Great Grays - Picking a Wall Colour

Decisions, decisions. Our lives are full of them and really, what would it be without them.  When you're designing, everyday is decisions.  Location of sconces, placement of furniture, and wall colours - always wall colours.

Finding the right wall colour can and should be one of the most fun parts to any project.  As you've been inundated, reading our nursery posts vigorously this past while, I've been choosing a wall colour.  I knew gray.  That much I knew.  But which?  Warm? Cool? Blue, red, purple, green, totally neutral?

I've settled.  But I will most definitelly share the process.

I began with some simple Pinterest, Houzz and Google searches.  Snapping up pictures, saving them to a dropbox (dropbox is my lifeline these days) folder and generally hording.

Then chips came out, as did my wallpaper and and a notepad.

Old favourites are a good place to start, as is the Benjamin Moore App for your iPhone.  I pulled out one of my all time favourite colours, Iron Mountain and began here. I've done a number of kitchen spaces, and kitchen cabinets, in this deep rich tone.  Its a warm, slightly brown gray. Look at the Comparison above.  On the left is Iron Mountain, on the right is Wrought Iron. Although its hard to see it on screen, hopefully you can pick it out a little, there is a blue that isn't in Iron Mountain, but brings a coolness to Wrought Iron that I want to avoid.

Yes I like Iron Mountain, as the above pics display, and I like that it's carrying a warm undertone without being red or purple.  Where do we go from here? Now I start comparing.

Here are a handful of colours, all next to Iron Mountain (right in the middle).  I really do want to stay away from blues, and red or purples too.  I don't mind if there is a slight hint of green, though it needs to be kept slight, because my wallpaper has a tiny green cast to the gray.  Looking at these, I'm realizing that I really don't want to go dark.  I've seen some beautiful dark walled nurseries, but I want bright and light - maybe I can find that happy medium? 

Now that I've got it down to a few solid (lighter) colours, I'll compare to the wallpaper.  I want to pull out one of the colours in the paper, without going too white. My trim is a pretty true white and I'm trying not to repaint it.  This is Gray Owl (the darkest), Intense White (the lightest) and something else in between, I honestly should have written that down!

After much thought, much comparing and much rethought, I've found my happy medium, Gray Owl (OC-52).  I love the depth to this colour - it's not a rich colour, but it carries a weight. And it pops next to the white trim.  Its gray without being cold, and it gives me a gray/neutral that I can work with for the rest of the space. 

I'm seeing some chevron pattern pillows on a charcoal sofa, all offset with a straight white crib. - And an as yet undecided accent colour.

Next up, the work. This room's not going to paint itself!    ...my Mom is going to paint it...   Ha!  I'll lend a hand too, but she'll most likely be done before I get the chance to help, she's a pro.

Bill
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