Sunday, September 23, 2012

When Color Goes Wrong - Prison Cell Gray

I thought I had chosen the paint colors for the interior months ago (see story here).  I loved HGTV's Sedate Gray from Sherwin Williams.  It looked great with my fabric and the glass backsplash we'll be using in the kitchen.  I carried the paint chip with me everywhere and used it to pick things out.

But before I bought 5 gallons of it, I decided to buy a sample and make sure it was the right color for the house.  Good thing I did, because when I got it on the wall, it looked less like Sedate Gray and more like Prison Cell Gray (probably not a good name for marketing purposes).  It was too dark, given the light conditions in our house.  I tried to show it in this picture, but it doesn't quite do it justice - for its light sucking qualities.  Friends would stop by and try to be polite - "Really, that's the color you're painting the WHOLE house??  Interesting....."

So, I did a quick scramble and came up with a warmer hue - Early Morning Mist.  I started painting the kitchen with it this week and really like how it contrasts with the white cabinets and trim.  I'm so glad I did that paint sample!  What do you think?




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1 comment:

  1. I recently painted our bathroom reno w/ Benj Moore's "Misty Gray" thinking the color would intensify once all the walls were covered. It did....to dirty white. Awful w/ the crisp white cabinets. So we tried patches of "Bunny Gray" and "Pewter." Bunny was still too light and Pewter far too dark. But "Thundercloud Gray" was perfect and it makes me happy whenever I go into the newly-painted bedroom and bathroom. You're right - it pays to double check on the colors. Gray is especially tricky as it can veer to blue/purple, brown, taupe, mud....and change color depending on the light and time of day. A good pure gray is hard to find.

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