Use purple to lend an air of mystery, wisdom, and respect
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 at 06:52PM Remember my Pregnancy Mellow? Well in a lot of ways, it's still in effect, but I'm finally starting to think about some baby-related stuff. I'm reading my first baby-related book (Happiest Baby on the Block by Dr. Harvey Karp), I'm doing some very initial research into childcare options (I'd like to stress very initial), we're discussing pediatrician options, and I even made a list of all the crap we have yet to accumulate for this child. All of these things, and more, I plan to get your input on because seriously, we have no idea what we're doing.
But today is about the baby's room. I'm having so much fun thinking about what I want to do in there. I have no real theme, but it will likely involve a lot of colors and patterns. We have a couple elephant and giraffe things we'll incorporate, and I have my eye on some world/map/atlas-y things, as well. I don't plan to spend a ton of money, time or effort on a room for an infant, but since we just bought this house, we have a blank slate and it's fun to imagine.
Anyway, I need some input on paint color. As you know, we won't know the sex of this baby until it's born, which fortunately poses very few problems for us as our taste is very gender neutral anyway. We've decided to do a purpley-grey color on the walls. I think purple is usually gender neutral, especially if it's not leaning toward fuschia, and I'm more drawn to it right now than the usual yellows and greens. I've pinned several potential contenders, but they're all starting to blur together.
Can you help?
Here are six shades I've narrowed it down to. I think you should vote in comments!
A) Beguiling Mauve
B) Studio Mauve
C) Intuitive
D) Chaise Mauve
E) Dressy Rose
F) Crushed Grape
Keep in mind that I want the purple to lean toward grey rather than red or pink, but I don't want it to end up looking grey. I have a lot of grey in my house already. Also, if you think I'm totally off base with the purple idea, please don't tell me, just don't vote. Or vote for the one you hate the least. I have a vision damn it!
(The title is a suggestion from one color psychology thing I read. I didn't use color psychology when considering what to put on the walls, but I like it!)
Children
Reader Comments (11)
The graphic designer in me insists on pointing out that monitors will vary widely, so what may lean toward pink on one reader's screen might look more blueish on another readers'.
The "me" in me insists on saying I don't see purple as a very gender neutral color, and I still think orange and aqua are THE BEST gender neutral colors, but I will roll with it. :) Based on what I see on my screen, I like choice D. B and E are too pink, in my opinion, for a boy's room. And while F is my favorite of the colors, it think it's a bit too bold and dark for a whole room. A and C are kind of dreary, and make me think of rainy days, which isn't what I'd want in a room I may spend many sleepless, stressful nights in. (Hey, just being realistic.)
Before finding out we were having a girl, our nursery was painted in this seafoam green/aqua color that really brightening my spirits every time I walked in there. We had flowwy white curtains over the windows. I imagine a room this color would help ease stress when the baby just. would. not. stop. crying. ... But alas, once I found out we were having a girl, I insisted on a purple room. The color we went with is Sherwin-Williams' Silver Peony -- http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6547-silver-peony/ and I still think it is absolutely perfect. But maybe it's too pink for your tastes. ( http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150145762595207&set=a.10150145617495207.396358.752290206&type=3&theater )
You could also consider more than one color. Maybe the walls are a silvery/gray-but-faintly-purple while the ceiling is a blue toned purple (like F). If you visit that Sherwin-Williams link above, and you see the sliding scale below the main swatch, I think SW 6546 Cloud Nine on the walls with SW 6550 Mythical on the ceiling would be LOVELY! And totally acceptable for a boy, IMO. :)
Honestly, I find the purples here to be "girly." If you're a fan of yellows, I think that would be more gender neutral. But, I agree with Lindsay A, that aqua is a great gender neutral color, too. I have blues in my house everywhere, so I'm still debating if I want to do an aqua nursery or not like I originally planned. I might go grey, or grey with yellow. Not sure!
I think most of the purples appear very pinkish to me (but it could just be my monitor) except for the last one.
I know you said you have a lot of gray in your house but I think gray is such a great neutral. We're actually going to do the new baby's room in a very light grey and have yellow accents. Why not do gray on the walls and do LOTS of purple accents everywhere? (sorry - I know you said you didn't want to hear if people didn't like the purple. As a person from Baltimore whose football team's colors are purple and black, I can assure you that I've seen plenty of men wearing purple).
I wouldn't paint the room yellow only because I've always associated that with being "HEY - WAKE UP!" and that's the last thing you want.
I have a son and a daughter who share a room that is painted purple. I love it. They love it. And honestly, babies don't know bright pink from orange or purple or royal blue, so I think that decorating a nursery is really more about what YOU like and want to look at. Also, I don't know about you, but I have managed to hang so much stuff on the walls that you don't really see huge swatches of the color. I picked the color based on the things that we wanted to go in the room.
That said, I love F. It is my favorite of the colors. I also think that, if you wanted to go a bit lighter (depending on the lighting in the room/how big the room is/etc), A is a lovely shade.
(Also, with both of my pregnancies, my husband and I decided to be "surprised." It drove people crazy! Also, I got completely sick of seeing yellow and green as the only "gender neutral" baby colors. I liked waiting to find out the sex only because it prevented people (myself included) from assigning a gender-specific personality to the kids before they were even born.)
I love purple. I think a few of these read feminine on their own but it will matter much more what you put with it. If you read any interiors magazines or blogs, you'll see designers love purple for men and boys. I recommend checking out House Beautiful's 500 Best Paint Colors (I own a copy and use it all the time: http://www.housebeautiful.com/decorating/colors/500-favorite-paint-colors-bookazine#slide-1). Lots of interesting pairings and things you wouldn't think of, and we have yet to go wrong with using one of the designer's picks. There are also lots of grays out there that read very dusty purple, so don't discount those yet (I know this because we have painted a million gray swatches on the walls). Also the natural light and lighting in the room will affect the color, so test it out first and look at it at all times of day/lighting configurations. I was also going to point out the monitor problem, but if mine's to be trusted, the first one is my favorite choice.
Either B or D. Especially if you want it to be more grey.
Definitely A!! I think it it's a great mix of purple and gray. The other ones are either very gray or pinkish. Except F which is very purple. I think people is fine for a boy. I personally do not love purple but it is cute for a nursery.
I like all of them, but my favorite is F. :)
hey shan's I think puple is just fine for a nursery color..you will be adding so many other colors with all your decorating..of all the paint colors above I keep going back to D as my favorite...let me know what you pick !!! mom
I vote D! Can't wait to see the progress.
Since the last one is the only one that actually looks purple to me and not just gray, I'm going to go with that one. Of course, if you really wanted to go gender neutral you'd go black, since black is the absence of all color.