More paint color help.

[wawa]

You tired of this yet? I am.

So...trying to pick a paint color for the nursery. The rug we bought has purple parts that are a pretty dead on match for SW Expressive Plum.

Rug:


Expressive Plum:



Wanting to play off that color, wandered up the chip from expressive plum and got samples of Beguiling Mauve and Veiled Violet.




I also got a sample of one of my original choices for this room, Ash Violet.



But getting the samples (on poster board) into this room has not helped clear up my options. Veiled violet is a no-go. So that's easy. And I love beguiling mauve in the daylight...but Ash Violet is a little toooo purple. But then in artificial light beguiling mauve looks dirty, but Ash violet looks good.

I'm not sure where to go from here. Totally different color? Ash violet lightened a bit? Mix them together and see what I get? What?

[simpsongal]

I think Ash Violet is in a totally different purple family than the other colors. As violet is more of a silvery gray purple and the others have brown & red undertones (which work best w/your rug). Ash violet is similar to the purple colors in our bedroom.

What about something in between expressive plum and beguiling mauve?

If you can't find the right purple, I think those yellow tones in th rug would look lovely w/expressive plum accents (pillows, curtains, picture mattes, etc.)

[ssmjlm]

I like beguiling mauve on my screen, but if it doesn't work in artificial light that could be an issue.

Maybe mix a bit of it with ash violet and see what you get.

[wawa]

Dec 4, 2012 14:51:16 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

I think Ash Violet is in a totally different purple family than the other colors. As violet is more of a silvery gray purple and the others have brown & red undertones (which work best w/your rug). Ash violet is similar to the purple colors in our bedroom.

What about something in between expressive plum and beguiling mauve?

It is a totally different kind of purple purple. I had that Ash violet picked out from before we bought the rug. It still works with the rug (in person) but it's not really the right undertone to totally match. I'm ok with that - but in daylight in this room I'm afraid it's going to be like hanging out inside a giant grape. It's just rather...purple.

As for something deeper - it's a small room. 8x10. Northfacing windows. i'm really afraid of making it too dark. What do you think?

(room below. Obviously the "window treatments" are not staying, and it will get trim.)

[FoxInFiji]

I really love Beguiling Mauve but I'm always drawn to the more muted undertones. I think it's a color that would work well for a long time in a toddler, little girl, and even teens room. What do you mean by dirty exactly? Can you take a picture? Our SW Perfect Greige guestroom looks a lot grayer and darker (I assume that = dirty) at night but so does everything else in the room so it looks fine. You're looking at an empty room with the paint color right now. Can you try bringing in the rug, art, and other objects for a truer comparison?

[wawa]

Dec 4, 2012 15:59:27 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

I really love Beguiling Mauve but I'm always drawn to the more muted undertones. I think it's a color that would work well for a long time in a toddler, little girl, and even teens room. What do you mean by dirty exactly? Can you take a picture? Our SW Perfect Greige guestroom looks a lot grayer and darker (I assume that = dirty) at night but so does everything else in the room so it looks fine. You're looking at an empty room with the paint color right now. Can you try bringing in the rug, art, and other objects for a truer comparison?

It looks...dingy. Not gray. More like it's a shirt that used to be a pretty color and hasn't been washed in 2 years. I think it's the yellow in the artificial light playing off the sorta brownish/red undertones in a not nice way. It looks lovely (muted in a good way) in daylight. Or even a mix of daylight and artificial light. But as soon as the sun goes down it looks like poo.

I'll snap a picture tonight and see if I can get MH to unroll the rug again in there too.

[wawa]

Dec 4, 2012 15:59:27 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

I really love Beguiling Mauve but I'm always drawn to the more muted undertones. I think it's a color that would work well for a long time in a toddler, little girl, and even teens room. What do you mean by dirty exactly? Can you take a picture? Our SW Perfect Greige guestroom looks a lot grayer and darker (I assume that = dirty) at night but so does everything else in the room so it looks fine. You're looking at an empty room with the paint color right now. Can you try bringing in the rug, art, and other objects for a truer comparison?

It looks...dingy. Not gray. More like it's a shirt that used to be a pretty color and hasn't been washed in 2 years. I think it's the yellow in the artificial light playing off the sorta brownish/red undertones in a not nice way. It looks lovely (muted in a good way) in daylight. Or even a mix of daylight and artificial light. But as soon as the sun goes down it looks like poo.

I'll snap a picture tonight and see if I can get MH to unroll the rug again in there too.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I just busted out all my chips. What about BM Sleepy Hollow or Pebble Creek? They're in the same color range but not *quite* as grayish?

Sleepy Hollow:


Pebble Creek:

[FoxInFiji]

Oh boo! Well I don't think you could go wrong either way. Maybe try mixing them together like you said. It couldn't hurt.

[wawa]

Dec 4, 2012 16:14:54 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I just busted out all my chips. What about BM Sleepy Hollow or Pebble Creek? They're in the same color range but not *quite* as grayish?

Sleepy Hollow:


Pebble Creek:

Oh, one of those might work. I've got a BM chip deck at home. I'll have to see how those look in there tonight.

And I think I'm going to do some sample mixing and see what I can come up with. I need more poster board...

[hbomdiggity]

I should take a pic of our guest bedroom we just painted SW poetry plum - very similar to your first color.

Despite my h saying that it looked like prunes smeared on the wall and other remarks (love him), I really like it because its not too purple at all - almost brown (not that a nursery being purple and fun is bad).

It's also a small room and the dark color does make it look smaller, but not too small. The room gets good light so it's not too dark either.

[simpsongal]

I don't want to make more work for you, but have you considered adding a chair rail? Put a lighter color below. That would help lighten the room.

Remind me, is the crib white? If not, then I'd be cautious about going too dark.

[wawa]

Dec 5, 2012 9:35:19 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

I don't want to make more work for you, but have you considered adding a chair rail? Put a lighter color below. That would help lighten the room.

Remind me, is the crib white? If not, then I'd be cautious about going too dark.

crib is medium toned wood. Jenny Lind style. I could paint it, but MH is staunchly opposed.

chair rail...I don't hate the idea but...yeah. No. At this point we're far enough behind schedule that I'd leave the room primer colored before I'd add anything else to the list.

[wawa]

and crap....I took pictures last night of the colors in the room, but I just realized that my camera cord is not at my office like I thought. Poo. I'm gonna bump this tomorrow with more pictures.

[tarheels]

All I'll say is that I think grayed lavender is the hardest color in the paint deck. Don't you remember me going for this exact color this summer and failing? I ended up painting the room navy because I could NOT for the life of me get the right color.

The trick is to pick something that is gray with a hint of purple instead of purple with a hint of gray. The latter becomes Purple People Eater when it's on four walls.

[wawa]

okay...lots of PIPs coming. I'm going to break this up into multiple posts so I don't get confused.

This are the original two colors - beguiling mauve (L) and ash violet (R).
At night under artificial light:


In the morning with a mix of natural and artificial:


And on the other side of the room where they catch more of the natural light:

(ash on the left, mauve on the right)

[wawa]

Then I pulled out some random gray samples i had from other rooms and started mixing.
I ended up with all of these:

the original beguiling mauve is on the far left, ash violet is on the far right.

plus this one


these are the two my husband likes the best (from left to right)
A - ash violet mixed with a darker gray
B - ash violet mixed with a lighter gray



Same two colors, but now with C in the middle.
C - Ash violet mixed with a LOT more of the darker gray (same ones as the solo picture above)


MH thinks this one just looks gray. I disagree.

And another shot of the door side picking up more of the natural light.
from left to right, this is A (50/50 ash and gray), C (20/80 ash and gray) and D.
D = Ash violet and Beguiling mauve mixed together. This one came out weirdly dark and is not an option.

[wawa]

that's all probably totally confusing. Any thoughts if you were able to muddle through it?

The options are essentially:

Beguiling Mauve
Ash Violet
Mix A - ash violet / dark gray (50/50)
Mix B - ash violet / light gray
Mix C - ash violet / dark gray (20/80)

[munkii]

I actually like your no-go D best out of everything. Since that's not an option, Ash Violet is my first vote; A is my second.

[wawa]

You don't think that ash violet would be a little too too on all 4 walls in the daylight? The change between artificial light and natural light in the pictures is pretty true to life. It goes from a fairly muted purple to PURPLE when the sun hits it.

I was going for a more sophisticated gray-purple not just straight up lavender/lilac.

[mrs.jacinthe]

I've changed my mind. I didn't realize for some reason that the whole rug would be purple. I think with the color of that rug, you definitely need a lighter color.

I like C.

[munkii]

For more gray-purple, I'd go back to the drawing board (probably not a popular answer). If you want to stick with one of your boards, C or Mauve are closest but they are much more purple-gray rather than vice versa. Mauve also reads a little muddy to me.

[wawa]

Dec 6, 2012 11:44:09 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I've changed my mind. I didn't realize for some reason that the whole rug would be purple. I think with the color of that rug, you definitely need a lighter color.

I like C.

Huh? It's not...it's blue-gray. The only purple is the dark plum swirly/planty looking parts at the one end.

ETA: although looking back through those pictures it does look kinda purpleish in some of them doesn't it?

Goddammit. I hate colors.

[wawa]

Seriously, fuck this noise.

why did I get my heart set on what is apparently an impossible color to pick out?

[mrs.jacinthe]

I'm sorry, wawa. Purple is a tough one.

[munkii]

What about Silver Peony? It's two down from Ash Violet, reads more gray, and seems pretty neutral w/r/t temperature.

[pitterwoo]

let me just answer B before I confuse myself. I'm not sure how realistic the colors are on the monitor, but that one appears to be my favorite.

[pitterwoo]

Dec 6, 2012 11:48:14 GMT -5 wawa said:

Seriously, fuck this noise.

why did I get my heart set on what is apparently an impossible color to pick out?

haha, I say this with basically every color choice I have to make. "Whites are so hard!" "Yellows are so hard!" "Blues are so hard!" I haven't done purple, but I'm sure they are so hard!

[wawa]

Dec 6, 2012 12:01:02 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

Dec 6, 2012 11:48:14 GMT -5 wawa said:

Seriously, fuck this noise.

why did I get my heart set on what is apparently an impossible color to pick out?

haha, I say this with basically every color choice I have to make. "Whites are so hard!" "Yellows are so hard!" "Blues are so hard!" I haven't done purple, but I'm sure they are so hard!

IME, blue-greens are easy! And blue-green-grays. Can I just paint the entire house assorted shades of blue-green and green? We were able to pick those out with minimal heartburn at all for all three bathrooms, the master bedroom and the kitchen. I think it helps that I love pretty much those entire sections of the chip deck?

I'm picky about my purples.

true blues are impossible though. And yellows. And we might have had a fight in the paint aisle in lowes last year about whites for trim....

[FoxInFiji]

I like C with A being my second choice. Yes they read a lot more purple in the natural light on the wall with the door but remember that will mainly only be that color on that wall so it's not like all of the walls will be reading PURPLE instead of gray/purple. It will look like a mix of those two colors at any given time.

I gotta say that rug looks even more awesome in the room! That was such a score! I think all of the colors you posted will look good with it so you don't have to worry about that.