Grey,grey,grey,or grey?! How the feck do you decide?

[FriggFRIGG]

It's the last room in the house to have the paint decided on...
All other rooms have either been painted,or the paint is waiting to go on,this room,the last room,is the hub of the home so to speak,
it is the dinning room really but the stairs and the galley kitchen run off it.
It's a north facing room,though it has a large window.
We have after much umming and ahhing decided a grey would be best,because of a number if things,
namely the dark wood furniture and kitchen side board,and the slightly lighter wood atop the brick fireplace,and the white kitchen units,and the light wood flooring...all a bit 'much' teamed with almost any other coulor.

But how do I choose?

We like:
F&B French gray
'little green' French grey
and Craig and rose moonstone grey

The last one is HALF the price of the other two,and seems like a good brand...
Do you think one is vastly better than another?!

Arrggghhhhhh!!!

i think you should go for a very light grey otherwise you'll end up with a dark, cold room.

how about this

or this

I think those look cold...but what do I know...

We also looked at some taupe/mink coulors...(?)

and a light yellow which we discounted as we think it won't look right with the floor boards....

yes - you're right. those are cold colours...

how about this? buy 1 get 2nd half price at mo, hence adherence to fired earth website.

Oh,that's quite nice...

If it helps, this is what we are having in the adjoining living room...

have just painted my landing and bedroom in this. Is lush!! Slightly mauve so not cold at all. Looks really classy and lovely with bright white woodwork

www.crownpaint.co.uk/colour/1176/smoky-mist.htm

That looks quite nice....it does seem like it would be a bit warmer.

I'd recommend something a bit richer. A dining room will be mainly used at night so I think a bit of drama works well.
How about this
www.firedearth.com/paint/colour/ham-house
or
www.firedearth.com/paint/colour/burnt-juniper

Dark colours look great by candlelight and are very cosy in the evening...

My favourite light grey is Dulux (Trade) Heron - it's much commented on in all directions and it does look good with wood colours and white beside it. A bit blue/green as you'd expect. If it was daylight I'd try my Little Greene card against it - similar to Pearl Colour maybe?

panna it will actually be used in the day more often than the night,we eat early as we have two littley's,it will be walked through all day long,played in,breakfast,lunch and early dinner will be scoffed in it...it will also have the piano and computer in it so will be the music room too....
In the evening it will only be walked through,really.

It ham house is really nice...

I'll have a look at heron,thanks.

We have painted our kitchen units in F&B French Gray - obviously depends on the room and the light but I would say its definitely a greeney grey rather than a true grey. If 10 people came in and had to describe the colour, I'd say that 50% would call it green rather than grey! Not sure that helps....!

Sorry I jumped to conclusions there!
I still think sth like Ham House with a bit of depth would look good.
Our sitting room in a previous house was North facing. I first painted it Lime WHite, ie very pale and it looked very cold and unwelcoming.
Then I used a richer taupe colour, by Craig & Rose, and it looked much better.
Think the colour is discontinued but will check their website, but it is simlar to Ham House.

Okay,that's very useful pannacotta I'd like a taupe colour,if I can find one with more brown/grey/purple tones,rather than yellowish ones....does that make any sence?

mandy thanks,it is really hard to tell from their website...as there are two pictures of what look like compleatley different coulors

I would re-iterate to be wary of F&B French Grey if you just want a grey. We had it in our last bathroom and it looked totally green, ie not greeny grey, just green!

Yes I agree re brown/purple taupe rather than yellow. I think the Line WHite didnt work as it is yellow based.
The Ham House colour looks purple based to me, from the photo.

In fact having looked at it again Ham House IS purple!
If you want a warm grey then F&B CHarleston Grey is good, but it is quite a sophisticated colour.
<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=charleston+grey+paint&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1821&bih=857&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=-7Ve6tjStXHJ_M:&imgrefurl=ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/gal0111342625932.html&docid=GCFjRd6OqGoMgM&imgurl=i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/kimmieb1/Greys/FBCharlestonGraywalls.jpg&w=450&h=518&ei=RqiGT_mPK8WR8gP0q-mvBw&zoom=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=charleston+grey+paint&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1821&bih=857&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=-7Ve6tjStXHJ_M:&imgrefurl=ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/gal0111342625932.html&docid=GCFjRd6OqGoMgM&imgurl=i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/kimmieb1/Greys/FBCharlestonGraywalls.jpg&w=450&h=518&ei=RqiGT_mPK8WR8gP0q-mvBw&zoom=1

And from Craig & ROse this one looks good
www.craigandrose.com/matsutake
Btw their paint is excellent, really good quality and good price. I have used it before and was very happy with it.

I am a huge lover of f and b Cornforth White a real grey grey.

I really,really like the Craig and rose matsutake...I think it's the one!

Thankyou!

Ahhhhhh!!!! £101

Back to the drawing boad.

I second Spotty. Farrow & Ball Cornforth White. It's a very pretty warm grey - and works well with our dark wood furniture, white kitchen cabinets and white painted banisters (we too have a staircase and a kitchen coming off the room we've painted grey).

Hurrah!
Cornforth white sounds great,I might take the plunge and just order that....I feel like I'm going a little bit mental and we need to start painting ASAP!

We had Cornforth White in our old bedroom, was lovely.

Or f&b fawn?