My house had the same 'landlord beige' on every wall, ceiling, molding, door, even the carpet and tile matched it. Drove me nuts for 2 years then I snapped and went all semi-gloss white on the walls and molding. HUGE difference in how everything else looked...the carpet became bearable, I sort of liked the ceilings a bit off color from the walls, furniture and art popped out more, light bounced around more. So basically, I'd try a simple white first.

Hi Tara! My apt also had the same drab beige walls before I moved in. After I bought it, I decided to experiment with some colors without going too overboard, and it sounds like we might have similar tastes in color. I went with a cool light grey (Behr Manhattan Mist) in the living room with blue accents, and a warm sandy color (Behr Oat Cake) in the bedroom with mossy green accents. For the moldings and doors, I used a clean white (Behr Ultra Pure White). After having painted a few times, I would recommend an eggshell finish on the walls because it creates a softer ambiance, and I would use either semi-gloss or satin finish on the doors and moldings to make them pop a little more. (Plus, people tend to touch doors and moldings more often than walls, and fingerprints are easier to clean off paint that has a bit of sheen to it.)

With your space, I think you can have some fun by accenting one wall in a different hue than the other 3 walls, either with a complimenting color or a color in the same family that is brighter or darker than the base. And white on your moldings would be a great way to finish, but I must warn you that painting those moldings are extremely time-consuming! (Took me much longer to paint the moldings than to put 2 coats on the walls.)

A great site to experiment with color combinations is Behr's color smart. They have "mock" rooms that you can throw paint on to see how it would look, or you could even upload a picture of your own. (BTW I'm not endorsing that particular brand of paint or anything, I just so happened to use it because I bought my paint at Home Depot and the prices were right.) http://www.behr.com/behrx/colorsmart/main.jsp

Good Luck!

pistachio

Since the question seemed to be about wall paint color, I'll answer that!

I second Alan's pistachio (but pale) or a pale clear apple green, or a pale Robin's Egg (with the tiniest touch of green in it)

a mellow yellow or sunshine yellow. it lifts my spirit and gives me energy in my home. I like Behr's line. They have a simultated room software on their site, check it out.

My living room was also painted a dreary beige until last week. That's when I painted it a warmer color: Benjamin Moore's Aura paint in "Safari". That particular blend of paint is pretty pricey ($50 a bucket), so to save a little money I suggest you go for "Oklahoma Wheat" in their less expensive lines. It's virtually the exact same color. And what a great color it is: warm and friendly and happy. It has made an enormous difference in the feel of our room. It's 100 times more inviting now.

Just wanted to thank everyone for your suggestions and ideas. I esp. appreciate the specificity of some of the posts: exact color names, finishes, etc. are so helpful! All my fears and hopes were touched upon (a bit dramatic but true): that molding will take a long time to paint, as mc509 writes; that I am a a bit of a colorphobe, as Lisa implicitly suggests in her observation of my abundance of beige furnishings; that its okay to want to just paint it all white as a sorta blank slate, which I have been tempted to do and which donald suggests, but which I thought was a color cop out, etc. And I love the range of suggestions...I'll be sure to post when I'm done!

Oh, that doesn't mean that I AM painting it all white...of course I'll be hemming and hawing for a while, so please suggest more! ;)

A very light green-blue from Farrow and Ball.

Having had recent experience living in a dark place with few windows, I'll throw in my two-cents. Warmer colors seem to feel happier and more cheerful. I like green/grey/blues myself but when I tried those colors in the space they were uncomfortable to live with. Yellow in a clear, soft shade like Behrs bananna cream seemed to work extremely well. Also try (if you like it) warm reds...the tomatoe-y kind, not the raspberry hues. Even tho' the reds are dark they give a cozy, welcoming feel to the room and are cheerful to live with. Since you do a lot of just passing through the room each day the drama wont be overwhelming.
Sara

My favorite is Ben Moore's Weston Wheat --it's like a butter yellow. Very warm and friendly without being too yellow (lemon) or too boring (beige). It's also fairly neutral. Definitely paint the moldings (and yes, it will take forever). I prefer linen white (also Ben Moore).

A granny smith apple color, as suggested above, would look good, too. Consider using that tablecloth (right corner of first pic) for inspiration (apple green, light blue, cobalt), if those are the colors that make you smile.

i'm glad you posted this, as i'm renovating a fixer-upper in brooklyn and am almost to the point where i get to select colors and i am paralyzed with options!

i'm a bit beyond this point:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/painting-fixing-repair/ny-good-questions-what-should-i-do-with-my-wood-floors-039868

but not much!

From a completely different perspective -- a distinctly yellow-based pink (not sweet pastel pink, not coral) would help the furniture blend into the walls and do wonders to make the room seem sunlit.

You ARE asking (and getting it writing) your landlord's permission to paint aren't you? A good friend paint his apartment and the landlord sued him for damages. Charged to have a professional painter repaint and for the month of lost rent. (wasn't cheap).

Hollis - she owns the place (first sentence). So she's fine and Tara I say you can easily pick your favourite colour, and find a warm and very light shade of it! I don't suggest white, but that's because I have lived in countless Landlord Beige/White apartments and I don't feel that they feel different. In the landlord paint framework, I do however prefer white but i still associate both colours with no personality. Of course furnishings make all the difference but BOO to white and beige i say!

If your looking for a large selection of color samples to help you. Try www.aurasample.com they make 20"x20" color samples in any Benjamin Moore paint Color and ship it to your home.

I enjoyed not having to paint my wall 6 times and then have to cover it up.