You could use it as an accent wall if you have trouble with the blue-green on all walls. I used a darker version of Ellen Kennon's Summer Sky as an accent wall in my WI home.

In the bathroom, I used some of the EK Dark Summer Sky and mixed in some white and some other leftover paint to make my own color. The tile was a light gray and everything else was white.

Theedgrad, I really like the color, but to be blunt, I really don't think it works in your living room, although it does in your bathroom. Granted I can't really live with ultrabright colors on the walls, but that color in the living room seems to be jumping out and doesn't blend with everything. No offense, and thanks so much for posting. It just goes to show that what I was saying is true, at least for me--aqua is a b***h!!

I have a 2 tone blue/green family room without a beachy theme. We like it. Maybe not for you though?

Judiegal, what colors did you use?

I'm afraid that I'm not positive about the colors. They are BM and Van Courtland Blue comes to mind but I'm not sure. The colors in the pic are slightly more subdued IRL.

I do know what you mean Jockewing-I also love the color but it is a bit of a changeling and tough to blend. However I've got almost all the public area of my house done in a shade of blue-green now and we love it. I used BM Quiet Moments (very close on the strip to BM Gray Wisp) and cut it to half mix. Here is my living room:

As you can see what I've done is used white and dark to set off the color, rather than trying to blend another color or even contrast another color. The only matching I attempted were the pillows on the couch and the curtains-both were lucky guesses and not terribly expensive (pillows from Ross, curtains from Bed Bath & Beyond).

I love the blue-green against crisp white woodwork, and contrasting with the dark leather, wood and black accents. The look I was going for is calm, spare and soothing. Not that c/s/s is perfection, just what I personally wanted and prefer in my house.

Ann

Judiegal and Ann, I think the colors work better in your homes because there aren't alot of other colors that you are trying to blend. I really like colorful artwork, rugs, and pillows too much to give up to get the aqua walls that work. I guess I will just have to relegate the aqua to the bathroom or possibly bedroom.

Both of you have lots of white, black, and brown, which is similar to the situation in my bathroom where BM Raindance is such a delight.

I wanted some advice. The Raindance I have in the bathroom is on the very edge of being slightly dark. Basically, it was perfect when I first put it on the wall and it was still wet. It is in satin sample paint right now. I plan on using Aura flat for the final painting, and I know flat paint can look a whole shade darker. Should I move up one space to Imperial Gray (the one above Raindance) when I get the final flat paint?

Dlm2000 has Ben Moore's Paris Rain in two of her rooms. I've always liked the looks of it.

Maybe you're just not a blue person. When you say you like the "dirtiest" shade, you sound like me. I like the muddiest, lol.

As it was getting popular, I thought of trying a blue but found it just wasn't me. I, too, like art (or just about anything) on warm walls and went back to the rich golds and tans for most of our house.

I like looking at rooms with the crisp, clear colors, but just don't get the same feeling when they're for me. I can't even stand the hall bath that we painted in a blue/green.

I know that Farrow and Ball have lots of muted colors. If you're still in the market.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paris Rain

Blue green is a difficult color, some people dont even recognize it, they think the green is blue or the blue is green.

remember to look across the color wheel when trying to work with it and stay in the same tonal area..that is why the above bathroom works well is that the beige is across from the blue green on the color wheel, a toned down orange..

if you can't handle the blue green you might try a grey that is just a darker tone of the blue green, kinda a slate? it might work for you??

Here is the Paris Rain that Parma mentioned but it's a gray/green not a blue green so I don't think that's the direction you are heading.

{{!gwi}}

This is Ben Mo Wedgewood Gray - may be darker than you want, though. I love the color and I'm not a blue person in any way shape or form.

I'd been looking for the perfect blue/green too and kept getting the thumbs down. I just discovered card room green from farrow and ball and put it next to a similar toned sample from ben moore. The f&b colour is much more sophisticated and more suited to a living space than the ben moore paint. Side by side the ben moore looks very harsh.

F&B have other blue greens that might work too, if card room is not what you're looking for.

Sigh... I, too, can relate, even in a smaller space application. I ended up painting my bathroom twice, once with DE Catalina, then again with Behr Aqua Breeze. I was afraid to make too bold a statement, but the Catalina just wasn't enough, particularly with the existing pink/peach tile and new lighting in there. With the Aqua Breeze, I painted the trim Behr's Off White, and the contrast worked well. Left the ceiling the lighter shade.

Jock, you wrote: "I really like colorful artwork, rugs, and pillows..."

Remember that art museums almost always use white walls, because the ART is more important than the wall color.

I'm not saying that you must paint your walls white... I think what you might do is gather all the art/rugs/pillows that you want in that room, and then see if there is a color that will unify everything.

I adore blue-greens, but there is no blue-green room in my house. The rugs, the art, the tilework, just won't work with blue-green. Maybe in my next house...

runninginplace, I love that Quiet Moments in your home. Is it more blue or green IRL?

I triple agree w/ the F&B suggestions. Their color's are so much more liveable then other brands as even the bright colors come across as 'dirtier'. I once heard someone say they love 'happy colors' w/ the 'happy' wiped out. That describes me.

I AM NOT a blueish color person and tried sooooo many brands and blue.

Then one day on a desperate whim I sampled an old can of colormatched F&B Blue Green. Or as close to colormatched as one can get to an F&B color - closest dealer is a state away for me.

Let me tell you I AM IN LOVE w/ my DR now. I can't imagine how more perfect it would be if it were the actual F&B paint itself. Very aquaish but I can pair ANY color w/ it. Any art work just pops against the wall w/ the wall color taking a backseat. Every wood tone looks even richer against it. I just can't rave about this color enough and I HATE BLUE!

I love Ellen Kennon's Gustavian Grey in the same way! It is so soft and subtle. In this photo the walls and ceiling are Gustavian Grey, which illustrates the way the color changes in different light conditions and at different angles. GG converted my very skeptical DH to full spectrum paints!

{{!gwi}}

Hmm, hope this doesn't duplicate the post I just tried to make before my computer decided otherwise...anyway:

Another loud and happy vote for Farrow and Ball paints. Especially Card Room Green, which solved a multitude of decorating problems for me. I had spent years, I'm embarrassed to admit, seeking out the perfect wall color. Finally, a F&B showroom opened up practically across the street from my office.

It didn't take long to discover that Card Room Green offered the perfect solution for me: it looks good in any light, has a natural elegance about it, and manages to work beautifully with any color wood furnishing or floor. Mahogany, cherry, espresso finishes, light oak, black--it doesn't matter. They all have an affinity for Card Room Green.

I would describe the color as a greenish-bluish dusty khaki of medium intensity. And I'm another one that doesn't like blue! I am so happy I found this color. F&B has other nice blue-green paints, but this is my favorite.

angelina, could you please, please, please post pics of your card room green. I'm going back and forth between that colour and dauphin for my living room. I'd love to see it IRL.

I have been fascinated with Farrow and Ball, but how much does it cost to try it? I see it costs as much as $30 just for the sample cards. With how picky I am about color, it would be dangerous for me to get addicted to that paint. How much is a gallon? A quart? A tester? Can you even match the stuff?

I guess what y'all are trying to say is that F&B blue greens wouldn't throw off the other colors like regular SW and BM blue greens do.

After Angelina's description, I had to go in search of F&B's Card Room Green. Very interesting. I hope she comes back with pics. It looks like a gray green.

So far, nothing here has looked blue green on my monitor.

Here is a link that might be useful: F&B Card Room Green

Do you like the way blue or green reflect on your skin? I don't care for it, but they are restful colors for a bedroom (not sexy, just restful). I have experienced first-hand that cool colors stifle conversation, warm colors enhance warm conversation, and red walls can set off an already-bad temper in an alcoholic husband (I know, TMI). The thing is that color psychology is very real stuff. So if you do a lot of cool color in your home, you will probably be cooling off the people who are there, and the parties you give. If that's what you want, that's cool - lol.

"runninginplace, I love that Quiet Moments in your home. Is it more blue or green IRL?"

Pumpkin, sorry for not responding sooner - missed your question.

I think it reads greenish blue, does that make sense? I have always been a passionate blue person and never even considered green. However after many, many shades of blue walls and also white for awhile, I love this color. Literally look at it every day and enjoy it. One thing it does is set off nice white trim in a gorgeous way. But the blue-green is to me unbelievably soothing and calm.

However, it also is a subtle and tricky color to pin down! Jockewing is right; I like it in large part because I have used neutral tones throughout the furniture and fabrics in the room. I find it VERY difficult to match with anything. So I don't even try :).

Ann

How exciting! No one has ever asked me for pictures before. The problem is, all three rooms in my condo with F&B Card Room Green are under construction due to a kitchen remodel. The living room is bare of furniture (had to be moved to storage due to floor finishing), the dining room only holds unopened boxes of cabinets, and the kitchen is drywall only.

That said, I believe I did take some construction progress shots of the empty rooms. They might even be on my computer desktop, but I foresee two problems:

1. I've never posted photos before and don't know how. But I'm willing to give it a shot later this afternoon if work allows, since I'm at the office.

2. Since the rooms are empty, you don't get the full effect.

But check back later this afternoon. I am going to try this anyway....

Hope this works. I changed the message title so GW would accept back-to-back posts. As promised, here is a picture of my living room painted in F&B Card Room Green. Per my message above, it is a mid-construction photo so all you really see are the floor leveling planks and the walls.

Yippee! The preview shows this actually worked. Sorry the size is giant; I thought I had picked the proper Photobucket size, which would have been smaller. The color is fairly accurate, at least on my monitor. Wish you could see the room with its furnishings, etc., but that will be another couple of weeks, I'm afraid.

As I wrote earlier, it's a very adaptive color. The rug for this room is a semi-antique Persian in shades of ivory, mink, lots of acqua, and a small amount of green and gold. Also some black details. Even though I hate blue, the acqua in this rug was so striking I bought it anyway. It looks fantastic in the room with these walls.

Good luck to all in their paint choices! When you finally get it right, it's so worth the angst that accompanies decision making.

After discarding my initial idea of a soft light coffee color in my entry, I got carried away with the blue-green idea. The entry is only 6'x12', it has a piece of wood furniture, a little artwork, blue green should be great, right? Well, I tried so many shades and even mixed colors. Finally, one mix resulted in a color that was very close to F&B Cardroom Green. So I went to Lowes to get that colormatched. (and yes, it does look sort of blue/green) At Lowes, I found a Valspar color called Lincoln Cottage Lattice Green. It looked really close to the sample of the two I blended that we liked, and really close to the Cardroom Green. So I paid the under $5 for the sample can and brought that home to pour on the wall. Well........

After all was said and done, I went with Dry Sage by Ben Moore. It does have a blue cast in the evening, but I would not call it a blue-green. However, it looks perfect and I have decided that blue-green is not for Red. But if you have a Lowes, go check out that Lincoln Cottage if you want a near-miss to CardRoom. That will tell you whether Cardroom is in the range you want, I think.

Red

F&B is expensive.....that's one of the reasons that I chose to try color matching as best as possible before taking the plunge in our forever home. The closest dealer is also a state away.

Most current prices in US $:

Sample Pot: 6.50
Estate Emulsion (chalky) gallon: 69.50
Modern Emulsion (washability & stain resistance) gallon: 78
Oil Eggshell 750ml: 32.50
Water based Eggshell gallon: 88
Oil Full Gloss 750ml: 32.50
Dead Flat Oil (dead flat matte) 750ml: 36.50

One of the things that I like about F&B paints (which you will see if you order their free sample brochure) is that it suggests how you may pair up certain colors, how some of them were used historically and whether or not a color is considered warm, cool or neutral.

This is my colormatch to Green Blue (mind you it reads brighter than the real deal - especially in the door pic, but if I'm this pleased w/ the so-so colormatch then I KNOW I'd be thrilled w/ the actual F&B). I don't have current pics so excuse the mess & I think on camera it reads a bit on the baby blue side which is not the case IRL. Pic 2 at the top of the pic is the most real representation of what the color looks like all over my DR:

I disagree that cool tones equal a cool reception for guests. We have grays and blue-greens throughout our house and always get comments about what a warm, welcoming place we have.

Our cool walls are juxtaposed with lots of windows with lovely trees outside, and hits of bright colours in rugs,throws, pillows, artwork, books and other personal belongings.

My personal recommendation for a blue-green is Smoky Green (Benjamin Moore). Fabulous colour that avoids any hint of that too pastely bedroom look.

If I recall the number is CC700. It can be a tricky one to find, and isn't always available on chips. It's possible it's a colour sold only in Canada, but any BM dealer should be able to obtain the formula if you give them the name/number.

K.

Duron has a color I love (and have recommended before) called "Windowpane" that is a lovely green-blue. in different light, even in the same room, it can read blue or green or gray. Polished furniture and art and gold-framed mirrors look fantastic against it. It works with cream and peach and yellow and red and even navy blue. Black and white look wonderful with it. It is similar to "Pale Powder" on Farrow & Ball's online chart.
In my experience, the first reason that blue-green is so hard to use is that it is extremely responsive to ambient light. In summer, the trees outside reflect strong green tones inside. In winter, the cooler light pulls it toward blue or gray.
The second reason is that it's also a color that feels much darker on the walls than you think it will, and deeper blues and greens can go all broody on you very easily unless the room is full of light. The most successful tones, I think, are those that are on the pale end, and that are a little more neutral than bright. The neutral versions take care of the little-baby-boy's-room thing, which can cost a scheme all of its sophistication.