Greige Rage

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DESIGN DILEMMA:  WHAT GREIGE PAINT COLOR COMPLIMENTS HONEY OAK COLORING?

Honey oak floors, trim, and cabinets have been popular for decades.  Loving the quality and look of real wood, the homeowners chose to keep the orange-yellow coloring of honey oak and update the home around it. For many years they tried different wall colors.  Darker fall colors worked best.  After years of living with an emerald green, gold, and burgundy color palette, it was time to move into the current decade.  Grays and “greige” are all the rage today but they don’t compliment the orange-yellow colors prominent in flooring, trim, and cabinets.  Greige is a color between gray and beige. After painting the walls several shades of gray, beige, and greige, they threw up the white flag. These colors made the honey oak appear more orange. They also want to know what the difference is between gray and grey?

SUE’S SOLUTION:

Regarding the spelling of the color, either is correct.  Gray is the common spelling in the U.S.A. and grey is used in other English speaking countries.  It is interesting to note that the name comes from the Old English word, græg, sounding similar to the “greige” color so popular today.

After much searching and consultation, the greige color I recommend is Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige with the darker shade, Tony Taupe, used as an accent.  These colors look good with white and honey oak trim, floors, and cabinets.  Unlike white, however, these two colors have the perfect mix of tints to compliment honey oak.   It should also be noted that a flat sheen for walls and a high-gloss finish for trim is highly recommended.