Every single time I walk into this room I say loudly or under my breath “Oh my gosh, I love this color“. It’s more of a compulsion than a commentary. It’s just so perfect. Which of course begs the question of what color is it? And furthermore, why is it “so perfect”? But first, you must know some facts that make a difference (and might affect this exact same color in your home).
Where Are WE? The Family/TV Room
This room is meant to be a cozy family/media room, but unlike ours, it’s flooded with natural light. So we didn’t want to go too dark, but the window frames are black in here so we wanted to help them feel a little less stark.
The Family/TV Room With Drywall (Pre-Paint)
As you can see, here it is with fresh primer after being drywalled.
The flooring is going to be Stuga in Shell (a light white oak) and there will be benches along that window wall.
Those doors face east so at night it gets blasted by the sun (when it’s sunny), although some of it is dappled by the trees.
But What Color???
While, of course, I’m heavily involved in designing this house, I was really focused on the rooms that had a lot of partnerships and mostly just helping Ken/Katie out in these rooms as their sister. So we didn’t have this super dialed-in design plan – no furniture had been picked out yet. We just knew that it would have a huge sectional, a cozy rug a table for crafting/homework, and a big old TV. But the color palette was totally up in the air.
While I hate choosing paint colors without knowing what else is happening in a room, in this case, we had to because they needed to paint soon. So the options are to keep white, then paint once they fully moved in and chosen all furniture, OR choose an awesome come and hope that it’s the right color for any future design plans.
Max and I went room by room and he really pushed us to not wait on the color – to just choose one and make it work. His confidence was high, so I was like, “ok let’s try it”.
What IS This Paint Color??
Well, it’s none other than Evergreen Fog by Sherwin-Williams (the color of the year in 2021). I’ve seen it used a million times but never experienced it myself, IRL. So I knew it was a great color or people wouldn’t love it so much, but it’s also one of those in-between colors that changes a lot depending on your space.
In this room, it’s just so stunning, soothing, and calm but full of pigment. Sometimes it’s green, sometimes gray, sometimes really warm. But because it’s an in-between color it is going to be nice and cozy at night to watch TV once the shades are pulled, and yet still light and happy during the day when flooded with natural light.
Ah see those benches?!
Choosing Window Treatments
This room is getting blackout shades and curtains via Decorview. We chose the fabric a long time ago – a really dark green that pulls the black from the doors/windows but also adds depth to this green tone.
Painting The Built-in Cabinetry
We recently designed and installed this built-in credenza under the TV for storage. So then we had to choose the color we were going to paint it. We are doing with a bit of a color drench vibe in here (the sofa is not green, so it’s not going to be totally tonal). So for the cabinets, we wanted a darker green but not an accent color.
We ended up choosing Foxhall Green by Sherwin-Williams, which is a really dark but not almost black green to balance out the window treatments and ground the TV wall.
I know it doesn’t look too exciting right now, but being in this room is wonderful and I’m so excited about the furniture and rugs we’ve selected. It’s already such a warm, happy, and yet soothing vibe. Would this color look as good in a room with less light? I don’t know. But if you have a lot of light as we do, then I think it’s a viable option for that perfect medium-toned color.
I hope to have finished but empty photos for you soon so you can see how it looks with the white oak bench and the flooring.
For now, we are loving how this room is turning out and I’m so happy to have another go-to color in my arsenal that I KNOW I love. Evergreen Fog and Foxhall Green FTW (both Sherwin-Williams). And yes, we partnered with Sherwin-Williams on this house but this post is not sponsored – my enthusiasm for this color was too great to keep inside. Enough with the river house gatekeeping. More to come very soon. 
Architect: Annie Usher
Interior Designers: Emily Henderson and Max Humphrey
Contractor: JP Macy of Sierra Custom Construction
Pretty Photos by Kaitlin Green
The post My Favorite Color In The River House – The Case For The Medium-Toned Green/Gray And Why It Works So Well appeared first on Emily Henderson.
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