Hi, it's me, the Queen of Gray Sample Pots. I found that BM's Baltic Gray fit all the criteria you mentioned. I love it. Get a sample and see what you think.

I tried a lot of swatches in our dark, NE-oriented bathroom. The most neutral gray I found was BM Grey Owl. Of course it totally depends on the lighting and the other materials in the room (wood floor? Carpet? CFL lights? etc.) I wanted a warmer color and didn't use it, but I did make a "note to self" that it was the most "Gray" gray of all I tried.... in that room at least!

Hi!

If you all have pics of rooms with these colors, please post them.

staceyneil - thanks for the suggestion! we will have a white drop ceiling, probably a very light carpet, and also some vinyl wood flooring in some areas. I am thinking that the carpeting and vinyl will need to be more light than dark. We'll be using some overhead can lighting as well as wall scones.

Thanks!!

We have two separate areas where gray was used in our basement. Standard basement with limited natural light. Artificial light (with dimmers too) is really the secret to making a below-grade space inviting. We used numerous cans but with sconces, pendants and table lamps to disguise the cannisters as being the primary light source.

For the fireplace, the wall was painted with Kilz primer containing 2 oz. of Black per gallon. Then Ralph Lauren Candlelight Silver was sponge painted atop.
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For the AV area, the walls are painted with Behr Downpour. The striping (dark portion) is White Opal Pearlescent glazing.
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We used C2 Monday Morning as a gray in one of our bathrooms. Pleased with it too.
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I've linked the entire basement gallery if you would like to see these in context.

Here is a link that might be useful: Basement Photos

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fnmroberts - your basement is awesome! I've seen pics of it on the basements board. I like the gray in your bathroom. What is C2? I live in Sherwin Williams land. I'm not even sure that I have a BM nearby. I need to check on that. I'm wondering if SW would have a cross reference type of thing for BM paints?

Thanks!

Glad to know you like the basement photos. I sometimes wonder if it is posted too often but becasue we did the design and build-out outselves it becomes an useful tool when attempting to answer questions from others.

C2 is a brand of paint. They describe it as being full-spectrum by using up to 16 pigments in their colors. I actually drive about 40 miles to buy it, stupid I know. I do like the way it applies better than SW Durations. I've personally not used BM Aura to offer a comparison We first saw the C2 brand on a house tour several years ago. All I can say is the colors stood out (irriadence maybe) and I remembered them such that I wanted to use the paint myself. The bathroom was my first room. Since, I've used it in the kitchen and beginning this coming week, our Family Room. You can check for a distributor locally at: www.c2color.com

Most of our home is SW and I have no issues with their paint. I suspect SW can approximate BM colors so long as the base is similar.