Incorporating greys without hopping on the popular train

Disclaimer: I love Revere Pewter (RP). Thank you, Benjamin Moore, for creating it. Readers, please don’t go out and repaint your walls based on this post – I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek, and RP shouldn’t be punished for it. 😉

My “issue”, per se, with RP is that it has become an immensely popular colour that becomes recommended for that sole reason: people like it, everyone uses it (cue my mother’s voice asking if all my friends jumped off a cliff would I jump too). But, out of all aspects of design, paint is probably the most “finicky”. You pick the hue you want, which has an undertone of something else, which seems to change slightly depending on what other colours are around it, and which DEFINITELY changes depending on whether you have halogen, incandescent, or LED lightbulbs in the room. Honestly, paint colours are a bit like a pre-pubescent teenager with horrendous mood swings.

Some Greys to Consider

Greys have been the new neutral for a few years now, and they aren’t particularly going anywhere in terms of popularity. But just because something’s popular, doesn’t mean you like it, or have to use it. Unless my client is very inclined to modern design, or already know they love cool greys (typically with a blue or black undertone), I usually suggest a warm grey.

“Warm greys are easier to work with, and a little more classic if you are worried about being too trendy and fad-driven.”

Some beautiful warm greys I enjoy working with are Willow, Metropolis, Pale Oak, and Balboa Mist, all by Benjamin Moore. There’s a good range in there for deep and light shades to give you lots of options. Just remember the impact of items in a space, and most importantly the lighting in a space, on the final result of paint colour. Never be afraid to get a small sample of the paint so you can paint swatches on the wall in your space and take a better look!

Get Inspired

Bedrooms are one of my favourite places to use a deep, warm grey – it keeps things cozy and restful. Check out some of the inspiration above to get your mind thinking past the loyal-but-sometimes-overused Revere Pewter. And as always, do what you love – if you DO love your Revere Pewter, keep using it! But hopefully I’ve inspired you to test some new shades too 🙂