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berryberry_gw

what paint colors will tone down pink floors?

17 years ago

Also posted in the decorating forum but checking in with the paint experts here.

We have a tile floor in our kitchen - has predominantly pink tones with some gray in the tile and gray grount. Would like to tone the pink down during our kitchen remodel.

Had been planning to use gray on the walls - but having second thoughts of all one shade of gray. Thinking now of adding a chair rail and going with two shades of paint, one above and one below the chair rail. What would tone down the pink better:

Bottom / Top (the links show some possible BM Aura colors for this)

1. Darker (taupe-ish) gray / Lighter gray

AF-150 Cotswald / AF-690 Metropolitan

2. Terracotta-ish / light gray

AF-280 Salsa Dancing OR AF-220 Masada / AF-470 Flora or AF-690 Metropolitan

OR

2173-30 Salmon Stream / HC-114 Saybrook Sage

3. Medium Gray / Beige (example in regular BM colors)

HC-114 Saybrook Sage / HC-35 Powell Buff

Thanks

Comments (3)

  • 17 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I think we have the same tile! Is this it?

    That's my bathroom floor. What an exercise in frustration! I've been mulling over this room for ages. DH offered to pull the tile up for me, as my attempts at finding a new wall color are beyond exasperating. I'm dragging my feet tho. Although a new floor would immediately resolve this problem, a big concern is the bullnose tiles on the drywall instead of baseboard trim. It's not going to budge easily and I can just see giant chunks of the wall coming off.

    Right now I have a mid-level, very gray based purple on the walls. I didn't think I would care for that color because it's a small room and I thought a deeper color would close it in. But it hasn't, in fact, the opposite occurred, it feels more expansive. It's a smooth transition for the eye from floor to wall because of the common gray hues, but a nicer side effect is that some "oomph" on the walls and splashes of rich accent colors completely detracts from the rose colored marbled veining in the tile. But I'm ready for a change and have looked at every color of the rainbow and then some.

    This is a sample of the color I love and always go back to, but will not work with that tile. (The color is MS Atlantic, and is worth ripping the drywall, I like it that much! ;D ). With current tile it creates what I've fondly dubbed as the "Miami Vice" effect in that room. Sadly, many colors create that effect. Makes the pink in the floor 'pop' rather than recede. (You can see a bit of the current wall color in the background.)

    I lean toward your choice #1.
    Wouldn't suggest anything in the terra cotta/salmon family from #2, rather than detract from the floor it would feel jarring, imho.
    #3, I haven't found a sage yet that will work with my tile, and I love sage :(

    If we don't end up pulling the floor altogether I've narrowed it to a rich warm gray (providing I can find it, samples everywhere) with lots of white and hints of blue sea glass in accessories and accents (think spa). So that the atmosphere in the room will be a deterrent against the eye focusing on the pink in the floor. Have never considered myself a gray person, but with it being tagged as one of the 'new neutrals' and therefore some nice examples being shown in magazines, etc. shouldn't be difficult to hit on one that feels cozy rather than cold or industrial. Otherwise, a heavily gray based taupe with just a hint of green undertone does seem to work well. Another choice I've found that works is a cool gray based mocha. Like Restoration Hardware's Flax. (Click on the small color square in that row to see a sample of Flax in a room.) Hesitate to go that route, think I'd prefer to go lighter than what I have now for a change.

    Also, I wouldn't recommend dual contrasting colors. That would be a lot going on with our tile. Unless you stay in the same palette and do perhaps a darker shade near the floor and one level lighter above the chair rail.

    Just my humble .02. Guess my rambling on is a dead give away I've been doing a bit of obsessing over this ;D

  • 17 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Moonshadow - thanks. Our tile looks very similiar - not quite the same but close. It is difficult to find a color to work with it, isn't it

    Well after trying out several color samples on the wall last evening including a gray based taupe (not quite as dark as the Flax you mentioned) I came to the conclusion nothing is going to tone down the pink well. And none of the colors really looked good. My wife noticed it as well and she has been the big proponent for keeping the floor. Luckily my daughter and I were able to convince my DW that we really needed to change floor tile. So while its going to cost a whole lot more, we will be ripping out the pink and replacing it with something more suitable to our kitcehn remodel.

    Thanks for your input

  • 17 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I have that pink tile in my 20 year old master bath! My solution was to put a plush 36 X 60 rug down. That would hide almost the entire floor. Sadly the best I could find in a bath rug was 24 X 60...someday I know I'll find a bigger rug!