At some point over the past couple of weeks of doing this mini kitchen update (I’m hoping for a bigger kitchen update sometime soon, as discussed here) I realized that my kitchen could now be a museum exhibit from the future: “Typical Blogger’s House, c. 2013.” Granite countertops. Farmhouse table. Chalkboard Wall. And now….greige walls. Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter, specifically.
I didn’t mean to paint the walls Revere Pewter. I was resistant because everyone talks about how awesome it is, and I didn’t want to do the same thing as everyone.
Also, apparently, I really wanted a paint color that was named after an animal, because I went to Benjamin Moore and came back with samples of Gray Horse and Gray Owl:
That’s Gray Owl on the left, and Gray Horse on the right. I liked them both, but neither of them was really right for this room.
The kitchen is one of the rooms that had been updated by the former owners. The cabinets and counter tops and backsplash are all newer, good quality stuff. But not what I would have picked and kind of limiting in some ways. The cabinets are a light colored, sort of orangey wood. The granite is gray-brown speckly. The backsplash is, I believe, tumbled marble–really nice and really….tan.
I’ve had a really hard time picking a color for this room. I’ve been gravitating toward cooler colors, lots of blues, for most of the house, but that just wasn’t going to work in here. So I liked Gray Owl, but it was too silvery and cool to go with the tile and counter tops in the kitchen. Gray Horse was closer, but it was a little dark and looked too green in some light.
The worst thing about Benjamin Moore is that they don’t sell a true sample size of paint. You have to buy a pint, and they cost something like $8. This can add up very quickly when you have no idea what paint color you want.
So after those two didn’t work out, I just went all in and bought a whole gallon of Revere Pewter. I had been looking at it online in 100 different rooms for pretty much a full year, after all, so I figured I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.
And…..
Well. You know how sometimes after you’ve painted a room, every time you walk into that room you’re struck by how different and awesome it looks? Yeah. That didn’t happen. It went from a neutral yellow to a neutral beige-y gray.
Which is not to say I’m unhappy with it. I think it’s exactly what the kitchen demanded. The main thing Revere Pewter has going for it is that it’s truly, truly neutral. It has no blue or pink or green undertones like a lot of grays and beiges and taupes do. It is all tan and gray. And it’s very pleasant. It’s just hard to get excited about it. I know some people manage to, based on all of the glowing Revere Pewter reviews online. I’m just not a very….neutral person.
One thing I’ll give it–I totally and completely understand why someone had to invent the word greige now. As soon as it went up, I was all, “it’s gray! no, it’s beige! gray! beige!” It’s pretty much impossible to decide. As near as I can figure, it looks more gray the more natural light is hitting it.
So here it is:
I took it from this angle so you can see the granite and cabinets in the same shot with the walls.
And here’s the other side of the kitchen, as clean as it ever gets!
So there you can see it right up against the cabinets on that one wall on the far left, and also next to the backsplash. I think this is a good representation, too, of how it looks much beiger without natural light. This half of the kitchen only has that one window that goes into the sunroom; it’s very dark without the overhead lights on. The other half has the big bay window to gray things up. Although the bay window goes to the screen porch, so still not as bright as it could be. And as it WILL be if I get my wish to knock the wall out there. I guess I should mention that the gray side of Revere Pewter is my favorite side, so I’m hoping to bring it out more by bringing in more natural light. Someday.
Oh, one more thing re: paint. I sent Dave out to buy the paint, and he had to go to not our regular Benjamin Moore store, because that one’s closed on Sundays. I told him I usually ask for the “middle” quality paint. So when he came back with this “Regal” paint that cost nearly $50 (!), I thought he’d totally been scammed. We usually pay more like $35. But I have to say–that paint? was incredible. We didn’t prime, just slapped a coat on there, and there was no question that one coat was plenty. This never happens to us. We always have to at least go back over big portions with a second coat, even if we don’t redo the whole thing. Also, we barely touched the gallon, between the amazing coverage and how most of the kitchen is cabinets and windows and such. I think I could paint my whole house with the rest of the gallon. Not really. But definitely my den. And I just might.
Linking with:
The Inspiration Gallery
The Shabby Nest’s Frugal Friday
Inspire Me Please
Tatertots and Jello’s Weekend Wrap-Up Party
Monday Funday
The Inspiration Exchange
Well we have a rule in our house and that is to call our walls gray if you want to get invited back. Call it beige if you don’t like us 🙂 That’s how I got around that whole greige issue 🙂
Isn’t it amazing how gray just calms all those yellows way down. It’s like a big gallon of “shhhh”. I love it!
I really like your cabinet doors with the board going down the middle! 🙂
lol–a useful rule! yeah, the cabinets are different, aren’t they? I like them, too…I always feel weird talking about the kitchen stuff that someone else picked out (before we’ve always just had builder grade stuff when we moved in, so it wasn’t an issue)…like the old owners have just gone to the bathroom or something, and they’ll be back any second….I guess I need to get over that!
It looks awesome!!! I know you aren’t jumping up and down but it does seriously look fantastic!!! I too have this color…it’s just easy on the eyes in our main room…Loving the kitchen girl!
ah ha! your room is one of the hundred I looked at :). Yeah, it’s a pleasant color…I just need to find more ways to add color in other parts of the room, I think.
I think the colour looks so much better than the yellow. I especially like it in the photos with the natural light from the window and with the colour of your farmhouse table.
Definitely better than the yellow! I’m slowly de-yellowing this house 🙂
I like the Revere Pewter… but maybe I’m biased because I grew up in a city called Revere. lol 🙂
Greige generally just confused me until I put it up in my own home and was so amazed that I could decorate with brown tones or black tones- THE POSSIBILITIES! haha
Ha! I’ve been to Revere! And to Paul Revere’s house….twice. Maybe that’s why I picked it. Yeah, my friend asked when I was painting, “does it go with the cabinets?” and I was like, “umm…I think it goes with EVERYTHING.”
Love the new paint color! It’s so pretty! Great tip on the paint quality, too!
Thanks, Allison!
I know neutral isn’t very exciting, but honestly, it is beautiful. It really sets the tone and let’s everything else to the talking. Your table is gorgeous. Everything looks really really wonderful. I’m thinking of going with a very very similar paint color for our living/dining/kitchen area. It’s just better to err on the side of neutral in my opinion.
Thanks, Kenz! I think maybe embracing neutrals is part of growing up….and it’s probably about time I did that ;).
your kitchen is very nice and I really like the new color, much better than the yellow, your color looks a lot like the one I chose for my kitchen too! 🙂
Ingrid
Thanks so much, Ingrid!
beautiful!!! Our Ben Moore store is closed on Sundays too… glad you found a new paint you like! The Regal is awesome
Thanks, Jamie! Don’t they know that sometimes we have to paint RIGHT NOW, even on Sundays?! 😉
Actually, that new color is perfect for your kitchen! It brings warmth and comfort and makes you want to be in there. Unless, of course, you are the one that lives there are don’t want to be in there. LOL
Thanks! If only I could keep it as clean as I got it for the pictures….maybe then I wouldn’t mind being in there all the time 🙂
Ten years ago I was crazy about beige and now like everyone else I’m really liking greige too! I like it and your kitchen still shows off your personality so it’s not like everyone else! I would love it if you could link up this post to my blog hop–we love seeing DIY projects like this. Just click on Carrie This Home above. Thank you!
Thanks, Carrie!
I love the new colour! Nice and fresh!
I’ve heard and seen so much of Revere Pewter and it’s so nice to see it in your great photos…love it!
Thank you!
It makes the room nice and bright.
My favorite paint is BM Regal eggshell. It can’t be beat for quality and finish. My painter does not have a BM account, so I often explain and ask for the contractor discount when buying. Love you color choice!
Thanks, Paula! We’ve used the BM Regal…somewhere–I can’t remember where; I think by now we’ve used pretty much everything they have 🙂
I’m thrilled I came across this post. Right now my bedroom walls look like a patchwork quilt with all the different colors I’ve been stressing over. However, my eyes keep going back to Revere Pewter and that is my final choice. In fact, when I saw your kitchen I realized how tired I was of the Butter Cream (Behr) applied by the previous owner and will tackle that room also using the Revere Pewter. My cabinets are similar to yours and my countertop is somewhat darker with a lot of black mixed in. I hope mine looks as great as yours. Can’t wait to get to the hardware store! Thanks so much for your post!
So glad it helped! I’m still glad we went with the Revere Pewter in the kitchen, and we’ve since used it in the hallway adjacent to the kitchen, too.
I am so happy to have seen this post. I am in need of choosing paint for three rooms in my home that connect with big open doorways. Currently they are all different colors- the living room a fairly deep green/gray (SW gray area), the kitchen/dining a fairly soft creamy yellow (I don’t really like it) and the family room a taupe. I want a color that will be in all three rooms, as well as down a hallway that is connecting. We have hickory floors that are honey in shade, and maple cabinets, and pine trim. I am excited to try this color which will provide some contrast with all the “yellow”. My kitchen cabinets have black iron knobs, and countertops were recently re-done in a formica fx180 “soapstone”…so they are basically black as well. I think this will be great! I am also slowly converting to white dishes (Crate and Barrel farmhouse line) from multi-colored primary color dishes. My kitchen accent color is slowly reverting to green. I can’t wait to paint! Thank you again for this post!
Glad it helped! We’re still happy with the Revere Pewter a few years later and even painted the adjacent hallway the same color. I have a lot of white in the kitchen, and it looks really good with it, so I think it will be great with your dishes. Happy painting!
What is the name of your granite?
no idea–it was there when we moved in–sorry!