I’ll be moving into a newly built home this fall and the time has come to pick a paint color for my bedroom. I’ve been saving this clipping from InStyle Home for years now, and am so excited that I finally get the opportunity to reproduce a similarly gorgeous look.
Using this as inspiration, the color choices for my bedroom have been narrowed down to the following:
SW Gris
SW Earl Gray
SW Steely Gray
SW Serious Gray
After viewing swatches at the store, I’m leaning towards Steely Gray. Thoughts and/or suggestions?
Tags: Instyle home, Sherwin-Williams, sw earl gray, sw gris, sw serious gray, sw steely gray
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It has been my experience that some hues roll out somewhat “lifeless,” if that makes sense. May I suggest when looking at wall color samples, ask yourself, “Does this particular color have life in it?”
Best wishes, I am certain you will receive some great advice from interior designers.
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It’s hard to tell on the computer but steely gray seems to have a lot of blue in it. The first two choices look to be more like the Southern Comfort picture. Good luck – it’s so hard to pick the right one.
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I would use the first one, SW Gris – grays can get cold on you real fast. In the late 80′s I lived in a row house in Virginia and the entire thing was painted in an amazing shade of light gray. It was never cold, just light and pretty. It was a Duron color. I’d paint swatches on the wall of the different colors before you paint the whole room.
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One more comment – the gray in the inspiration photo above has more brown in it than your color swatches above (unless the monitor is way off – which is possible).
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I tried painting my kitchen gray and it came out almost periwinkle! It’s so hard to tell until you get it on the walls, especially with a tricky color like gray, which comes in so many shades.
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Didn’t this story run in InStyle Home? I wonder if you can find the paint resources in the back of the book.
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Steely Gray does read more blue/purple when on the wall. Not sure if that is what you are going for or not. Dovetail by Sherwin Williams is a wonderul Gray that I have used over and over if you want a gray that has more warmth like the photo. My own bedroom is Pewtercast by SW–it reads a little more blue but not near as much as the steely. Good Luck!
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I have to agree the Steely gray has more blue in it and you have to be very careful with grays as some can come across like a “mouse-belly gray” …meaning too cool.
Grays are very tricky in my opinion to get the right hue. The first two have more brown tones in them, as shown in the photograph, which is a much warmer gray.
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My whole house is done is a neutral gray color. I had it custom mixed after 6 failed attempts to find the right color. I LOVE it! It’s such a soothing color to live with. Ours has a blue-ish tint to it, so I had to go ultra white with the trim. If the trim is too yellow, the gray looks more blue. Good luck! I’m sure it will be beautiful!
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I love all of the choices. I agree with a previous commenter. Steely Grey looks like it will go too blue based on your concept image. It will be really blue on the wall. Unless that is really what you are going for I would go with Earl Gray. Only a swatch test will tell! Good Luck! All of them are great colors.
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Of the 4, I think I like the earl gray the best. It looks cozier than the steely gray. Someone mentioned Sherwin Williams Dovetail. I just painted my exterior that color and I have seen a website with pictures of Dovetail used in a bedroom: http://www.libbylangdon.com/howto.htm
Good luck, it’s tough picking out paint colors. Oh, and definately buy a sample so you can see it on the wall before you buy a bunch of paint. In my experience the paint color on the wall can look ALOT different than on the swatch.
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I polled my readers recently about their perfect grays and got some good suggestions. Such a tricky color! But, it’s the best…!
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I used “Serious Gray” a few days ago for a gray-on-gray-on-gray basement redesign. It actually reads a lot more “basic gray” when paired with lighter tones. And by “basic gray”, I mean lame. Of the four mentioned, I would go with “Earl Gray”—it reads like a true steel gray especially when paired with reds and charcoals. “Dovetail” by Sherwin-Williams never fails to disappoint; however, my go-to gray is “Fog” by Porter. It has just the perfect amount of white, gray and blue to work well with anything. Another amazing gray is “Marble Gray’ by Porter. It has a hint of violet and works really well with browns and bronzes. Did I really need to put all those color names in quotations? #quotationmarkabuse
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i used dovetail grey by sherwin williams in my kitchen and living room on my main floor, and it’s paired with a really bright red and also a deep turqouise/aqua, and it turned out beautifully. it was really tricky picking out a grey, because they take on so many other colors, but the dovetail was perfect because it is a warm, kind of taupey grey. perfection! it’s my favorite color i have ever painted, and can be paired with so many colors. it’s warm and very inviting, which seems odd for a grey color!
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