Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Office Paint Color.

I am pumped . . . the painter is coming this Saturday to paint our office!  I am so excited for a little color in this room!  It's long overdue.  So this past weekend, we spent some time trying to find the perfect gray paint.  I think gray may be the hardest paint color to pick out.    

Here's what we had to choose from. 


We had some leftover Benjamin Moore samples back from when we were trying to find the perfect gray for our bedroom (blogged about here).  The 5 swatches in the top row were the leftovers.  We tried the bedroom cast-offs first.  We both agreed none in the first batch made our skirts fly up.

Since the first round was a bust, we consulted the trusty fan deck and bought 5 more colors to see how those would work.  Yep, that's right, I tabbed the contenders. 


They second round colors are on the bottom row.  They were much more in line with what we had in mind.
The color swatches are in the same order in the photos.  I just like to see how they look on different walls/in different light.  (The square in the very bottom right corner in the picture below isn't paint -- it's a shadow from the treadmill.) 


These pictures aren't perfect, but are pretty close to the actual paint color (except for number 4 -- it doesn't read that green in person).  These were taken in the evening with no natural light and the flash off. 


In case you are looking for a gray, here are the colors we tried (all Benjamin Moore):

1.  Metro Gray
2.  Stormy Monday
3.  Silver Dollar
4.  Silver Fox (which was also the nickname of my 8th grade science teacher.  Weird, I know).
5.  Pigeon Gray
6.  Silver Chain
7.  Smoke Embers
8.  Stonington Gray
9.  Nimbus
10. Revere Pewter

Now that we've had a couple of days to live with the colors in all hours of the day, we both agree that number 8, Stonington Gray, is the winner.  6 and 7 were close runner-ups.  If you have any experience with any of these colors, let me know -- we have a couple more days before we have to purchase the paint. 

I am definitely looking forward to some sweet after pics!

27 comments:

  1. such a hard choice to make! I was torn between 7, 8, and 10! Just stumbled over here!

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  2. How pretty! I really like #6, but #8 and 9 are so nice too.

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  3. Can't wait to see it! We used a similar color in Kate's room, maybe just a shade lighter and love it. During the day it has just a hint of blue, but is so calming at night.

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  4. Gray really is a hard color to choose from. I currently have one blob of gray on our hallway wall... it's just the begining to the same decision you had.

    You picked a great choice. Before reading which one you choose that was one of my favs. along with numbers 7 and 10 :)

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  5. We almost used Stonington Gray in our dining room and entryway--I love the color. It was a very true gray around our house until the sun went down and then it gave a blue/lilac color that I didn't like. Grays are so hard to pick...they look so different from one another and always seem to be different on almost every wall. Can't wait to see how it tuns out!!!

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  6. HI,
    We used Revere Pewter in our entire basement. It is the perfect light shade. It makes the room bright and doesn't seem to be too blue, or too green. All of your choices look great. I am looking to re paint our family room and I will be going to the paint store to pick up a few of your colors!

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  7. great options! i think 8 will look lovely :)

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  8. So hard picking paint colors! we used Benjamin Moore smoke in our bedroom which reads more blue, but all gray undertones. {not sure if it is the same as smoke embers??} can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

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  9. You're so right about grey being tricky. I haven't tried any of your choices yet... so can't wait to see how it turns out.

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  10. i like 9 or 10. everything else looks so blue

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  11. YAY!!!! My master bed and bath are Stonington Gray..and I LOVE it! The perfecr shade of gray!!! I have a picture of it, I will have to email you if you are interested. Good choice, I really think you will like it!

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  12. I just did our office in grey too. Grey is such a hard color to pick out!

    x

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  13. I am loving #8 too! Can't wait to see how it turns out! You have such great taste! =)

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  14. Not to muddy up your options, but have you seen Cliffside Gray from Benjamin Moore? We debated about grays for over a year for our entryway and upstairs hallway and finally found Cliffside Gray... it's not too blue, but it's not pinky, greeny, or purpley either. (I think it's in a different area of the fan deck, but I can't find a link for you.)

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  15. My gray is from Sherwin Williams so I don't know about BM. But I like what you chose! p.s. I tabbed my color deck too:)

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  16. Nice pick, i think that gray is an extremely hard colour to choose. It has so many different undertones. Definitely a good move to paint some (ok a lot) of samples on the wall. By the way...i definitely tagged my BM fandeck (over and over and over again)

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  17. wow thank you for listing them! this is so helpful because we're looking for a bluish gray for our guest bedroom! love your pick, can't wait to see how the office turns out!

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  18. Oooo...they are all fabulous, but i think that Stonington will be gorgeous! Can't wait to see the end result!

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  19. I LOVE all things gray and I think #8 is a great choice! Can't wait to see the final product!

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  20. #8 is beautiful! Can't wait for the before and after!

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  21. I've had Stonington Gray written down from seeing it a few places as the 'best gray'

    thanks for doing my test run! ;)

    you're killing me with the holding hands pic...john put the kabash on Tazz. :(

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  22. Nice grays! Can't wait to see the finished product.

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  23. Good choice..I painted Stonington Grey in our bedroom 10 months ago. Best paint choice I ever made. Not a doubt best grey colour out there. Just wished I could use it in our kitchen too. But, don't want to over kill on the same colour everywhere.

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