50 Shades of Grays

So if you read last month's newsletter, you know that we were all about color with the announcement of the Pantone Institute® Color for 2015, Marsala. (If you missed it, you can click and read it now.) And you might remember that for the second year in a row, the Paint Quality Institute predicted that many of you will choose a shade of gray for your interior.

We painted the entire interior of this Delaware Valley home (photo by Brian Krebs/Fred Forbes Photogroupe) in about a half dozen of the more than 150 Benjamin Moore grays. The living room is painted in Coventry and the dining room beyond in Kendall Charcoal. Sherwin-Williams' grays number about 140. So with the release of the much-anticipated movie "Fifty Shades of Grey" (a name in this case), based on the much-talked-about 2012 book by E.L. James, we thought this might be a good time to talk about why gray might be the best choice for you. While these subtle hues can be cooling and calming, they can make a bold "industrial" statement and deliver a big KABANG with assertive accents and courageous complementary colors. But since we're all about Houzz these days, we're going to let the experts there give you the low-down on what's trendy with these neutral shades. By the way, the bathroom to the right that announces our new Tiling service is painted Ben Moore Silver Spring.