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Help me pick a green for my great room

dawn25
13 years ago

I posted earlier this week about whether or not to paint the ceiling of my great room. Facts about the room:

--20' ceiling

--South and east facing windows; also receives light from the north facing window in the kitchen; the high windows which are currently covered can be uncovered if the room is painted because the wall color hopefully won't be so hard on the eyes

--Flows into the loft areas upstairs, the kitchen, and the entryway

--The pics below make it look darker than it really is because of our camera

--Currently painted in Dunn Edwards Cottage White, eggshell finish (or whatever they call theirs :-), and will be repainted in the same finish
{{!gwi}}From Living Room
{{!gwi}}From Living Room

I was originally going to paint it BM Crown Point Sand. I have since determined that CPS is way too light and I want something darker, but still a warm khaki/olive green tone. My accent color (curtains, rugs) is currently turquoise.

My thinking right now is that I will paint the ceiling, and it will be at least two shades darker than the walls.

Colors I am looking at:

BM Brookside Moss 2145-30

BM Terrapin Green 2145-20

BM Avocado 2145-10

BM Ivy Lane 523

BM Hiking Path 524

BM Savannah Shade 525

Dunn Edwards Spanish Olive 5543

Dunn Edwards Cocktail Olive 5564

Dunn Edwards Military Green 5530

Does anyone have a recommendation? I thought about Baby Turtle, but I don't want to take the chance of it not being green enough, or reading muddy.

I'm looking for a medium-toned yellowish or brownish green (olive). I have a lovely olive color (Valspar Sweet Annie) in my study, but as it turns out, it's more gray toned and looks a bit murky out in that room.

I plan to pick up some sample pots/quarts tomorrow and wanted to gather some suggestions to try.

Thank you so much for any help!

Dawn

Comments (13)

  • rufinorox
    13 years ago

    I loved the color Olympic Weeping Willow and asked if BM can match the coor and they did. We have it in our kitchen. I ove the color I wish we had more walls to paint, but unfortunatey we only have a few exposed walls to paint. It looks so much nicer with brighter lights, I couldn't get these pics right.

  • dawn25
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    rufinorox, that is a beautiful color--so soothing and clean! It reminds me of how the Crown Point Sand looks in our bedroom and bath, but there's not a lot of light in those rooms, so I don't think it would translate for us. You say this looks better with more light, so that could be a way to go. Thank you so much for posting the pics. It helps to see the color in a real space.

  • dawn25
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I just looked through my paint chips and I actually have that color, so I can have it matched. It's funny because I only had two chips from Olympic, one of which is the color in our study and the other has Weeping Willow on it. I guess we have the same taste!

  • yborgal
    13 years ago

    We used Olive Branch throughout our home. I find that it changes somewhat depending on the time of day and how much light comes into a room. Even with the changes Olive Branch never disappoints me.

    See what I mean?

  • rufinorox
    13 years ago

    that is funny ... it was my inital choice and I'm pleased with it. I love your room ... By the way I would choose 2 different colors and paint the single wall to the left of where you have your standing picture frame another color.

  • dawn25
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    monablair--Wow! Olive Branch looks gorgeous! You would never know that the color on the chip translates to so much green goodness :-). I'm going to get a sample of that too. I'm painting up poster boards to check the colors in the room. You would never know that the color on the chip translates to so much green goodness :-).

    rufinorox--That is a good idea. Thank you! The other color will probably end up being some shade of green, considering my obsession, but I could go darker on that wall. The painter said I should use the south facing wall for an accent wall, which would be the wall with the kitchen opening (on the left in the dining area picture), but the wall you chose is the wall that has our entertainment center, and is thus the focal point in the room.

  • rufinorox
    13 years ago

    I think the contrast of another coor with break the room up, especialy because you have such high ceilings. I'm a bit obsessed with shades of green as well. My living room is River Gorge Grey it is grey, but looks like sage green in different lighting. My DH didn't want another green so when I mentioned it was grey he sees it as grey. :) Here's a picture of the Living room.

  • summiebee
    13 years ago

    I'd probably select something that is more on the grey/green side.

    It's quite amazing how Mona's OB looks so different in each room. It looks really nice.

  • dawn25
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks again, rufinorox! River Gorge Grey looks beautiful in your space.

    summiebee, I'm finding that the ones with more gray in them are the ones I don't like on my foam boards. They look really muddy in my light. Today I sampled Dried Parsley, Flowering Herbs, Georgian Green, and Ivy Lane. I would try Olive Branch, but it looks grayer than I'm thinking I want to go, especially after Flowering Herbs seems too gray. I might try it anyway.

    Of those, only Ivy Lane appeals to me. Dried Parsley is okay, but too light. It heads into mint territory in my space.

    Ivy Lane looks gorgeous with my furniture, drapes, and in general. I love the color. It makes me feel happy. It's just a whole lot of green, considering the size of this room. But I love green.

    This is really hard.

  • indygo
    13 years ago

    Take a look at Pittsburgh Paint's Bahia Grass. It's a beautiful green!

  • summiebee
    13 years ago

    I've always likes Mona's home. She has excellent taste. Have you tried painting a large poster board and taping it to the wall and leaving it a few days in all light? I narrow it down to a few colors and paint the foam board and move it around the room for a few days in the different lights of the day.
    I will tell you though. I have a terrible dislike to sage green. LOL. Also blue. It took me a LONG time to find a blue I liked for my laundry. I think it was my Mother's love for painting EVERTHING these two colors as a child and I swore to never paint anything these again.

    Ok so anyhow FF to my sister who just painted several room in her house Restoration Hardware Sycamore green. It looks *really* pretty. I would have her take a picture. She is so opposite of internet savvy it would be her mailing a poloroid to you in the mail.
    here are some I found online though

    FYI she had is mixed in Behr paint. She is a big fan of their formula. :)

    HTH.
    http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-colors-2007-entries/entry-10-finns-soothing-sleeper-034984

    http://lh4.ggpht.com/_sNLDFYYwT8w/Rp5YjlcTDRI/AAAAAAAAAEA/rcX6Jorklgw/Bedroom+3.jpg

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0ohAJwZWZsA/SZx01Tw4XrI/AAAAAAAAAgA/1FgG64_pdlE/s400/IMG_1034.JPG

    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/2218655286_436cd8f978.jpg?v=0

  • dawn25
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you, summiebee! Sycamore Green is a beautiful color, but looks to be a chameleon based on light. That's the problem we're having. This room gets light from three different directions, and a lot of it. Things that look good on one wall, for instance, don't necessarily look good on another. Ugh!

    I love SG in that last picture. If only it would look like that in all lights, but I fear it would go more tan like the other pics and tan does not go with my banisters (light maple). CPS, for instance, looks like muck next to the banisters and they fight for dominance. Sigh. It was my "fallback" color, too.

    We have five poster boards painted right now and they're making the rounds in our space. So far, only Ivy Green and Georgian Green are holding up from day to night. GG seems the most consistent, but it doesn't make me happy like IG does.

    If I'm not insane by the time I get this done, it will be a miracle :-).

  • scanmike
    13 years ago

    Hi,

    I just need to add that I just saw Restoration Hardware's Bay Laurel Green in my neighbor's home. It looked fantastic and she had it in small rooms and it wasn't too dark.

    I can also vouch for Georgian Green. My friend has it in her living room and I loved it.