Friday, January 24, 2014

The Perfect (Chinoiserie) Gray

Farrow & Ball Elephant's Breath
I have mentioned that my next big project in my own home is a Chinoiserie Man Cave for Mr. Chinoiserie Chic. I am in the planning stages right now. I have decided to paint it a pale gray. I'd love input from you on the perfect gray.

I have already used two of my favorite grays in my home. My garage is painted Farrow & Ball Elephant's Breath, the color shown in the room above. It is a wonderful warm gray - a greige. My powder room shown below is painted Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray that has decidedly blue undertones. I adore both these colors, but I need a neutral gray for the man cave. Not too dark, not too blue, not too green, not greige, just right. Finding a gray without undertones is harder than you think!

Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray

I have been considering all of these -

BM Stonington Gray - Too blue?

BM Gray Owl - looks perfect

BM Wickham Gray - too blue?

BM Coventry Gray - too dark?

BM Titanium - too green?

BM Classic Gray - looks perfect

They are all so pretty! Have you used a gray in your home that you love? Please share it with the class. ;-) Here are a few inspiration photos below of the gray I am going for -




This is Benjamin Moore Gray Owl

This is Benjamin Moore Classic Gray

11 comments:

  1. I have just painted my bedroom elephant gray and it is so crisp but there is a taupe coming through as well but then again I do live in London so I wonder if it will react differently in California. I also painted another bedroom Mizzle and I must say it is one of the most interesting colors I have come across. Depending on the light, it looks green, gray and beige. So interesting and it is my new favorite color.

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  2. I have used BM Titanium in my south-facing bedroom and I love it. It does have an aqua-green undertone, which is what I wanted. I have also used BM Classic Grey in my powder bath. It is the perfect neutral grey: not too blue, green, purple, or taupe. I went through several sample quarts before finding these. Exposure and time of day make such a difference. I always ask the "mixologist" at the BM store to tell me the pigment formula and that helps narrow the choices. Good luck, have fun!

    Jane
    Alexandria, VA

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  3. Not a fan of gray, but my first with the gut choice would be Coventry. I googled the color and on Houzz got some interesting looks. I think it would look best with the trim the same color. That's my 2 bits (not in Bitcoin) worth.

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  4. BM 1550 Cumulus Cloud or 1552 are two of my favorite grays.

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  5. I love to use grey! two of my favorite "go-to" colors are BM Moon Shadow and SIlver Lake. Good luck! Picking paint colors is always so much more difficult when you are doing it for yourself.

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  6. Have you looked at Sherwin Williams Repose gray. Everyone I've known who has used it calls it the 'perfect' gray!

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  7. Because any gray that's not strictly a mixture of pure black & pure white is bound to have undertones--which tones, in commercial paints, often don't manifest themselves till the light is bouncing back & forth between your newly pained walls--when I needed a totally neutral gray for my first apartment, I did it the easy way: I mixed up a bunch of samples out of black & white paint. After they dried, I picked the one with the best value--I wanted a darker gray than you do, but the process is the same--then took it to the Benjamin Moore store and had them match it. Presto! Magnaverde Gray. With no unexpected surprises after-the-fact.

    http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f1/d8/a3/f1d8a31b73c95d680bf9c0b18373041f.jpg

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  8. When I lived in Los Angeles I painted the main floor in gray - it was a soothing contrast to the hot sun and washed out beiges that were everywhere there. And it's so much sharper than white - picture frames stand out on it, and it gives a level of style that white and beige just don't. Lovd it.

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  9. I've used gray in my Arlington VA home and while lighting in the room makes a difference, I found Valspar's Frappe and Ralph Lauren/BM Cinderblock to be perfection. I tried MANY samples of what I thought were gray and they either went green, brown or lavender. The 2 colors I used are what I consider a medium tone but you could have them mixed at 1/2 strength or something. It seems you may be hunting a lighter shade. Good luck!

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  10. Am I too late to comment? I have BM Classic Grey in my Bathroom. Love, love, love it. So pretty.

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  11. You have probably painted by now; however I too have just used BM Classic Gray in one of my bathrooms (S/E location) with plenty of artificial lighting but also has a large skylight. That said; it is actually classified as 'a white' and is not necessarily a 'gray'. Summary; it is extremely neutral. The first coat(over a white primer) read very warm and almost a very light beige (due to the yellow and bit of red in the formula) whereas the second coat reads in both lightings as a very light gray (due to the black/white in the formula). Hope this helps anyone wondering about its properties. -Brenda-

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