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If you’re following our remodel, you know we’ve done a LOT to the house. As part of the project, we’re painting literally every room in the house – ceilings, trim, doors, walls. I’m going for a super-neutral-yet-inviting Modern Farmhouse color scheme, so I was on the hunt for the perfect gray and/or white paint to make the perfect soft neutral walls.
When we moved into our home 5 years ago, some of the walls were the bottom gold/yellow color and the other predominant color was the taupe color on top of the photo below. Buzz, your girlfriend – WOOF.
Repainting an entire house (besides Quinn’s and Cooper’s bedrooms) is expensive and it’s a big commitment, so I was feeling the pressure when it came to choosing a wall color. Thoughts:
- I LOVE the look of white walls with white trim
- but we have 3 kids…
- and will it be TOO white?
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- will it be boring?
- and won’t the walls get dirty?
-
- sterile?
- cold?
Obviously stuck on a hamster wheel of doubt, here, folks. After spending 2353575679 hours on Pinterest reading about undertones and contrast and finishes, I decided I had to *see it* on the walls before I could decide – every home is going to have different lighting, so you really do need to put the paint on the walls to get a good idea of how it will look in your house.
I had my contractor buy 8 samples and slap them on the wall… here are the modern farmhouse neutral paint colors I chose to test:
Snowbound – Sherwin Williams
Simply White – Benjamin Moore
White Dove – Benjamin Moore
Swiss Coffee – Benjamin Moore
Pale Oak – Benjamin Moore
Chantilly Lace – Benjamin Moore
Decorator’s White – Benjamin Moore
Balboa Mist – Benjamin Moore
It’s worth noting that we currently have Revere Pewter (Benjamin Moore) on many of our walls – we switched from the golds/taupes a few years ago. And Revere Pewter is a great color (a grey-ish/taupe-ish neutral) but it’s a little darker than what I have envisioned for our new space.
SOOOO here are the modern farmhouse wall colors we tried on our walls:
Here are 8 of the most popular modern farmhouse neutrals for an open house color scheme:
My first thought was that the whites are too white (shocker!) and the two darker colors (Pale Oak and Balboa Mist) are too taupe. And then you can see good ol’ Revere Pewter on the walls and although Balboa Mist is a bit lighter, I just wasn’t set on any of those 8 choices. Crazytown.
I THEN decided we needed a few more options… so I swung by Home Depot and grabbed 4 more samples of a few other perfect neutrals:
Gray Owl – Benjamin Moore
Classic Gray – Benjamin Moore
Gray Huskie – Benjamin Moore
Light French Gray – Sherwin Williams
We actually have Gray Owl on the walls in Cooper’s room and it looks great in there, I was just slightly hesitant to do the entire house in Gray Owl as it has some blue undertones and I wanted something that skewed a little warmer versus a little cooler.
See all 12 neutral paint colors on our living room wall:
Sooooo after painting all 12 options on the wall, I went with……… Classic Gray for the entire house, besides Emmy’s new room (we’ll move her to a “big girl room” sometime within the next year) – keep scrolling to see what I picked for her room.
So the kitchen, living room, dining room, foyer, master bedroom and bathroom, nursery, laundry room, mudroom walls, and first floor half bath will be Classic Gray. I’m not sure if it’s a faux pas to paint your house the same color throughout but I figured if nothing else, it’s easy. I liked Classic Gray best because:
- it’s a classic shade – as the name implies 😉
- it’s a light color without being too white
- our trim will be bright white, so I think the contrast will be nice
- it does have a warmer undertone, which will play nicely with our wood floors and the decor I have planned throughout
And if you’re wondering what I chose for Emmy’s (future) room, I went with Decorator’s White – see it on the wall here:
So, that’s it, friends! I’ve felt like a nutjob the past few weeks trying to make the decision of which white (or grey) paint color to pick for our entire house, so I’m SO relieved to have chosen!
tammy welker says
What color are your doors and trim?
JUDE says
What exposure did you have on your test wall?
What is your worst climate? Sizzling summers/mild winters? Mild summers/freezing winters? Warm summers/cool winters? Cool summers/cold winters?
nancy says
Your home is lovely! I’m currently trying to decide on paint colors and am really struggling with the trim/cabinet color. What did you use for your trim?
Thanks!
DCSG says
I am so glad I found your article because I am knee deep with exactly where you were two years ago! We moved into our house and it was a very dark shade of gray (think it is Griffin by SW). After thinking I found the perfect lighter gray – in Revere Pewter, I painted the entire downstairs, kitchen, living room, back hallway and bathroom and was happy. However, as I came to our entry way, dining room and hallway upstairs, I started hating on the Revere Pewter – I knew I needed something lighter. Like you, I am craving something airier with a higher LRV. I think i have every sample known to man and I should just start working at Benjamin Moore! I tried Edgecomb Gray and still may use it. Yesterday, I had Gray Owl, SW Big Chill, Stonington on the wall, all blue undertones. Today, I have BM Classic Gray, Balboa Mist, Repose, and Behr Silver Drop. Did you find that the Classic Gray has purple undertones? We have brown travertine in our entry way and i can see hints of blue or even hints of purple in it. I cannot rip it out as its too $$. Any advice would be appreciated! I don’t know whether to play off the hints of blue in it or hints of purple in it.
Lindsey says
What color did you use for trim with your classic grey?
Dana says
What color white did you use for your trim and doors and ceilings? Looks great with the classic gray paint!
tara says
Lovely post! Interesting to see many of the options and our actual colours we picked all shown together. Back in 2016 we painted almost the entire house in Gray Owl, with Chantilly Lace for the trim/doors/ceilings & kitchen. The kids bedrooms were painted non-neutral colours. We just had an addition put on, and I was leaning towards a full chantilly lace room, but couldn’t do it, and we are repeating the same scheme. I loved it 5 years ago and still love it!!! When we bought our home it was freshly painted with beige. I could have died… any neugral colour but beige would have been manageable. So, we 100% repainted.
Starc says
Your wall color in the hallway with your diy picture ledges…is it the revere pewter? I also have yellow/gold oak floors with white woodwork, doors, and black hardware. I have been looking for a color that looks good with my floors and your color looks amazing!