GOING NUTS....
Wall color can drive you nuts.
The perfect tan can turn pink or orange. That lovely pastel green suddenly looks minty. The beige you picked is fleshy. The yellow you loved takes on a sickly green tinge. What looks perfect in the paint store often looks quite different in the light of your own home. Samples are the answer, and you should never put paint on your walls without trying it out first. I use poster board or foam core board, 2 coats with a good 2-3 inch border of white around the outside (so the color on your wall now won't influence the color you want it to be). I use poster board so I can move it around the room and see it in different light. No more minty, fleshy, orange-y, sickly colors. No more nuts.
Hi Claudine....Very much enjoy the pictures posted. I am currently trying and trying again to choose a color paint from Benjamin Moore for our Master Bedroom. It is northeast facing and can be fairly dark. 8 foot ceilings - 1972 home. Small room. I have used deep red in my dining room which is right beside the bedroom. My colors are red and wilmington tan on the surrounding walls in the living room. I am stuck this time.
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| Benjamin Moore WILMINGTON TAN |
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| Benjamin Moore OCTOBER MIST (cabinets) |
Headboard is upholstered medium brown, white plantation shutters. Can you suggest some colors before I go nuts! (Beige carpet). Thanks so much!
Nuts yet? I hope not. October Mist would be a good choice, the soft green undertone would pair well with the red wall in the adjacent room.
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| Benjamin Moore OCTOBER MIST |
Another light gray with a green undertone is Benjamin Moore's Camouflage.
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| Benjamin Moore CAMOUFLAGE |
If you want to go a little darker, try Benjamin Moore's Sea Haze with just a touch of blue in the undertone.
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| Benjamin Moore SEA HAZE |
Take a quick look at the colors together. I think that any of these choices go well with the existing colors of Wilmington Tan and Red. More specifically, they all look lovely with the red, which is the adjacent room wall color.
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| WILMINGTON TAN |
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| RED |
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| SEA HAZE |
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| OCTOBER MIST |
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| CAMOUFLAGE |
As always, sample them on the walls first. Good luck.
After many years of trying colours on our living room, which also is small, low ceiling, and north east facing, I finally found one that works. I used Powell Buff. It is darker than it appears on the samples, but it is warm, airy and seems to counteract the greenish gray light that morning light in the Pacific Northwest brings. The green is always accented by the forest outside anyway. I will be using something similar in the bedroom ( which faces the same orientation). As Maria Killam says, a light colour never comes to light in a dark room. I personally think that a grayish tone will look dull and greenish, or cold at the very least. That's the trouble with the gray trend, depending on your location.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insight. Location is everything, so it is nice to hear from someone with Pacific Northwest experience. Light, size, height all have an effect on color - I think that gray is beautiful, but that in most cases it needs fresh white to keep it from being overbearing. Best test is always trying color on the walls first!
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