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Low Natural Light - Share Your Paint Pics!

justagirl
15 years ago

My master bedroom has low natural light. My bedding is dark pewter/grey (Vera Wang "City Nights") and my sheets are lavender and my throw pillows are dark rich royal purple. My bedroom furniture is merlot finish, which looks like a very dark espresso with a hint if purple undertone.

SO..with all that said, I need a **warm** wall color to balance the room out so itÂs not like a dungeon.

I was REALLY loving BM AF-150/Cotswald. ItÂs a soft taupe-grey. But after buying the sample, itÂs not much different than what I already have in the room  which is WAY to dark. I want a taupe, but something warmer that would compliment my dark grey and purpleÂs.

Can anyone suggest a paint color?

I would also love to see pics of color with low natural light.

HereÂs a pic of the bedding  the wall color pictured isnÂt bad but seems a bit yellow.

HereÂs a great inspiration pic  I like how the wall is very natural and bright/fresh looking.

Comments (7)

  • robin2007
    15 years ago

    This room is in the basement, so it doesn't get the same amount of light as the main floor.

    Same color, different room which has a lot of natural light:

  • justagirl
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Robin2007 - I love your rooms! And the color you've chosen is awesome - what color is it?

  • amysrq
    15 years ago

    What about a gray that leans toward green? To get an idea, take a look at Thunder AF-685. It is certainly lighter than Cotswold, a bit less pink and has some warmth to it.
    Take a look at Secret, Sanctuary and Thunder together. That's just my guess at your existing colors. Do you have "paint matches" for the bedding, etc? It might be easier to fine tune that way...

  • sarschlos_remodeler
    15 years ago

    We're using BM Litchfield Gray from their historic colors collection specifically because I wanted a gray-taupe color (something warm, but will transition well with the cool blue-grays that I love so well for bathrooms and bedrooms). I lvoe the color. Depending on the time of day, the color changes from a warm taupe to a warm gray, and it looks spectacular from the gray and gray-blue rooms in the house. Looks particularly good with blacks and grays, but warmer toned items such as our dark wood furniture bring out the warmth of the color.

    I haven't taken a new picture yet, but here is an "in transition" photo of our catwalk (the railing is now matte black, but I continue to lose the daily battle of the gooey baby fingerprints on the plexiglass):

    More views in from dining room (daytime and night):

    Hard to see, but here is the view from our gray-blue kitchen (BM Pigeon Gray):

    Here's what BM's advertising folks say about Litchfield Gray (I agree with the assessment in our house at least): "Litchfield Gray HC-78 The perfect neutral that spurs the 2008 transition to gray from yesterdayÂs beige and taupe. This is a complex hue  not too hot and not too cool  but just the right balance! A natural fit to almost any décor style, Litchfield Gray is destined to become a classic."

    Here is a link that might be useful: BM Litchfield Gray

  • johnmari
    15 years ago

    Please, consider Benjamin Moore Wet Concrete! It's a grayed lavender with a touch of tan and will look gorgeous with the deep purple, lavender, pewter and espresso/merlot - it sure did in the living room in our previous house which had natural light for about 3 hours a day IF the sun was at the right angle which is when I took most of my pictures. In winter it was pretty dark all day because the sun didn't clear the trees surrounding the house. Here are several pictures in varying light levels.

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    I like using midtones in rooms with crappy natural light because it gives a very cozy feeling, and supplementing with lamps for nighttime. The really pale colors and whites "drab out" and get very shadowy in minimal light - PO had painted most of that house interior cream, which we hated for that reason. It was just depressing.

  • justagirl
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    So many good choices, you guys are great! I love the pictures  very helpful! I purchased the BM color software and it doesnÂt even come close to providing real world color representation  so the pics are much appreciated! I only wish I could easily translate these wall colors into my room. I feel so lost with color, which is surprising and disappointing to me. I thought that I was a "stylish" person and could easily pick paint color to coordinate my style and projected room ambiance. NOT!!! This is so much harder than I thought it would be. I think whatÂs really throwing me is the lack of natural light. That REALLY makes a huge difference in the samples when I get them home.

    Amyrsq  Thank you for your suggestion. I can see where green would make a lot of sense since itÂs the opposite of purple. However, the taupe I have in the room now (donÂt remember the name) looks like it has a green hue to it and itÂs not working for me. I will check out the colors you suggested and what a great idea about paint matches for the bedding! IÂve been taking my pillowcases with me.

    sarschlos_remodeler  I LOVE YOUR COLOR! IÂm going to get a paint chip of this for SURE!! OMG, LOVE IT!

    johnmari  WOW, another hot contender! Your room looks awesome and we have twin flooring! My only concerns is that it would generate very dark in my low-light bedroom. But IÂm going to pick-up a swatch of this color as well!

    Please keep the suggestions coming!

  • sarschlos_remodeler
    15 years ago

    jsutagirl -- a warning on relying on the paint chip: it doesn't do this color justice. Make sure you get a sample pot (I bought a quart locally -- now I have enough left over for touch ups -- but you can also get a smaller samples from My Perfect Color dot com which seems to cost less, except then they tack on a huge shipping fee so I think it comes out to about the same price). We used the Litchfield Gray in the BM Aura matte. LOVE the finish of the Aura matte.