Is BenMoore Ashley Gray too dark for kitchen & fam rm?

13 years ago

I wish I had a picture of the swatch, but I'm hoping you might have a fan deck :). I'm thinking of putting this in my kitchen & adjoining family room w/ vaulted ceiling. The new cabinets will be cream on the perimeter (w/ maron cohiba granite), and dark cherry stained island (w/ blue lagoon granite that I think looks similar to blanco antico)... The entire floor will be medium-dark stained quartersawn white oak.

There will be lots of light during the day - -I love the color and think it goes well with the cabs and granite. But will it be too dark if I do all the walls plus the ceiling of the family room? I'm planning to paint the family room all the same color as the kitchen; only the kitchen ceiling would be white (marscapone maybe).

Here's a pic of what the 2 rooms looked like before demo:

Thank you!!!

Featured Answer

beekeeperswife

13 years ago

i don't have a fandeck and as surprising as this may be, I'm not sure I have a sample of this one! I did look up photos of rooms painted this color on Google, and they look nice, not too dark. I would suggest getting a small sample size of it (even have Lowe's make it if BM store doesn't have it in the teeny tiny pots) and paint a poster board that you can move around the room.

If you mix the wall color at 50% with a white ceiling paint for the kitchen it will look like the color is continued on the ceiling even though it is lighter. As you know if you were to paint the color at 100% on the ceiling it would look very dark, darker than the walls. I did this 50% mixture thing in the 8' part of my foyer and it looks great, eliminating the "white sheet" effect but yet not being overpowering at all. (And yes, I did read you were not considering painting the ceiling the Ashley Gray, I'm just rambling).

You have a lot of light in your space, and obviously it already is handling the darker colors, so I think it will be fine.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

CaroleOH
13 years ago
I think in concept the color's would work. I would wait until everything was done though and put a couple of colors up on the walls - once your cabinets, granite etc. are all in you will be able to visualize whether that color will work or not.

I love your goldendoodle! Looks just like my Rudy.
Related Discussions
Kitchen cabinet make-over?
Q
Comments (27)
hey florantha, Thanks for asking! After going back and forth between trying to refinish / reface these cabinets or getting entirely NEW cabinets, DH and I decided that we should attempt the refinish ourselves with the General finishes gel stain... What a disaster! We bought the stain last weekend; we bought the Java and the Brown Mahogany, not sure of which color would look better. We prepped the cabinet doors and applied our first coat of gel stain Sunday night (to the inside of our island cabinets). We did 1 cabinet door Java and 2 door Brown Mahogany. The cabinets looked okay, but weren't dark enough. So Monday night we applied another coat of gel stain- 1 of brown mahogany, then 2 of java (over 1 door we had done in java the night before, and 1 door we had done in brown mahogany the night before, to see which color combo we liked best, if that makes any sense). Ugh... There was absolutely NO difference in color... if anything, I swear, they cabinets looked lighter! And then the stain was kinda getting goopey in the corners of the recessed panels. I was actually just reviewing all the gel stain info I had gotten off of GW to see where I had gone wrong, but I can't figure it out for the life of me. So it looks like now we're going to paint! We're thinking creamy white, to match the background of the granite. Back to square one! :) I'll keep you posted though :)
...See More
What sheen should I use
Q
Comments (6)
Eggshell is typical it's what most people run with, Satin will most likely be too bright and show off all of your handywork... flat will hide your imperfections the best... however durability is not there with the flat... if the paint you are looking at has a sheen between flat and eggshell this may perhaps be the winner, I know Ben Moore has a matte finish that looks great after cure... gives the durability of eggshell without the sheen.
...See More
My finished kitchen/fam.rm. pics - - Thanks GW!!
Q
Comments (59)
Thanks luvspring! I first saw the tile at a local tile store called Devon Tile Design (they have amazing stuff) -- but found for less at a larger store (Avalon Tile in Wilmington DE) and able to have the price matched. I also tracked it down by looking on the Walker Zanger website to see who their retailers are. shanghaimom, they also call the marron cohiba "antique brown" i think. I do love the Amerock pulls - - and I think they are better quality than the twice as expensive RH bistro ones I was looking at! breezy, I just checked the invoice and drawings, and all it says is "sigma fan" -- I know it's venting to the outdoors, and that the motor and everything else is in the hood (I'm vaguely recalling that it was called internal)...wish I could be more definitive on that! As for noiselevel, this is hard to describe, and I've got no expertise in decibels. On low, it's like a quiet background hum, definitely quieter than my microwave vent was before the reno --but if I'm cooking under it, I can't hear my kids' normal talking voices in the kitchen (of course that can be a good thing!). On high it is pretty loud, and I wouldn't want to run it for longer than necessary (unless those same kids are bickering!) As for whether the 600 cfms will be enough for you, think about you'd like to be cooking -- if you'll grill steaks inside or do alot of stirfries, it might not be enough. Good luck!!!
...See More
For those of you with BM Linen White...
Q
Comments (21)
I have used Linen White on trim for many years and it has always worked with every wall color we have paired it with. I've never used it on the walls though. It is a creamy white that provides contrast but isn't too stark, and doesn't look yellow or peach when used on trim. When we used oil based paint it would turn yellow, but since using the acrylic the color remains true. It's a great color and gives us continuity throughout the house. A winner!
...See More
bellacucina
Original Author
13 years ago
beekeeperswife - Thanks so much for your reply! I LOVE your kitchen and feel like I'm writing to a celeb b/c your kitchen has made it to the BIGtime. Really! Your gorgeous kitchen is one of my inspirations and your layout (kitchen next to family room) seemed similar to mine tho I can't remember whether you had the same ceiling in fam.rm. I've never done the 50% trick --but it sounds like a great idea for the vaulted ceiling. I want to avoid the stark color difference that I have now w/ the straw/vanilla icecream and reddish (I forget the color) accent wall. I also love your table and chairs in your kitchen -- would you mind telling me where you got them? I want to do a 42" round with leather chairs. Thanks again!

caroleoh, thank you too!!! I wish I could wait, but we are hiring painters, who will paint right after the cabs go in... so I'm under the gun to figure out the colors and backsplash... And oh you have a goldendoodle!! My Bella (still a pup -just 1 1/2) would LOVE to play with Rudy. And I would love to get tips from you (sorry this is OT), on getting mats out!!!!
rmkitchen
13 years ago
I'm concerned the Ashley Gray will read as dark if you also paint your vaulted ceilings. In our kitchen we used our paint color, Pearl River, at 50% (the store mixed it that way) and for us it works. So I'd like to second beekeeperswife's suggestion, and maybe instead of the Marscarpone in the kitchen you could still use the Ashley Gray @ 50%? That would really unify the spaces, and based on the extent of your remodel that could be just the ticket.

The Ashley Gray is a lovely color, and will work beautifully with your planned fireplace / built-ins, don't you think?
beekeeperswife
13 years ago
bella, you crack me up, but thanks for the kind compliments. Regarding my tables and chairs...Let's see, the table was my mom's. It used to have a faux marble top on it, I did like it but it was too small for us to use. So, I replaced it with just a 42" piece of glass, that I got from CL--had to buy the ugly base that went with it just to liberate it to a new life. The base went directly to the trash!

My chairs are from Overstock. Search for "soho creme leather arm chair", I think that will work. the item # is 12059800.

My family room ceiling is not vaulted. Good thing, or I wouldn't have a bathroom!

Good Luck, and can't wait to see your finished rooms.
bellacucina
Original Author
13 years ago
Hi rmkitchen! Thanks for remembering the fireplace built-ins (actually just base cabs) - - I can't wait to get to my BM store for one of their small sample pots and try to figure out what the 50% would look like. I like the idea of going 50% lighter on the kitchen ceiling too! And I was just looking at your beautiful kitchen again, admiring your cabs and your framed blackboards on the sides of your fridge cabs. I'm trying to figure out what to do with that --so many decisions and choices!

Bee, I am going to check out those chairs. They are FABulous, and just perfectly complement your kitchen. Honestly if I could just hit the 'copy' button to scan your kitchen into mine, I'd be so happy :)

Is BenMoore Ashley Gray too dark for kitchen & fam rm?

beekeeperswife

Comments (6)

CaroleOH

Related Discussions

bellacucina
Original Author

rmkitchen

beekeeperswife

bellacucina
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Is BenMoore Ashley Gray too dark for kitchen & fam rm?

beekeeperswife

Comments (6)

CaroleOH

Related Discussions

bellacucinaOriginal Author

rmkitchen

beekeeperswife

bellacucinaOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

bellacucina
Original Author

bellacucina
Original Author