Need Gray Paint Color Recommendations...

[lizzyann]

I am going to be painting my office/guest room a gray color. The room has one big window but does not catch that much light. I am going to be using Ikea's Blk/Brown Galant office furniture but will be doing white/gray bedding with teal as an accent color. I have white trim in my house. Any advice on a not too dark, not too light gray color. I definitely want it to show gray against my white trim. Here is my inspiration pic. I would be ok with the walls being a little darker. I would prefer to use Sherwin Williams or Behr paint as they are found locally. Thanks!!!

 

[vc10um]

The couple from YHL used two gorgeous colors from Benjamin Moore in their home...I'm sure you could get a color match.

Moonshine for a lighter shade, and Rockport Gray for darker. You can see them in action by going to their blog here.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I definitely don't have a great eye for this type of thing, but wanted to chime in because I also painted my bedroom a medium grey. I love the idea of pairing teal with grey. I ended up pairing an apple green with mine, mainly because the grey Pottery Barn curtains I ordered had thin apple green stripes.

I ended up using Benjamin Moore's coventry grey. It's definitely a medium grey and quite honestly, I feel like I live in a cement room.

I know you mentioned only wanting SW or Behr paint, but I just finished painting our living room using Farrow & Ball paint and I am a convert for life. The paint goes on like some sort of liquid magic. It doesn't bleed (the way my BM paint did), it aheres to the brush, but is so smooth to paint with. And the color? It's simply amazing. They use more pigment in their paint, so the color really is deeper and the finish is beautiful. I think F&B's Elephant's Breath would be perfect for a bedroom. I really wish I'd found this color before doing my bedroom in a medium grey BM color.

Attaching two photos--one is of Elephant's Breath and one is my cement-grey master bedroom

 

[kgizo]

Check out SW Passive, 7064. It's fairly light but enough to contrast with white trim.

 

[packrat]

Gah. Lost my post.

We have Silhouette in the basement w/white trim. It's super dark and dramatic. The bathroom up here is lighter, but still dark..I forget the name of it tho..they're both BM colors.

I follow this designers blog and love her style
http://www.mariakillam.com/2009/03/a-light-colour-will-never-come-to-life-in-a-dark-room.html/

We've painted a LOT. LOT. LOT. My husband insists the rooms are getting smaller-6 times in about the first 7 years we were married or so..The living room doesn't get a lot of light at all and we only use one little lamp. It didn't matter what color I painted it, it looked dirty/drab/blah. My parents are HUGE into every shade of off white there is w/every under tone-find the lightest color on the strip and cut it in half at least. They have a lot of light/windows, and we don't. It wasn't until we painted the living room burnt orange that I had an aha moment.

Found the bathroom color in my old bathroom thread here, it's BM Granite.

 

[lizzyann]

Wow! Thanks so much guys! I will write individual replies a bit later. I only have a couple minutes before picking my son up at school but I just wanted to ask NEL who carries that paint? It is gorgeous! And ask opinions about Behr "Anonymous" which is what I'm leanings toward. I found an example of it online here http://geekgirl707.com/tag/anonymous-paint-color-by-behr/

 

[imitcan]

Our powder room is done in Benjamin Moore's Metropolis. There is traditional creamy marble with grey veining on the floor and on the counter. Trim is cloud white. Love the grey. It is dark but not too intense and it is very classy and dramatic but still very conservative.
Good luck on choosing. Let us know which one you go with.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

The pretty gray on top is Farrow & Ball's Elephant Breath. The flat, cement-looking gray on bottom (in my bedroom) is Benjamin Moore's Coventry Gray. I don't hate the coventry gray, I just wish it had more depth of color the way Farrow & Ball paints do.

 

[lizzyann]

NEL, I looked up Farrow & Ball paint as I have never heard of it and the closest one to me is like an hour and a half east! You lucky Eastern Mass peeps get all the good stuff! I do love that color though and I see what you mean about depth of color. My only saving grace is that this is for an office/guest room so I am not as critical as I might be if it was for my master bedroom. What color bedding did you do in your master? Long time no talk, hope you and your little lady are ready for Spring to begin!

imitcan, I really like that Metropolis color! I may have to get some samples of that one too! Thanks!!! Any pics of your powder room by any chance?

VC10um, that rockport gray is a great shade too! Great blog too! I need to start following more that have similar taste to me as that was really helpful!

Packrat, thanks for showing me that blog on light and it's effects. That makes a lot of sense. I think that put me at ease and now I'm not afraid to do a darker shade like I originally wanted!

kgizo, thanks for the recommendation. That is a lovely color! Too many choices!

 

[Puppmom]

I recently painted our son's nursery grey. We used Martha Stewart's Driftwood Gray. I got a 50% mix to lighten it. It is a true gray - no real blue or reddish undertones. The red grays looked beige and the blues looked, well, blue!

Here's an idea of what it looks like.

ETA - in this pic the window frame is painted bright white but we hadn't yet repainted the baseboard and that's an off-white.

 

[texaskj]

Gray can be tricky. If you can stand the wait, the best thing to do is get samples and paint at least an 18-inch by 18-inch square on each wall. You'll be amazed how the colors will change depending on the time of day and lighting in the room. It took me six samples to get my kitchen/eating area and living room the colors I wanted.

 

[amc80]

Oh I have a great one! It's called Cinder. As in cinder block. I am pretty sure it's Behr. If not, it's from another brand at Home Depot.

 

[dani13]

Hi Lizzy!

I definitely can help you with gray paint color recc's!!! MH calls our house "50 Shade of Gray!!!" LOL
I have Repose by SW in our guest room- its a really pretty true light gray. I have Stonington Gray by BM in my master, its really lovely, but definitely has a bluish tint to it (at least in my room). Good luck- gray is the perfect color!!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Lizzyann, I'm so ready for spring--as I'm sure you can relate, keeping kids indoors all winter can make any parent go crazy!

I get our bedding from West Elm. I find most gray bedding is too blue, but West Elm's bedding is a true gray. And the lack of access to F&B's paint is a real pain. I had to order a couple of things through England and my debit card was declined because my bank suspected fraud, but then I ended up getting charged multiple times. I have a few gallons at home which will get me through a month's worth of painting projects, but I still have 8 gallons of paint to order.

 

[Ideal_Polish]

Not too light and not too dark, eh? I'd go with gray then. It's a nice blend of both.

Seriously though, I kinda like puppmom's color. Reminds me of 40% gray - the particular grey used in photography when taking proper exposure measurements. So I guess I'm kinda partial. I just had to comment on a post named Gray Color Recommendations...

 

[fabulousfindk]

Benjamin Moore also has a Nantucket gray I think it's called, that I've seen on several blogs and loved. It's the perfect neutral.