apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Forde Abbey is my favorite grey but it's from ralph lauren. but it's awesome! my good friend and my boyfriend used it in their bedroom and living rooms respectively and it's a lovely rich fairly dark grey. It was also featured in a recent Domino color palette article.

This I'll jump in for -- the BEST grey ever is Benajamin Moore's Stonington Gray. It's a light and neutral grey -- not blueish, not greenish, not purplish -- very clean, a perfect contrast to bright white. A really great color.

My place is 5 colors of BM grey. From darkest to lightest, Graphite, Gunmetal, Hearthstone, Timberwolf, and Silver Lake. Click my name for some pics.

Our house is painted in Moonshine and Gray Horse. Both are beautiful grays with green undertones. Gray Horse is rich and peaceful, and works best in larger rooms with plenty of light.

I used the siberian snowflake for my dining area and to be honest, I can hardly distinguish it from the surrounding white walls. I would go with something darker.

Benjamin Moore's Iced Cube Silver is a pale gray that takes on a bluish tone in certain lights. You would never know from the paint chip what a beautiful, versatile color it is.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for a grey with purple undertones?

i used benjamin moore's adagio for my bedroom, having first tried a lighter shade and realizing that it just didn't register. i wanted something that would be like a velvet jewelry background. i love it. it's so soothing, but not too dark, and my furniture and art really pops on it.

I used gosling by Pratt&Lambert, gray with a blue tinge, looks almost lavendar in some lights. Always get loads of compliments

I have just painted my living room Benjamin Moore's Cement Gray. I am so thrilled with it, I can't even begin to tell you how great it is. It is a clean, crisp, soft gray that looks fabulous in the day or evening.

And Megan, at night it has a subtle lavendar tone that I think is made more so from the blue type "real light" lightbulb I just put in a nearby lamp. I can't remember what those bulbs are called.

This gray is so serene yet sophisticated that I think I'm going to do my bedroom in it as well.

I repainted a year ago with BM Sidewalk Grey (2133-50). It's a light to medium neutral grey. No overtones of any other color. It's also very nice with white window trim. Best of Luck!

pdx brooke,
You mean full spectrum? Those actually have more accurate color rendering. We're probably just so used to the yellow/green of most lighting that "daylight" looks blue.

Anna,
I just did a search to find out what I was talking about - bulbwise... and they are GE brand "Reveal" bulbs. And yes, they are considered the full spectrum type of light. The light bulbs themselves are a bluish tint.

Anyway, they really have a nice effect at night on my Ben Moore Cement Gray walls.

I paint professionally and I just painted a bedroom with BM Silver Satin and it looked fantastic. Light, airy and clean, not drab, and did not bring down the room. Also did the living room (in same space) in BM Balboa Mist and that was nice as well, altho a tad darker than the Silver Satin. They are colors OC-26 and OC-27, right next to each other on the color chip.
I've used BM Iced Cube Silver (mentioned above) on a ceiling and for me it was more bluish than I thought it would be.
And BM Wickham Gray I would not recommend for interiors; it's too drab.
If you want an EXTREMELY subtle gray (really an off-white), try Pratt & Lambert's Seed Pearl.

A FURTHER QUESTION:

I've been considering gray for my living room so that the dirt doesn't show. (I've had BM Super White in every apartment I've lived in here in NYC; this apartment is the only one in which the white turns to dirt color within 14 months.)

Any suggestions? Will gray work? A light taupe?

I'll have to second PDX Brooke on the BM Cement Grey. In our last place we painted it on a wall behind our rosewood vanity, found there was just enough red/pink in the grey to pick up on the red tones in the wood and really make it 'pop'.

A few general notes on paint - I definately recommend getting the biggest samples you can get from the paint folks and bringing them home. Just because any of us recommend a color doesn't mean it'll work for you - with *your* furniture and lighting and floors... The best thing to do is tape the paint swatches on the wall and "live" with it for a day or two, evaluating the colors in different light. Even better if you can get the 1oz samples - this is one reason why BM is ahead of the rest even though P&L sometimes has better colors...

And remember, it's just paint! It's one of the cheapest ways you can change the mood of a room. Go experiment and have fun!

I've used BM Iced Cube SIlver twice, and it's a lovely, very subtle effect, slants bluish in some lights. Highly recommended.

Benjamin Moore "HOT SPRING STONES" : a warm, taupe-y gray that looks good in any light.

benjamin moore's "bunny gray" is in our dressing room and its lovely - slightly violet in daylight and warmer in lamplight...very subtle

I used Jogging Path from Duron Paints (Saifee Hardware sells it) and I love love love it. It's crisp and clean and ever-so-slightly warm. Looks beautiful next to white.

Follow my name to the link for the color sample.

Monica- do you have a picture of your room painted with adagio? I have been looking everywhere for a picture of that color! (Or does anyone else have one?)
Thanks!
Kim

i just painted my office with pale gray from ralph lauren .. no undertones of blue or purple a very nice clean medium gray very nice .....

Hello,

Came across this fab website and would love some feedback on the colour 'gray' topic. I have BM Elephant Tusk in my hallway which leads in to a medium to large well lit living room. I would love to paint the room in a warm gray tone with a slight blue. I like bold colours however I'm having problems trying to find the right gray. I was thinking of trying BM raindance CC-680 or Piemont Gray CC-690. Any suggestions or comments about these colours? I'm accenting with chocolate brown and white.

Many thanks
muddyford.

timber wolf - BM
http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Benjamin-Moore-1600-Timber-Wolf-p/mpc0006010.htm

grey wolf-BM
http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Match-of-Sico-4203-21-Grey-Wolf-p/mpc0028306.htm

light grey -Ralph Lauren
http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Match-of-RAL-RAL7035-Light-Grey-p/mpc0084312.htm

grey stone -Ralph Lauren
http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Match-of-Ralph-Lauren-UL14-Grey-Stone-p/mpc0112139.htm

skyscraper - Martin Senior
http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Match-of-Martin-Senour-Paints-315-3-Skyscraper-Gr-p/mpc0055829.htm

rain - Devine
http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Match-of-Devine-Color-V0911A-Rain-p/mpc0086069.htm

Opal - Martha Stewart
http://www.myperfectcolor.com/Match-of-Martha-Stewart-8337-Opal-p/mpc0018824.htm

I like all these in particular

Check out these LOFT colors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krFnqv-I9iA

pdx and Walt, would you mind posting some pics of your Cement Gray and Sidewalk Gray walls? I've been struggling to find the right gray for months now, and am still stuck. I have chocolate brown, white, and silver elements in a large living-room-slash-dining room, and want a clean gray that's not blue, green, or purple, but also doesn't seem too icy.

Re: the post by Megan, some grays with purplish undertones include the ones on the Dior Gray, Elephant Gray, and Metro Gray swatches. All are BM; the colors on the Elephant Gray swatch can go a little mauve-y but depending on your lighting situation can also just seem like a nice smoky, purply, taupe-ish gray.

I'm a fan of BM November Rain, a greige. Depending on the light this looks anywhere between khaki and dove gray.

I ended up using Silver Fox, which strangely seems similar to November Rain on my walls. Both turn slightly purply-brown on my walls. Not the clean crisp gray effect I was going for, but a nice color in any case.