We all know that gray is the biggest fad going! I could not imagine building such a beautiful new home and then adding a " layer of fog" throughout. Please be sure that this is what you want before doing the painting. So many people come on here and express anguish over having chosen the wrong gray. I know that there are plenty of gray lovers out there......but I would always choose one of the beiges/tans .

I agree that gray is very 'in' right now, but with a lot of things, I really love a style before it becomes trendy if that makes sense. I was thinking about tan/beige, but I'm not sure if that would be too many browns in the house? We have a lot of wood accents (main doors, stairs, built in shelves, floors, tounge-in groove, furniture). I'm not sold on gray, but we ordered gray bathroom cabinets accidentally (and we can't change it) and my husband hates tan carpet, so we chose a light cream/gray carpet. I was leaning towards blueish gray paint in order to kind of tie the whole house together. It's definitely one of those colors that is really tricky to choose, especially for the entire house, hence my dilemma : )

Go get samples, and paint large swatches on your walls. Color-matching is fine, you can still check it! Make sure to look in each room so you see how different light effects the color. My house is stained wood with Irish Cream walls, but my FAV is sundew- husband says sundew is too gold for him ;). We had the best luck just looking online for colors of DIY projects and what not, getting samples (since monitors are not that accurate!), and testing them out.

I agree with the idea that gray "fogs up" a house, can't imagine doing a whole house in that color. When we repaint the main part of our home I am going with BM Mascarpone, an off-white/cream that has a lovely hue. When our neighbors put their historic house on the market they painted the entire interior in that color and it set off their collection of wood furnitrure and art beautifully. With the fresh coat of soft glowing color and a well-tended garden, this small house sold on its first day, the open house, in a bidding war for over a million (way over-priced but it looked gorgeous! - We are not a million-dollar neighborhood). Another possibility is BM Mayonnaise. I'm pretty sure that SW has comparable colors.

I don't think that a very light neutral would clash with your gray cabinets or carpets; in fact, imo they'll look better set off against off-white, and will leave you more leeway in selecting complementary accent colors.

I was just looking at the Sherwin Williams colors, particularly the whites. There are a lot. You could potentially do two different whites --- their "highly reflective" white for trim.... it's the brightest white to my eye --- and then a slightly darker white w/ a hint of blue as your main color. That is what I am doing in a space I'm painting now. It's currently painted in SW "Extra white". It looks white or maybe white-gray in rooms without direct light. In rooms with lots of sunshine, the room looks green or blue to me... Anyway, just a thought it you truly would like some version of white.

If not, I will be a dissenting voice. I loathe creams and pinky-beige colors on walls. I've always gravitated towards cool paint tones, even before any trends.... If you are similar, I can't imagine you'll regret your paint choice any time soon.

how about this combo: [https://www.houzz.com/photos/master-bathroom-traditional-bathroom-atlanta-phvw-vp~619311 - SW Nebulous White on the walls and Snowbound on the trim[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/master-bathroom-traditional-bathroom-atlanta-phvw-vp~619311)

I love warmer grays, such as SW Agreeable Gray but also check SW Accessible Beige. Both change depending on light but are beautiful.

Another suggestion is SW Creamy, a warm cream. I have it in north facing and windowless rooms and it's lovely.

I was going to suggest SW Repose Gray (we used throughout our house) until I saw your floor sample. I really think you need to go with a warmer color because of the flooring is so warm (golden). The ceilings are warm too. Are you keeping those the same color as they are in the picture? I am not as familiar with the SW warm colors, but looking on Houzz and Pinterest for ideas could help. I really recommend painting samples on posterboard so you can move them around. Last suggestion would be to hire a local interior designer for a few hours. That might really help for this big of a decision.

Thank you all for your suggestions! I love this site/forum : ) I will definitely look up those color ideas. The problem is that I'm so indecisive haha. And originally we were planing on painting it ourselves so we could kind of slowly see what worked and what didn't. But now because of time restrictions, we need to hire a company and do it all at once (later this week, eek!). We've done a couple samples (which we didn't like) but we're also an hour away which makes it tough to run up there often. Am now also thinking maybe it would be ok to do two or three colors in the downstairs, as long as carry those same colors upstairs? It's such a big investment that I don't want to mess it up and regret my color choice ( I know it's only paint, but hiring someone to do it costs a decent chunk of change).

What undertones do you think would go well with the flooring choice? Is it better to compliment or contrast the flooring and the wall? Or is it just a personal choice? Thank you all again, I didn't know it would be this difficult to make a decision on paint : )

Check out SW Lattice. I used it throughout much of my home when we custom built. I absolutely adore it. It is a very light grey with the smallest of blue hints to it (barely.) I love it so much more than the rooms I did in a warmer tone (SW Grecian Ivory.) In fact, I just had the playroom painted over to Lattice.

I'm also going with a farmhouse style and we are painting the whole house SW Oyster White with Pure white trim. Oyster White has a gray undertone. We also have gray accents throughout like a dark grey slate tile in the the bathrooms and laundry room and upstairs will have a dark carpet that kind of has a pewter color. Our wood floor is much darker than yours.

Besides, IMO, painting everything white makes it a little easier to change the color later on.

Good luck, your home looks beautiful!

We painted many rooms in our home SW Accessible Beige. Your flooring reminds me of ours. It is a great color and looks so different in every room.

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nini804- lattice does look lovely. Although it looks a tad purple to me, but pretty much all sherwin williams grays look purple to me for some reason : )

MagdalenaLee -what a pretty combo! If we had darker floors I would totally go for that, they are such bright and crisp colors. I think it might be too much white though (kitchen, looots of white window frames/trim, and doors all on the main floor). I do really love white though, especially if going with the farmhouse style. Maybe I can do some shiplap with oyster white someday!

aktillery9- I think our floors look similar as well. That color does look really nice with them, I'll have to take a look, thank you for sharing some pics, it's a pretty kitchen!

We looked through a ton more photos online this evening, as well as the colors suggested, they all are really pretty! I still realllly love sea salt and silver strand though. And also some sort of blue color and some sort of gray color (both to be determined....) Kind of toying with the idea of painting all downstairs sea salt or silver strand, but not quite sure yet. I still like the idea of a gray so that it is super versatile though.

SW Agreeable Grey

I'm going through the same dilemma. We are building a second home 1200 miles away & have to choose one Sherwin Williams color for the entire home. The new home will have white shaker kitchen cabinets, medium gray quartz & a greigy wood-look plank tile floor. I'm also looking for a shade of gray. My current kitchen & adjoining family room are BM La Paloma Gray, a medium gray tone. This home has lots of windows & not much painted wall space.

I'm looking for a lighter grey for the new home as it doesn't have as much natural light as my current home. I've painted drywall boards of SW Agreeable Gray, SW Repose Gray, SW Collonade Gray, SW Silverplate, SW Big Chill, SW On the Rocks, SW Crushed Ice, SW City Loft, SW Gossimer Gray, BM Classic Gray (my daughter is obsessed with this color) & Behr's Silver Drop. I've found beautiful pictures on Pinterest & Houzz of all these colors. I love the online photos of the Behr's Silver Drop & wanted to see it & possibly try to find a similar SW color. I don't feel like I can take a chance on color matching as I most likely will not be there when they paint.

DH & I had pretty much narrowed it down to Repose Gray (DH) & Gossimer Gray (me) when I read this post about Lori A. Sawaya's (Funcolors) SW Drift of Mist secret weapon. Yesterday, I painted Drift of Mist and I think I've found my color. It looks like what I expected Behr's Silver Drop to look like, a light gray with a touch of warmth.

Do check out Gossimer Veil & Drift of Mist. I couldn't find many pictures of either of these colors although there are some beautiful pictures of Gossimer Veil on Pinterest by a blogger, Addison's Wonderland.

The model home in our new build was painted Accessible Beige, which was also a truly lovely color, but more beige than gray.

The drywall boards (16" x 24") are fabulous, although they have to dry 4 hours in between coats. I do a coat of primer & then 2 coats of sample paint. I've got 8 boards I've been painting & repainting. Home Depot also sells drywall boards that are slightly larger. I'll bring poster board samples of a few of the colors to the new home. I've got 8 boards going. Next: exterior paint samples.

Here's a link to a blog that has a picture of Drift of Mist & Sea Salt.

Our Favorite Grays

Good luck!

I am also a fan of accessible beige. It's a clean greige that works well with warm and cool tones. Not muddy or foggy at all.

I painted a whole house a few years ago. I was so overwhelmed that I decided to paint all the trim with SW base white with nothing added to it. It has a name, I forget what it was but the paint store should be able to help you. It was a great backdrop for the colors I picked and made my paint color life much easier. No worries about undertones.

I believe the SW base white is called Extra White. That is the color they make all the lighter samples from. Well, I may have to reassess my color choice. I just moved all the samples to the laundry room and my new home tile sample is almost the same color as my laundry room tile. More gray than greige. It's a cloudy day & it's all looking awfully gray. I am enjoying painting the drywall pieces so I should probably check out colors that lean a litte more beige.

I'm considering using BM Classic Gray as the main color for all common areas in my home.

In my last house, it read as a pretty ivory color in my master bath (no windows) and a warm light gray in my master closet (northern light).

I really liked it in both rooms so thought it might work well as a whole house color, where each room will have different lighting.

I used SW Modern Gray 7632 in a San Francisco flat that I painted, and I liked it. I do not find gray to "fog" a room, and there is plenty of fog in SF. If the gray is pale it enough, it will still reflect plenty of light, and this was necessary in the SF flat that I painted. Different geographic areas will have different colors of light, and the light will change seasonally. Light bulbs also produce a variety of light colors.

My house has beige throughout, and I am really tired of it, although it does work well in some rooms. I plan to paint the largest room in the house (dining room/art studio, with sky light) in the very near future, and I plan to use a cool gray. Right now it is one of the non-beige rooms but is sort of orange color, which I really do not like and never have. It has a travertine floor, and that put me off at first.

Not sure how I missed an opportunity to sing the praises of SW Accessible Beige! It's throughout our entire house, and I may change my tune in the distant future, but I can't imagine wanting it to be any other color. I just love it.

Our new house came with all the walls painted eider white. I like it. Might be worth checking out.

Here's a color palette I picked up at SWs with eider white in it.

Hi all! I have been meaning to report back but just haven't gotten to it until now. I really appreciate everyone's advice and suggestions! We tried out quite a few of the suggestions (accessible beige, agreeable gray, drist of mist, along with a few of the others mentioned). Sadly alllll of those either looked purple or pink in the house. I don't know why but they did. I really like how they looked in pictures so was a bit bummed they didn't work.

We ended up going with SW Alabaster for the main color of the house. It works really well and will allow us to add color with furniture, wall hangings, etc. At times it looks a bit more on the soft white side, but it looks cream, and even a light light yellow at others. It ended up complimenting the flooring really well I think. We did paint the kitchen, which is part of the main floor, SW Sea Salt. I really wanted one color throughout, but cabinets and countertops are going to be a shade of white, so we needed to break it up a bit. We also used sea salt in the bathrooms, SW mountain air in the bedrooms, and pure white for all the trim. We have quite a bit of trim, craftsman style, so that also helps bring out some color in the alabaster. I have to say that mountain air is a really pretty color for bedrooms! My husband told me that it reminded him of a nursery, but I didn't even think that until he mentioned it. It is bright and airy feeling and will go well with the gray carpet and different colored furnishings. And it looks light in the daytime and darker in the evening.

Anyways, just wanted to post an update and to say thank you again for all the suggestions!

I don't have SW color options for you since we used BM but i just wanted to say we were pretty set on doing grey throughout our home and last minute after we put up swatches we went with BM white dove which is a warm white with grey undertones. We are so glad we did. We used light grey (BM owl grey @50%) elsewhere and it's fine but the warm white is just rich. Our walnut furnitutre, brass accents, black frames just pop against it. And btw we have a very white kitchen as well. We did grey in our bedroom and I hate it. We are going to go with BM simply white in there as soon as we have time to repaint. The description of your home reminds me of this house and I think they used BM cotton balls or something similar.

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@Lori is sw gossamer Veil a gray and if you would be so kind can you tell me what color family it and popular gray are from?

On my walls, Gossamer Veil is Gray-Taupe with a hint of blue green different times of the day. I love it. Each room takes on it's own personality.

What did you decide? I just bought a can of Gossamer Veil but now think I should have picked Shoji White! My whole house And ceiling are alabaster- I want a bit of transition

I still love Gossamer Veil. I did all of my main floor in this color. (in Satin) The room faces West, but has a couple windows on the East. It's light and airy, but does have color.

@laurie1865 do you have any photos of Gossamer Veil to share? I am thinking of that colour too. thanks!

We are 99% on G.Veil. Can you post pics? We have revere pewter now and I love it in sunny rooms. Our NE room is dark and hubby doesn't like dark. Hoping GVeil is light enough with depth. Drift of mist is much much too light for us.

Lori, Are you still using SW Drift of Mist for buying and selling? I realize you had mentioned it six years ago, so I'm wondering if that has changed and if are using another color for your secret weapon these days?

Gossamer Veil upstairs.

Also love Natural tan in the basement.

drift of mist outside

natural tan basement

Laurie, do you feel you see a green undertone in Gossimer Veil? I feel like I do!

Not much, but the kitchen is dark and faces West. That's the room that shows some green. For the most part, I'm happy with the color everywhere.

Thank you! Our foyer & study faces West so was wondering if seeing some green would bother me. Good to hear that you’re happy with it!

holidoll4000, Like today, I kinda wonder if my Gossamer Veil in the West facing livingroom/kitchen is a bit dark. I've got to stop watching tv..... It's LRV is 62 and I thought that was perfect. Get a SW sample and paint a big piece of drywall to check it out

Hi Laurie, yes I could see that! My mom did Gossimer Veil in a South facing bedroom in the back of her home and I see different tones on each wall with the lighting. I saw some green on one wall so that’s why I asked bc I thought I was seeing things 😆
I may go with Agreeable Gray LRV 60 so not too much different

Hi Laurie, yes I could see that! My mom did Gossimer Veil in a South facing bedroom in the back of her home and I see different tones on each wall with the lighting. I saw some green on one wall so that’s why I asked bc I thought I was seeing things 😆
I may go with Agreeable Gray

We have Gossamer Veil as our whole house color. I love it much more in our sun filled south/ south west sunny areas vs our shady north/northeast areas of the home. I don't see any green tones, but it can flash into purple undertones (doesn't look purple, just undertones). We've had it a year and no color is perfect 100% of the time everywhere. If I had to do it again, I'd try Edgecomb Grey just to see if I like it better. But, there is no real regret on our Gossamer Veil. It's a good neutral whole house color.