Shore Kitchen: Paint it Mint, Sage or Gray?

I'm having a little internal argument with myself about what to paint the shore kitchen.  I've narrowed it down to three options: Mint, Sage or Gray.

shorekitchencolorpotsmintsagegray

Mint would definitely be the more bold and brighter choice. Love mint in accents but I'm not sure if I can take a whole wall of it. I don't have a pastel personality.  Not to mention the flashbacks of 1980s leg warmers in this exact shade.  Hmmm...minty.

Sage is the safest choice in that I already have a very similar color (Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage) on the walls and like it very much.  Why fix what isn't broken?

And then there is always gray.  The old standby for good reason - it's beautiful, practical and plays beautiful with accent colors. I'm just not sure if its the right color for what I have envisioned.

ShoreKitchenColorSwatches
glidden almost aqua, glidden soft mint, martha stewart granite gray
martha stewart sea anemone, glidden dusty miller, martha stewart driftwood gray

As you can see I did 6 tests.  I think I've ruled out the granite gray for being too dark and the sea anemone for being too light (although I think those two colors together on a piece of furniture would look pretty amazing but I digress).  That leaves me with Soft Mint or Almost Aqua (which are very similar); Dusty Miller (a slightly darker Silver Sage) and Driftwood Gray (a pale gray)

I know its impossibly hard to tell from snapshots like this but what do you think?

39 comments:

  1. I like all of your choices. Sea Anemone is a lovely shade, it looks to be a bit of a minty grey. Good Luck! {www.thepinkzipper.blogspot.ca}

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the Almost Aqua and the Soft Mint. I think either would be a really nice choice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Driftwood Gray if you're playing it safe but I would definitely be going for the Almost Aqua. Pretty colour!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Went thru almost exactly the same swatches on my new kitchen walls ( white cabs, marble counters, etc, etc, etc)
    Ended up with gray cashmere by ben moore... amazing color.. esp if you go w/ carrera- it brings out the blue gray in the marble... good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like Almost Aqua! It's only a vacation home you don't have to see all the time, take a chance on the color! You can always repaint. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dusty Miller all the way!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dusty Miller jumped right out at me in the top sample. Still love it on the bottom one too. Best wishes trying to find your perfect color. I know how agonizing that can be!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Any kind of mint color on the wall reminds me of my high school, very institutional. As you're at the beach, my vote is for the Almost Aqua although I also am a big fan of the Dusty Miller. I'm sure you already know which way you're going. You always make the right choice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Its funny b/c when we bought our limestone, half the house was painted in a saturated mint and its pretty awful so I totally know what you mean. That said, its definitely growing on me but I want a more watered down breezy color - not that bright industrial mint :)

      Delete
  9. They are all stunning colors so I don't think you'll make a "mistake" with any of them. I hesitate with the gray only if it tends to be gray outside (I live in Oregon so I shy from that palette on my walls since it is in my sky so much).

    What kind of light does the room get and what is outside? Sometimes that can impact the color just by reflecting a color in.

    That Almost Aqua would probably end up being my choice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The light from the window in the seating area is northern but the light from living room comes in the other side and that is southern. That said, the light tends to be a little more blueish tone which is party of the reason I'm shying from the grays and blues.

      Delete
  10. I did the Granite Gray in my husbands office. Not sure what color cabinets you are using, but if they are white it is a nice combo. Good luck , picking paint colors is hard!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dusty Miller - if I get a vote : ))

    ReplyDelete
  12. I recently painted the exterior of my house Dusty Miller by Glidden and I love it! Go for it!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Pretty colors!! I would have to go with Dusty Miller or Granite Grey....but I'm also digging almost aqua :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm kind of torn too. I'd say try the mint to do something different. We have driftwood grey in our dining room. Here are some pics, you can see the wall color in some of these photos:
    http://www.decoradventures.com/2012/11/feather-boa-thanksgiving-wreath.html

    The 3rd photo in this post shows the color: http://www.decoradventures.com/2012/10/marble-paper-backed-bookshelves.html

    Here is another one too, maybe these will help! http://www.flickr.com/photos/asteriahanover/7967051124/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It looks great in your house. Do you find it comes off a little blueish? I feel like pale grays can sometimes look a little smurfy which I want to avoid.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous5:54 PM

    Dusty Miller. Definitely.

    ReplyDelete
  16. If it were my kitchen I would pick Dusty Miller, I can't stand mint.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I don't like mint on walls at all. I like the Aqua but I'm afraid it's a bit trendy (like chevron) and will end up looking a little dated eventually. i really like the grays. but, I like all of the choices you make. It'll look great

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ours is sage green and I just love it!

    ReplyDelete
  19. What about making stripes with those colors? I think they are all very tonal together and with your creative juices, you could work your magic and make it work...sort of like an ombré effect. This way you get you mint in there without being too minty...plus it's only paint, and if you truly didn't like it...paint over it. The stripes could be different widths...or paint one large horizontal stripe with one small horizontal stripe over one color as the whole wall color.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the suggestion mikki.I'm not much of a stripes on the wall person. I think an ombre would be cool on a feature wall though. Not sure if you can blend latex paint enough to get a true ombre but its a fun idea to try.

      Delete
  20. I like Dusty Miller in the shots you have posted.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous10:13 AM

    It's tough to tell from the photo (subtle hues in paint can be sneaky!) but all the colors you chose are very nice. That's not very helpful, is it? I'm a gray girl. You nixed the Granite Gray but that would be my choice although it's not very "beachy". If there 's not lavender undertone in the Dusty Miller then I think that would be my choice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, its really hard to tell in the photos but its pretty tough in person too. I think I need to go back and do biggers swatches. Thats the only way I will know if the mint or aqua comes across as cool+breezy vs. pastel + industrial.

      Delete
  22. Dusty Miller? Maybe?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dusty Miller gives you that hint of green but also works in the grey family.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I like the anemone but would try a darkened sample. We did one coat of BM Albalone on our walls...too light. Had the paint store guys darken the leftover paint by 50% and loves the results.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I vote for soft mint! I'll bet it would look whitish-gray in some light and just plain gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Dusty miller is also happens to be the new shade of my front door!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I have Dusty Miller on my laundry room walls and LOVE it! It is one of those colors that change beautiful with any light and it goes well with just about every color. That is my vote 100%!!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. My kitchen is a soft green, more green than the soft mint here. I tried to match the shade of green from my grandmother's kitchen. Something like the green from the 1940's but not quite so bright. I absolutely love it. It goes well with the grays & whites I have.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Or you could do BM in Silver Sage and get the best of both! That's what we did in our foyer and it's lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Or you could do BM in Silver Sage and get the best of both! That's what we did in our foyer and it's lovely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thats what I have on the walls now. Its a great color but I wanted to tweak it a tiny bit plus at $44 per gallon plus primer, it seemed a bit wasteful to get RH when I could use Glidden Duo for less than half the price and skip the priming altogether :)

      Delete

There is nothing that thrills me more than hearing from readers. Please share your thoughts. ♥

Follow @ Instagram

© 2007-2020 Brooklyn Limestone. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy
Back to Top