Softened Green in the Bedroom

Softened Green in the Bedroom

Hello there! I’m excited to share a little bit of progress in the guest room with you today! I was thrilled when Sherwin-Williams asked me to work with them again this year to help promote National Painting Week. I only work with companies I trust and love and they are one of them. I’m obsessed with their paint and use it almost exclusively now.

When I partnered with them last year our master closet underwent a big transformation with cabinets and paint and tons of purging:

DIY closet organization You really have to see the before to see how big of a change this one was. :)

This time I’m tackling the guest room. The last time I showed you this space I shared the new bedding – it made a big difference in here!:

ombre wall

I love it! But as I mentioned, I was ready for a change on the walls. The squares were a carry over from when this was my stepdaughter’s room years back.

They were fun for sure but hard to decorate around. And if I wanted to change the paint color this would be a LOT of taping off again! So I went looking for the color that I saw in my head. I loved the green, I just wanted something a little more deep and with some gray tones to it.

I have had this photo tucked away as inspiration for years: 

traditional-bedroom (Tom Stringer Design Partners)

I have loved this green and black combo since I saw it! I wanted to go with a more gray green than in the photo, and use the color on the walls too (instead of white).

I found three gray green colors that were good contenders. From the left my picks were Softened Green, Contented and Comfort Gray:

grey green paint colors

I know, the middle and right look blue or gray here, right? It’s so funny how colors look alone and against each other. When you see one by itself you’ll think green with some gray tones and when you see it next to others it looks like a gray with greenish blue tones. Each of these were with the greens in the paint book.

A quick tip to figure out the underlying tone of the colors on the paint chip – look to the darker colors and you’ll see the base. For greens it can range from olive to blue to brown.

I got a sample of each one to see how they looked in the room. This is so important if you’re not 100 percent sure about a color! I usually recommend to paint it on a poster board so you can move it around the room. The color will even look different on each wall because of the light. I was pretty sure what color I was going with so I didn’t do that:

picking out a gray green paint color

From left to right the colors are Softened Green, Contented and Comfort Gray.

Also, don’t judge the color just yet! It will change colors as it dries and gets darker:

gray green paint colors

You know how I said I was pretty sure what color I wanted? I was wrong. :) I was surprised at the one I loved the best! I went way more green than I was planning. The Contented and Comfort Gray were way too gray for what I wanted, and even had a bit of an aqua tone. 

Before I decided for sure I did some research online to see the colors in action. Blogs and Pinterest make that so easy! Here’s Contented: Sherwin-Williams Contented

And here’s Comfort Gray:

Sherwin-Williams Comfort Gray

(Linda McDougald Design)

Much too blue and gray for what I wanted. (But very pretty!)

Thankfully Sherwin-Williams also has a handy dandy light box in the store so you can see your color in both natural light (left) and incandescent light (right):

tips for picking out paint color

Isn’t the difference crazy? Make sure you either leave a sample up on the wall throughout the day or try this out. Natural light (or not) in a room will really change how the color looks.

I grabbed another green color to show you how different the greens can look too: Sherwin-Williams green colors

When you see it against that one you can really see how the Softened Green has some gray tones to it.

When I was sure of the color I picked out the finish – I’ve tried most of these and decided on the Emerald finish that I used on the master closet last year. It covers GREAT but then again I haven’t found one from Sherwin-Williams that doesn’t:

Sherwin-Williams paint finsihes

I use eggshell on all of the walls in our house. I find it washes best and can be touched up easiest. Flat has come a long way as far as durability, but I won’t use it on walls again after having it for years. It was a disaster with a young child (it’s not easy to clean). Anything shinier than an eggshell or satin will be glossy and will show a lot of imperfections in your wall. I use those for trim and my board and batten walls but that’s it. :)

Even though I’ve used this paint for years now, I was a little worried as I started painting over the squares. The white part was the original wall color so when you first paint it really shows the difference:

painting over stripes

But as you can see if you look to the left, when the paint dries you can’t see any difference in the paint color! I was honestly a little shocked and quite impressed.

I’ll show you the whole room reveal next week! I’m so happy with the space and I did it within a super low budget too. :)

Until then here’s the peak I shared a few weeks ago when I showed you the new window trim I installed:

gray green color

I absolutely, positively LOVE this color. It is so soothing and pretty and still a little sophisticated. Goodness, it is so lovely. Can’t wait to show you the new space!

Until then, the lovely folks at Sherwin-Williams are giving away a $100 credit for their stores to one of you! Oh yes! All you have to do is leave a comment here (please include your email address!). The giveaway will stay open through the end of this week, Friday, May 8th.

Have you ever tried this Softened Green? Ever started painting and hated the new color? I’ve been there for sure. Hopefully these tips will help to avoid that! :)

Disclosure: I was compensated by Sherwin-Williams for the post but all thoughts and opinions are my own. I only work with products I use and trust.

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