Neutral paint colours

trix-a-belle

When I moved into my current home it was 'Dove grey' aka grey/white everywhere! I don't particularly love magnolia but if I want any help with painting I have to go for white ceilings & magnolia walls. Once dressed though I really don't notice the wall colour, furnishings etc can easily be changed but really set the tone of the room. My woodwork is satin white, which even my dad (who has been a staunch white gloss advocate, converting to accentuated bare wood lately) is coming around to.

Also here when the kitchen was painted, myself, family and multiple friends noticed that the perceived temperature feel of the room went up several degrees instantly when changed to magnolia, the dove grey was cold looking. (i'd already changed the curtains from a white background fabric to an ecru background early on which had helped a bit but the paint change difference was huge)

I've never felt magnolia to be yellowy like others perceive it but that might be that my first house literally had several primrose/pastel yellow rooms

newsgroupmonkey_

Out of interest (we're looking to put ours up for sale in the next few weeks)....

Any suggestions on best colours to paint to sell?

Sorry, but we do have magnolia on the stuff we'd already done because we felt it was a good base whilst we decided what to eventually settle on. Unfortunately, we've been here such a short time, we never got round to fixing it and we now have 4 other rooms that desperately need doing to sell.

Our bedroom is going to be a very, very light grey. Everything else is up for debate. Spare room is a very subtle peach (which definitely isn't magnolia). Kitchen is likely to be an off-white green.

I keep saying off-white blue, but the wife isn't so keen.

Racky_Roo

I think you need to take the room direction into account when choosing a colour. North facing rooms don't look good with a grey which has a blue undertone, it feels cold, same if you went for a pure white. Those rooms need to be warm whites/greys/light creams.

However, I think you care less about wall colours when it's not a brand new house as you expect to redecorate anyway due to wear and tear. As long as it's not something offensive like lime green, you'll be fine

Doozergirl

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

Out of interest (we're looking to put ours up for sale in the next few weeks)....

Any suggestions on best colours to paint to sell?

Sorry, but we do have magnolia on the stuff we'd already done because we felt it was a good base whilst we decided what to eventually settle on. Unfortunately, we've been here such a short time, we never got round to fixing it and we now have 4 other rooms that desperately need doing to sell.

Our bedroom is going to be a very, very light grey. Everything else is up for debate. Spare room is a very subtle peach (which definitely isn't magnolia). Kitchen is likely to be an off-white green.

I keep saying off-white blue, but the wife isn't so keen.

Just paint them in an off-white.   All paint colours are a personal choice, you just want to provide an inoffensive canvas unless the room is already dictating because it's been properly interior designed in a certain way.  A house painted in umpteen different colours for no reason a few weeks ago - what's the odds that any 'hint of' colour go with any of my stuff?  You'll save money if you only invest in one colour.  

I said School House White because I only speak Farrow and Ball, but someone else has mentioned Dulux Timeless which isn't a bad call.  Egyptian Cotton is also neutral and inoffensive.   

greensalad

When we were viewing houses the amount of GREY monstrosities was painful. It's such a disgusting colour. I actually used to not mind it so much (I wear a lot of black, and a fair amount of grey) but it's just EVERYWHERE.

Then on the flipside there's the magnolia which is inoffensive, but the house I'm buying has been decked out as a neutral Victorian style... for a 1960s bungalow. I don't understand the faux Victorian fireplace, faux Victorian pine doors, ceiling roses, dado rails etc at all. I spent most of my life in Victorian houses (and live in one right now!) but why on earth would I pick up Victorian details and put them in a 1960s house? It's beyond me.

Can't wait to get into my new house which will be COLOURFUL and sympathetic to the building. The living room will be mid-green, with a red Turkish rug. The hallway will be cream and terracotta with a dark wood floor and black accessories. The bedroom will be peachy-pink (ceiling included) with accents of olive green. The guest room will be bright blue. The en suite will be orange. The family bathroom will be olive green. The playroom will be deep ink blue with accents of copper and finally my office will be patterned 60s wallpaper with racing green and beige accents. Oh and my sewing room will be a Kaffe Fassett inspired wonderland with brilliant white walls and a PINK ceiling.

Down with grey.

MrsBrush

MovingForwards said:

New builds and the majority of old(er) properties seem to be grey, it's refreshing to see an unmodernised property with vibrant wallpaper and carpets!

There is a bit of a caveat here. All very well if done properly!

My new house needs modernising, and came with some interesting colour schemes upstairs - bright 1980's lycra leotard shocking pink (done very badly) in bedroom 3, headache inducing lilac in bedroom 2 and 3 steel grey walls and coral pink in bedroom 1. All complete with mismatched carpets and poorly fitted laminate flooring. The kitchen downstairs - a relatively ok light oak shaker style kitchen with inoffensive worktops and cream/terracotta checkerboard style tiles, with a pillar-box red "feature" wall - again done very badly. There is overlapped paint everywhere, all over ceiling, skirting boards and door / window frames. No qualms at all about getting rid of all this, and going with Jasmine White paint throughout and good quality light oatmeal carpets when the time comes!

NameUnavailable

Grey seems to be the new magnolia. So many new homes or places that have been decorated to sell have it. OK it's neutral but it's also a bit........grey!

I just bought a place that had been redecorated, magnolia throughout. I didn't mind the magnolia but I didn't like the woodchip underneath it, so had it all stripped and painted, white everywhere as that was easier/cheaper. I figured I would live here a while and then decide on some accent walls/colours, but having moved in I quite like it as it is now. I have pictures to hang and some new furniture to source.

If I wanted a neutral scheme but not white or grey then I'd go for a soft cream.

badger09

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

Out of interest (we're looking to put ours up for sale in the next few weeks)....

Any suggestions on best colours to paint to sell?

Sorry, but we do have magnolia on the stuff we'd already done because we felt it was a good base whilst we decided what to eventually settle on. Unfortunately, we've been here such a short time, we never got round to fixing it and we now have 4 other rooms that desperately need doing to sell.

Our bedroom is going to be a very, very light grey. Everything else is up for debate. Spare room is a very subtle peach (which definitely isn't magnolia). Kitchen is likely to be an off-white green.

I keep saying off-white blue, but the wife isn't so keen.

If you have to decorate those rooms in order to sell (are you sure?) I'm with Doozergirl - just buy one colour. I'm a fan of Dulux Egyptian Cotton and have recently used Johnstone's Trade Porridge Oat, which is much warmer on the walls than on the colour chart.

gingercordial

When purchased our house was a riot of clashing primary colours, all marked and filthy and the paint/paper flaking or peeling off the walls.  We had it all stripped back, replastered where necessary, and painted in trade pure brilliant white throughout as at least that made it light, fresh and clean without breaking the bank as there was so much of it to do. We have lots of very colourful furnishings, which helps. We've since started to choose colours for some of the rooms but it has been nice to do so with a blank canvas.

My relative's house is all grey like Mrs Hinch. I like a touch of grey here and there but not that much, it's like living in a black and white photo!

Ditzy_Mitzy

Grey is going to date horribly, I think.  Property programmes of the future are going to see hip couples wandering around redevelopments squealing about how disgustingly old fashioned the grey only palettes are.