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becca_fehlberg

Light warm neutral for north-facing room

4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago

I want a light, warmish neutral for our living room kitchen area that isn't too yellow, orange, or pink and doesn't scream 'beige' or 'tan.' That leaves me with greige, I guess, but they all seem too cold in the blue north light we have. From pictures, I like the look of Edgecomb Gray in particular, in its warmer moments, but the chip reads neutral gray in our room, which is not what I'm going for. Can you recommend a paint color? I have dozens still in contention and can't seem to narrow it down at all. Help! Pic in comments for an idea of what I'm going for.

Comments (22)

  • 4 years ago


    The kind of wall color I'm looking for

  • 4 years ago

    BM Feather Down might be worth a look. It might be lighter than what you are looking for though? Here’s a link with some discussion:

    https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4110724/benjamin-moore-experts-white-down-feather-down-or-other

    Becca Fehlberg thanked H D
  • PRO
    4 years ago

    This is one of my faves for a neutral that is not beige , gray or greige and IMO is much more neutral than any of those .I often cut it 25% to get a really light color and it looks awesome with white work BTW I also always mention the lighting since all LEDs in 4000K is the best to mimc daylight and to allow colors to stay true all the time


    Becca Fehlberg thanked Patricia Colwell Consulting
  • 4 years ago

    Your example seems to have a pink undertone. If you want a warm, very neutral shade, pull warm whites and you will quickly see the shade and intensity of the undertones.

    Narrow down and test, as lightining will have an impact. Hope link also helps. https://thediyplaybook.com/warm-white-paint-colors/


    Becca Fehlberg thanked Maureen
  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    North facing rooms are very tricky and tend to amplify gray and pull purple out of the most innocent looking neutrals, Here are some articles for Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams colors. So far, SW Creamy looks to be the winner for us personally in a large north facing room but be careful, it pulls yellow in a south facing room if you're thinking about painting the whole house one color.


    Kylie Minter Interiors BM North Facing Rooms


    Kylie Minter Interiors White or Off White for North facing rooms

    Becca Fehlberg thanked JT7abcz
  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    I am testing BM Feather Down in my foyer, which faces north -- it's pulling a little grey, but not as bad as come of the other colors I tried; it's a contender. I've only got a sample board, the true test will be slapping a big swatch on the walls.

    I really like SW Creamy and may use it on my ceiling, depending on which wall colors I choose, but in the foyer it just looked dingy white. Looked terrific on the south-facing rooms but is too bright for everything else that's going on in there (fixed elements).

    Other colors I tried that pulled way too much grey or looked dingy white in the north foyer were SW Neutral Ground, BM Tapestry Beige, BM Natural Cream.

    I also tried SW Canvas Tan and SW Natural Tan -- they both looked nice in the foyer during the day but at night looked fleshy. So no.

    BM Gray Wisp pulls blue in my house, and looks like a really depressing greyed baby blue in my foyer.

    My house is semi-open -- too open to switch undertones for something that looks truly great in that north area of the house. Sigh...closed floor plans are so much easier...


    ETA: BM Edgecomb Grey pulled orange on my south walls. I don't recall trying in the foyer because I hated it on the other walls. Have you looked at BM Manchester Tan? It was horrid on my south walls but may look great in your north-facing room, the quality of light is just so different between north and south.

    Becca Fehlberg thanked porkchop_z5b_MI
  • 4 years ago

    I have a similar dilemma and found the following: Pale oak flashed purple; Ballet White looked drab; antique white- yellow; Swiss coffee- too light; casa Blanca- flashed pink; soft chamois- blah looking; linen white- too yellow; Navajo white- too yellow; winter wheat-pinkish tinge; steamed milk- pinkish; Madison Blanche— really like this color but too dark for us. So far Feather Down does not turn yellow or pink and is a nice light Greige.

    Becca Fehlberg thanked H D
  • 4 years ago

    Thank you for all the suggestions! Feather Down has been on my radar. I'm a little nervous because it looks a bit yellow to me in some pictures and I might be looking for something slightly more earthy, so some subtle orange/pink/brown, I guess. Maison Blanche looks nice, I'll investigate that one. Manchester Tan as well.


    Has anyone tried:


    BM Sailcloth

    Maritime White

    Cedar Key

    Valspar Coconut Milk?


    Hoping to hone in on the right direction before buying samples so I don't have to spend a fortune on them, haha.

  • 4 years ago

    Update: I moved from sample board to large paint swatches of Feather Down on walls yesterday. I knew instantly it is not the right color -- it pulled too much yellow on the walls. But, it did look terrific in one area, which is the bedroom hallway; there is zero natural light in there, so it just looks like a soft, creamy color and beautifully lightens up the hallway. I re-visited BM Tapestry Beige just for sh*ts and giggles since I had to get out the primer and prime over the FD anyway, and blow me down it doesn't look half-bad on north walls. It's pulling green, though -- which seems to coordinate well with wall color I chose in the south room (a mid-tone green). So it's a maybe; need time to fully evaluate it.


    Moral of the post: Start with samples boards/Samplize to narrow your choices but always put actual paint *on walls* for a final evaluation; it's part of the process and you'll avoid unattractive surprises.

  • 4 years ago

    "Hoping to hone in on the right direction before buying samples so I don't have to spend a fortune on them, haha."


    Are you familiar with Samplize? Helpful to narrow down choices.

  • 4 years ago

    I have BM Balboa Mist in a north/northwest facing livingroom and love it. It’s dynamic but neutral, sometimes you can barely tell the walls aren’t white, sometimes it’s a nice greige, sometimes blue/green/grey pops out

    Becca Fehlberg thanked A A
  • 4 years ago

    If you want something that doesn't look a little green like Tapestry Beige, try BM Baby Fawn OC-15. That's what I ended up with in a room that has two north facing windows and one west. Tapestry Beige also looked a little green in this room. Manchester Tan was too tan. I think Baby Fawn has a little red which neutralizes the green, but it doesn't look pink or red at all.

    Becca Fehlberg thanked kandrewspa
  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Baby Fawn and Edgecomb Gray are the same color! Why they would do such a thing, I've no idea, but I'll include that one in my samples, since I seem to keep coming back to it.

    I'm placing a Samplize order tonight! Fingers crossed I'll be able to settle on one of them. My husband had to take some deep breaths when I told him I'm spending $50 on samples. He literally cannot see any difference between half of these colors. The teasing has been severe. I'm just glad you all understand 😌

  • 4 years ago

    If you haven’t already you’re able to now, you might consider priming the walls since you’re painting anyway. That way you’ll be looking at colors against a white background without interference from the existing wall color.
    Good luck with your quest!

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    Baby Fawn and Edgecomb Gray are the same color!


    Yes, they are. Color collections evolve over decades and stuff like this happens more often than you'd think.




  • 4 years ago

    I did SW Wool Skein in our north facing room and I like it. In lamplight it is the exact oatmeal color I was looking for. We have lots of leafy trees too so constantly fight the green tinge affecting paint colors.

  • 4 years ago

    I am about to try Accessible Beige in my north and west kitchen. 🤞🏼

  • 4 years ago

    We just rewired the whole house, so dry wall repair is happening this week, priming and painting next week. I'll let you know what we end up with. Thank you for the continued suggestions, I'll consider anything!

  • 4 years ago

    We tried Edgecomb/Baby Fawn in our south and north facing living room and in the south facing it was a bit too dark beige and in the north facing side it was too dark gray and drab but looks wonderful in our three bedrooms. Cedar Key OC-16 also considering but not sure how it compares to Baby Fawn but it looks a bit more reddish. Tapestry Beige has a green undertone but you never know how it will react. I like the look of Winds Breath OC-24 and it seems neutral but is a lot lighter but may be darker in north facing but it may show more beige than you want. Good Luck and keep us posted.

  • PRO
    4 years ago

    Cedar Key OC-16 also considering but not sure how it compares to Baby Fawn but it looks a bit more reddish.


    Yes, you are correct. It is more reddish.



  • last month
    last modified: last month


    What did you end up with? Did you try SW Neutral Ground? Looking at both SW Neutral Ground and BM Feather Down for my home that has a living dining room with both Southern and northern exposure. BM Feather Down pulls a little yellow in the southern areas.