A Touch More of Grey

So the painting of the living room/dining room/kitchen combo, as well as the adjoining entry and hallway, is eminent! Summer is 3 short days away, and once I get a chance to catch my breath, you can bet that I will we climbing a rather large ladder to paint our open living area.

I know I went on and on about how I had found the perfect color, Whetstone Gray, here. But the more I looked at the paint swatch taped to the wall, the more I came to realize that it's really not so different from the current and dreaded Navajo White. Then I got to asking myself, "What's the point of dragging in and setting up scaffolding in the living room, only to end up with a color that is almost identical to the current color?" Seems like a whole lotta effort for a little payoff.

In case you can't remember, here's what the Whetstone Gray looks like:

It's the one smack dab in the center. See, it's just a touch more grey than the current wall color. (Sorry, I couldn't resist).

So back to the paint store we went to grab some more samples. This time I wanted something clearly more grey than greige, and I think I have hit upon some promising colors.

We are leaning heavily towards the lighter grey in the middle swatch, called Grey Owl. (The other lighter options are Smooth Stone by Martha Stewart on the top, and Moonshine by Benjamin Moore on the bottom. The darker swatches were never really on the table, but I was too lazy to cut them off.)

Here's a shot from a further distance so you can get more of a sense of color variation.

And if you are still not convinced, then check out this pic, which was featured in the newest issue of House Beautiful. (More on that tomorrow.)

It just so happens to be Grey Owl. I screeched when I turned the page and saw our paint color listed! I love the soft grey and how good it looks against both whites and blacks (like the sconces on either side of the bed), as well as pops of color (like the yellow flowers and green piping of the canvas bag on the ground). What do you think?