Help me tone this paint down!

15 years ago

I painted part of my bathroom BM Yarmouth Blue this weekend, hoping for a soothing, spa-like feel. What I got was a little more "electric blue" than I had expected!

It's not awful, in fact in some lights it's rather pretty, if a bit intense. What I was thinking of doing is going back to BM and getting some plain white paint and mixing it in, or else asking them to tint the white with a little black in order to "gray" it down as well as lighten it.

Do you think this will work, or does anyone have any other ideas? I'd hate to waste the paint. I shelled out the extra money for the new Natura.

(Natura paint is AMAZING, by the way. I don't think I'll ever use another type of paint again! That's ONE COAT you see in that picture, over a dark brown. Amazing coverage, and no fumes.)

Featured Answer

DLM2000-GW

15 years ago

Do NOT add black to tone it or gray it down - add the opposite color from the color wheel, in your case some red/orange.

If you have enough paint leftover to do at least one more coat, and don't mind experimenting, then by all means, lighten it up with white and then tone it with the red/orange and go from there. If you have a good paint place they'll play around with it for you. Just remember, you might need more than one coat to get what you have fully covered. And once you make a color, keep the formula and keep a sample card of it just in case.

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Comments (6)

judiegal6
15 years ago
I'm sorry I can't make any suggestions on how to tone down your YB paint. I just wanted to say how surprised I am that it seems so much more vivid shade of blue than it does on my 2 Bedrooms that I used it in. It doesn't look bad though. Good Luck.
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threedgrad
15 years ago
I would get it mixed at 50% to lighten the color. Or you can do what I did and mix leftover paint tuill I got a good color. It's mostly Eleen Kennon's Summer Sky. This is my last project at my WI home just before it sold. I think this project of ripping down the wallpaper and the WT and painting the walls and doing the white shower curtain probably made the sale.
Ideefixe
15 years ago
I'd live with it a while before I painted over. It's not all that electric in the photo, and my monitor's pretty true.
pumpkin_spice
Original Author
15 years ago
dlm, you're right about not adding black. I tried putting a little paint in a cup and putting a drop of black in, and that drop was enough to turn the whole thing gray. It's a good thing I didn't try that with the whole gallon.

I'm going to live with it at least until the weekend. I don't know if it's really that bright or if I'm just not used to it. I usually use warm neutrals, so painting my bathroom blue is a whole new world for me!
powermuffin
15 years ago
Since we aren't seeing any accessories or fabric window coverings, the blue takes over. Have you considered adding at least a valance to the windows if not fabric panels? I think the blue is pretty, the room just needs some finishing. Something over the toilet, a rug (can't tell how much room is there), towels, a picture on the wall, etc. Personally, I like blue and white or blue and yellow (gold like your cabinets?), and so would think about accessorizing with these colors. Some dark tone accessories might be nice as well.
Diane