I just used BM Grant Beige in most of my downstairs, staircase and upstairs hallway. Depending on the light it reads beige/gray with a hint of green. BM Edgecomb gray has a similar feel, but is lighter. Grant beige came highly recommended by several decorating sites, as a good neutral.

pal-exactly right.

andreadeg--flooring is chosen

dlm--no the ceiling is specified as white and the trim is a semi gloss white.

Quite frankly she was surprised that it was in my contract I at least got to pick the one color as opposed to the "this is the color we use" as she was pointing at the wall in the showroom.

chispa, I'll check them out.

thanks

I would pick my ceiling color and take it from there (if you don't want white ceilings). For some reason you often get charged Alot more if you do not want a white ceiling. So, if it's a money savings thing I would pick a light ceiling color and maybe do the whole house. It's alot easier to repaint down from the color you like thats up.

What is your flooring? That might help provide a jumping off point?!

here are a couple of links that might help:
http://favoritepaintcolors.blogspot.com/search/label/gray

Here is a link that might be useful: Favorite Paint Colors: Gray

dlm --- They (spray) paint all the walls AFTER trim is up. They just do it in stages...... tape off the walls and spray all the trim and/or doors one day; tape off the trim and spray the walls another day... (this is assuming the trim is painted.... the trim would be up first either way.)

bee --- I've built twice. One builder (my starter home as a single lady) made me pick everything on the day I signed the contract. Any change I made after that cost me a lot.

The builder for my current home was a lot more custom and flexible. I confirmed the paint color the day before they painted. I spent months staring at the samples on the walls and tweaking the color until it was just right..... so I guess it could depend on how custom your builder is?

Anyway, I do think it's ridiculous for them to not be flexible on this.... I highly doubt they are buying the paint until the week they paint.

My house is in Pittsburgh Paints' Moth Grey at 75% strength. I think it's a warm grey.... along the lines of BM Edgecomb Gray. I don't see any annoying undertones when I look at it. Good luck with your choice!

I just painted my kitchen, living room, hallway and upstairs hallway BM grant beige.

I love it. It is definitely taupe. On sunny days it looks more tan but at night and on cloudy days looks gray.

Wow. We're framing our house now. They finished the second story and are supposed to start the stairs tomorrow. Paint hasn't even been mentioned other than IF I was a person who had trouble picking and needed a decorator's assistance with colors to let our builder know and he had a few people I could call. He said it's never too early to start staring at paint. LOL! But no due date given...and he always gives due dates and calls the moment he says he's going to!

It's funny the way everyone's contracts are. We can do as many colors as we want. Lord help my builder! Ha! But our friend who's building can do four or five before she's charged more. A blog I'm reading can do two. It's crazy.

I deviated. Sorry.

I can't do cool gray through a whole house. We did it in the little rental we're in now and it's just not happy enough for me. It's a bit cold in here now. I only have BM decks. I tend to go for greiges like Revere Pewter, etc. But have you looked at Stonington Gray or Gray Owl? Titanium? Thundercloud Gray?

Here's a link to my Pinterest paint board. It's got lots of ideas for different paint colors. It may help a bit? Most are BM but since you can color match, it may be worth a look or worth going to colorcharts.org to see if a SW color is close.

Paint Paint and More Paint!!!

A Parade home we toured this fall had one color through most of it, and it looked great in all kinds of lighting. The color looked gray in some areas and slightly tanner in others. I finally tracked the color down-it is BM Alexandria Beige HC 77.

I did...I had 2 hours to pick my color & was at work without my paint chips!
I did however, negotiate to have the kids rooms painted other colors. Their response was fine, as long as it wasn't red, etc or a color that would require multiple coats.

"I figure it has to be the color that we want to do the foyer and hallways in."

What direction does your foyer face? That might be key in picking a good color. I love Baltic Gray (all the colors on that strip are really nice).
Also check out:

BM Affinty Fusion AF-67
BM Stormy Monday 2112-50
BM San Antonio Gray AC-29

I think that the Edgecomb Gray & Revere Pewter strip is a really good suggestion. SW Alexandria Beige is a really pretty color too.

I have San Antonio Gray on 3 of my ceilings and I really like it a lot. I love it w/ purple flowers. It is very moody on my ceiling. I first saw it on the Secrets From a Stylist premier and was instantly smitten.

Here is a link that might be useful: San Antonio Gray

I would ask how much extra it would be to use 2 or 3 colors instead of one. I would not be happy having the same color paint throughout the house.

If you like your builder, I'd tell him to tell his office to back off.

Same thing happened to us when we were building on and remodeling. First trip to the builder's office (whom we ended up firing) some lady pulled out paint color, flooring, wallpaper, etc! I was like, "What the...?"

The good thing is their designer introduced me to the floor tile I ended up using. lol

Hello,

Our build was similar, we had to decide on our paint color fairly quickly. I couldn't decide on 1 color, so we paid the upgrade price to do 3 colors. It was pretty reasonable. I think we paid $350, we were able to choose 3 colors and put them anywhwere we wanted. If I had to pick one paint color, even though I am a "color" person, I'd choose white. I'm not sure there is another color that I could tolerate throughtout the entire home.

Make sure when they match your BM colors that they do not use "builder's grade" paint - that chalky stuff will wash right off the walls if you try to scrub off a scuff mark or grime.

Make sure your spec sheets include the brand and grade of paint.

You are paying these people hundreds of thousands of dollars in this rotten economy. They ought to make reasonable accommodations for you.

Checked out some SW colors -- a vote for "Classic French Gray" (0077)

Very nice color!

And yes indeed -- they do work for YOU! And do make sure that they write down the brand and name of the color (and any needed adjustments to the strength of the color) on paper -- sign it -- and give you a copy.

Will they take one color and use it full strength and maybe half or whatever in another room without charging extra? You can get a bit of a different look like that.

My sister just had SW mix up F&B Stonyground. That may be too taupe for you. She is having a house built and it's an additional $500 each time you want to change a room color!

Another vote for BM Edgecomb Grey...we did our whole house and love it with the BM Simply White trim. It is a great jumping off point to branch into other colors in that family for your other rooms.

I know it wasn't the point of your posting, but ditto on the afformations that selecting paint color now is silly. We've built two homes and paint never came up until the HVAC/elec was nearing completion.

If you must pick your colors now an there's truly no other option, then stand in the spot with your floorplan. See how directly or indirectly (based on landscape, neighbors' houses, etc.) the sun actually hits your lot. Then compare with the floorplan and see how the sun hits the future location of your windows. Keep that knowledge in mind when you pick your color. For example, we have a covered porch that runs from our front door to garage. Between front door and garage is the FDR - so FDR has a single window, and directly outside about 5' of covered porch = fair amount of indirect light only. We went with a lighter color in that room because we knew this based on the location & structure.

I've never heard of a builder not allowing more than one color, even if you have to pay more for it. That's fairly common. One of our builders was "as many colors as you want, no extra charge" and the most recent was "two colors, $175 per additional, $600 per color requiring a dark base, matte finish only."

That is just so ridiculous. They certainly are NOT buying the paint now so there's no need to pick color until structure exists. I'm guessing that the designer is just afraid she's going to forget to deal with this since they usually just paint their own color. Just say no :-)

I agree with the suggestion to make sure you know exactly which paint they will be using. Before I moved into my current house (not a new build), I had the entire house painted (white because I couldn't deal with picking multiple colors even though he wouldn't have charged me more). Anyway, I specified BM and color, but not which BM paint. Well, they used that crappy builder grade paint. It was horrible!

If I had to pick only one color for my entire house, I'd be tempted to go with BM Manchester Tan. Neutral, but not boring (at least to me). Sometimes looks tan, sometimes gray.

Also, make sure that the SW match actually matches before they mix enough paint for the whole house.

I might consider asking how much less if the builder only put on a primer and left the final colors and painting to you.

In this link, the homeowner used colors from one Sherwin Williams paint chip- gray/taupe spectrum. Colors are listed at the end.

http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2011/01/incredible-renovation.html

It is very neutral and could go with any decor. I used these combinations on repainting my exteriors and hallways and really like it.

Do you like cool or warm colors? I used 2 fabulous neutrals in our new home...SW Lattice, which is primarily a soft grey with a tiny hint of blue and SW Grecian Ivory which is a warmer neutral that matched my dining room and study furniture better. I like them both, but I think I like Lattice better...it is really fresh and pretty.

Lattice:
(the lattice is in the room, Grecian Ivory is in the foreground)

Grecian Ivory:

I came across this post and thought it might be helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: The best gray paint colours.

I can't tell you what color to pick since I'm having a hard enough time myself, but I can tell you that I've changed my colors at least three times since picking them back in October, before we broke ground. Electrical just started at our house and insulation and drywall are around the corner, so I do need to make a decision now, but I think you can safely assume that you can change your mind several times within the next few months. Double check on that though :-) For what it's worth, I had to pick SW colors too and went with Universal Khaki as a main color. Relaxed Khaki is lighter and I almost went with it but I wanted more contrast with my trim. Good luck.

I'm sure you don't remember this show, but I was watching reruns of the old show "Gidget" with Sally Field and the episode I watched their house was a lighter than a mid-tone shade of gray with white trim and I thought of your dilemma for a house color - it looked great, and they had upholstery that was patterned in warm tones. It look fabulous dahling.

I am writing down every suggestion and getting all these chips together. I'll see what I think. Thanks for all the ideas. And by all means, keep them coming!

Was Gidget in color? I thought it was in black and white.

Beekeeperswife, what did you end up doing? I am being asked to do the same with one SW color being sprayed on walls and ceiling. I am thinking Shoji white right now. I have a lot of Windows and a lot of trim. The trim will be SW Extra White.

I didn't realize this was an older thread and I thought beekeeperswife was moving again!

upate167 - I don't remember if she did all one color but if you search under her name I'm pretty sure you'll find some photos.

Having walls and ceilings the same color is what seems to be trending with builders, and has been since I built my house 7 years ago. In spite of that, it really is personal taste and should be your choice. I have a very light tan and find it appealing. My youngest DD has her LR/DR walls and ceilings a muted eggplant, and although dark is very striking, but the ceilings are 16' high which also makes a big difference. You have to look at it everday so it should be to your liking.

I'm more than likely doing one color in our new build. I think we'll go with SW Agreeable Gray. I have it in my current living room (although mixed at 75%), and it's a nice neutral. It almost looks white at the strength I have it, but against white trim, it's gray.

"Having walls and ceilings the same color is what seems to be trending with builders"

I like it, but painting them the same is because it is in their own interest. It's easier to paint. Not that that's a bad thing, but do what you like.

After having every room in the house a different colour and constantly changing those colours over the last 15 years, we have just painted all four stories of our house the same colour (BM Affinity 15). I love it very much.

A friend of mine has her walls, ceiling and trim in her formal rooms painted the same color (not white). Ceiling is done at a %. It's very pretty. They still use the proper paint type on the different surfaces.

We just painted most of our home SW Amazing Gray and Wordly Gray. Emily A Clark blog used most of those colors on the color strip in her previous home, check out her blog. It is a taupe/gray. I am in love with it.

We're in California, and planning on moving East in the spring, so I spend time on Realtor.com looking at homes in areas we like. In house after house, every room is a different color, the blue bedroom, the pink one, the yellow dining room, and many in awful Technicolor shades. I show these to my realtor and her friends, and they are aghast! Even the carpet salesman laughed. He gets an occasional transplant from the East who wants different color carpet in every room, too. But it's not done here.

Looks like I'll need a lot of paint (nice neutral color) when we find and buy a house we like. Just hoping for nice hardwood floors.

We just painted our new to us modern southwestern home all one color by choice. BM Super White. I want it to be gallery like with large paintings, sculpture perhaps, minimalist. We just ordered pure white porcelain floors in the public rooms. Ordered a white sofa and in process of choosing fabric for four living room chairs. Blacks, whites, taupes, grays, caramels, beiges so that the art and people shine. Large glass windows with mountain and city views and pool views. Bright sun more than 300 days per year. I don't care if it says 60's or not current. I use Super White, a blazing, cold, pure white in our Chicagoland house, too. Freezing white. Same color so that if it needs touch up I only have 2 cans to monkey with. Eggshell or semigloss. Bee's former dilemma would be easy for me.

I'd buy your house in a heartbeat!

My MIL went with FLAT white. I wouldn't recommend THAT one paint.

I admire the newer color schemes of gray and taupe but don't think I could live with it. We had every intention of making our downstairs very neutral when it was renovated and instead we now have a riot of brick, greens, rusty orange and black. I am just not a neutral person and the person who eventually buys my home one day will want it for location. (Maybe)

I had mine all done in Navajo white

When we built this house in 1981, all the painted walls were one color...a "homemade vanilla" color. But I had a lot of wallpaper. Both bathrooms were wallpapered, the kitchen/dining, entry and an accent wall in the bedrooms. Come to think of it, there wasn't just a whole lot of painted sheet-rock. I wouldn't have wanted ALL my walls to be one color then or now.

We're getting our house ready to sell, and painting using good old Navajo white, which is what it was before.

My nearly 3000 sf. home is painted the same color. A bluish white called Chrystal white. Loved it when done in 2008 and do still. My DH is slowly repainting the house and guess what. We are using the same color thrue out.

I am in the midst of choosing colors for my renovated bungalow and am trying to get colors to "flow" while staying with earth tones mostly but not doing the same color everywhere! Quite a challenge. I started with my trim (at the insistence of cabinet maker, who is making medicine cabinets with trim to match what's around the windows and doors) and chose BM "cotton balls" (hope I don't find that too white but I wanted something whiter than what I had before, which was Ivory White). The kitchen will have cherry cabinets, medium brown wood floors, soapstone counters, and the backsplash tiles are hand made 3x6 that vary from light green with gray to greenish-gray with darker gray edges - I chose Sebring White. The sunroom I'm thinking Vale Mist, the den off the sunroom maybe Vale Mist mixed at 25% (lots less natural light), the hallways Morning Dew, the living room off the hallway Coastal Fog, the dining room next to it (and leading back into the kitchen) Tapestry Beige (in part to pick up color in fabric of dining chair seat). Master BR I've chosen Silken Pine but mixed at 150% - it's to complement the bathroom tile, which is P&L P138 (of course I'm using the store's sample and who knows if the tile will actually be that color!). Trying to decide what do about ceilings. If my builder and architect get what they want, I'd use "ceiling white" but no way am I going to go with yet another white - it will either be Cotton Balls (in a different finish than the trim) or should I go with the room colors, perhaps mixed at 50%?

Thoughts? TMI????

oh, and I'd use the Morning Dew in both downstairs hall, stairway, and upstairs hall - and my front dormer/office which is open to the hall to permit repitching the stairs to be less steep and up to code.

No way would I ever do one interior color for the whole house. (My current build will use a Sherwin Williams palate of colors -- and ceilings will be a warm white -- ceilings will be unified, but not the vertical surfaces of walls. No wallpaper anywhere, basically because it is easier to change out paint than paper.) All one color everywhere I find kinda depressive.

My friend had the same request from her designer so she chose SW smokey taupe. It now is my favorite color. A cross between gray and tan so it's a true taupe. Her home looks incredible with just the one shade. You can some rooms in the link.https://www.google.com/search?q=SW+smokey+taupe+&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8