How to Choose the Right Gray Paint for Your Rooms & Accent Colors

Picking the right gray paints for your rooms is not always easy because there are so many of them to choose from – warm, muddy or cool - with red, yellow, blue, green and brown undertones.
There is a way to make the process simple! Its the temperature of your gray that you have to get right, so you evoke cool or warm depending on which mood you want to create.
The first thing to gauge is how much natural light your rooms get as well as which direction this light comes from. The direction of the light works to make your gray shade either cooler or warmer. This blog post gives ideas on the right gray depending on whether you have northern, southern, eastern and western facing rooms.
Use this list to help you choose gray depending on your accent colors in your color scheme.
Accent Color Undertone in Gray Paint
yellow royal purple/blue
orange blue
red emerald green/blue
magenta bright (Kelly green)
purple chartreuse yellow/green
royal purple/blue yellow
blue orange
emerald green/blue red
bright or Kelly green magenta
chartreuse yellow/green purple
More on the blog including videos to help you choose your perfect gray color!
This blue green gray is warmed with wood tones and perfect for south and east facing rooms. White trim works well with lots of sun.
Yellow and blue are great accents in this gray room, warmed with wood tones and golds.
Grays with brown undertones can warm up a room without using loud colors and remaining elegant. Good for rooms facing north without a lot of natural light.
Lavender undertone in this gray warms the room along with the warm wood tones.
Number your paint sample. Use sample tests your grays along side one another to reveal their undertones. Use large boards up to 12in x 12in to get a better idea of what your paint will look like. These samples are probably too small and too close together to really get a sense of what they might look like.
Dark charcoal gray is dramatic and elegant in the right room. Add cream to your trim to warm it against your main color. This color is perfect for pops of color - bright yellows, pinks are blues. For a more subtle look choose grays with the same undertone as your accent color.
Christine - Pearl + Creek
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Jen8287229 Jen8287229 on Jul 06, 2016
    Can you tell me what brand and color the "blue green gray" or first room is?
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  • Carolyn Carolyn on Mar 04, 2015
    we painted our bathroom gray and it really was hard to find the right gray. A lot of colors are blue/gray, beige gray and charcoal were a nice selection
  • B. Enne B. Enne on Oct 31, 2015
    Great info thanks! I was really lucky. I chose 2 gray shades for my teenager's room, from chips right in the paint store, and they ended up being wonderful! I even chose fabrics afterwards. :) I did everything backwards, and it worked out...phew! In fact it looks so good, that I have decided to do my bedroom in silvery tones. I bought the curtains and bedding first, so I will make sure everything coordinates well first this time.
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