{friday finds: it’s too red…too purple…too something}

Coventry-Gray-HC-169 from Maria Killam

What paint colors are on the minds of Hirshfield’s customers when they walk into our stores?

Jill ( Hirshfield’s Edina) tells me their customers like the idea of using gray and try to use gray in their homes. Guess what? A number of customers return to the store enveloped in a cloud of gray ennui. Gray ennui?  The gray is either too green, too cold, too brown, too something, and it just doesn’t look “right.” Those sneaky undertones. The chameleon among colors, gray is a classic, refined neutral that works well with any color scheme. Depending on the shade, it can be cool and calming or, with a little bit of silver, energetic.

Customers ask for the perfect gray. There is no perfect gray. Every customer has a different perfect gray. When shopping for paint bring along your existing interior finishes if you can, as this makes it easier for Hirshfield’s staff to find the perfect gray for you.*  Your carpet may have a green undertone and your favorite gray paint has a red undertone. This is the reason why your room will never look “right.”

Color Chats, by Benjamin Moore, helps point color-troubled customers in the right direction with this recent blog posting:  Fifty Shades of Gray {Paint}. Michelle Zakko has curated 50 enticing grey, greige, and gray room settings for your viewing pleasure.

Benjamin Moore’s five favorite grays

Customers from the Edina store are also looking at the colors of sea glass, plum, taupe, with a few forward-thinking, orange and kelly green customers.

Rhubarb 2007-30 Benjamin Moore

If fifty shades of gray paint doesn’t do it for you, Conspicuous Style recently shared her favorite paint colors…her top 100 Benjamin Moore paint colors! Can you see why rhubarb is a favorite, especially when it’s sharing space with turquoise.

Thanks, Jill for sharing your customer observations. Stop by any Hirshfield’s location for a color chat with one of our undertone experts.

*Is a color call what you need? For information on the personalized service of an in-home paint consultation, click here.

{friday finds: gray, grey, greige}

Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter HC-172 – DecorPad

The color gray is a gray area. It is a complex color. “That’s not gray, that’s…”

The shade of gray that is “in” right now is a brown gray. It looks good with the warm tones that have been trendy the last few years. When asked about customers’ preferences, Michelle from the Edina store, agrees, ” people usually shy away from the cooler grays and gravitate to the brown grays.” When selecting a gray paint color, pay attention to the undertones. Are you seeing a blue-gray, a purple gray, a green gray? Pearl grays can be iridescent and have purple and pink in them. A good charcoal gray is closer to black, but much softer than black. So many choices.

I pulled some reader comments on grays from Apartment Therapy postings. If you are searching for a gray you may find these comments helpful.

… my dining room is Benjamin Moore’s Metropolitan AF-690, from their Aura paint line. It’s a nice bluey grey as well…

…Ralph Lauren Soft Earth UL29 is a nice grey that would still look good with golds…also, Forde Abbey TH06 is a great color…

A few years ago I painted the entire inside of my house BM’s Balboa Mist 1549. It’s a soft grey that changes with the light. Decorator white woodwork and black doors with brushed silver knobs. Loved it every day. Very fresh….I’m addicted to gray!

I recently painted with Benjamin Moore Feather Gray 2127-60, and it’s gorgeous. Depending on the light, it can look sort of blue or silver, and it’s just such a soft shade, like a bird’s wing…

I love gray and found BM Stonington Gray HC-170 here on Apartment Therapy. Everyone said it was the most neutral gray and did not take on purple, green or blue the way some grays do. Oh, how right they were…

Benjamin Moore Coastal Fog 976 is a color offers a wonderful chameleon-like background for other colors. I had it with a white sofa and chair and smaller accents of bright, light green — also had deep brown. It also looks fabulous with red and with black…

Our new grey is Ralph Lauren’s Artist’s Studio VM 157. LOVE it. Has more of a blue undertone than brown.

Currently, my bedroom is Gray Owl 2137-60 and OC-52 (Benjamin Moore). It’s really subtle, with a hint of green. (I also have a bathroom painted Pigeon Gray 2133-50 (BM). That’s a nice deep gray with purple undertones.

We’ve got you covered with the warm and cool grays found in this wallcovering – Ideal Home

Ideal Home

Chelsea Gray (HC-168) is the background in Brooke Shield’s NY living room.

Can’t commit to grey on your walls? Image from Vtwonen found on Decor8

Metallic wallpaper from Graham& Brown – Ideal Home

Benjamin Moore Nightingale AF-670 – Pottery Barn

Cow Parsley wallcovering by Cole & Son

Benjamin Moore Whale Grey 2134-40 and Deep Space 2125-20

For more photos of this space visit Cheeky Living.

Ideal Home

Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal HC-166

Benjamin Moore Abalone 2108-60 (The lighter grays are hard to see in photos)

This is a work in progress from china shepherdess.

Love the gray and black accents – Ideal Home

When looking for paint colors remember to bring in fabric samples, flooring, or whatever you have available, so Hirshfield’s sales staff can assist you with your paint and wallpaper selections. If you can’t see the difference in a purple gray vs. a green gray, not to worry, that’s when our sales staff can be of assistance. They work with color every day, all day. Grab some samples and audition them with your finishes, your lighting, your husband (not really), in your home. Need more one-on-one assistance, think about a color consultation.

Check out the paint coupons on the Hirshfield’s website and this last link to gray.