I'm about to be quoted in a certain issue of a certain magazine about the uses of gray for interiors. Without scooping any exclusives, I thought I'd share some more detailed thoughts here and rewrite my notes and can also we can do the thumbs down-up thing where readers trump my suggestions. I'm all ears.
For starters, I always prefer gray in it's lighter shades to beige, linen or cameo. It's classy, urban, and ever so slightly reserved--as Diana Vreeland would say,"Elagance is refusal." It can match a variety of styles from contemporary to Mid-Century,or the style of a European salon with panel molding. When choosing a gray you shouldn't think service elevator or dumpster, you should think town house on the Upper East Side. But you have to pick the right one.
I prefer a warm gray, like a wet sidewalk or a Boucher ink wash. I personally find the sweatshirt grays less useful, though they have their place in the world. And what i really love is when gray gets dark and becomes a color, not like orange, but something that makes it's point yet still holds back enough so that you can hold a conversation. If you were to collect together the color chips I'm about to suggest, you'll see that gray can have a variety of shades, hues and undertones, and doesn't necessarily look like a tenement building. Let's be egalitarian and go by paint brand.
Benjamin Moore
I've enjoyed Dior Gray as a medium value, Titanium for lighter tone.
Also, dig around the mid number 1400s-1500s in the classic deck, or the historic colors. they have plenty of nuance to match every swatch you have.
Ralph Lauren
Try Tudric Pewter, Indian Rhubarb, Natural Gray, Bleeker, Cove Point.
I espcially like his rich darker tones, if you can look at the RL nomenclature with a wry smile and a shake of the head. Variety of values and undertones, and his pallette is very precise. Re Bleeker or Indian Rhubarb--go on, give yourself permission.
Farrow&Ball
Try Blackened, Cornfirth, or Pavillion for soft rooms; French Gray, Blue Gray or Pidgeon for unbelievably sophisticated rooms in historic colors that work to contemporary advantage. Restricted set of 132 colors means they've done all the thinking for you.
Fine Paints of Europe
Run, don't walk, to FPE for the Mt Vernon Collection, which has a set of historic colors that will knock your socks off, especially their verdigris, ochre and grey. Too many to choose from, go nuts and let us know.
- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter
Image: RLW Cabin
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I used Martha Stweart's "muslin" a number of years ago, not sure if it's still available. Although it reads more as a white alone, I painted the trim "blossom white" which really brought out the gray-ness of it.
I learned quite a bit from Maria Killiam's post, "What Everyone Should know about Gray". I highly recommend.
http://colourmehappyblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-everyone-should-know-about-gray.html
I like "blindfold" from valspar. It turned out this to be this really pretty dark gray and works wonderfully in my bedroom. It goes well with everything!
I cannot be happier with Ralph Lauren paint color Moonlight. Its warm med. grey that works wonderfully with almost every color except some shades of greens do not work. Honestly, I do like Benjamin Moore paint better and would of matched this color if I had to do it over again.
My biggest grey paint mistake was painting my guest room BM Sidewalk Grey, it has too much purple in it so it looks like an odd lavender/blue.
This advice is fine and dandy- right up until the moment that Upper East Siders collectively decide that Dumpster or Tenement Gray is all the rage.
Just painted my entire place in Ben Moore 1611, Graytint. It's on the lighter side, from the blue branch of the grey family (but just barely, and it's not cold feeling). Reacts to light in different ways throughout the day. Nice counterpoint to ebonized oak floor (which is very dark brown). Beautifully sets off Neapolitan patterned Plyboo in the kitchen too. Needed a darker grey for metal frame chair paint job, found another Ben Moore (Affinity collection), Cinder (AF-705), super dark and lovely, neither blue nor brown (whoda thunk). Also found a wonderful textile that I am having all my furniture redone in, Duralee 36068 in color 248 (link: http://duralee.com/fabrics/product.php?pattern_id=18744)
I am loving the cool neutrality of an all grey living space, it makes my art the hero and makes me feel serene. Pops of color are next....
I am a big fan of gray! My living room is gray. I had a dinner party and overheard that date of a guest saying "I didn't know gray could be so sophisticated!" This made me smile....
I think the key not allowing the gray to look to flat. Different textures/ finishes/etc.
Based on a house tour I saw on AT, I painted my bedroom Sherwin Williams' mega greige. It's a warm grey that reminds me of felt or cashmere on the wall. Works well with browns or greys. It seemed scary dark when I did the first test swatch but it's not, it's really perfect!
porpoise by behr (home depot) is, for me, the perfect dove gray color. almost the entire interior of my home is this color aside from 2 charcoal walls - one in my livingroom and one in my kitchen. love love love gray! and will def check out many of the grays mentioned in the other comments. :o)
It's all about context (lighting and surrounding colors). Have used warm grays and cooler grays successfully and been happy with both. Currently using cooler grays with natural accents -- working beautifully (Benjamin Moore's Steel Wool against reddish wood kitchen cabinets, stainless steel appliances and iced cube silver with off-white and sisal).
Here's something I've never seen discussed in a 'gray' post: when your home is full of warm wood tones (cherry, maple) and natural stone (slate, granite), it's easy to want to go with walnut-toned brown or a warm white on the walls. I see it time and time again where these are common materials and paint combinations where I live.
I hired a designer for a color consult to help me pick out the right shade of brown.... and to my surprise she said (paraphrasing):
"The reason why you're not finding the right shade of brown is because brown is the wrong color! With all these warm tones (cherry, maple, brown, ochre, rust, taupe), you need to cool things off a bit and add contrast with a pale gray. Suddenly you'll get the harmony you want between your cabinets, floors, and countertops. The gray will be the neutral foil. In this space, brown just competes or argues with all these great surfaces."
She's right!!!
I've been trying to decide on a paint color for the longest! I really want gray, but feel lost because our sofa is sort of a yellow-green tweed - Crate & Barrel Camden sofa in Olive.
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/furniture/sofas/camden-80%22-sofa/s677739
The wood floors are kind of mid reddish/yellow/orange, and the wood pieces are warm darker tones as well.
We had warm mustard walls in our last place, and it looked great, but I really wanted gray this time. There are two windows w/ eastern exposure, but we don't get a huge amount of light. I don't want to go too dark because the husband is afraid it will look like a cave.
Help!
i loooooooooove grey. the best grey in my house is BM nimbus; the worst mistake was BM shoreline--it reads purple.
I like certain grays in others' homes but not a fan of living with it. I know, gray is everywhere right now but I live in a northern climate and grey isn't the happiest color when you're dealing with months on end with little daylight.
I LUV GRAY! I PAINTED MY BATHROOM DIOR GRAY BY BENJAMIN MOORE. I WANTED IT TO BE GLOSSY/MASCULINE/SEXY WITH MY HORN TILES IN MY SHOWER AND FLOOR IN BLK,CREAMS AND WARM BRNS. I ALSO CHOSE A GRAY FOR MY BEDROOM SUGGESTED BY TOM FORD...GREY HEARTH BY GLIDDEN PAINTS.
Went grey 4 years ago and never looked back!
I painted a 2 level stairway Ralph Lauren Urban Loft Lamp Room Grey. A really nice grey but in hindsight I could have gone darker. Really nice quality paint though. Too bad Home Depot stopped selling it.
I am almost done repainting my entire house. I did mostly grays and a few creams on the walls. My favorite color is Timidity by Pratt and Lambert. It looks like a soft gray most of the time but at certain times of day it looks tan and at other times it looks green. It is discontinued but my local dealer still had the formula.
I used to be afraid of pale grays because I was convinced they'd just look like dingy white. I took a leap of faith and painted my kitchen BM Balboa Mist, and it's excellent. It's sort of the color of black tea when you accidentally pour too much milk into it. Warm but not frowny, crisp without being chilly. I'm going to use it in the living room too.
Hi Taun,
Can you pass on the formula for Pratt & Lamberts Timidity. Here in Australia and am a fan of Thomas O'brians work. I believe it is something of a signature colour for him.
Thanks from Oz
Oooh. My knight in shining armor, this is. I found this so useful that I just added a post for visual reference on the ones suggested above. Thanks again, everyone :)
HELP!! I've bought so many samples of gray that I could have painted my bedroom twice! I have a small bedroom with minimal light. I want to pair it with bright crisp whites and peacock teal accents. I tend to lean toward darker grays like Valspars Mark Twain's house Ombra. I just want to find a gray with no undertones. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.