Please help me find a grey - I am losing the plot....

[GinIsMySaviour]

Hello all,

Just about to do a spot of redecorating and I need to find a grey for my living room (north facing), hallway & stairwell (dark by the front door, much lighter up the stairs).

I have just bought four F&B testers: skimming stone, elephant's breath, peignoir and dovetail. The problem is, they aren't really grey. Dovetail is the closest to what I'd call a grey but even isn't quite right.

Please help! I want a straightforward grey; mid to light tone. I was expecting elephant's breath to be a grey with some pink in it (according to the descriptions) but it just looked a bit fudge coloured. Maybe it's the light in my hallway?

All suggestions - F&B or otherwise - really welcome. I have to decide by next week so have time to try out samples before then.

I am NOT cut out for interior design

Thanks all

[emsyj37]

Have you tried Pinterest?? My hall stairs and landing are Dulux Polished Pebble which is a light grey.

[AndShesGone]

Cornforth white

Soft light grey. It's still grey in a south facing room with lots of light.

[isambardo]

You could try Little Greene paints, similar price range to F&B and they have lots of greys. In some colours they have light/mid/dark options. Our local Brewers stocks them.

[GinIsMySaviour]

Oh good suggestion re Pinterest (I am not a digital native!); I will have a look.

I have just looked at dulux too and polished pebble looks lovely - is it a warm grey or a cool one do you think?

I can see a trip to get dulux colours tomorrow...

[LittleBoat]

Skimming stone isn't a grey. I have it on my kitchen units and it's a 'stone' rather than a grey. It's nice though.

[soupmaker]

We've just done our hall in Dulux Polished Pebble. Our hall up and down stairs is dark and it's really been lightened up.

[SorrelForbes]

We've used Dulux Timeless Classis in Engraved Locket. It's a true, cool light grey.

[GinIsMySaviour]

Thank you shesgone I shall put that on the list of testers

isambardo I think there's a shop really close to me that does Little Greene ... again, thank you and I shall check that out tomorrow

[soupmaker]

I'd say Polished Pebble is cool toned.

[GinIsMySaviour]

Littleboat yes it has certainly not turned out to be grey!

Thanks soup and sorrel ... they are now on my list too!

I knew MN would be the answer to my dilemma

[Ridingthegravytrain]

I tried every farrow and ball, Dulux and homebase grey. Settled on purbeck stone by f&b as it's grey without being too blue or brown

[GinIsMySaviour]

Riding that's interesting, I was worried it would be too dark - how you have you found it?

[boobyooby]

We went for Dulux Wishing Well and still get a lot of compliments on it!

[thecapitalsunited]

I have a bedroom in Dulux Polished Pebble and it really is a nice soft grey.

[Ridingthegravytrain]

It's lovely we painted our whole kitchen in it and we have a black slate floor and black granite work tops and it is not too dark at all

[Clickncollect]

I agree with Andshesgone - cornforth White is a lovely grey. We have it in our son's room.

[GinIsMySaviour]

Thanks booby and capital ... another for my list of testers and another vote for Polished Pebble!

[GinIsMySaviour]

Thanks riding ... I will pick up a sample tomorrow! I guess it's hard to tell how something is going to look in a big space so that's good to know.

Thanks clickncollect ... I shall add your vote to my tally!

[Sidge]

Our bedroom is Polished Pebble too, it's also north facing.

It's a lovely soft grey, more of a blue-grey than a brown-grey. No warm pink tones but it isn't a cold colour if that makes sense.

[Blastandtroph]

We've got f&b dovetail in our north facing living room and it's a lovely warmish neutral colour.

[GinIsMySaviour]

Really helpful sidge soft and more of a blue than a brown is what I'm after... thank you

[thisisallnewtome8]

I've just done some bathrooms in Crown chic shadow. Some rooms with natural lights others with none. To be honest it looks best in the small room with no light.

[AndShesGone]

This is Cornforth White in my south facing room. In the pot you could seriously think it was white and I thought I'd made a mistake.

Against the white of the ceiling and the coving you can see how grey it is.

[taketwofluffykittens]

I have a house full of F&B sludge grey.

Others to think about
Blackened, a pale grey with a slight blue tinge
Pavilion Grey, proper grey, might be too dark
Strong White, white with a grey tinge, would be darker with no natural light

[GinIsMySaviour]

Thisisallnewetome and andshesgone - lovely photos! Thank you, I will try both of those.

taketwofluffykittens I hadn't considered blackened or strong white as I hadn't clocked they were greys - two more for my list! Pavilion Grey looked a bit too dark in the shop but I think I might try it and see what it looks like in the light at home.