Which grey paint?? A minefield!!!

[bloomingheather]

We're in the middle of decorating our living room. It is an unusual shape - an attic conversion in an old hospital and has eaves at one side of the room and two narrow, single windows either side of the longest part of the room (where the fireplace would be if there was one!). That wall and the one adjacent to it are both painted dark purple (not my choice!) and I think that it makes the room too oppressive as it is already quite dark because of the shape and the narrow windows.

I really want to paint it grey and white (two walls grey and 2 white) but I'm unsure whether to go for a pale grey or a darker grey.
We have ordered a new sofa which I love:sofa. I think it will work really well with grey and is warm enough to brighten the room up (it's not as acid yellowy/green in real life as it looks on screen!) but which grey!! Does anyone have any ideas? I've been looking at Farrow & Ball paints for inspiration and from recommendation and have looked at Pavilion Grey, Elephant's Breath, Worsted and Plummett and also love Inchyra Blue but worried that it might be too dark and it's really difficult to make a decision from samples online. I wondered if anyone has used either of these or other greys (not fussy!) in an unusually shaped room with not great light and can recommend or want against any??

I struggled with greys for ages, spending a small fortune on sample pots. I settled for Farrow and Ball Ammonite which is a very pale grey. I have been very pleased with it, but I guess it depends what you are looking for!

I love Dulux Polished pebble - it's a lovely soft, warm grey.

Your lounge sounds similar to this one MIaow and making it look light and warm is exactly what I'm aiming for! I read confusing advice
last night (on the same website!) about choosing colours - that cooler colours make spaces look bigger but that warmer colours can make it look brighter and less oppressive - I know those are slightly different things but I was kind of looking for both! Will look up all of those,
thanks!!

Am envious of your velvet sofa! Have you tried looking at pinterest, Housz or similar for ideas for schemes with a grey sofa? Might give you some inspiration before you take the plunge.
We've used f&b a lot, but recently discovered Paper and Paint Library and the paint is far superior. Covers evenly and quickly without streaks, whereas the f&b often takes three coats before it looks even. A couple of interior design tyoes have said the same to me. They have 'colour scales' so you can have different tones of the same neutral for your walls, woodwork etc.
Hint re. Test pots: paint onto pieces of card or lining paper, not the walls!

Thanks Shotgun! I love it too although am a bit nervous about how well it will wear and how easy it will be to keep clean! The sales assistant gave us some advice about trying to prevent marks and wearing.
I've been having a look at Pinterest and found Houzz via a thread on here so am using them for ideas. My Bespoke Room on Facebook too. I will look up the Paper & Paint library thanks for that. A few people have said Farrow & Ball can be streaky and that it needs more coats so that's putting me off, although it's not a big room.

Dulux Classics range 'enchanted locket'.
We have this in our lounge.

Thanks conker, I think we'll probably end up going for Dulux and the classics range sounds good. Is the shade name 'Engraved Locket' rather than Enchanted? Can only find an engraved one!

Have you looked at Dulux Just Walnut? We've just painted our bedroom in this colour. It's a very soft grey in our room. I found it very difficult to find the grey shade of paint I wanted but Just Walnut is pretty much spot on.

Polished Pebble looked blue and Egyptian Cotton looked battleship grey ! They were really affected by the light, obviously.

Sofa looks gorgeous. I have used F&B Pavilion Gray on all my woodwork including doors and I get a lot of compliments on it. The favourite 'white' that I've used on the walls alongside the Pavilion Gray is F&B Skimming Stone, so they could be a lovely combination for your walls. I would heavily recommend the F&B colours and inspiration sections on their website before buying as you can see what combinations F&B and customers have put together and how they work. F&B also really good at telling you about the tone of each paint - wish I'd read that Blackened is a cool architectural blue tones grey before painting my lounge in it as house is more cottage than loft! Re the finish, Brewers mix Johnson's or Layland paint to match and it applies beautifully (sorry F&B!).

Whatever you go for I hope you love it

Agree that far finding a good grey is actually very very difficult.

I though I was going insane while trying to find a grey shade of paint, Oblomov. I covered the walls with tester paint. Just Walnut is a greige/taupe colour. I did the thing of painting a piece of white card with it. Took the card into a different room and outside. Yup. Greige/taupe. In the bedroom we wanted to paint - soft grey!

Sorry yes OP,Engraved Locket not Enchanted Locket.