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This photo by Simplified Bee shows a beautiful bedroom with a gray and white stenciling on the wall. Stenciling is a great alternative to wallpapering if you are looking for a nice arts and crafts project to do. But for today, we're talking paint.
Look at the gray, it's warm (hello yellow undertones) soft, and very cosy as a bedroom should be. She didn't have any pink in the photo but I thought I would add a little splash of color in place of the cream.
Lamps
When using gray in your home, think of the other accessories that you'll be using there, from artwork to lamps. Pictured here is a brushed nickel lamp that would be the perfect match to just about any gray. Avoid using gold or brass metallics with this scheme. I'm not saying you can use gold accessories with gray but silvers look so much better.
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| Capel Rugs, Matthews NC |
Here are a few samples of what a warm gray may look like. Now they can be light or dark but they all will contain a decent amount of yellow which will give them the “warm undertone” I keep mentioning.
Maria Killam, a color expert that I refer to often, has a great blog post on gray called simply, “What Everyone Should Know About Gray”. Here she goes into detail about the different undertones that gray can have. Here's one she uses that I just love - look how the gray drapery can seem a bit green yet the gray wall looks a bit lavender.
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Lighting also plays a HUGE factor when choosing gray, or any color for that matter, for your home. So always look at the gray you like in the room it will be going in.
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| Some samples of warm grays |
Colors you can use with warm grays
My choice for a warm gray?
It's Coastal Fog, a Benjamin Moore color
and also my Hue 2 Have for this Valentine's Day week.
Love that Coastal Fog. Such a great neutral, classic and timeless.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is always so full of great information. I always look forward to reading your posts! The Coastal Fog is really an awesome color because so many other colors go with it so well.
ReplyDeleteAlicia and Carla - I'm so glad you came to visit my blog. Thanks for loving Coastal Fog, it's really an awesome color! Stop by again :-)
ReplyDeleteDonna! Hey thanks for the mention, sorry I'm so delayed on getting over here, it's a tweeting moment :)
ReplyDeleteThanks again!!
x
maria
Oh you're welcome Maria. I know you're a busy lady. Just wanted to let you know I appreciate your blog … and photographs … and comments and just refer to them often. Thanks for touching base!
ReplyDeleteDonna,
ReplyDeleteYou reference Maria Killam's blog about gray. Maria talks about gray having 3 undertones...Blue, Purple and Green. Where do the yellow undertones fit in?
Thanks for the clarification!
Excellent point Amy. I noticed that too and meant to ask Maria about it. It seems to me she may have overlooked the 4th undertone - yellow. I'll check with her and see what see says. THanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna. I've loved learning from you and the color experts via the Color and Paint Professionals!
ReplyDeleteJust painted my daughter's room and bathroom two different grays. They were so hard to pick out and had to watch the colors for a week under different lights and conditions outside. My how they changed everyday from green to lavender! I love it with how it turned out and am happy with the colors after several weeks of indecisiveness. Thank goodness!
ReplyDeleteHI Window Works,
ReplyDeleteWhat I've created in my colour specifying course is a 'system' which has undertones in 'categories' which is what I've done with gray. I can see why Donna would see 'yellow' undertones in what I would call green grays because for example Revere Pewter sometimes looks beige, sometimes green and sometimes like a neutral gray depending on the light.
Hope that clarifies it for you,
Maria
What I love the most about color and design is that if you have 5 designers in a room, you'll have 5 different points of view on the same subject but hopefully coming to the same conclusion - if you have 5 GOOD designers.
ReplyDeleteThanks Maria for your explanation.
Very interesting!
Thank you all
Donna
i am looking to paint half my living room Coastal Fog and the other half a lighter color. my walls are 20 ft high; one wall is all glass and it opens up to the kitchen. natural hardwood floors. east exposure through the wall of windows. question is what color would be a good compliment to the Coastal Fog? the walls are so massive that I thought painting two colors would help break things up. ceiling is newly painted builder ceiling white.
ReplyDeleteI painted walls with Benjamin Moore's Abalone and was wondering what colors would look best in artwork, pillows, etc. Looks like it has yellow undertones? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have a totally open concept bungalow dark wood floors and dark kitchen cabinets and all in one large room.I love grey and want to create a warm cacoon like
ReplyDeletefeeling. I back SW so lots of sunlight any color suggestion. Was thinking Revere Pewter
I just painted my whole interior house revere pewter. It was way to gray for me. I don't want gray at all. However, I ran into coastal fog and put up a sample and love it, but online I keep hearing it's gray. What's a natural earth tone color that I can use with no gray, no green, no peach, just simple earth tone? Help! My walls have seven different color samples looks like some type of bad artwork. Eeeeekkkkk
ReplyDeleteI hesitate to paint the entire house the same color even if it's the best color in the world.Too much of a good this isn't good at all. You have to be really careful with gray. It doesn't play well with may wood tones and lighting can make it look green or turn it lavender. Coastal Fog has quite a bit of yellow in which makes it appear on the green side in some lightings. I would need to know what state you live in and would need to see of your decor before I can suggest a gray for you. Email me if you are interested in a virtual color consultation.
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