apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This color rocks!!! I was looking at some C2 color that looks just like this (blue-green) for the stairway up to my apartment. I'm glad I can use a Ben Moore paint now instead of the more expensive C2 paint to get the same "ever-changing" effect! I know the Martha colors has a great green-gold-dusty-gray one that also gives such warmth and luster. Colors that change in the light so drastically are really wonderful choices for small spaces to add tons of dimension and give your space a different mood throughout the day and night.

LUNA! Luna was the C2 color I was looking at for the same effect. It looks like your morning photo and your slightly more green shade combined. I love those shades of blue and green together like that. Not too turquoise, not to dark and oppressive. Just right in inspiring creativity, yet creating calming moods. It evokes such a long-ago sweet sanctuary feeling in me and feels a little Japanese, too. Just beautiful.

QUESTION:
I love this color! Is it the sort of color that needs light? (I'm looking for a color that will hide dirt and which will work in an apartment that gets little sunlight.)

There's a Benjamin Moore color, Gray Cashmere, that is much paler but does the exact same thing(good for your poorly lit apartment, Terry). We've lived with it for two years and it's amazing--soft and calm, looks mostly like a subtle pale blue but can look gray, green, or off-white, depending on the light. It's terrific with Navajo White trim and looks equally good in our high-ceilinged, skylit bedroom and our infant son's tiny, single-windowed nursery.

Yay!! Multiple pics!

BB...What colors did you accent with in you Gray Cashmere bedroom?

CC, the bedroom's mostly warm woods (cherry and teak) and white (linens, trim, desk). There's a red throw on a chair.

Ditto on the Yay for multiple pics!

You guys know that you can bring in any kind of paint swatch to stores like Home Depot and Lowes and they will match the color and the paint will cost A LOT less, right?

Meagan, you're right that Home Depot will TRY to match the color for you, but the cheaper, lower quality paint will never produce the same coverage and depth and luster as the real deal. It's a great option if you're on a tight budget. But even expensive paint is so cheap (compared to, oh, I dunno, granite countertops for example) that I tend to just go for the gusto and get exactly the look I want on my walls. Since my budget doesn't exactly allow me to do that with every other piece in my house, I feel I'm due a little paint splurge now and then.

I'd love to hear suggestions for more colors that change in different light like this!

Is there a lighter shade of this knoxville gray that would behave similarly in terms of the color changing? Love the blue gray look but I feel that this shade is just too dark for my room.

Thanks

A B: I used a Benj. Moore color called "Sea Haze" (I think)in a dining room, and it does the same thing--looks blue-grey in natural light in the morning, green-grey in lamplight in the evening, and sometimes grey-grey, but it lighter and less saturated. Be forewarned--it looks unattractive on the color card. I used a color I believe was called "November Rain" for the trim, which does not look white on the card but which reads as a nice soft white against the walls.

Awesome color - we have used in two different rooms - it is just the coolest color. Glad to see it elsewhere......

T&E

Another A B, thanks for the recommendation. I admire the fact that although it didn't look great on the color card, you had the bravery to go through with it anyway! Sounds good to me -- I'll probably try to pick up some for a test patch.

Dear BB:

Thanks for the recommendation. Gray Cashmere, eh?

I didn't post the question correctly, though. My poorly lit apartment has beige and white furniture, tapestries that are mostly green, and antique gilt furniture.

I put some bright, sunny yellow into the mix in the form of a tablecloth and it works to make the place cheerier.

So, any suggestions? I think I need a color that doesn't turn to blue, but that will go from gray to green or such. Or else something that will really go with beige, white and sun yellow. And it needs to hide the dirt.

Any help out there?

PS on the cry for help.

I'm trying to achieve something very calming in my place. Also, I like the idea of making a sort of indoor garden.

Terry,
Try Benjamin Moore Berkshire beige (darker) or coastal fog (lighter) or Pratt and Lambert Moselle.

Thank you, Susan.

Hey Susan: I love the coastal fog and also found one called "camouflage" which might work. Thanks so much!

I've used coastal fog in a couple of different rooms. I first saw it in a friend's living room and loved it there because the color was subtle but interesting and really did look gray/green/brown depending on the light However, if your room gets a lot of light, it might just look "beige" so I'd advise trying it out before you paint the whole room. I didn't follow my own advice and painted a small bright bedroom ---and it is kind of boring there...

Hey Susan:
What color does coastal fog tend to go without much light?
Thanks,
Terry

PS: Do you have any pictures?

Mark Chamberlain and bb, many thanks to you both...you have no idea how well-timed your post and reply were! I had needed to come up with a color choice by Friday the 30th, and had been struggling with it for a couple of weeks. I'm about 85% done painting my entire (albeit tiny) apartment in this color, and could not be happier. It has made my apartment seem much brighter and calmer, and I love seeing its subtle changes throughout the day.

BTW, there is a nice photo of the color here:
http://www.southernliving.com/southern/homes/resources/article/0,13676,1193209,00.html

Terry,
Hmmm. I'm not too good at this but I would say coastal fog looks khaki without a lot of light. If you go to the Benjamin Moore site you can use their "personal color viewer" to check out different colors in different rooms.

we have coastal fog in a foyer without any direct light and it comes off dark and rich. definitely do not see any beige or green in it.
huntington beige is another great choice color variation. it looks like taupe, green, and gray - practically everything except beige, come to think of it.

I think it's important to note that colors will look quite different in various spaces, depending upon the light source (northern/southern exposure), indoor lighting (fluorescents, incandescent, full-spectrum), and what color you have adjacent to it. So, a color that might look just fabulous in one person's house could completely fall flat in yours. You can order larger paint chips from both BM and SW to get a better idea of the colors. As a color consultant, I always suggest my clients paint a 2x2' test board with the color before committing to it for their room. That way, they can see how the color changes throughout the day, as the lighting changes.

Terry -
I've got a Fine Paints of Europe Martha color called Sargeant's Trail in my dining room, just off the bright sunny yellow kitchen.
It's a grey green and changes all day long...expensive paint but terrific color.

I'm a bit confused -- the first image, the color on the business card (that great bluish greenish gray) -- that color was manipulated in Photoshop. Is the "real" color the more muted grey in the following images?

I am looking for a color similar to the first image, but if Knoxville Grey is not the best choice, I'd love to find a better one. Any suggestions?

I love the idea of a shifting color for my bedroom (which is on the larger side, with a number of windows on three walls).

Thanks so much!

Try Benjamin Moore's Buckland Blue...that's what I thought you had used on the first picture. I think you will be quite surprised how full bodied and intense, yet easy it is to live with.

To the question of a changing-color-gray-green: Having purchased a small fortune's worth of these colors to try as samples, I picked BM Richmond Gray. It is similar to Camouflage, but has a bit more green, so draws out the warm tones of my bamboo cabinets in the most wonderful way. Also looks delicious with deep greens (BM jalepeno pepper) and with burnt orange (BM bronze tone)-for a very retro affect.