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

We painted our vestibule and full hall upstairs and downstairs with dulux chic shadow. It comes as an endurance paint which helps with young ones around. We had at least 30 different shades and this was by far the best fit.

One more vote for Little Green.

I just spent a very happy tube commute with their Grey paint chart.
Dozens of lovely greys. from light to dark and from warm to cold.

We have plummett in an en-suite and pavilion grey in our hall/landing (both F&B) and both are lovely what I would call proper greys. We're now using Little Green Mid Lead for our kitchen units and it's also really nice, probably somewhere between plummett and pavilion grey. I also like their Mono grey which is lighter.

Hopefully the pics attach!

Another vote for F&B Purbeck stone - a beautiful creamy grey, not too blue or brown.

Cornforth White is a bit paler, also very nice.

Another chic shadow by dulux fan. We went to the trade centre for the diamond Matt emulsion and is much harder wearing than the endurance and better coverage

Marking as painting my living room grey

We have Little Greene's "Dash of Soot" in a north facing room and it's gorgeous. It has a pinky undertone but definitely looks like a proper grey in a room that makes many greys look blueish or greenish. Also very impressed with the quality, so much better than F&B.

Here's Polished Pebble in my north facing bedroom Gin.

I appreciate paint can look very different in different rooms but I think it helps to see it on people's walls!!

Hello lovely MNers, thank you all for you suggestions and photos of beautiful homes - lots of inspiration!

The builders arrived this morning to sort out taking the crappy old plaster off and putting up some new stuff so the painting begins next week EEEEEK!

DH is currently sourcing sample pots from F&B, Dulux and Little Greene. I will let you know how we get on!

PS the last one is to help me through the inevitable dust storm that accompanies replastering ....

Sidge that looks gorgeous. And I noted your curtains with interest ... that will be my next challenge! They go beautifully with polished pebble....

Ah thanks, I'm really pleased with how it looks. The walls are PP, the curtains are a soft mauve velour (as you saw), furniture is white as is woodwork and ceiling. Bedding is mauve/white. Curtains are from Next! here they are

My exterior is cornforth white. It is quite a lilac grey in certain lights.
Ammonite is a paler version of cornforth - a true light grey
Ammonite is practically identical to bone white (fired earth)
I also have malm in my sun - a nice warm mid/dark gray

I suspect youre after something like ammonite/bone white

I've just painted DD's room in F&B Ammonite and it is a gorgeous grey.

Zoffany do a Paris grey and you can get it in several shades, ie half Paris grey, quarter Paris grey. Have a look at their paints.

Another vote for dulux engraved locket from the timeless classics collection.
Chic shadow looked really blue in our hall.

Another vote for Dulux Polished Pebble. I found it to be a proper grey without any bluey tones. It's a medium-to-light grey. Looked really nice in a north-facing bedroom.

PurpleDaisies It's lovely isn't it? Everyone that has been to visit since we decorated has asked about the paint!

It is! I've got a big tester patch at the moment while we're waiting for the ceiling to be plastered. I can't wait for the whole room to be ready to paint. I'm currently looking at the other colours in the range for some more rooms that need decorating.

Really impressed with the consistency and coverage too. The finish is great, nice and flat but not too chalky.

We have just painted our stairs with johnstones manhatten grey.
We already have it in three other rooms on varying walls.
Our lounge is Annie Sloan chalk finished vintage furniture and this grey picks it up amazingly well.
Came across it completely by accident a couple of years ago but it's perfect for us.
It goes on so smoothly. We have the silk finish so the walls don't look too flat toned and it works well

This is what we are painting our living room in. It's a B&Q own brand paint called Wedding. Took me ages to find a grey light enough.

Thank you all for your advice and photos! I have narrowed it down to cornforth white and polished pebble. However, I fell in love with a lot of the other colours on the way so I now have my colour scheme sorted for the bedrooms and study.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend and thanks again x

Marking place