Just as an aside,
I'll throw in my 2 cents about the dept. store
strategy of neutral walls--
The stores I have been involved in opening in the past usually ranged in the 250,000 sq. ft. size and the colors selected were very neutral.
The reason being was primarily because those types of stores move a tremendous amount of merch through in a very short window of time.
Even while the merch was "live" (on the floor), it would usually move within the dept. every couple of weeks.
New merch was always front and forward,
2nd newest merch was always rotated to the back wall. There was no WAY a store of that volume could be repainting walls to reflect the trends.
However, "trend" colors were prominant and rotated 4 times a year through the use of a store wide "trim". The color palette would change dramatically to reflect the hottest trends in fashion and home decor colors and style. This was managed by silkscreened banners, fabric covered wall panels, valance trim, floral arrangements, etc....
These colors would also be relected within the advertising and marketing materials for that quarter.
I would have loved to be able to paint walls in the stores, but there was also two other reasons:
1) Painters Unions. by the time you put in a requisition and go through the necessary steps, the trend was over.
2) This allowed a more professional, consistent look to the stores. Believe me when I say that there were/are visual managers that you do NOT want having a liscense to paint walls at their whim.
Having said all of that, I love the fact that I can now change my wall colors whenever I want. We work closely w/ interior designers and try to reflect what is trending on the walls of higher end homes. It certainly helps to sell artwork when they can "see" what it would look like on their walls. (As long as there is a "flow" to the colors and you would certainly want a mix of neutral and accent colors)
All of our businesses are so different that it is really hard to say what will work for whom.
It is truly a case by case scenerio and much more complex than a blanket statement.
Now, a handy website for color planning (and they have a WEALTH of info that can be tapped for our stores)is
www.pantone.com
I highly recommend putting this website in your "favorites" list.