Help me pick wall colors - update w/final pic in thread

[lessel]

After much back and forth, we've decided we're going to paint the wood in our family room--wainscoting, trim, bookshelf, doors. We're going to leave the ceiling beams and stair rail wood, as well as the faux wood of the vinyl windows (done by previous homeowner). Brick fireplace will stay brick. We'll eventually replace the fireplace mantel because I think it's too small and not our style. I feel like those things staying wood and brick will give it some consistent warmth/brown touches (plus the wood floor) and keep it from looking too awkward. (Really, we'd probably paint the beams and stairs too if those stupid windows weren't faux wood. I feel like we'll probably end up replacing them before we paint them--that back wall gets a lot of sun and I don't think the paint would last.)

So, now I need some color help. Originally I was thinking SW Alabaster for all the wood and the ceiling, and a light gray TBD for the walls. (We painted our old house interior Alabaster and I really liked it.) However, that's a pretty warm white and I'm not sure if it will pair well with a light gray. We're also putting a dark gray couch in that room. Too much gray??

I'm thinking of doing some kind of accent color in the back panel of the book case. Thoughts on that?

Pics below (from listing), plus screenshot of the couch (PB Comfort).

[lessel]

Also, dumb question...in that last picture, does that little piece of ceiling under the stairs where the pot light is get painted ceiling color or wall color. Ceiling, right?

[momin2013]

While I like the alabaster, I think I'd go a bit brighter white, while still keeping it warm, if possible. Considering you're keeping some of the wood in there (and also with the floors), I'd also aim for a warmer grey. We have Revere Pewter as our main colour and it's a really nice warm grey IMO.

Not sure about the accent colour for the bookshelf; I'd be wary of adding one pop of colour there but not having it anywhere else in the room, that might look weird. Are you keeping the fireplace unpainted? If so, you might want to pull an accept colour out of there.

I think the dark grey couch will look fine, but if you end up pulling a colour out of the couch you could go that way too if that's an option.

Yes, to painting the potlight area same as the celing.

[kittycatlove]

I agree with momin2013, your wood is very warm toned and if you are keeping some of it you need to make sure all your colors, especially the grey is on the warm side. Go brighter warm white for the trim. We have SW Collanade Gray, which is a nice warm greige.

Paint the potlight area the same as the ceiling.

[lessel]

I now have a stack of SW paint samples and am taping them to my wall and realizing so much of how this room looks depends on natural light. Today it's rainy and gray outside, so that room is very dark and yellowy. The ceiling fan is the main light source (there's that potlight and a light on the staircase too)--all of those bulbs are a warmer hue. So I need like a bright but warm white. If that's a thing.

[aprilsails]

if The room is that poorly lit I would stick with standard ceiling white for the ceiling. With that much surface I don’t entirely love the idea of it being creamy at all. I also don’t love the look of ceilings matching the trim work.

What are you planning on doing with the wood trim in other areas of the house? I don’t think I would do something as warm as Alabaster elsewhere, and not with the grey. I like the trim colour to be consistent throughout the whole house, so there I would lean towards a more true white shade as well.

Also, just as an FYI, I don’t think you need to go as warm/cream on the white as you are thinking to match the wood you have in there. I grew up in a house with cathedral ceilings and warm stained cedar features and wood window frames and trim throughout and the entire ceiling and the walls were painted a very pure white for all living areas and hallways. It was bright, no doubt, but I kind of love the look.

I usually buy from Benjamin Moore, but their Simply White and White Cloud could both work for you I think for the trim.

And finally, I’ll plug BM’s Classic Gray for the walls. I think it is pale enough and soft enough it would work with the wood and the floors and your furniture. Hard to be certain though. That is definitely a room where I would want to decide on three colours and buy the samples to actually paint all 4 walls so you can check how things look in different lights.

[lessel]

Aug 27, 2019 12:21:50 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

if The room is that poorly lit I would stick with standard ceiling white for the ceiling. With that much surface I don’t entirely love the idea of it being creamy at all. I also don’t love the look of ceilings matching the trim work.

I was kind of wondering that. Keeping the ceiling just straight white might brighten it up. But what would I do with that piece of wood trim against the ceiling. Does that get ceiling white or the off-white that's on the wood paneling below?

What are you planning on doing with the wood trim in other areas of the house? I don’t think I would do something as warm as Alabaster elsewhere, and not with the grey. I like the trim colour to be consistent throughout the whole house, so there I would lean towards a more true white shade as well.

No other trim in the house is wood. Everything is white With the exception of a the kitchen (on my redo list in like 5ish years), so I can live with it not matching at the moment. This wood room is a total oddball. 

Also, just as an FYI, I don’t think you need to go as warm/cream on the white as you are thinking to match the wood you have in there. I grew up in a house with cathedral ceilings and warm stained cedar features and wood window frames and trim throughout and the entire ceiling and the walls were painted a very pure white for all living areas and hallways. It was bright, no doubt, but I kind of love the look.

I usually buy from Benjamin Moore, but their Simply White and White Cloud could both work for you I think for the trim.

And finally, I’ll plug BM’s Classic Gray for the walls. I think it is pale enough and soft enough it would work with the wood and the floors and your furniture. Hard to be certain though. That is definitely a room where I would want to decide on three colours and buy the samples to actually paint all 4 walls so you can check how things look in different lights.

Thanks! Couple answers above. Will try to post a picture that shows the kitchen and it's mismatched trim. Hang tight...

[lessel]

Here’s a few shots of the kitchen from the listing photos, which is immediately next to this family room and doesn’t match it at all.

[aprilsails]

I think I would treat the crown moulding type trim like crown moulding and do it in a semi gloss the same colour as the other trim paints. If the chair rail and everything below will be that colour it would be the most consistent approach.

[lessel]

Aug 27, 2019 12:31:00 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

I think I would treat the crown moulding type trim like crown moulding and do it in a semi gloss the same colour as the other trim paints. If the chair rail and everything below will be that colour it would be the most consistent approach.

So are you basically suggesting something like ceiling white semi-gloss for the wood stuff, ceiling white flat for the actual ceiling, and then a gray for the walls?

[aprilsails]

Aug 27, 2019 13:07:33 GMT -5 lessel said:

Aug 27, 2019 12:31:00 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

I think I would treat the crown moulding type trim like crown moulding and do it in a semi gloss the same colour as the other trim paints. If the chair rail and everything below will be that colour it would be the most consistent approach.

So are you basically suggesting something like ceiling white semi-gloss for the wood stuff, ceiling white flat for the actual ceiling, and then a gray for the walls?

More like the Cloud or Simply White in semi gloss for all the trim, flat ceiling white for the ceiling, and a soft grey in an eggshell finish for the walls.

You will need to primer the hell out of the wood trim to make sure the stain doesn’t come through before painting them white though. That process sucks.

[lessel]

Aug 27, 2019 13:29:30 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

Aug 27, 2019 13:07:33 GMT -5 lessel said:

So are you basically suggesting something like ceiling white semi-gloss for the wood stuff, ceiling white flat for the actual ceiling, and then a gray for the walls?

More like the Cloud or Simply White in semi gloss for all the trim, flat ceiling white for the ceiling, and a soft grey in an eggshell finish for the walls.

You will need to primer the hell out of the wood trim to make sure the stain doesn’t come through before painting them white though. That process sucks.

Thanks! Yeah, we have a couple quotes for painting this room. It's too much to do ourselves. And neither quote is cheap because this is going to be a pain in the ass!

[dr.girlfriend]

Aug 27, 2019 13:35:59 GMT -5 lessel said:

Aug 27, 2019 13:29:30 GMT -5 aprilsails said:

More like the Cloud or Simply White in semi gloss for all the trim, flat ceiling white for the ceiling, and a soft grey in an eggshell finish for the walls.

You will need to primer the hell out of the wood trim to make sure the stain doesn’t come through before painting them white though. That process sucks.

Thanks! Yeah, we have a couple quotes for painting this room. It's too much to do ourselves. And neither quote is cheap because this is going to be a pain in the ass!

I think you should go with something that's a very light beige rather than grey.  There's a lot on Pinterest for "Best Neutrals," etc. 


I've been really liking this one, potentially for our bedroom and/or bathroom:

Benjamin Moore Pale Oak



If you're looking for a nice, non-yellowy white, we have a room painted in Benjamin Moore's Sand Dollar and LOVE it.

[lessel]

Well, here we goooooo!



We ended up going with:
Wood paneling and trim = SW Alabaster in semi-gloss
Walls = SW Agreeable Gray in eggshell
Ceiling = SW Extra White in flat



The Albaster looked so yellow online but when I got samples up on the wall it’s a fairly white-white. Just a touch warm. Which I think will work with the wood floors and fireplace.

Will post the final picture when it’s done in a couple days. (So far the wood just has a single coat of primer.)

[dr.girlfriend]

Exciting!!!!

[felicity]

I think that will look amazing. I love SW Alabaster and used it for all of the trim in our previous house. I wanted to try something different in our new house and I regret it (I did SW Pure White). It seems strange to say I loved a trim color, but I did lol. It still looked like bright white trim, but just had a touch of warmth like you said. I miss it!

[Susie]

Aug 27, 2019 7:11:39 GMT -5 lessel said:

Also, dumb question...in that last picture, does that little piece of ceiling under the stairs where the pot light is get painted ceiling color or wall color. Ceiling, right?

Yep definitely, since it's above some crown molding.

All of our trim is (and the LR bookcases are) SW Alabaster in semi gloss.  The grayest room I have is my LR/DR (SW Sea Salt & Oyster Bay):





I'm good with it, but YMMV.  My ceilings are not Alabaster, they are just regular untinted white (flat).  So that will be pretty much the same as yours.

My dad's shore house is gray with SW untinted white trim (there are PIPs in my recent post about kitchen backsplashes) and I think that looks good too.  He has a gray floor and gray counters, and I was sure it would be too much gray, but the actual finished product came out really nice.  I think you'd be fine to do gray walls and gray couch as long as you have some color in other places, like art, pillows, a rug, etc.

Also, you might guess from my bookcases that I like your idea to do a color on the backs behind the shelves

ETA:  Have you considered white washing the brick on your fireplace?  I have a wood burning fireplace with brick running the entire length of the wall, and I've thought about white washing to go with painting my trim white.  I haven't done it, because I'm a little afraid of soot making it look worse than it does with red brick, but I'm intrigued by the idea, like this:

[mrsukyankee]

Can't wait to see it all!

[lessel]

Susie - I am really tempted to do that with the brick, especially because it is *a lot* of brick. It’s the same brick as the house’s exterior, so I’m not sure if that seems weird. I feel like we’re probably going to live with it for few years before we decide about whether or not to do the brick. I’m also tempted to paint the exterior brick too, but we’ll see!!

[lessel]

Status update:



Those goddamn faux wood vinyl windows are gonna drive me crazy until I replace them. I’m not going to completely judge them yet because there are more wood accents we left unpainted (ceiling beams, stair rails) and we’re going to pull in some browns and warm colors with furniture. So hopefully they won’t stand out as much as they currently do.

[cuadrado]

lessel, that looks amazing! Wow, you have transformed that space so much. I was also going to suggest white washing the brick but that's definitely something you can do later on

[lessel]

And it’s done! I love it!

[dr.girlfriend]

lessel, IDK if you have opinions but I am asking my contractor to use these light switches and switchplates. I think they blend a lot better with the griege paints and look a lot cooler. They're a bit pricey though. They have them at Home Depot or you can buy through Amazon.

(Eaton Silver Granite)

www.cooperindustries.com/content/dam/public/wiringdevices/icons/Pinterest/SG%20Bathroom.pdf

[dr.girlfriend]

Amazing! I didn't even notice the wainscoting before and now I LOVE it!

[lessel]

Sept 9, 2019 19:11:04 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

lessel, IDK if you have opinions but I am asking my contractor to use these light switches and switchplates. I think they blend a lot better with the griege paints and look a lot cooler. They're a bit pricey though. They have them at Home Depot or you can buy through Amazon.

(Eaton Silver Granite)

www.cooperindustries.com/content/dam/public/wiringdevices/icons/Pinterest/SG%20Bathroom.pdf

Thanks! Yeah, we have to swap out all of the outlets and switches and an HVAC return. This is helpful!

[aprilsails]

The wood frame windows mostly remind me of the black framed windows that are popular now. I don’t think they will look out of place at all once the room is pulled together.

I think it looks great! I’m also impressed at how quickly you moved in and got this project done. We need to paint several rooms in our all-grey fresh from the builder house and I haven’t even looked at paint chips once over the past 3 months. I did buy a comforter for DDs room that I can now pull paint colours from so that’s a start. I am also about to start on maternity leave for the next year so hopefully I get more done while I’m off work. I was fairly productive last time.

[momin2013]

That looks great - so much brighter!

[mrspez07]

That looks great.
4ish year’s later and I still haven’t replaced our switch plates, though I’d love to, it’s hard to drop money on something like that, plus we have a few unusual ones that are hard to find.

[mrsukyankee]

That looks great!!!

[bullygirl979]

Wow! What a difference!