this is why gray... is not always the answer. a cool blue or green even..the blue in the kitchen looks great a little richer tone. look at historic colors.. they will give color but work better witht the wood work.

Having gone thru this grey vs cream issue with my last house, I can only offer what helped for me... But it sucks... I repainted the walls AGAIN to a greige. It actually worked out well for me because it picked up on tones in the counter and backsplash as well. I wish you the best of luck with your project...

The easiest thing to change would be the new color. I suggest you find a color for the wall so that you don't end up with a chopped up look, find a better color for the entire wall. . We all miss the right color sometimes, this was your turn. Adios to Silver Drop. There are many pretty gray/beige colors that will walk the fine line you are trying to attain.

Could you paint the wall behind kitchen cabinets a griege that would coordinate with the silver drop and the almond cabinets? Griege with green undertone perhaps..

Yikes! I'm making the same mistake and I need to correct it today. Any thoughts anyone?

Putting this gray in there has dated my kitchen even more than when we renovated it in 1998. It looked much better with the persimmon color we had in there and the coffee color before that; however, I'm trying to make it more modern looking where it will appeal to younger people if they were buying this house. We have painted almost the whole interior and I am stuck on this one. My entire hallway is BM ever Pewter and I love the lightness but I wasn't sure if a light would work in my kitchen. HELP...FAST! :)

Both of your houses seem to have some pink/beige undertones and more earth-toned materials (granite, backsplash, fireplace trim). As you realized, the colors you have chosen don't go well with your fixed materials. If you go to Maria Killam's website (mariakillam.com) you will find a ton of excellent and practical color advice. I have nothing to do with her business, but have found the information there to be some of the best available on color. When your fixed elements are dated, you won't be able to make them look any better or newer by modernizing to a trendy paint color (hey - I learned the hard way). You CAN make them look better, just don't try to do trendy. And don't do stark white trim, either. Check it out - you will be glad you did.

I agree with re-painting the walls. I am not a big fan of warm colors, definitely prefer cool tones. I recommend checking out Benjamin Moore's Coastal Fog (or Sherwin Williams' Naturel -- they're basically the same color) for a wall color. I have found that it is the perfect greenish beige that is not too cool and blends with EVERYTHING. I have now used it in all main living spaces in THREE homes, so clearly I'm a fan :-) Here it is in both evening and daytime ...

Check out Dunn Edward's "Drifting". It was the perfect shade of greige for my kitchen. I have the same colored cabinets as you also.

Your floor, your backsplash & your countertops are just calling for you to pick out a beige wall color (maybe from the backsplash) that would tie it all together rather than going with an unrelated color. Just make it a bit darker than the cabinets.

It seems that soooo many posts deal with picking gray paint and/or helping folks fix their gray paint mistakes. Please rethink before using gray! It can ruin a space pretty quickly. I think that you just need to get rid of the gray.

Your home is beautiful so don't let the wrong paint color make it less so.

I think that Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore is always a safe bet. I have off white cabinets and it looks great.

Go to a paint store and look at all the neutral booklets to locate a warmer gray paint. Buy a sample and paint it on a piece of illustration board you can find in any hobby store. Then for a few days put the new color up here and there and check it in your light. If you don't LOVE it, go get another sample and repeat. I like the blue in the kitchen- why can't you extend that further, or even better, a bit deeper shade from the swatch card of the same color? That said I pretty much agree that your house seems to be based on warmer colors in the floors and the gray you have used is just too 'cool' and could use a bit more taupe-y/greige-y added.

Behr Greywood has worked wonders in my problem child of a house, and just about everyone who sees it asks me for the name of the color.

Based on the color of your backsplash, which looks taupey, look at Sherwin Williams, Colonnade Gray. It was the perfect warm gray in my kitchen/dining area - still a work in progress!

Gray seems to be a trendy color that will soon see its way out. Since changing cab color is not an option, I suggest to repaint entire area that will complement your cabinets. Sadly , I think it will be a challenge to find the cool color you want with almond cabinets. The space is too open to have multi color walls, making it look choppy. You want the area to feel cohesive and one color will do that.

I had 13 posters of various shades of gray up in my living room and hall before we decided on a color. It took time.
Do not choose based on the color sample you have to make your own and move it around and see if you like it. Home Depot sells samples of Behr paint for about $3.00. Colors change with the environment they are in, light and surrounding cabinets and floor colors. The blue is nice and I agree with others about that. Just because grey is "in" doesn't mean it is meant for your house.

I got a lot of great tips from The Creativity Exchange blog. She gave some fantastic instructions on exactly how to pick out a paint color using the warm/cool undertones and how to see the difference. I have no relationship with her or the site. I just found it extremely helpful. She also gives a list each year of the top colors. Good luck!

I agree with silkybaby1 about trying out the colors. My paint store had 8X11 pcs of a kind of post-it note paper that you could paint on and then stick it on the wall without damaging the wall. It could be repositioned as well so you could move it around and stand back to look at it without needing someone to hold it. Think they were around $1 each but worth it IMHO.

My contributon to the dialogue is to agree with flair lighting and others who've suggested grey, greige,gray isn't always the best choice regardless of your love of the color and it's use in the modern painters palate. Flair lighting has, in my opinion, given you the best advise. Your question is a hard one to answer on a message board. Readers can't see the TRUE color, under tone, shadowing and shaded areas of your rooms. I'd suggest talking to an expert at your local paint store or, because you're painting such large rooms used by family and friends, spend a little money on a decorater for a color consultation. The decorater will also be able give you ideas about how do coordinate your baseboards, doors and I'm guessing the rest of the window and door trim. A few hours consultation is worth the investment and man hours you'll spend repainting and repainting.

I like putting my name on the decorating of my home but I know when I'm stumped. I hope you have a good result.

Poster board, at least 5, paint them and pin them. Look at the paint in all lighting at different times of the day and move the boards close to the things that can’t be changed. It will save you time and money.

Another thought. Your backsplash is pretty. Have you sealed it with a spray sealer? We found when we did this with ours the colors of the stone really popped! I would take a color from the backsplash or your counter top. If the view from your kitchen dining window is nice you can frame it in a darker color than the wall. We have Behr nutty beige and coffee bean in our kitchen/ family room,. Only framed one wall/window in coffee bean, and did a minimal amount of wood chair rail in kitchen. Our cabinets are 1950 solid oak.

You could think of this concept near your fireplace as well and extend above the mantel with the dark tone from the fire place .

I spent a lot of time watching property brothers and love it or list it on HGTV before I did anything. Again always paint slabs of poster board paper and live with the colors. You want to be happy when you are done? P.S. This seems to be the hardest part of updating!

I agree that the best option is to 1) repaint the walls, and also why not 2) consider a pale taupe (grey/brown) which can complement your cupboards. Most paint companies offer small sample sizes to you can see the impact before completely repainting an area. When you find a color you like, pick one shade lighter because once it's on the walls, the color appears to intensify. Have fun - your space looks great!

Behr's Washed Khaki is the color on most of my walls. Maybe it's a little boring, maybe some would say it's too trendy. But I love it, and everyone comments on how nice it looks. It easily works with the blues and greens I like to use in accessories. I would definitely not repaint your doors and trim, but think you should keep hunting for the right color for your home. You have a very lovely home, by the way.

A lesson many of us are learning is that colors as well as furnishings don't always work from one house to another without a lot of money spent of adapting. You may need to decide how much money you need to spend to make it work versus how much money can you comfortably spend. Then decide how important it is to you before spending energy and time as well as money. If it is still important then do it!

I hate to spend money and energy on trends so I compromise, which is also an option. Good luck.

Quick unrelated question... I'm starting my kitchen from scratch and from the looks of it, my layout is exactly like yours (with a second sink around where you laptop is). Do you find your kitchen layout efficient? Would you change anything?

When I redid my kitchen I went against the trend to have granite! That would have been $10,000 just for counter tops. Do not get me wrong we looked at some gorgeous slabs of granite. But in day to day life stuff gets put on the counter tops. So it is not always going to look like a showroom. So I opted for some great granite look made of Formica. Everyone who comes in complements it and says,is it marble, is it granite. Nope just easy to clean and maintain with Formica . I even have rounded edges so it really looks like granite. The idea that you can chop on some surfaces, big deal so just grab a thin light weight cutting board!
That kitchen layout looks good everything in reach. I would put smaller stools at the island and use it as place to serve buffet dinners. Good luck with your adventure.

@bethbot79 yes I love the layout! The island sink is a bit in the way of the person sitting across from it. I would have probably centered the island sink so I can set grocery bags on the counter closer to the fridge.

No one, not even a color expert, can give you good advice on selecting a paint color by looking at a computer monitor. All computer monitors will represent the color differently and do not accurately reflect the color in reality. The colors in your kitchen will be a function of the lighting in the room, and can change from day to evening, in sunlight and in artificial light. You need to see the actual color in the room and view how it changes in order to make a decision. Either get a color consultation or as someone said, paint large posterboards with (no more than 3) colors and see which one works best.

I absolutely hate Beige and refused to paint anything in my house that color, I went with Greige on the walls and get tons of compliments.