i would paint only one wall with any of those darker / brighter colours, as an accent ; this way you risk less to get overwhelmed by it and start to hate it.
don't forget to think about the colour of the light where you live, because this will change the colour of the paint. in the north the light is probably quite blue, but if you will be in these rooms mostly at night you should take into account the colour from your lamps (depends on lightbulbs and lampshades). for instance, warm brown colours under blue light look like... what you said.
