Let's Talk About Picking Out Gray Paint!

Oh my goodness summer has flown by! I apologize my blog has taken a back burner as I've been spending time with my family this summer and keeping super busy just keeping up with my five kiddos! But everyone year towards the end of summer, I start getting an itch to redecorate, or fix up things in our home. So today my husband and I went to Lowes and picked up some paint for some touch ups around the house. We're touching up walls before we start some new small DIY house projects (Don't worry - I'll share those in the coming weeks as we work on them.)

So lets talk about paint! Gray paint colors are definably the most popular paint color right now for residential and commercial areas. But with some many versions of gray out there - how do you pick the right one for your needs?

A great place to start is gathering suggestions from family and friends who have already painted with gray colors. Pinterest and the internet are also other great ways to aid in your search. And, of course there is always the old fashion to pick a paint color - going down to the hardware store and looking at paint cards, then bringing them home and placing samples on the walls.

However, grays paint tends to be a lot trickier than other paint colors. This is because gray paint is not a true "color," but more a "tint." This means it starts with a black color base and is gradually mixed with white to lighten it up. It does not have true primary colors in it like other paint colors. Because it's more of a pigment, gray paint tends to easily look different in different lighting. I had a client who loved Amazing Gray by Sherwin Williams. It looked fantastic in her living room, which had lots of windows, but looks mossy green in her hall way. I've seen gray paints show all sorts of undertones like green, purple, blue or even pink undertones! It all depends on the lighting and windows.

The best was to avoid undertones is to buy a sample can (They run any where from $2.98 to $6.50.) Then paint several LARGE areas in your home in several different places that have different lighting. A small painted area will not give you the true color. This is because a small swatch can be influenced by the existing paint color already on the wall.


(*Also note, never use the rest of the sample paint in the container for more than just the sample. Sample cans, because they're just samples, don't have a finishing protect agent in the paint, and therefore the paint will come off easy.)



Another way to test out gray paint, is to paint it on a medium size paper approximately 12'x18' inches, and hold it up to the wall. This helps to see what the gray will look like with out the existing paint color influencing it.

I hope this information helps on your quest for the perfect gray! I'll be sharing all paint color in my home in my next post. So stay tuned!