Wow...thanks for all that! Okay, now which one of those is a true gray?? LOL!

Funcolors....that is a great explanation!

Thanks so much for taking the time to share. Paint colors are such a tedious challenge. I think it really helps to understand the undertones.

Amy

I think it would be beneficial to anyone and everyone (and a big kudos to Funcolors, who always does such a beautiful job 'splaining things), to attend a decorating course, even if only a summer course at your local university, college or technical school which explains what is hue, what is shade, etc., and from where those "colors and shades, tones," etc come and when we say "hue," what we really mean, and when we say "shade," what it really is. But then would we miss Funcolors, who is such a fantastic source of information, far beyond the ConEd courses offered in our local schools.
Oh, yes, there is much more to paint than just a shade, hue or tone, but all the technical information. Whew, it's more than the average mind (mine) can absorb. We love 'ya, Fun Colors. Don't leave us now. We are still in the first week of Color 101.

Well... still haven't found the right gray.

Amy and Patricia - you're too kind. :)

Mercy, you have to keep looking for what's going to work in your room as a true gray.

The paint colors you've already selected and tried from the blue, green and purple hue families aren't cuttin' it. They don't show as true gray in your room.

So you have to get more chips and try more colors. Here's a list of colors from BenM that are *almost* as near to a neutral gray as you can get - they're so low in chroma it's hard to tell what hue family they belong to. Two colors from every hue family: one lighter in value, one darker in value.

None of them or any of them could end being what you think is a "true gray". It will all depend on the light you have to work with.

2110-60 Pampas Grass
2114-50 Victorian Mauve

1002 Featherstone
AC-34 Cape Hatteras Sand

1521 Nature's Essentials
1487 Herbal Escape

2138-60 Gray Cashmere
HC-114 Saybrook Sage

1563 Quiet Moments
1564 Beach Glass

1584 Pale Smoke
1585 Wales Blue

1626 Gentle Gray
1627 Manor Blue

1437 Violet Mist
2124-40 Thundercloud Gray

1409 Violet Dusk
1613 Silent Night

1451 Violet Pearl
1446 Dusk to Dawn

To add to the list of chips for comparison, from the Home Depot you can get Glidden colors. Seal Gray and Granite Gray. Both come in at 0 in the chroma department - meaning they have zero hue. In commercial paints, these two colors are pretty much it for true neutral grays. Whether they show in a room as hue-less, totally neutral can only be determined by getting chips/samples and seeing what happens.

This post was edited by funcolors on Fri, Feb 1, 13 at 17:51

I had Seal Gray mixed by bm for my living room and it is a true grey but on the darker side. I used granite gray for a bathroom and it is a tad lighter but more medium than light and it reads gray. Here are two pics of the colors in my home. My LR has tons of natural light but the bathroom does not.
Living room

Powder room

When we were trying out paints for our bedroom, I tried a couple of farrow & ball paints called plummett and downpipe. Both were pretty gray.. Plummet was a lighter version of downpipe.

You can buy white paint and have them add black until it's as dark as you want, I guess. That would be a true gray.
Renee

I have seen so many pictures of downpipe and it never looks gray to me - always more purple or even green in some light!

funcolors and roarah...Thanks for your input! I have counted 23 gray colorblocks on my bedroom walls to date! My husband says we should just keep adding blocks and make it a gray patchwork room and call it the 50 Shades of Gray bedroom!

Funny you both mentioned Granite Gray because a friend has this in her upstairs hallway and I liked it. Went and bought a sample, but at first look I thought it was too dark, but it did seem to be more of a true gray. However, I have been drawn back each time I look at it. After trying 2 more colors yesterday, I think Granite Gray is the winner!!

If it is too dark and I hate it, my husband will either divorce me or kill me!! LOL!

Funcolors, I am reading through this post and it has been very educational for me. I am in this boat now with not being able to find an appropriate gray to paint my living room. Everything I have tried comes out blue! I have most recently even tried the Granite Gray you suggested and it too reads blue in my room. I have a window that faces south. I do not want a blue room, I don't like blue and I am about ready to go beige I am so frustrated. Do you have any other suggestions? Please help!

What paint brand?

Glidden from HD

Granite and Seal can come out leaning a little blue. Sometimes when they read 'really blue' I wonder if the mix is correct.

When you go to the Home Depot, somewhere in the paint department they should have a giant book of "The Master Palette" - it's usually hanging on the end of an aisle very near the paint counter. They do not have all those chips out in the Glidden display but they can mix the colors in samples, etc.

If you don't find these colors in your local HD's display, look in the big book. Even tho the chips are small, you can hopefully determine if you want to buy samples.

Zeppelin 30YY 46/036
Song Sparrow 30YY 39/041
Greystock Inn 50YY 55/047
Pewter Grey 50YY 47/053

I don't know if it's a true gray, but I used BM Silver Fox in a bedroom and love it. I found it through some threads here, but that was several years ago.

I've seen Restoration Hardware's grays IRL, and would call them true grays. I'm planning to paint the family room walls Flint and the ceiling Gravel. I don't know who manufactures their paint, and don't know how close a color match using another manufacturer would come. You can order a sample or get it from a store.

Here's the color link........

Here is a link that might be useful: gray

Thank you SO much. I can't wait to try these colors. I just know one of them will be my perfect gray. Stay tuned for updates.

I'm using SW Agreeable Gray in our LR. There is only burnt umber (I think, maybe it's raw umber) and white in it. It's very neutral with no blue or green undertones.