Neutral interior paint color that works in a small home?

[IfIOnly]

I need something on the lighter side, but that will hide dirt. I'm tired of cleaning the wall all the time or looking at dirty walls all the time. It's one or the other. Ha! Im done with cream though I love the lighter look. Our landlord loves us and basically let us do whatever we want. Yay!

 

A couple of things:

 

Our house is small! It's less than 1200, but the layout makes it feel even smaller thsn it already is! I need something that will help make our space not feel smaller, at least.

 

Carpet is light blue.

 

I'm doing the bathrooms in a Sea Salt type color. Not sure I want it all over the house, especially with blue carpets?

 

Not a ton of light in the living spaces. :(

 

I'm doing all the other rooms whatever color I go with: living spaces and bedrooms.

 

Thank you!!

[Terabith]

Dotted swiss is the perfect paint color for all houses. 

[IfIOnly]

Dotted swiss is the perfect paint color for all houses.

Google isn't finding this for me. Do you know the paint maker?

[foxbridgeacademy]

I like pale gray for a light color that hides dirt.

[sassenach]

Benjamin Moore Edgecomb gray, or if you want to go even lighter, Pale Oak.

[PeachyDoodle]

Here is a post on how to choose a color scheme for your whole house:

 

http://www.thecreativityexchange.com/2017/05/tips-for-choosing-whole-home-paint-color-scheme.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=thecreativityexchange

 

She has lots of good articles on color selection, and she answers questions if you post a comment.

[pinkmint]

Look up "greige" (gray-beige) on Pinterest. 

 

Our new house is 1300 sq ft and we got Sherwin Williams "Perfect Greige" to cover up the banana yellow, bright turquoise and primer gray the previous owners had going on. 

 

I really like greige. I just love a nice warm gray. I love bold colors too, but to me using bold colors is better left to things you can easily change, like decor, not walls. 

[Aura]

Sherwin Williams Respose Gray. I used a shade darker (Mindful Gray) in my very large, open, light-filled home. The darker shade works great. But for smaller rooms, I'd go with the lighter Repose Gray. Both of those colors are highly recommended and very popular.

 

If you do a gray, greige, or beige, I HIGHLY recommend researching the color you want first. I tried picking out colors based on the color cards, looking at them in different lights, etc, but when it came to gray, I failed twice. This last time, I chose solely based on what I found online. It was a huge success. BEAUTIFUL. I get so many complements. 

.

[zoobie]

I used Edgecomb Gray in my halls. Upstairs the hallways are really dark and get no natural light. It's a color without being heavy. I darkened the foyer to Revere Pewter because it does get light. Mirrors help reflect light, and look at getting bulbs with light that you prefer.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

My basement and one of my son's rooms is painted Mindful Gray by SW.  It's a nice neutral color.  

[Guest]

Are there any other architectural details you can pick up on?  The carpet is blue, but is there any hardwood, or tile or a fireplace surround?  

 

When we moved into this house (a flip) it was painted differing shades of purply-gray.  I was sitting in my office one day and realized that I HATED IT.  Well, ten-seconds flat, and I'm moving the furniture out and painting samples on the walls.  :0)   Purply-gray was The Color that year but it did not work in this house.  At all.  The wood floors are honey oak; the carpet is tan with a touch of cinnamon; the fireplace surround is red-orange brick.  It was an AWFUL color for this house.  

 

I tried some sea-salt kinds of colors in my office but they did not work at all.  (However, I just painted the upstairs guest room that color and it is perfect.  Go figure!). Anyway, we ended up with a color that has a tan, not a gray, background, which attaches well to the honey-oak, and complements rather than fighting with the carpets and the brick.  Now I don't really notice the walls at ALL, which is kind of the point, and the place is a LOT more cheerful.  

 

That particular color set was "out" when I painted, but it was what the house wanted.  It was Benjamin Moore Ladyfinger, in light, medium and dark shades, fwiw.  ETA:  Another reason I didn't want gray is that there is enough gray sky around this neck of the woods.  Same reason I won't buy a car with a gray interior.  DEPRESSING.  

 

Ask your house.  :0)

 

[Terabith]

Google isn't finding this for me. Do you know the paint maker?

 

Let me talk to my parents.  They're the last ones who used it.  I hope it hasn't gone out of production!

 

ETA:  Sherwin Williams.  It's not in their color palette chips but it is in their computer and they can mix it for you.  It looks white until you see it next to a pure white.  It's a creamy off-white.  My parents have moved 8 times in the last 40 years, and they have always painted every house fully in dotted swiss.

Edited June 3, 2017 by Terabith

[Plink]

Benjamin Moore Gray Owl is nice in dark rooms.  It has blue undertones.  Moonshine is similar with green undertones.  

Edited June 3, 2017 by Plink

[Guest]

Warmer and sandier khaki colors are more refreshing and less depressing than a lot of grays, especially if you're already dealing with blue colors. I'd choose a buttery color halfway between yellow and brown. And a very pale shade of it at that.

[Hyacinth]

Behr Asher Tan is the color we chose for our guest room and I'm toying with using it throughout the house. I wanted a gray but it was too hard to find one that felt right. The tan is light and would probably look lovely (beach) with blue carpet.

 

ETA: I just cracked myself up for posting this. I am terrible at picking colors. Don't listen to me.

Edited June 3, 2017 by Hyacinth

[zoobie]

Let me talk to my parents. They're the last ones who used it. I hope it hasn't gone out of production!

Swiss Coffee maybe? There are a couple of versions of it. Benjamin Moore and Behr have one in their lines. BM's is more of an off white with greige undertones. Behr's is a very milky coffee color (which makes more sense given its name!). I love BM's Swiss Coffee for cabinets.

[Paige]

We're using Moth Gray. I like it. I used it to replace baby poop yellow and oompa loompa orange that the previous owners had. I'm doing it one room at a time and so far haven't found a room I dislike it in.

[Garga]

Almost all of these choices are grey.  Is there anything other than grey?  I hate grey, but have been wondering about neutral colors, too.  Maybe people are all suggesting grey because the OP said she's tired of cream?

[Kimberly in IN]

We recently painted most of our house Perfect Taupe, Home Depot Behr paint.

[mommymonster]

We did Romano, which is a Valspar color. It is a creamy white, and it really lightened up our space! We love it.

[Guest]

Almost all of these choices are grey. Is there anything other than grey? I hate grey, but have been wondering about neutral colors, too. Maybe people are all suggesting grey because the OP said she's tired of cream?

Hey! I suggested a light buttery yellow khaki. Something very warm and creamy. No gray here!

[Garga]

Hey! I suggested a light buttery yellow khaki. Something very warm and creamy. No gray here!

Yes! That's why I said almost! I saw that you offered something else, but I think you were the only one. :)

[Vintage81]

We have Sherwin Williams Balanced Beige. It's a nice neutral color and it's not too dark or too light.

[kathkath]

Benjamin Moore revere pewter

[Guest]

Yes! That's why I said almost! I saw that you offered something else, but I think you were the only one. :)

 

 

I said Benjamin Moore Ladyfinger and shades thereof.  I am a gray hater.

[Artichoke]

Benjamin Moore revere pewter

 

 

This color goes well  with Sea Salt. 

[Forget-Me-Not]

Most of my interior is painted a light beige called "Floating Feather" by Dunn Edwards.

[Guest]

Most of my interior is painted a light beige called "Floating Feather" by Dunn Edwards.

 

This is similar to the paint we used but from a different maker, and we went lighter and darker in different areas of the same fairly-open-space-concept main floor.  I think I did my office in a shade that was too light and will probably do at least one wall of it in a darker shade.  /but that means I have to move all the carp again.