Shades of grey - colour-trained eyes required

kdotdotdotdot

Rosa_Damascena said:

tonygold said:

very difficult to tell on a computer screen where colours are not always reproduced accurately enough.
much better to buy a few match pots (around £1 each) of the few colours you are considering and actually try them on your wall. colours look different in daylight or under electric lighting also, so really need to try them in situ.

I did plan to do this once I've narrowed the colour palette down a bit. Which wall colour is likely to make the grey look greener? I just can't conceptualise it.

Basically, the eye can't really tell colours accurately because it compares colours with what's around it.  There's this  famous optical illusion of a chess board where tile A looks black and tile B looks white, but actually they're both the same grey.     Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checker_shadow_illusion

So, to answer your question: if you use green paint on the walls, the cabinets will look more grey. If you use grey paint on the walls, the cabinets will look more green.   Although I agree with other posters in that I deeply dislike grey.

twopenny

Love the look of the lower, 2nd picture ie 2nd post. Classy.

Looks green but grey green so I guess it would depend what the surrounds were as to which you could highlight.

Another way to highlight a colour or bring it out is with the items on the worktop.

theoretica

Both the manufacturer's catalogue shots pair the cabinets with white walls etc - which is probably what I would suggest too.

Jeepers_Creepers

kdotdotdotdot said:

Basically, the eye can't really tell colours accurately because it compares colours with what's around it.  There's this  famous optical illusion of a chess board where tile A looks black and tile B looks white, but actually they're both the same grey.     

Pffft - what complete nonsense. Who are you trying to kid?

I have opened these images in paint and used the 'eyedropper' to compare them, cut-and-pasted sections of each and laid them adjacent to each other, masked off the rest of the board save these two blocks, used a professional photometer on each block, and printed them off on a journal-quality printer, cut them out and stuck them side-by-side on my wall.

I still don't believe my eyes :-(

ka7e

Also consider the natural light in the room. I originally wanted a sage-green kitchen, but found most looked greyish in all but full sunlight (S-facing room). And look at the "Hint of" whites, they can highlight a colour in a way a full tone may not.

twopenny

Very good point. I'll never forget painting a north facing room with the same warm off white id used in an east facing one. Had to rub down,undercoat and gloss an enormous room a second time because it was a dirty greyish yellow in that light. And a pale grey chair that looked dark grey in north.
Now i always get the biggest sample i can before choosing.

Rosa_Damascena

gt568 said:

Having had to repaint my kitchen three times to pacify my wife, I'd suggest the only way to be 100% sure is to paint an area with a sample.  IME the colours just never look the same on a swatch as a walll.

You are so right. The swatches do blend into the wall that has been painted in that shade, but the overall look is much more pronounced. I actually prefer the green on the RHS of the shot but I can predict that I will be less than enamoured with a large bank of dark-looking units hence am going for the one on the left which believe it or not does look a subtle green.

I've made a decision now, can't bear grey so Lion of Hadrian it is. Ably assisted by my committee of advisers

Rosa_Damascena

I made an early morning visit to B&Q, here is the output:



Thoughts? 

Rosa_Damascena

No wishy-washy is-it-green-is-it-grey for me. I have decided on at Atlantic green which will look GREEN as per the island:

Jeepers_Creepers

Stunning colour