I used a 50% formulation of BM Pearl River on my kitchen ceiling and I love it! I've the full-strength on the walls and it just "makes sense" to have the similar tone on the ceiling.

There's a poster (I think moremoremore is his / her name) who used BM Revere Pewter throughout their home in various ratios.

I would absolutely recommend you try your Dried Basil at 50% and then, if it's not enough for you, at 75%. It's a great suggestion.

Something I have always wondered---are the chips on a strip all the "same" color at a different strength, or are the similar but otherwise totally different formulas?

For example, is Stratton Blue just a darker version of Wythe Blue, which is just a darker Palladian Blue?

I've done exactly this with BM Quiet Moments. I love the color but wanted to lighten up the walls because I also love a light airy feel. So I had it mixed at 50% and it looks great. I even had the paint guru at my local Ace Hardware do a manual mix of an even lighter version and put it on the ceiling.

As for the different bases, I'm no paint expert but I suspect what the salesperson was referring to is that paints are mixed with different types of 'base' pigment. Mine for example is white pigment base but other shades are mixed with something else.

Good luck, and keep at it till you find what you want...it can definitely be done.

Ann

Thanks everyone! I am curious how much lighter the 50% formula makes it. For example in my instance, does a 50% formula make it nearly as light as the Spanish Olive which I did not like? Or is a 75% formula not enough to even notice a difference?

Thanks!

Jock, the way the BM deck is organized, I don't think the paint strips are "in order". Sherwin Williams does seem to have different shades of the same color on the same strip.

So, for my bedroom, I used Sherwin William paint and I picked my wall color, then went two blocks up on the color for the ceiling. When I used Benjamin Moore in the rest of the house, I couldn't just go two blocks up on any paint strip...the colors were related, but they wouldn't have worked together.

I've found diluting a color changes the color.

Have you seen the greens I've used? Here are photo's.
The ceiling is BM Grecian Green, the walls Tree Moss

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The photo walls are Grecian Green

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Brutuses...I have seen your colors and I do like them. Question for ya...How does your Tree Moss compare to the Nantucket Gray you have in another area? Nantucket Gray is VERY similar to the Dried Basil I was considering (I would not be surprised if it is the same color formula).

Ok, headache coming on...DH does not care (no surprise there!) and just wants me to pick a color...

I did this with Pleasant Valley. Because the next color up used a 1 base, it lacked the "bass notes" that I felt with PV, so I went with a 50% of PV and it's just right.

Get a test quart and see what you think. If you don't like it, you can always have it taken to 100%.

Just used BM Himalayan Trek on my husband's office. Painted above the chair rail at 50% and below at 100%. There is a difference, but it is very subtle. I wish I had gone with 25% above.

Also used a BM color (can't remember the name) at 25% on my front door trim and shutters, and was very happy with the result. If a color isn't intense enough for you, you can have it mixed at 200%.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone! I think I am going to go with Nantucket Gray at full strength in the kitchen. I decided there is not much wall in the kitchen anyway and I don't want to regret wimping out on the color (a common regret for me!). So I am just going to go for it! I'm sure I'll be posting photos here or on the Kitchen forum. Thanks again!

Oh goodness, I see I'm too late, you've already made your decision. The Nantucket Gray can be very dark if there is not enough white contrast or the proper light. I'm still working on getting the color to not look "dirty" at night even though I have halogen lightbulbs, at night the color looks muddy. I'm going to have to put really bright light in lamps and other fixtures so the room look bright at night.

butuses....Ugh! Thanks for your comments...Back to the drawing board...DH is going to kill me ;-)

How does the N.Gray compare to the Tree Moss?

The Tree Moss is what I call a clean green. It doesn't have any undertones that I can see and it's not too dark. It looks pretty at night as well as during the day.

At night the NG looked like it had horrid yellow tones coming through. I don't know, it's difficult to explain. I only know when I saw it lit up at night I did't like it. Of course when I get curtains up and other decor in the room it will not "stand" out so much, I hope. HA!

What color are your cabinets?

Here are some other photo's of the Tree Moss.

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Brutuses...My cabinets are a medium cherry sunset stain. Floor is a neutral beige/gold tile. Counters will be uba tuba. Backsplash will be china gold slate.

Cabinets, counter, and floor:
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Floor:
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China Gold slate (seems to tie it all together):
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I recently got into the % color issue, as I am looking at Brookside Moss for a bathroom, and wanted a lighter version for the nearby bedroom, which is shaded. Fernwood Green is the next up on BMs cards, and it is too "white" - turns sharp at night in the overhead lights, which is how the room is usually used. I got a 50% Brookside Moss, and it is much closer to what I want, but could have been lighter, but I wasnt sure if that would end up being Fernwood green again. Had a talk with my BM paint mixer, and asked him for the formula difference between 25% Brookside Moss and Fernwood Green. He also mentioned the base - that the deep base on Brookside Moss would make the color different from Fernwood, even if the formula was basically the same. Turned out,25% Brookside Moss had Yellow, Gray, Black and White, while Fernwood green was only Yellow and Gray in the base. So the next color up is not necessarily a directly lighter version, even if it looks that way on the card.

terry, waiting for a sample of 25% Brookside Moss

Brutuses- do you have any photos of the Nantucket Gray room? This is a color I have been looking at for the exterior of my house and when I read this post I was curious about your experience with the color looking too dirty at night. It would be interesting to see it on an interior wall at night and during the day.

I do love greens and have thought of Nantucket Gray as more of a gray with green undertones. I would be curious to know the formula. I will have to go ask about that.

Merimom- I love your kitchen finishes and think they would look good with the Tree Moss if you wanted more of a clean/clear green look. If you are after something that would pick up the gray/ green tones in your backsplash then you may want to try a quart of the Nantucket Gray @ 25%. As someone else already pointed out- once it is mixed and you see it in the can and do a quick test strip at the store you can always have them add more tint to make it a 50% formula or more, then you have only purchased one test quart instead of many.

pinkpowertools...Thanks! I guess I hadn't thought about testing the color on a paint strip right there at the store. I just figured I would end up having to buy 2 qts if I did not like the 25%. Sometimes you can get so wrapped up in the details that you lose sight of the obvious! ;-)

Just thought I would post of follow-up...
I did get a quart of BM Nantucket Gray at a 50% formula. It actually was very similar to the Spanish Olive that I thought was too light. So after I painted a couple squares on my walls at home, I took it back to the store and they bumped it up to 75%.

You can see the color difference here...Counter-clockwise they are 100%, 75%, and 50%. I think I am going to go with the 75% in the kitchen. It is a little bit lighter than the 100% without being too light (i.e. juuuuust right!). So, for me, tweaking the paint formula worked...or I am just tired of guessing (and second guessing) and I am just ready to get some paint on the wall! Thanks again everyone.

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Still working on picking a paint color...I have decided that the Nantucket Gray (at all the various strengths I have tested) just has something about it that I don't like. Similar to what Brutuses said...It looks great sometimes, but not so great other times of the day (I think I like it better under our recessed fluorescent lights...I think they are a daylight color or something like that - DH picked the bulbs).

I have also decided that I want something a tad "happier". Nantucket Gray is what I would call a very sophisticated color (gray-green-brown)...Maybe not what our family with young, energetic kids needs right now. So, I bought a quart of the Tree Moss and the Grecian Green. I do like the gracian green but it seems a tad too blue-green in our room. The Tree Moss might actually work. I am going to wait to see what I think tomorrow during the day.

I swear, with all the paint I am buying, I should have gotten that designer I did not think I could afford! Choosing paint colors is definitely NOT my strong suit!

Maybe I will start a separate post so all you talented people can help me!

meri, sorry for all you are going through, but I have about 20 cans of samples and quarts under my cabinet as a testiment to how well I chose color also.

I started looking at colors one year before I actually had to make a decision on any of them. Then one day DH comes in and says, OK, I'm ready to start painting. In a panic, I picked my colors. The Nantucket Grey was the last one I had chosen because I wanted something that wouldn't clash with the Yorkshire Tan in the guest bath that is one door away and I knew I wanted green for the office. When I wa in the paint store making this final room decision the lady showed me the TG and I thought, wow I like that. Then I realized that is the color I had originally thought I wanted to the outside of my house. DH dissagreed and won on that one, but I felt it was an omen that I have NG somewhere in my new house. LOL When it came time for the foyer color, I didn't have a clue what color I was going to paint it. I had a sample of fabric that had an embroidered rooster and I just loved the green in that rooster. So I looked at the BM strips, picked out the GG and TM and told DH put them on the wall and ceiling, that I don't even want to see them first. Needless to say when I saw them up I fell in love. So I feel your pain, if that helps, which I'm sure it doesn't, LOL Here is the fabric I was speaking of. Good luck and I can't wait to see your final choice.

If this thread is alive I'd love feedback. I have Nantucket grey on living room accent wall and kitchen with Standish White. While I love the SW and its subtle warm yellow in my east facing room in the woods (read: dark) I'm switching out the SW for more white white- either Simply White or Dove White for more neutral, clearer palette. In bedroom I am thinking of accent wall of NG at a reduced tint with either white. How did this turn out for you?