Not toned or muddy. Opt for colors with a clearer, crisper character. You have to have some level of saturation to bust thru the dim quality of NE exposure.

As far as color temperature or one side of the color wheel vs. the other - it doesn't really matter. Any hue can work in any exposure the trick is to partner the right pitch of nuance with the quality of light. In other words, dim light gets more vivid colors, bright light can handle toned colors.

Full Spectrum is always a good solution for challenging levels and qualities of light -- because it's full spectrum it will have what it takes to reflect whatever wavelengths there are to work with in the inherent light, no matter how limited they may be.

Ellen Kennon is actually have a Paint Sale. $5.00 off per gallon of Lifemaster (all finishes). Order online with code "2013"

Here is a link that might be useful: Kennon Full Spectrum Paint

Thanks, funcolors! I'm not sure I can get Ellen's paints around here (shipping would probably be too expensive). I wish I had her fan deck. I didn't care for the BM full spectrums. Just wasn't seeing "my" colors for some reason.

I will have to try something clearer and see how it goes. I lean towards subdued for my own rooms but maybe with a gray light it will still be quiet but not dull.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 10:14

Snookums2, thanks for this thread! I have the same issue with NE facing rooms. I feel your pain.

You said you wish you had EK's fan deck. I went to her site and ordered the Cuttings Sets. $11.00 out the door, which is pretty reasonable considering the price of other paint manufacturers' decks. I also discovered I can pick up her paints within a half hour's drive, which is surprising in my area where we have nothing. Check it out.

Funcolors, thank you for your reply here. I'm always fascinated by your knowledge and willingness to share. At the risk of hijacking this thread, I have a question. I'm a bit concerned about the quality of the paint itself. I'm an Aura girl. How does the Glidden compare?

Yes, Snookums, thanks for this thread....

Funcolors, can you be more specific for those of us less in the know? i.e. is there such a thing as a 'crisp and clear' gray, or is gray by default 'muddy'? Can you use some of the popular paint colors right now, and tell us which buckey they fall into? Thanks!

Go right ahead and hijack the thread! I'd love more discussion on this.

I like some warmth on my walls. I do like whites a lot.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Jan 16, 13 at 10:17

Right now I'm sitting in a room with one E. window and one N. window. The color I chose, and I can't remember it..is a light grayish blue. In some lights it looks almost beige w/a hint of blue. It's a good color for this room, which has dark trim, btw.

I have a question. I'm a bit concerned about the quality of the paint itself. I'm an Aura girl. How does the Glidden compare?

Glidden Professional LifeMaster is a top tier paint with all the same performance properties as other top tier paints from other brands. LifeMaster in eggshell is one of my favorite paints to use in my own house.

Is there such a thing as a 'crisp and clear' gray, or is gray by default 'muddy'? Can you use some of the popular paint colors right now, and tell us which buckey they fall into?

All of the "grays" in all of the color palettes are chromatic grays. Out of the hundreds of thousands of paint colors that exist, I can count on one hand the number of paint colors that are truly a neutral, achromatic gray.

Chromatic grays come from every hue family on the color wheel. Or you could call it a bucket. Every single hue family has child colors that are typically categorized as "gray" or "neutral".

When people try to identify undertone what they're actually doing is trying to figure out what hue family the "gray" belongs to. For example, when they say gray has a green undertone the fact of the matter is that color belongs to a green hue family. It can be one of three green hue families: yellow-green, green or blue-green.

So, you can't just say gray has a green undertone. Can't lump them all together. Ever wonder what makes one gray with a green undertone a warm gray and another gray with a green undertone a cool gray? It goes back to what hue family it belongs to.

Same thing with complex grays and neutrals. Ever wonder what makes one gray or neutral more complex than another? It all goes back to hue family.

The complex grays and neutrals are going to have hue parents from one of the following intermediate hue families: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet.

In comparison the less complex or less muddied gray and neutral colors will come from a primary or secondary color parent family. One of these following families: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or violet. Colors with a primary parent will be less complex or more crisp or clear in comparison.

Can I tell you what grays are less complex compared to other grays? Yes. In every color collection on the planet because they all go by the same rule of organization and categorization - hue families.

I attached an illustration using Dunn-Edward's paint colors. First a selection of chromatic grays alone and then shown with their hue families. Every color is a real life Dunn-Edwards paint color. (invoke accuracy on a monitor disclaimer). I'm not going list all the paint colors but here are red, yellow and green families:

Red Parent: DEA104 RED ICON
Chromatic Gray Child: DE6008 CRYSTAL CLEAR

Yellow Parent: DE5405 SUMMER SUN
Chromatic Gray Child: DEW343 PEARL NECKLACE

Green Parent: DE5601 GOLF COURSE
Chromatic Gray Child: DE6281 SHADOW WHITE

Every color that's labeled as gray or neutral has a hue family. When you dissect these complex colors and figure out what hue family they belong to, it is from there you can go about constructing color schemes. Color schemes based on fundamental color relationships i.e. complementary, triad, tetrad, etc. The rules of harmonious color relationships that apply to hue parents also apply to chromatic gray child colors. They have to. Because this is the natural order of color. Hope this answers what you were asking about how to identify crisper and clearer grays.

This post was edited by funcolors on Thu, Jan 17, 13 at 1:13