8 Shades of Gray.  Not 50.  That is how many test strips of paint colors I have in my office at home.  The same number that I had in the Living Room before “Barren Gray” was chosen and painted on the walls.  It is a much more modern approach.

Still, others asked why I used test strips at all and simply didn’t pick Metropolitan Gray, it is apparently, well…

The color of the year for 2019.

So the year has started off correctly.

In the realm of paint, I will point out that our local store pushed heavily to tint the white trim paint with some version of yellowing to make the paint last longer as over the first 10 years white paint begins to yellow in any event. And while they are right to some degree, it loses the pop of the white color from the beginning, so why bother.

Now, the even more interesting trick is to use the new (only 8-10 years old) Benjamin Moore waterborne alkyd paint which requires that one pays attention to directions and specifications. I have just begun and am getting great results. True, I am not in the first generation of the paint; however, I also read the instructions thoroughly and the forums with an eye to what year the post was on and how correctly the individual followed the instructions/process. As a result, mine is going on fine, self leveling, drying appropriately and looking amazing.