Help! Accent color with putty? (paint, dining room, walls, white)

[pory]

Just purchased a resale home. Am painting the walls a putty color, like the color on the right side wall:



I have pot shelves in the master bedroom and living/dining room. I'm thinking of painting behind the shelves a unique color, but am torn what might go with it?? Needs to be a darker, bolder color I guess? And would it even look right to do?

p.s. With the white walls, is a primer necessary?

Thanks!

Here is the area behind the pot shelves in living/dining room:

[kaykay]

Hope I'm not being too blunt, but I prefer the color on the other wall, the color with less "yellow" tones in it. But that's just me, and that's not what you asked about. Regarding the shelves, you could paint behind them a darker brown, like a deep chocolate or leave them the same color, but again, I would go with a brown/beige with less yellow tones. Someone else might tell you the exact opposite though!

I don't know about the primer.