The Quest for the Perfect Grey

After painting the dining room that blue color that I'm so in love with, I decided that a light grey would work perfectly for the living room. Light grey room seem to be all the rage right now, which works for me since I'm really diggin' it.

The research began, and I searched high and low for the perfect grey for the living room. I had used all Glidden colors in my house so far - Water Chestnut in the family room and foyer, Stone White in the kitchen, and Antique Silver in the dining room. So, naturally, I went to Glidden in search of the grey for the living room.

The only color that I turned up as a contender was Smooth Stone. It didn't really look all that grey on the paint chip, but the Glidden Room Painter showed it as grey. To be sure, I googled a bunch of images, and saw these:



Via Hey Baklenko!

 

Via Explanation Required

 ...both of which I was lovin'. I had heard rumors amongst fellow bloggers that it was very close to Behr's Silver Drop, but I decided to stick with good ol' Glidden. However, I did decide to have it color-matched to Behr 2 in 1 Paint & Primer. Why, you ask? Because, I'm sorry, but Glidden's version of the paint and primer just doesn't cover. It requires two coats, everywhere, no matter what. And the living room was a big enough room that I wasn't feelin good about that amount of work.

So, I came home from Home Depot with my custom color-matched Glidden Smooth Stone in the Behr paint. I cracked it open, and began rolling it on the walls. Almost immediately, I knew something was amiss. It looked so...brown. But, I figured, let me get the smallest wall done, and who knows, maybe it'll dry a lighter shade of grey? Maybe?

No, no, friends. This is what I was dealing with.

Right? How is that even close to grey? It wasn't at all what I was envisioning. I even did a few different patches around the room to see if the light had any effect on it. But alas, deep down I knew it was not meant to be. I sat for a few minutes pondering what to do, and decided that I was going to get that room painted (that day, no less) if it was the last thing I did. So back to Home Depot I went, and this time, went with the Behr Silver Drop in the Behr 2 in 1 paint.

I came home and started rolling that bad boy on...

...and was much fonder of the results. I'm fairly certain that something went awry in the mixing process, because the Glidden color didn't even look like the paint chip I had. But, either way, I was really liking the way the Silver Drop was looking in the room. A few hours later (and only a few, minor touch-ups the next day), and this was the result.

I absolutely love the color, and it flows really nicely with the dining room and the refinished staircase. Also - big win with the Behr paint. There were only a few places where I needed to do touch-ups the next morning, so it ended up being a lot less work than all the other spaces in the house where two complete coats had been necessary. My arms were happy.

Wahoo for another thing to check off the list!

Paint the walls
Paint the bookcases white
Work out some sort of coffee table solution
Figure out a solution for the trunk (and yes, I've already tried it as a coffee table. Too tall.)
Get some blue curtains
Get some fun lamps
Get a wingback chair
Make newly acquired wingback chair white
Accessorize
Figure out a solution/home for Rocker #1
Figure out a solution/home for Rocker #2