I don't have an answer, but your question made me check the directionality of the MB in our new house. It's pretty much North, too! (I think one window is NW, and one is NE.)

I was also wanting to paint a greyish, maybe a blue-grey. I saw a room done in Silver Strand by SW that I really liked, but it had white trim, and we'll be working with wood. But I'll be watching this thread for suggestions!

I don't think yellows do well in rooms that need to be lit mostly artificially, and some yellows or brights don't do well in rooms that are dark. Yellow, to me, works best in rooms that get decent natural light.

I think a grey would work fine in a room that is not bright and if the grey is warm I don't think it would cool the room further.

You may have to look at swatches that are Much Warmer in the paint store than you would expect. My north facing living room was painted a color that read warm grey-green-blue in the paint store and a definite blue on the walls. The difference is so large I have a hard time finding the swatch in the rack.

When I tried normal blues they turned periwinkle to purplish on the wall. So bring home some chips that seem way too warm just to check.

We painted my son's north facing bedroom a very pale shade of grey. That lasted about a month before we changed it. It was too depressing and appeared dingy.

However this room only had one window and there was a large maple tree near so the room had even less light.

Pal's suggestion about choosing a warm grey is right. I think that would have made a big difference. We ended up letting our son select his color and he went with Ralph Lauren Hunting Coat Red. Now that's definitely warm.

Pal is so right - I painted a room in our first New England house the same luscious taupe that we'd used in our Los Angeles house, and it looked purple and dirty.

Take a look at B Moore's Stonington Gray, Edgecomb Gray, Collingwood, and Balboa Mist. Also if you have access to it, Matrtin Senour's Cave Pearl is a very pretty very pale warm gray.

thank you everyone! i tend to agree that finding a warm gray is the ticket...i'm just not certain my is that accurate in picking out the undertone...i will be sure to look at the ben moore colors you've suggested, bronwynsmom, maybe one of those will work..

and definitely will need to purchase paint samples (painted on poster board) to get a better indication of how the color behaves with the changing light...grays are hard!!

pal, that's a great suggestion about picking an even warmer tone that on first blush would seem not ideal

I asked this question a while back. Funcolors who is a color maven responded. Here's the link.

Maybe she can give you some specific suggestions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Northeastern dim light

You might want to check out colors in the "greige" family. SW Relaxed Khaki and Pavillion Beige, e.g.

If you want to stick with gray, SW Anew Gray is nice.

Almost all of the windows in my house face NW. I completely agree with Pal. I made the mistake of picking a grey that read too blue, BM Stone Harbor, and I recently repainted with a warmer grey green, BM Bennington Gray. What a difference! Now I'm indecisive about my bedroom color because I don't want to have to repaint if it doesn't turn out!

snookums, thank you for the link...funcolors said:

"Not toned or muddy. Opt for colors with a clearer, crisper character. You have to have some level of saturation to bust thru the dim quality of NE exposure. "

i think that is going to be the challenge for me...finding a warm gray that isn't toned or muddy...most of the 'clean' grays i've looked at are too light....getting the saturation without having the paint look muddy or toned ...that's going to be key

randita...i've looked at some greiges but thus far, most have that muddied look (they are a blend of brown and gray)...

geokid...i just checked bennington gray and it looks pretty 'gold' on my display, but per pal's advice, that might be just work...

I agree with not muddy. But I think it will have to be toned somewhat to have the warmth you want. The crisp looking blues I tried out first went freezing cold on the walls in my light.

pal, yes, it seems like a really fine line here in finding a warm gray that isn't muddied....the color i have now is quite muddied and it just does not work at all

the green outdoor cast in the room is really a complicating factor as well!

btw, the room has 2 windows... a northern exposure and a western, but the western has a large pin oak in front of it, that means it really isn't all that sunny in the afternoon...the sun has to get quite low before the room is actually 'lit', then only for about an hour or so

Check out BM London Fog, Himalayan Trek, Plymouth Rock...all on the same chip.

thank you joanie, i will take a look

I laugh about it now, but when I was testing multiple pots of blue-gray I wondered if I'd ever find a color I liked.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Blue & The Gray