Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray color review
A medium toned gray, Stonington Gray has been a popular gray paint color for years. Thinking about using this middle of the road gray hue in your home? Make sure it’s the right color for you with my full color review.
What are the undertones of Stonington Gray?
While many people like to put Stonington Gray in the category of a “true gray,” that doesn’t mean it’s free of undertones. Stonington Gray has a blue undertone, making it a gray-blue paint color. Now, the blue undertone in Stonington Gray isn’t quite as pronounced as say, Gray Screen, but it’s still apparent.
Did you know all gray paint colors (well, really any paint color) has undertones? Gray paint will either have blue, purple or green and sometimes blue-green undertones. You cannot escape it. Run from anyone that tells you a certain shade works in everyone’s home or is free of undertones–you will inevitably pick the wrong color following this advice.
Correctly identifying undertones in paint colors are perhaps the most important step in picking out a paint color that works best in your home. Below I’ll show you how to know if the blue undertone in Stonington Gray will work for your space.
Is Stonington Gray a warm or cool color?
Because of the blue undertones found in Stonington Gray, it’s a cool paint color.
Is Stonington Gray right for my home?
A;righty, now that you know that Stonington Gray is a cool paint color thanks to it’s blue undertones, let’s get to work on deciding whether or not it’s the paint color for you.
Look at the undertones in your fixed elements first
Before you go browsing the internet looking for paint color inspiration, take a good, hard look at your home. If you’re remodeling, what’s staying put and what’s getting changed out? Everything that’s staying in place must be evaluated in terms of undertones (I’m talking the floor, furniture, countertops, cabinets, rugs, etc.)
So, if you’re renovating and you’re choosing a cabinet color and are thinking about Stonington Gray, you must look at what’s already in your kitchen that isn’t going. Look at your countertops, what’s the undertone? Sometimes it helps to go to the paint store and get samples of paint chips in various color shades (brown, beige, green, blue, purple, white, cream) to help you identify them correctly.
If you want harmony between your cabinet color and your countertops, you need to make sure the undertones line up. Right off the bat, I can tell you that brown granite is going to majorly clash with Stonington Gray, while a cooler white marble will look great, as they both have those blue undertones.
You might be going with a more creamy countertop, and depending on how creamy, Stonington Gray might just be too cold with your counters.
If you’re buying a new home and choosing colors or gutting your entire space, choose the paint color last! Choose your fixed elements, furniture included and then choose a paint color that harmonizes with the undertones in your fixed elements. It’s so much easier to choose paint last, rather than unknowingly choose a gray with a strong blue undertone, only to have your warmer elements clash with it.
If a gray with blue undertones isn’t for you, browse my curated list of the best grey paint colors for your space, sorted by undertone!
Test it out…correctly!
Once you’ve determined that you need to go with a gray with a blue undertone, you’ve done most of the hard work.
Next it’s time to test it out. I am a huge fan of the peel and stick paint samples that you can get online basically because it’s the absolute best way a homeowner can ensure they get the color right. If you go through a designer, they’ll have large color boards similar to what you can get online and it’s soooo much better than those itty bitty paint chips.
So, order several different shades of gray and put them right up to the floor (like the picture below) behind a white poster board. If you don’t want to order the paint samples online, go to the paint store get samples and paint a 12 x12 square on a white poster board, leaving white space all around the sample.
Stonington Gray vs. Coventry Gray
Stonington Gray and Coventry Gray are both commonly referred to as “true grays,” but as we know from above, there is no such thing as a gray free of undertones!
Coventry Gray is significantly darker than Stonington Gray, but they’re both in the blue grey paint color family. Choosing between these two will just come down to how dark of paint color you need.
Which trim color pairs best with Stonington Gray?
Depending on the fabrics in your space, you can go one of two ways when selecting trim colors to work with Stonington Gray. I’d either go with a true white like Chantilly Lace or High Reflective white if your fabrics are more on the white side. Now, if you’ve got more off-white (not cream), I’d go with a true off-white paint like White Dove or Alabaster.
Stonington Gray color combinations
Hale Navy–I’m a huge fan of this muted navy blue that has a hint of black in it.
Glass Slipper–A really pretty blue gray hue.
Web Gray–a charcoal gray with blue undertones.
Tips for using Stonington Gray on cabinets
Stonington Gray is a popular gray for cabinets, but it must only be used in the right settings. Look at the picture below:
Do you see the creamy undertones? This type of countertop will be better suited to use along with cream paint colors, not gray.
What about this beautiful marble?
Do you see the crisp white background and blue veining? This type of countertop would work perfectly with Stonington Gray.
What if I want one shade lighter than Stonington Gray?
Stonington Gray has a Light Reflective Value of 59–so it’s not the lightest gray, but it’s really not the darkest gray either. But if it’s too dark, but you still need that blue undertone, you can check out Gray Owl, which is a super pale gray with blue, that I’d classify as a gray blue or a blue gray color. Go even lighter when you check out Horizon.
