Looking for A New Gray

Our roof leaked a few months ago.  Said leak is now repaired, and now it's time to paint over the damage.

Can you spot the spots?   

There are also streaks on the walls in the above photo, they just are hard to capture on camera.  They must be shy.

More spots above the foyer, next to the dining room  ::

I can't say I am sad that two rooms and ceilings need to be repainted now.  I am ready to move on from Sherwin Williams' Essential Gray.  I was very happy with it for the last 2+ years, but now it is striking me as a little too cold for my taste and space.  It fights with the warmer tones of the woods visible through the windows, as well as some of the other finishes throughout the house.  

I struggled with choosing colors, mostly because I am a recovering perfectionist and I agonized over picking just the right color.  Ridiculous.  

I made a checklist of the critieria that needed to be met ::

In case you can't read my handwriting through the distortion of water spots and general wear (I keep my notebook in the kitchen usually... it gets pretty beat up), here's what it says::

Paint

• neutral -- grey/greige
• cohesive with rest of house
• warmer than current paint
• DR [dining room] darker than LR [living room]
• possibly paint ceilings
• will hide handprints  --  not too light

Looking through a fan deck in the last few days, I landed on three strips that I liked, though I wasn't sure which shade to choose... the second color down or the third color down?  I was afraid that the second color down would be too washed out because the rooms-to-be-painted are flooded with sunlight most of the day.  The colors I liked (3rd color down on the strips)  ::

• Versitile Gray
• Anew Gray
• Requisite Gray

I also really liked a greenish yellow called Hearts of Palm and thought that might be cool on the ceiling.  The photo below shows the greenish strip, the three new greys to consider, as well as the strip where Essential Gray lives (third color down on the far right strip).

Can you see how Essential Grey looks hard and steely?  That might work in someone's very modern space, but like I said above, it seemed like it's time was over in our house.  Time to warm it up.

I picked up samples at SW (they are only $5 a pot... completely worth it, IMO, to avoid a huge painting mistake).  I painted swatches on two walls and was amazed at how different the colors looked based on the locations and lighting.  VersitileGray ended up looking quite beige on one of the walls, though it was fine in a darker spot... but ultimately it is too "meh" for my taste and space.  It is the top swatch in the photo below, next to the top cream/yellow swatch ::

I know, it is hard to tell in these photos, since I am not a photo and lighting expert.  In real life, Versitile Gray definitely comes off as beige, not a warm grey.  It might work for some people and certain spaces, just not for my light-flooded, vast expanses of drywall.

I liked the Requisite Gray, but just to make sure, I pulled out a can of Anew Gray that was stored in the garage (that's what my sewing room is painted).  I painted a patch of it on the walls (after the above photos were taken) and I've almost made my decision.... 

Pretty sure it's going to be Requisite Gray for the living room.  I've decided to keep the dining room Special Gray (both Dave and I just really, really like it), which looks pretty good next to the Requisite Gray.  But, the dining room ceiling will be painted in Hearts of Palm, which is a shade darker than the darkest of the yellow/cream swatches above.  [I didn't get a sample of it... I'm pretty darn confident that I love it.  I do know that the two shades lighter (again, seen above) come off as super light and creamy.  I want more of a green-yellow.]  As for the living room ceiling.... not sure yet.  It will indeed be something other than white.  Guess I better decide before morning when the painter shows up.

Oh and here's the "before" of the living room, in it's current state of Essential Gray, with a white ceiling ::

**** Update 4/24/2012  ****

Check out  the new green ceiling.


**** Update 10/1/2012****

I finally posted about how the Requisite Gray turned out.  Also, if you're here from a google image search, would you do me a favor and let me know who has linked to me here? I'd love to solve the mystery of where traffic to this page is coming from.  Leave a comment or drop me an email : tbremer33 at gmaildot com .