Paint colors can be so daunting to choose and picking the right paint is so crucial to a home’s interior. We are all looking for just the right color and color can be hard sometimes. I’ve had my share of trial and errors when it comes to choosing paint colors, but we have been very happy with our choices in this house. You definitely have to look at undertones in paint colors and the more you paint the more you can see them. My recommendation in choosing paint is to always get a sample quart first and paint it on the wall or a foam board to see how it reacts in your house and your light situation. Light can change paint color so much, so sample first to get the right shade for you!
I’ve been meaning to put together a post of our paint colors (and wallpapers) to save here on the blog so today that’s what I’m sharing. I get asked often what our main paint color is and you can see it below, Gatherings by Magnolia Home. It’s been a great color for us. It’s a greige shade and light and airy enough for our house which gets plenty of natural light. We carried this shade from the foyer to the family room and kitchen and all the way into the guest room, as well as upstairs in the hallway and master bedroom. It turned out to be the perfect color for us and is a great neutral that flows well with so many other colors.
As you can see below, we enjoy these shades of gray/green/blue and have them throughout our home, with the exception of Mark’s man cave which is various shades of brown. I’ll include his below too along with the paint can since it was a custom mix.
A note about paint finishes:
Someone asked me to share the finish of the paint we use as well. So here’s my rule of thumb when choosing finishes, but everyone has preferences too so do what you are comfortable with and like.
I normally use an Eggshell on the walls (sometimes Satin) and semi-gloss on all the trim for more sheen. More and more I use Satin for woodwork that I paint, like our recent master bath vanity. I love a little sheen on cabinets but not too shiny and some trim like the bar that Mark trimmed out, I didn’t want super shiny, so Satin looks great on painted cabinets. We used Satin Advance Ben Moore on the bar and kitchen cabinets. But I think it’s more a matter of preference. If you like shinier cabinets, then go for Semi-gloss.
On our beadboard trim in the dining room and board and batten in the living room, we used our Semi-gloss white trim paint for that. I’m pretty sure I used Satin on the dark Peppercorn in the guest bath though.
I like Satin or Eggshell on walls especially and never do flat. Always semi-gloss on our white trim. Flat or matte for ceilings usually unless I’m painting the whole room same color and I use the Satin or eggshell for ceiling. So basically the only time I use Semi-gloss is on white trim.
I’ll share pictures from our home that shows these colors in a room setting so you can see them all in action. Colors change from home to home depending on the light so as I mentioned, I always tell people to sample paints in your own home to determine if it’s the right color for you or not.
Our trim color was already here when we moved in and is a bright-ish white, so I am comparing it to Pure White by Sherwin Williams on the above graphic. We had a piece of trim color matched at Sherwin Williams for a custom match to our existing trim but that’s a pretty close match to Pure White.
Magnolia Home Gatherings
Most of our walls are painted with Magnolia Home Gatherings, with pics of all the rooms below that are painted Gatherings.
FOYER
It changes with the light and some rooms are more well lit than others, but it’s a soft greige color that is really pretty.
MASTER SITTING ROOM – Moody Blue (Sherwin Williams)
DINING ROOM – Thibaut Grasscloth wallpaper in Peacock
LIVING ROOM -This wall is also Tibaut Grasscloth wallpaper
LIVING ROOM – Other 3 walls are painted & colormatched to Spellbound (Benjamin Moore mixed at Sherwin Williams)
KITCHEN – Upper Cabinets: White Dove (Ben Moore)
Lower Cabinets: Knoxville Gray (Ben Moore)
I used Ben Moore Advance paint in Satin finish for both cabinets and bar area.
Walls: Peppercorn (Sherwin Williams) in Satin finish
Wallpaper: Wicker Weave by Thibaut
MASTER BATHROOM – Gray Owl (Benjamin Moore) in Eggshell finish
Doors: Oyster Bay (Sherwin Williams)
MASTER BATHROOM VANITY – Acacia Haze (Sherwin Williams) in Satin finish Emerald paint.
INTERIOR DOORS – Oyster Bay (Sherwin Williams) in Satin finish for doors.
MAN CAVE – Custom mix Khaki shade below
Walls: Downpour (Sherwin Williams)
Ceiling: Rosy Outlook (Sherwin Williams)
Wallpaper: Citron Vert from Caitlin Wilson Designs
MY OFFICE – Magnolia Home in Emmie’s Room
EXTERIOR
Siding: Backdrop (Sherwin Williams)
Trim: Simple White (Sherwin Williams)
Shutters: Black (already here and we didn’t repaint)
Your home is beautiful. You have it decorated so lovely.
Love how all your colors flow! Beautiful home!
Just lovely 💗
HI Rhoda, I love this post and the work you put into. Pinned Peppercorn paint.
I love the chair in the kitchen. Do you have a post of the living room with a wide shot of the hutch. I have a hutch in my living room and it is so hard for me to stage the room.
Beautiful home! laura
HI, Laura, thank you for stopping by. The living room is very small so that straight on look at the cabinet is about the best wide angle I can do in there.
Where did you find the tall china cabinet in your living room?
HI, Sandra, Mark found that piece at Havertys a few years ago. It’s a fave of mine too.
Rhoda,
I love all your color choices and they all look beautiful in your home especially the Magnolia greige color you choose. Paint is my nemesis! The best tip I can give by experience is don’t judge a book by its cover or in other words don’t look at a beautiful paint color in someone else’s home and think its going to look the exact same in yours. Lighting, furnishings, floor color all play a big part. So my advice is before you run off to the paint store and buy a gallon of paint and find out it doesn’t look the same in your house buy a small test sample first.
Speaking of painting, I have wanted to paint our stained trim in our kitchen & eat in dining area for years. Well, we finally pulled the plug and thought it would be a great time during quarantine to take on this project. We are on our second week and the results are beautiful it just takes time (de-gloss, sand, 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint). We went with BM Simply White on the trim and if someone is looking for a great all around white that’s bright but not stark white and has no real undertones this is the color! We are going to have our stained cabinets professionally refinished/painted as well but this is one job we decided to take on ourselves to save money for new countertops/backsplash.
Hi, Teresa, yes as I mentioned I always recommend getting a quart or tester of paint to try out first. Paint never looks the same from house to house or even room to room, so just because you love it in someones house doesn’t mean it will look just like that in your house. Always test first before buying gallons! I learned that lesson years ago. Glad you are painting your trim. I had to do that in my previous house and it was a long tedious process and lots of priming to get that stained trim all painted white, but it sure made a huge difference in the house afterward.
Hi, Rhoda. I admire the beautiful rugs that you have within your home. Do you have a favorite place that you use to purchase your rugs? The rugs help all of your rooms flow together and incorporate your refreshing color scheme.
Hi, April, thank you. I love my rugs too and none of them are expensive. If you click Shop my home, you can see most of my rugs there. Scroll down to Decor and each room has the rugs linked so you can see where they came from. I’ve gotten them from Rugs USA and eSale rugs online, as well as Overstock. Also a few other sources, but they are all reasonably priced.
These past 6 weeks I’ve been painting all our interior doors and frames white. I’m amazed at how quickly you get paint jobs completed. Now I’m thinking of painting the wall color in our living, dining and kitchen area a griege color. The walls are a neutral light taupe and I was wondering what color were your walls before painting them and did you have to paint more than one coat?
HI Christine, we had painters paint our entire house before we moved in, with the high ceiling in the foyer it was too much for us to do. But we then painted the other rooms later. I think they did 2 coats, but the color that was there before was a light yellowy beige so it covered easily. I normally do 2 coats on all the walls I paint. I guess I’ve done so much painting over the years, I can knock out a room pretty fast.
Rhoda: It is also good to know what ‘finish’ you used in each room and especially on your trim. I read through but don’t see that stated. Many people who do their own painting for the first time make the mistake of not choosing the correct paint ‘shine’ for the surfaces they paint. It can be a painful lesson to learn afterwards. I’m familiar with ‘egg shell’ finish, semi-gloss, high gloss, etc.. different companies choosing some different terminology for their classifications. In your main hallway bath – is that bead board painted with a semi-gloss or flat? Your home is so beautiful and ‘restful’. AND your lighting is very interesting without costing an exorbitant amount of $$. Stay safe.
HI, Becky, thank you so much! You’re right, I forgot to include that so I will go back and make notes. I normally use an Eggshell on the walls, semi-gloss on all the trim for more sheen. More and more I use Satin for woodwork that I paint, like our recent master bath vanity. I love a little sheen on cabinets and some trim like the bar that Mark trimmed out. We used Satin on it too. But I think it’s more a matter of preference. I like Satin or Eggshell on walls especially and never do flat or matte. Always semi-gloss on our white trim. I’ll go back and make these notes too.
Happy Sunday, Rhoda! This was a great blog, very helpful. You’re inspiring me to paint my laundry room door that goes into the garage! It’s a sunny, large room and I painted a soft, buttery yellow. Yellow paired with blue&white is my favorite combo! I can entertain myself for hours with a paint fan-deck!! Stay safe, I can’t believe we have more bad weather coming again.
Rhonda,
I forgot to mention in my above comment that our local Ben Moore store is really working hard with customers during this trying time while trying to keep everyone safe. While they are not allowing customers in the store if you call and give them your order and pre-pay they will have it ready and bring to your car and put it in the passenger side or back seat floorboard for you. I already knew we wanted to have our stained trim painted in BM Simply White and I just called in my order. They salesperson said they had sold more paint in the last 6 weeks than they ever had! Guess everyone is doing those painting projects they never had time for before…lol!
I’m sure they are selling a lot of paint! It’s a great time to do projects and I’m so glad we are getting another one done and yes, with paint too outdoors.
I am ready to paint my bedroom but the color I thought I originally wanted now is out. Those undertones drive me crazy sometimes when I pair it with the floor or textiles I have in my room. I want no yellow undertones which some whites have and no peachy under tones that my oak floor seemed to bring out in one color I liked. I was ready to paint a faint mint color but the morning and evening light made it look awful. Back to the drawing board for me. I like satin paint the best for my walls so far and Sherwin Williams paint is what I have been using. That Magnolia Greige is a pretty color, I will have to try that in my room to see what happens in the different light. Hmm, more choices to make. Great article and much to think about.
Love your home! 💕But, I’m wondering how I missed you having the pink chair in your office😍😍😍
HI, Mary that chair was in my old family room in my previous house, with the black and white rug in front of the built in Billy bookcases. You might remember it from that space.
Hi Rhoda—your home is looking beautiful and it’s nice seeing the pictures of the entire house in one post. On a different subject, how are your parents doing? Unless I missed something, you haven’t mentioned them since Christmas. I did see the post about your niece pregnant with her third daughter but that’s the only family news mentioned in many months. I hope everyone is doing well. Please keep us posted.
HI, Rose, mom and dad are doing fine. They are staying at home and we are in touch with them weekly, trying to stay safe and keep our distance. We make sure they have what they need without having to go out. It’s been a very different year so far, hasn’t it? I’ll be glad when we can all get back out again and see our families and enjoy travel again. I was sharing them regularly on my Instagram stories, but those have slowed down too with this situation we are in. Don’t know if you follow me on Instagram or not but it’s a great way to show the day/weekly things that are going on and I shared lunch with my parents on video every week until this mess started.
HI Rhoda – your paint colors are beautiful. Such a nice flow with a bit of contrast. I especially love the Magnolia Gatherings. Thanks for the post!
I have followed you for a long time & have seen your rooms develop but seeing them all together like this is really wonderful. Your home is beautiful!
Thank you so much, Linda, we sure do love our home!
Wow, you have such a beautiful home! Every room has its own unique personality. Love the all of the colors you chose.
Thank you Kim, I appreciate that!