I Am Slowly Going Gray-z

Yes, gray-z. Not crazy, but gray-z. That's because we've got a whopping 16 paint swatches on our kitchen walls that we're testing to find "the one."  Now, keep in mind, these colors may not be showing up on your monitor exactly as they look in real life, but it's probably pretty darn close.




Here's what you're looking at:

colors on the left (from top to bottom; left to right; all Sherwin Williams)
1. Amazing Gray  (a favorite)
2. Essential Gray
3. Proper Gray
4. Requisite Gray
5. Repose Gray
6. Mindful Gray (we like this one)
7. Pussywillow (this one's nice too)

colors on the right (from top to bottom; left to right; all Benjamin Moore)
1. Cement Gray (too blue)
2. Gray Owl (too blue)
3. Cliffside Gray (too blue/green)
4. San Antonio Gray
5. Coventry Gray (too blue)
6. Stone Harbor
7. Silver Fox (like this one too)
8. Revere Pewter (a favorite so far)

9. Chelsea gray (we like this for the guest bedroom)

Benajmin Moore Colors:

Sherwin Williams Colors:

The challenge we face with painting this new home is that the entire second floor is so open-concept that we want to find a gray that's fresh and that we can use on all of the walls and the stairways.

I liked the accent walls in our last home, but for some reason I'm dead-set on one color this time around. Our new home was a model home, so it already had accent walls painted, and I just wasn't feeling it for this home.

The look we are going for is fresh, crisp and airy. We are leaning towards the light grays---we are really loving Benjamin Moore's "revere pewter" which is incredibly subtle and light. We also really like Sherwin William's "amazing gray." As you can see, we tried a lot of grays in the blue family and it just isn't for us. The colors look almost pastel-blue in natural light---not the look we are going for.

We are finding ourselves attracted to the grays that are warmer and have more of a brown to them---in fact, I was warned online that BM's "revere pewter" looks beige on the paint chip---but on walls, it transforms into a beautiful, true light gray. Here are some images of the color I found on Pinterest, for reference:

I see these photos and I think I've made a decision, but then I go back on Pinterest and design blogs and see more amazing gray walls and I feel like I HAVE TO try other colors. Like these:

Restoration Hardware "Slate"

BEHR "Fashion Gray"

At this point, I am feeling very frustrated because I cannot make a decision and all I want to do is buy more and more paint samples. At least by now I have learned to stop buying any gray samples that have lots of blue or green in them...but that still leaves me stuck.

The next step is to probably get some BEHR samples and then get it down to a few colors we love and paint larger portions of the wall with them---and then decide which colors will go in each room.  Although an open floorplan is awesome, it can also be frustrating because as I mentioned earlier in this post, we basically have to use the same color up the stairs from the first floor to the second and the second to the third since you can see both stairways from the second floor.

We have such dark hardwoods, cabinets and furniture that I thought a really light color would do the trick---but then I see some more saturated grays that really pop against white trim and I wonder if that's the direction we should go in?

If you have a gray wallcolor you love or have any other comments, please leave them below! Let's cross our fingers that I can make a decision in 2012!

xoxo,

Veronika.