare down the paint ships is to simply play "elimination". Put out two chips. Which one do you like better? (just do it quick) Toss the one you like better in the keep pile. Then take two more chips. Pick the one you like better. Etc. Keep eliminating until you have three or four really good contenders, and then get samples made up of those and test them.

Sherwin Williams #7527 Nantucket Dune. It's a clean, light tan that doesn't have yellow, pink, green, or grey undertones in any light (in my house anyway). I found it after buying/testing about 15 mini jars of tan paint. Love it!!

BM Powell Buff