Gray, Violet and Mauve—And a Little Inspiration for My Future Abode

Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways–Oscar Wilde

The other day at work I had to run to the Benjamin Moore store down stairs to pick up some paint for an upcoming shoot. After selecting the colors and handing them over to the colorist to be mixed I had a little time to browse. So I headed over to the paint chip selection wall and picked out a number of shades that caught my eye. When it comes time to decorate my future home I am definitely thinking of doing gray walls as opposed to white. However, I am not sure if I want to do a traditional neutral gray or one with a hint of mauve or violet. I picked out three paint chips all matte; one was an eggshell white and one was a gray color called Sidewalk Gray, and the other was called Violet Mist. The Violet Mist is a grayish color with violet/lavender undertones. It is not by any means an actual violet color but a gray with hints of violet to keep it from being a flat gray.

I still have not decided if this is the direction I want to go. I held up the Sidewalk Gray against the bright white chip and then the Violet Mist. I think I am leaning towards the Violet Mist or perhaps I should go a bit warmer with a pinky mauve undertone instead? As I am still undecided I put together this mood board to help me make up my mind. Granted the images in these photos are distinctly shades of mauve, violet or lavender. The color I am thinking of would be more a gray but with one of these shades mixed in to the gray. I would most likely paint the main living area of the space with the grayish color and then I was thinking for the bedroom going for a bit more color and doing an actual mauve, violet or lavender, similar to this bedroom with the sloped ceiling. What do you think? Do you like this palette and do you like the idea of having the same palette through out the space but doing different shades and tonalities of the same color? Or do you prefer more contrast? And if you like this pillow be sure to head on over to the Etsy shop JolieMarche and have a look around.

Images via 1 :: 2 :: 3 :: 4 :: 5 :: 6 :: 7