Grey walls with cream coloured woods

[Ilikecakes]

Hoping someone can help please. Recently moved into the dream home and plan to do a big renovation job in a couple of years, but would like to do some touch up jobs now to make it more to our taste in the short term. It’s a palace of magnolias and browns at the moment, and I’d like to cool the whole thing down with some greys and whites.

After a million patch tests, I settled on Dulux goose down for the south facing bedrooms. I’d looked briefly at the magnolia skirting/doors etc throughout the rooms and thought I’d just paint them white after I’d finished with the walls, but on closer inspection now, the skirting boards are cracked and badly damaged throughout, and I’m sure I’d make them look even worse if I tried to paint them myself. No budget just now to get this done professionally.

Would I be better off trying to find a grey (greige?) that would work better with the magnolia woods than try to shoehorn the cooler Goose Down into the rooms? And if so, can anyone recommend a slightly warmer grey that would complement the fugly magnolia woodwork? Thanks in advance and god, my life is fairly dull isn’t it?!

Well, I’ve spent most of 2020 agonising over which colour to paint my front door. So, if your life is dull, mine is even duller!

I’d personally go for a warmer grey than the one you’ve chosen or a “true grey” (neither warm, or cold). This article might help:

www.dulux.co.uk/en/expert-help/dr-dulux-how-find-right-shade-grey

Thank you. Had been considering Chic Shadow, which they’ve listed as one of the true greys in that article but it had looked darker on the patch test. Might need to take another look.

The grey will make the cream look magnolia.

You’re going to need to work with the skirting colour, which might mean grey is out depending on how yellow the wood is. If you’re just looking to freshen up then I’m a big fan of Dulux Timeless (but it’s not really a colour at all, just the most neutral of all paints). I think you might need to look more towards Beige - something like F&B shadow white would be nice. The F&B website is really helpful for colours actually because they often tell you what goes well, so you pick the colour you can’t change (the woodwork) and look at what they pair it with. I don’t buy F&B paint, I find Johnstone’s durable matt is good

I do but F&B paint and I find their paint colour combinations really helpful.

However it doesn’t cost a fortune to replace skirting boards. If the house is listed it’s not possible but otherwise it is. I wouldn’t be wedded to magnolia painted skirting boards in bad condition. The cost of renovation will be huge so only consider it if your house is very special.

Try Laura Ashley Pale French Grey/ French grey or Dove Grey/ Pale Dove Grey as they have a greige base. I have them in our large hall as I needed to work with a brown based beige carpet on stairs/ top hall. I really like it.

Johnstone's will mix all LA paints as they have gone into administration and better quality in my mind anyway.

Thanks all. Definitely not replacing skirting boards just now, as this will be done as part of the larger renovation in the next year or two.

Agree with posters who say the grey will make it look really yellowy, so I’ll need to work with it I guess. Will try and get a pot made up of those Laura Ashley shades perhaps, thanks for those suggestions.

Or perhaps I should just have a bash at painting the crappy skirting boards white myself. Can’t make them look much worse can it?!

Good luck OP, it's always a nightmare when you're inheriting decor. If it's any consolation we've changed absolutely everything about our house since we moved in 14 years ago- even done things 2/3 times like bedrooms and main bathroom- the one thing remaining is the downstairs bathroom which I keep meaning to get round to but other things take priority. It was well done, quality fittings but I just don't like it. It feels like because it's not offensive it's not priority! I WILL tackle it this year!

We recently had the life-affirming experience of choosing between 17 incredibly similar shades of grey, exciting stuff eh?!

We went with Polished Pebble in the end rather than Goose Down; the latter had more of a blue grey look to it that would have been too cold. We don't have any magnolia to contend with, but we do have wood floors, cream carpets and beige stone tiles and Polished Pebble looks really fantastic against those warm tones, it's a lovely gentle colour. We also used Natural Slate as an accent, and Chic Shadow in the bathrooms.

@CalamityJaneway would you be able to post a pic at all? I’ve been relooking (ffs!) at all the sample strips I’ve painted around the rooms and Polished Pebble is coming out on top. No problem at all if you’d rather not of course.

@Ilikecakes No prob! The lighting today is pretty dismal but even so I think it still looks lovely.

Beautiful @CalamityJaneway, thank you

We've moved recently to a 1980s throwback having lived in a house we'd extended and fully renovated.

Honestly, if you're extending in a year or two, just live in it. It's just a waste of money to decorate now if it's getting done.

If a year or two is more likely 2-3 years, then maybe consider it.

We're renovating this house and aim to start this year. I accept ours is sooner but I'd save as much as you can for the renovation work.

I'd try painting the woodwork in one room first. It'll look much fresher all round. Just wash it then a rub down with sand paper. I usually use dulux satinwood once paint and it looks nice, I'm no where near a professional but if you take your time it should be ok.