Gray's Anatomy

So we were blessed and cursed with all white walls in our new house. Blessing because we have a fresh palette to imagine whatever we want, and curse because being surrounded by white walls is rather like being in a mental institution.

Asking an artistic person to pick out colors is to say the least difficult. For an artist there isn't just blue or green, there is turquoise or celadon and thousands more with, warm or cool undertones. And you dissect colors and pick out what colors were mixed into it, like if there's green or blue in the gray. Basically your head turns at a mile a minute. Another thing an artistic person relies on is first instinct.

I did two things to help visualize the colors both Sherwin Williams' website and Olympic's website. have color viewers that you can either download pics of your rooms or use stock photos to view the color on walls. I had tons o' fun with this!!!! Then, Stephan and I picked an enormous number of samples and put them on the mantle. We (I mean I, like a crazy) took pics of them at different times of the day in different lightings. And I noticed I had picked basically the same colors from 2 different brands so I knew instinct told me they were right. I then held these up to tile, countertops, linens, and furniture. Here's the inspiration and the plan:

Sherwin Williams' Color Visualizer Screen Shot...I'm not computer savvy but you get the idea

Our collection of samples

Master Bedroom and Bathroom: Kim Kardashian's bedroom is my inspiration. Love the grays and the light walls with dark ceiling. (Olympic Gray Beard with Sherwin Essential Gray on the Ceiling)

Guest Bedroom: Something neutral to go with our bronze-y bedding, black and white (still haven't found the right one)

Baby Girl Room aka Man-Entertainment Room (I'm not pregnant but in Stephan's career field there is a "Romad Curse" where they always have daughters so just to bother Stephan, I've started calling the 3rd bedroom the baby girl room): I think it will stay white until it becomes a nursery when it will be a beautiful turquoise with red and white accents (sounds weird, but I saw a wedding the the palette and it was fierce!) (Sherwin Reflecting Pond)

Living/Dining: I nice medium shade of gray with warm undertones to not be too sterile. I also wanted warm so as not to come off as purple or blue in certain lighting. (Sherwin Essential Gray)

Kitchen: Same light gray shade as the master bedroom. It will have white, black, and tiny bits of yellow accents. (Olympic Gray Beard)

Guest Bath: Same gray as living/dining (Sherwin Essential Gray)

When we went to buy the paint last Saturday I had priced out the Sherwin William and it was a good $6 more than the Olympic at Lowes. So I picked the closest shade, regretfully. As they started to mix the paint I had a mini panic attack and made them stop (luckily they had only done the lighter shade that we knew we wanted). And changed my mind to the Sherwin Williams, had to trust those first instincts! We got 10% off at Lowe's for their military discount and 10% off at Sherwin for joining there loyalty club. Totally worth it for no regrets and peace of mind. Stephan just rolled his eyes at me and apologized for the crazy lady he was married to.

We bought Gray Beard similar to Sherwin's Snowfall and was going to settle with Gray Marble before the panic attack.

Bought the Essential Gray happily!

I'll show some before and after pics soon!