By I had painters in my house last week to finish up the renovation of my basement. They inspired me to document all the exterior and interior paint colors that are in play today. This research included looking at the original sales documents for the home from back in 2003 and then digging through two different email boxes for any reference to paint. I surprisingly have a lot of emails referencing paint.
Once I had the names written down, I then drove over to Sherwin Williams to pick up some paint chips…and my fun began. I found Popular Grey right away (most of the house is this color). I couldn’t find the trim (Dupont Hayseed) because Dupont doesn’t exist anymore…but at least I can color match, as they are part of the Sherwin Williams family.
I was pretty sure my bedroom color was Touch of Gray but it looked nothing like the paint chip in the store. The employee said it could be the difference in lighting. I dutifully took the chip home. And immediately confirmed my suspicions. This was NOT the color of my bedroom and sunroom (and bathroom)!
This is Sherwin Williams Touch of Grey
I was stumped. First I thought it was early signs of dementia and I forgot the paint color name. Or maybe the paint changed colors because it somehow mixed with the prior color (which was Beguiling Mauve, btw).
I did another scouring of emails and texts and tried searching through pictures. No such luck. Then I remembered years ago that I had sent a picture of my sunroom (which is the same color as my bedroom) to a friend. He had texted back that it was the same color as his daughter’s bedroom. While I was mildly irked that my room color choice could be deemed ‘childish’, I had a great opportunity. I texted him to see if he remembered the name of the paint. I felt a little guilty, as I knew he and his family were on Spring Break in Florida. But this was important!
Surprisingly, he replied back with the desperately needed information. Upon reading his text I had a good laugh. I had the name right, mostly. It was the same…but different. I had painted my room with Benjamin Moore’s Touch of Gray.
The mystery was solved.
Except…why do we have two different spellings of Gray/Grey? I never know which to use. Hooray for AI for relieving me from the stress of not knowing (presuming AI wouldn’t lie to me…but that’s another story).
“Gray” and “grey” are simply different regional spellings of the same word, both originating from the Old English grǣg. The primary difference is geographical: “gray” (with an A) is preferred in American English, while “grey” (with an E) is more common in British, Irish, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand English.
Now you too can relax knowing in America it is gray, but everywhere else it is grey.
In the process of writing this blog, I googled 6 7 to figure out if you write it as 6/7, 6-7 or 6 7. I won’t spoil the surprise for you, but I HIGHLY recommend you google 6/7. It will make you smile.
And here’s the palette for the room from back in 2016. I carefully took a picture and you can see the paint chip, but alas! Benjamin Moore has the name on the back. I’ve got this all recorded in Evernote for posterity, so I won’t have to go through this exercise again.
And now I’ve lost all desire to paint!
