Grey Hallway MELTDOWN. Please help

[SnotandBothered]

DESPERATE!

Quite narrow victorian terrace hallway. Loft conversion, so lots of stairs up. Wooden floor downstairs and pale, neutral carpet up the rest and landings etc.

I have wanted to paint the hall grey for ages - not too dark but not insipid - defo not a 'hint of...'. Strong enough so that framed prints stand out and look quite contemporary, but not gloomy. Definitely prefer the greys that go towards the warmer lilacs and puttys to the green grey like F&B French grey.

So after starring at pinned up painted sheets of a4 paper for 6 months, I whittled it down to a couple and decided on F&B Calluna which was slightly towards the lilac and F&B strong white woodwork. Decorators are now in and did first coat yesterday. It is lovely but utterly purple and not what I want for the hall. I slept on it, woke up today hoping it wouldn't be quite so purple and it is even more so - it will have to go.

But I am now on an expensive clock as the decorators are here now and I'm under pressure to pick something tomorrow. I have spent all day today dragging friends and strangers off the street demanding that they 'choose' out of the random paint sample pots that I rushed out and bought this morning but I am not really any the wiser.

I like:

Crown spotlight - on some walls. ON others it just disappears to almost white 'with a hint of...'

Crown Cloudburst - on some walls. On others it is quite dark and I wonder if it will be gloomy

F&B Blackened. But again disappears on some of the walls and doesn't act as a backdrop to set of pictures. I have dismissed all other F&B greys as being too green or dark (Elephants Breath nice but dark)

Dulux - can't find anything I like

Fired Earth - like the look of light umber online, but scared to add more testers to the wall unless someone really thinks this might be the solution.
www.firedearth.com/paint/colour/creams-neutrals/light-umber
...also might be insipid?

Johnstones Moonlit sky looks nice on paper but might be too blue....

Can anyone guage where I am going with this and make any suggestions? Crown 'smoky mist' looks potentially good online but, again, who can tell?

And I daren't even go down the Craig and Rose route as I don't think I'd get it in time and, time (in this instance) really is money.

Please help of wise and stylish MNers.

If you do try Dusted Moss it's the #2, #3 is definitely green. I've tried an awful lot of the greys mentioned on the thread. though only one F&B as I found the coverage to be appalling. I settled on LG French Grey which I love. I think the one shade lighter one (mid?) has no real green undertones but is still a definite colour, so may work for your hallway. I had one called Lady Grey in our old house and it was definitely lilac-y but really nice. Good luck!

I suggest b and q colour brand, paint called light rain. I have a Victorian hallway, wood floors, white paintwork, 3 floors due to attic conversion, just as you described. Light rain looks FABULOUS if I do say so myself.

Ha, this thread is like my new soap opera and team tournament all rolled into one. Can't wait to see which colour is the winner!

To add more of my tuppence worth I've found b&q paint to be very thin & bad coverage needing at least 3 coats usually & no matter how soft a colour it always seems really in your face to me. Crown is good coverage but I love the flat finish of F&b. Would you need some hard wearing paint though? Our hall is chic shadow on bottom half & pbw on top but with young children we'll have to add a coat of endurance as there's a lot of little marks on it within 18 months.

50 Shades of Grey - Continued.

Decorator has painted a whole wall in the Cloudburst. It is drying considerably lighter than it went on (so the opposite of what I expected) but it is still the front runner.

In the bright sunlight today, the lighter walls just showed very very mild lilac undertone but on other, less well lit rooms, it was pretty clean and flat looking. Dark enough to set off white picture frames, but not overbearing.

I am not loving it in the obsessed way that I loved Calluna on my sample patch (before it revealed itself to be complete and utter lilac on the rest of the hall), so I may well slap a few more testers up. I will give the poster who has referred me to Dulux: something Moss a go (for persistence ) and I might have a little mooch in some of the other paint shops in case there brands I missed... (makes rod for own back).

Whilst out and about today, I saw a wall mounted tester of the Crown Eglise (mentioned upthread) and thought I'd found the one but sadly, tis discontinued as a poster had thought.

It's mad how many posts are on this thread. I think grey victorian hallways are the 2014 equivalent of pine and dusky apricot bedrooms Circa 1985 (my parents one even had two splayed rattan fans pinned to the wall above the bed - I thought it was sooooo sophisticated).

Albany and Sanderson are a couple more brands to try.....

I am having the same dilemma with a taupe/mushroom colour. Either too grey or too pink!

Nice article here about choosing the right shade of grey - maybe too late for you, OP, but might help another grey wannabe:

www.madaboutthehouse.com/choosing-the-right-shade-of-grey-paint/

Hanging have tried a couple of the Sanderson's (Smoketree was exactly the same shade as F&B Calluna) but god it was lovely to put on. Gorgeous creamy texture.

What taupe's have you tried? We have Dulux Perfectly Taupe upstairs and it's a good middle ground between grey and brown. Also Leather Satchel is quite mushroomy and deep.

Storytopper going to read that article now. Too late? TOO LATE? I have the whole weekend now :)

I have picked a colour and painter has ordered it now so I am going to stick my fingers in my ears and cross my fingers (if that is anatomically possible) I won't say what it is for fear of getting in a blind panic that it's wrong!!

Hanging you HAVE to tell

Ok ok, I went for Dulux Caramel Sands. I wanted Dulux Rum Caramel if I was choosing purely on colour but I have some expensive blinds already there I need to tone with and the more caramel worked better. Interesting about the perfectly taupe, I discounted it as too pink on the swatch....
It's a three story hall and landing I am doing too so very different light in different places, plus it's developer magnolia at the moment so anything looks a bit 'out there'!

This is my attempt to find a colour for my front room. I've already painted over about 10 other colours. I really didn't want grey as have grey in my back room but my DH only likes the greys.

Please, please tell us what you're going for!

We have been struggling to find a grey for our bedroom. They are either too light, too dark or too brown. We have eventually opted for Lady Grey from the Sanctuary range by Homebase. It's not exactly what I'm looking for but we have spent a fortune on tester pots and I'm getting impatient now!

Another vote for Dulux Chic Shadow here. I tried almost as many samplepots as op has......and was only painting our en-suite shower room! It is a beautiful proper grey though, and I am tempted to use it elsewhere when I eventually start redecorating.

I woudl love grey in my hallway but I live in a beamed old farmhouse and any thing other than white is just sooo dark and gloomy!!

Anyone else slightly worried that grey is going to go out of fashion very quick since it seems so popular!! I thought I was totally cutting edge

Oh, I have felt this pain... We ended up with perfectly taupe (Dulux/crown) which was recommended by a decorator and is actually grey, certainly not taupe, in our south facing kitchen.

Second Dulux Chic Shadow. I have this in my living room, it's a soft mid true grey and looks great.

BetterwithCheese impossible to tell from a picture but I am feeling your pain (and thinking top right corner maybe??)

SO drum roll please....

I am going with

Cloudburst.

I just counted my testers - 36.

Dear god.

On the flip side, I am now a 50 shades of Grey EXPERT and can reel off every single grey paint name together with a brief description (useful)

Thank you for getting me through the trauma.

Cheese that should say top left

Are you sure about Cloudburst? This isn't a decision you want to take lightly....

kitsmummy - you may be right. I may have been a little hasty. I mean I've barely given it a thought

I mean what's to say it needs to be grey? Perhaps I should be exploring the various whites?

Oh no! Well I hope you and cloudburst will be very happy together, hmph!

Just googled it & looks exactly like pavilion grey! ;)

Congratulations, glad you've come to a decision, (well sort of, I was really enjoying all the grey discussions-had me swerved to getting a few tester pots just to check what people were talking about! Clearly I also have a problem)

Let us know how pleased or otherwise you are when it's all finished & good luck....

Oooo a decision! Yay. Hope you're happy when it's all finished

We put Calluna in out master bedroom (which thankfully is very unmasterly-read small.) Even 18 months later I still walk in there and go by god it's so purple!

Also thinking about hallway colours, we have 3 storeys to decorate and I'm concerned about more grey in the flat!