Perhaps veer towards taupe/beige or cream if you want warmth. Is grey ever warm? However, you cannot judge a wall colour until it is finished, that is pictures on the wall, rug down, furniture in place etc. A picture will help a lot. Chic Shadow can look good if dressed well.

It was magnolia when we moved in and it was just so bland. I just wanted it to have a bit more character. Here are some pics. I haven't don't the wall with art in yet cos it's a gallery wall and I'm not taking them all down until I'm sure! 😂

I need a neutral warm colour don't I?! I'm changing the carpet but hubby isn't keen to change brown leather couch just yet so I need to work with that. Other colours are greens and blues in decor, cushions, art etc. Any advice welcome please!

Yeah I totally agree, the problem is I thought this was geige and I had samples up on big pieces of lining paper. Moved it around the room in different lights etc... It's only now that it looks lilac! 🤷🏻‍♀️ It's so hard to know until you do a bigger area and it starts reflecting off and on things. Off back to B&Q tomorrow.

Ahh I hate this feeling, it's horrid isn't it. I do this to my husband pretty much everytime we paint a room! ;) However, I think your room looks lovely and with the right accessories will be lovely and cosy (I am coveting your mirror haha). Rather than fight the lilac tone maybe work with it? My immediate thought was to add some plummy aubergine tones in the accessories. Added some pis below of colour schemes with grey - just an idea.

The sofa, fireplace stone and carpet all need to work with the wall colour. Ideally choose a carpet that is a warm neutral and a wall colour that is also a warm neutral. The colour you have is blue or blue/violet according to the image, this is not going to look warm if that's what you are after. What colour were the walls before?

They were just cream when we moved in. I can't believe how blue/violet this colour looks as it didn't look that way on the sample. I just wanted to go for something not quite so bland as magnolia with a little more character.

We used Dulux Perfectly Taupe in a previous house, and really liked it. https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/colour-details/perfectly-taupe. It looked like a smart pale grey, but did’t look cold, blue or lilac.

I really like it, but yes it is very lilacy. How about Dulux Egyptian Cotton? It is beige with a very tiny hint of pink so nice and warm. Similar to F&B Skimming Stone which is also warm. Or how about a very pale sage green like Dulux Tranquil Dawn? Your room is lovely though.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm heading to get more samples today. I'll have spent a small fortune on testers by the time I'm done! 😂 My accessories are all on the darker side so maybe I do need something more neutral.

The paint looks different again today in the sun!

More beige again. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Now considering Egyptian cotton. But my confidence is knocked now and I'm just not sure. Anyone used this colour? This is it on some lining paper. I'm keeping coving and skirting boards off white as they are.

It’s neutral, it’s warm.

I have Egyptian Cotton on the walls in the kitchen and dining room, as it was here when we moved in, and we’ve not tackled these rooms yet. It might be due to how the light comes in (it faces north east), but i find it quite dull and a bit green, although it might be because ther’s a load of grey painted tongue and groove and skirting boards in the same place.

That said, I’ve just taken these photos from the dining table, and it doesnt look like this on the photos. You have to judge your sample in your own room under different lighting conditions. I think it tones better with your fireplace stonework than the current paint does, so it may well work for you!

The dimmer the room, the warmer the paint colour needs to be if you want the effect of a warm neutral. For example, the colour you have in a really well lit room may look less violet and a bit warmer, the effect of light is so strong that it's impossible to say what a colour will actually look like until in situ. If your carept is a pinky beige then avoid anything that looks greenish.

Thanks Jo. I tried the perfectly taupe and it was still just way too dark. Our lounge is south east facing. It's a low lit room. I like it like that as it's more of a snug. I see what you mean about a green tinge but i guess it looks different at different angles, times of day etc... At least a green tinge would be warmer than lilac! 😂

Thanks colour happy. I'm changing the carpet as soon as I can I hate it because of the pink tinge! You are so right about lighting. Like I say it's a very low lit room. 🤦🏻‍♀️

It's very tricky to get the right grey, we went through loads of samples and still got it wrong. In the end we've got a mix of ammonite by F+B and French Grey by LG which I both rate. But they can still both look on the cold/blue side. Light makes a big difference, ammonite looks grey in our bedroom but slightly lilac in our living room even though they face the same direction. You need to go more beige than you think to get away from the lilac, when I first put ammonite on the wall I hated it as i thought it looked mushroom colour but love it in our bedroom now

I can definitely see a lilac undertone in it. Greys are a bit of a nightmare colour. I did our ensuite around 4-5 times before l was happy with it.

Personally can’t see the point in continuing and trying to live with it because at the end of the day you already know you don’t like it.

If you want to use Dulux look at Tranquil dawn. It is a pale green with a tint of grey.

I would actually consider painting it something coccooning and warm like Savage Ground (F&B) or a Sandy Colour from LIttle Greene Stone collection. Darkish rooms never come to life with overly pale colours but they can feel glorious when painted warm colours. Ignore any ideas about trends and do something that 'feels' right. Take a look at Caravane Paris on instagram, lots of warm earthy interiors.

Here’s my room (NE facing) in F&B Cromarty. It’s not a warm colour at all but I love it so much. It’s not light-sapping. I must admit I went through no end of match pots until I found this one, with help from the Houzz gang. It goes beautifully with reds and pinks so suits my Persian rug and patterned curtains from Laura Ashley.

@sonia your room looks so nice that colour. I wonder if it's your furnishings etc that work so well.

I really don’t know colourhappy. The room evolved rather than planned, but I think the use of some wood, not too much, warms it up as does the rug. Cromarty is a colour I love and I’m not sure I will ever change it. It’s older brother Pigeon in a dark hall was a total mistake, for me anyway! 😂

@sonia I have seen Pigeon in really light rooms and loved it, but in a darkish room it felt very depressing to me, like a storm about to hit!

It looks lilac to me. I would try Skimming Stone - I’ve a similar coloured fire-place in a room without much natural light and this colour works well, making the room look cosy.

Hi, HU-812124615, if you would like to join another community for help and support with your home interiors dilemma take a look at -https://www.facebook.com/groups/interiorhomedesignadviceandsupportuk

Just for information Dulux Chic Shadow actually belongs to the Blue Hue Family.

it’s an uber near-neutral grey colour, but the tiny degree of colour it does have **is** blue.

#huefamilies #grey #blue

Thanks Marylee H. That's a great tool! Unfortunately I've found out the hard way. I'm now on with egyptian cotton and it's looking great. Warm and calm. Order has been restored! 😂 Thanks for all the comments and help as always everyone. No doubt I'll be back on here when it comes to picking the carpet to match the walls! 😬

Marylee H How do you use that tool?

It’s the Color Strategist Wheel.

EVERY paint colour and coloured surface belongs to one of the 10 Hue Families on it.

When you know which, it makes it way easier to find other colour companions.

See www.thelandofcolor.com

Change it!