Thursday 1 May 2014

The Grey Blues

Who knew finding the perfect shade of grey paint could be so difficult?

I have been driving myself potty with tester pots. It started with boxing in the ugly pipes in the downstairs loo. This left a lot of bare MDF and made the rest of the room look a bit shabby in comparison. A grey makeover is planned but grey is tricky!
It is a pretty small room so there is some concern it could end up looking like a Bat Cave if we go too dark. Too green and it looks a bit like a hospital period drama. Too blue - ditto. I don't like lilac much so I don't want lilac tones but I don't want it too cold either. You can see where this is going can't you?

Anyway..... 17 paint samples later and some have been instantly discounted. Dulux Grey Steel 2 is definitely veering into Bat Cave territory. Porcelain Doll is pretty but pale. It feels like a waste to spend all that time covering up the white paint with a slightly creamier white paint. Lots of samples are more greige and they seem to work. Grey - Beige. Perfect!
Five shades of greige currently occupy the wall. They are painted onto A4 paper and blu-tacked up so I can add comments to them at various times of the day. There is no clear winner as yet. Polished Pebble was leading but, since I changed the light bulb for a brighter LED one, it's all up in the air again. Thimble Case is edging into the lead now... I think.... maybe. I am boring myself with the indecision. Please somebody just confiscate my colour cards!

The playroom is going much better. I completed one project this week with no such messing around. Coral Flair looked gorgeous in the Dulux colour book, I convinced DS it was hardly pink at all (it isn't - it is a really beautiful coral) and painted a huge backdrop for the kid's pictures all in one day. I really love it - the room was a bit cold and boxy before so a splash of colour is perfect.
I am now trying to decide on a nice complimentary teal colour for the other end of the room. Dulux Teal Tension is nice but a bit dark. Blue Hawaiian 2 is also lovely - a lot like Teal Tension except fractionally less green.....still a bit dark though. Maybe I should get 17 samples, blu-tack them all to the wall and rate them out of 10 at varying times of the day as the light changes? Or maybe I should just stick pins in the Dulux book and let fate decide?

3 comments:

  1. stop faffing and pick one! lol. Sometimes too much thinking and it can go wrong .. go with what you think is right. Just look how fabulous the coral block looks. Maybe take the Think Happy sign to the paint man, or the other frame and get a colour match.

    Sooooo happy to see you've blogged.

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  2. That's a really good idea actually. It is that sort of turquoise-y / teal-y / bluish colour I am after.

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  3. Hi, what Grey did you go for in the end? I' read your article and am in exact same predicament. Thanks!

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