warm grey for lounge room

5 years ago

I am looking for a warm grey paint that will go with a navy blue sofa and mustard yellow curtains. We don’t have the sofa or the curtains in the room yet so no photos I’m afraid.
The room is north facing and most that I have tried look blue or green and too cold.
For example - dash of soot which I read elsewhere might be good looks good on some walls but on one it just looks blue.

I want the room to feel cosy and close.

Thank you in advance.

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ARC Bespoke Interiors

5 years ago

what is the shark breath going to be like , i wounder

tiger breath, that would be a some sort of orange

giraffe breath , some sort of yellow

whale breath , charcoal black ?

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Comments (24)

A B
5 years ago
Have you tried moles breath? Could really work with mustard
A B
5 years ago
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A B
5 years ago
Couldn't find a living room pic!
PRO
ARC Bespoke Interiors
5 years ago
i would also advise you to go for moles breath by F&B paint collection, just like JEN P

''BUT'' i personally would go for French grey(its that very old looking green that i feel it would go with the furniture that you have )
Juliet Docherty
5 years ago
Farrow and Ball describe certain colours as warm, such as Elephants Breath. It is a bit misleading because any colour can change how warm or cool it looks depending on the aspect of the room and the light levels. Elephant's Breath in my East (Green light) facing room looked really cold and dreary, but probably would have worked in a South room. North facing rooms have a cool blue light and this can make 'greys' feel very unwelcoming.
PRO
ARC Bespoke Interiors
5 years ago
elephants breath is a lighter grey tone, it would look cold, because its a lighter tone

moles breath is a dark grey colour full of warmth
A S
5 years ago
Dulux Chic Shadow
Juliet Docherty
5 years ago
Hi Bespoke Interiors. Charleston Grey and London Clay all look cold in my East facing room, so tone is not the only thing. Greys with yellow in look warmer, but in general I don't think F&B have enough choice. Little Greene have some good greys such as Rolling Fog and Slaked Lime.
Sarah Smith
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you so much for your suggestions.

We tried little green french grey but that looks very green.
I hadn’t considered the browsers greys of rolling fog or slacked lime.

We had originally thought of going with a pale blush pink paint colour but felt it may be a bit too much (something like little Greene Dorchester Pink) and may not suit the mustard curtains.

We were then swayed into thinking about grey by other suggestions.
It’s feeling really overwhelming right now to get the right colour.
First time house decorating for us and we have to get someone to do it for us so it’s would be very costly to do it and hate it!
Sarah Smith
Original Author
5 years ago
Should say “browner” greys
Juliet Docherty
5 years ago
I'll be honest with you Sarah, it is a bit of a minefield and the tricky thing is to not be too influenced by what is fashionable. My house is pretty dark and I know for a fact that blue based greys will never feature on my walls, they are just too depressing for the spaces I have. However, warmer brown based greys feature a lot and work really well with Mustards and Blues. This is 'Mouses Back' in a West facing room, it always seems to have some warmth. I know that Little Greene has a much better range so I would investigate their range. If you look at the colour scale underneath it shows what happens when colours are desaturated. A warmer yellow scale would show brown/greys, as would a blue colour scale.
Sonia
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
How about Dulux Egyptian Cotton? It’s more a beigey-grey. I have it in my north facing bedroom, teamed with white furniture and a dash of pink in the bedding and curtains. It never feels dark or depressing, however the room does have a pretty big window.
PRO
amordesigns
5 years ago
Dulux chic shadow perhaps?
Kiwikate
5 years ago
My living room and bedroom are both north facing. Finding colour schemes I could live with has not been easy (repainted several times.. ) However I surprised myself by going grey - chose Snowfall by Crown and love it. Here are pics taken during the evening 10 mins of sunshine(ish).
Sarah Smith
Original Author
5 years ago
I think we are going to go with Rolling Fog :-)
Thank you for all your help it really set me in a new direction which I am so much happier with :-)
Sarah Smith
Original Author
5 years ago
So we went with the Rolling Fog (Little Greene) and we are really happy with it.
I am now struggling with what colour for roman blinds will match with it.
In the rest of the room we currently have navy sofas and blush cushions. We have no other colours.
Carpet matches the walls.
E D
5 years ago
Looks like a nice neutral and natural colour.

Perhaps you can post some photos that show more of the room/ space?
Sarah Smith
Original Author
5 years ago
A wider view of the window.
Sorry the light is very bad
We can't have long curtains due to the radiator so we're thinking Roman blinds ...
but stuck on colour / style and if roman blinds would be best way to go.
tamp75
5 years ago
I would go for Roman blinds in grey. I don’t think you need to add another colour if you already have grey, blue & pink. Plus you have variation in greys in the wallpaper - some look greenish?
I was going to suggest a grey patterned blind but you’d need to choose carefully as it will sit alongside the wallpaper pattern.
Difficult decision on whether to go for a blind covering the whole of the window or individual blinds for each panel.
tamp75
5 years ago
Looking again - as the height of the window isn’t great, Roman blinds for each pane will cut out too much light. Maybe a type of roller blind (without all the cords) would work.
Moving the radiator would be the best option though probably not so great now that you’ve decorated!
Sarah Smith
Original Author
5 years ago
@tamp75 - yes I have agonised for a long time over what type of window dressing to use. Hence we have been living with nothing for a while.

But we have family from overseas visiting in 2 weeks so really need to start making decisions.
The window is really wide - almost the full width of the room. But as you say not particularly tall.

Moving the radiator wasn't an option unfortunately - we did consider it. We just didn't have the funds to do that.

The other option is short curtains which I know don't look as good but I'm not sure what other choices we have.
We need the material to keep in the heat in winter.
Sarah Smith
Original Author
5 years ago
My other thought was perhaps an extra wide roman blind to cover the whole of the outside of the window. The window is over 2m wide though.
We wouldn't be able to see the large sil.

The room is north facing so I wouldn't want to block out any light if I can help it as it is quite dark in any case.
Sonia
5 years ago
I agree a simple grey blind with a bit of texture would look good. I would put it outside the window. Short curtains are not always a terrible idea. I have a large bay window with a wide windowsill, so long curtains would have looked silly, and of course we have a radiator there too. They look okay and it was the best option for us. Have you considered shutters? I know they’re pretty pricey but would look lovely in your room. Just a thought.