Hi everyone! I’m celebrating this fine Monday morning because I finally finished painting the main areas of our home this past weekend. I love nothing more than playing with my little one with a cup of coffee in hand as I just stare at my new favorite gray paint. Seriously, it’s that good! Don’t worry, I’m going to give you all the details today. But before I do, just look at the difference the gray paint made to our living room. This was one of the first areas I painted because the orange had to go.
Ryan and I knew before we even found this home that we would be using gray paint throughout most of the living spaces. Because of the colors in the fireplace of our last home, we were left with using beige throughout most of the house. Nothing wrong with it, but we were over it and wanted a crisp gray in our new home. Would you believe me if I told you this was the first gray we found? But it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
We found the gray paint on Pinterest but there was one problem we encountered right away. Nobody knew who made it or the paint company listed was wrong. All we knew was that it was possibly by Frazee after spending a good amount of time searching for it on Google. Why was this paint worth all the trouble? It’s a gray gray color. Meaning it doesn’t have any blue, green, or purple undertones. How often does that happen?
I headed to my local Sherwin-Williams and they didn’t even have a paint named Seattle. I walked away that day not ready to give up. I had to have this paint color in my life. I researched a little more. There are Facebook groups and discussion groups all about this Seattle gray and trying to find out where to purchase it. One person was kind enough to give the formula code for this particular paint color. I took a screenshot on my phone and went back to Sherwin-Williams to see if they could re-create it.
Not only could they make this paint color for me but this time they found it in their system. Shut the front door! I was beside myself with excitement. This gray paint, Seattle, was actually by Color Wheel which was bought out by Sherwin-Williams. Because this particular paint store has been there for over 30 years, the Color Wheel codes were kept in the system. I just won the paint lottery if there’s such a thing.
If you’re also loving this gray color, allow me to make it easy for you. Head to your closest Sherwin-Williams (or any local paint store) and ask if they can mix Seattle by Color Wheel for you. If it isn’t in their system, which could possibly happen, then give them this formula code to create the custom color. This is from my paint can.
You’ve seen a few areas of our home transformed with this color within this post. I spared you the other areas because of the boxes, furniture, and miscellaneous home decor items shoved in corners. We painted the entrance, formal living area, dining room, hallways, kitchen, breakfast nook, and kitchen this gray color. It flows beautifully as you enter and walk through our home. It slightly changes depending on the lighting but it’s always the perfect shade of gray without any hints of other colors. This color provides a refreshing and clean design. Now, since I took all the research and guess work out of it, go buy a gallon of Seattle to paint a room in your home. You won’t regret it!
Still can’t seem to find an exact match for Seattle or looking for a different gray? Check out my post, Nine Gray Paint Samples We Put to the Test, where I paint each one on my wall and share my thoughts on each one.
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Thank you for all the research you did to find out the perfect grey paint color. We are thinking of painting our living room this color but unfortunately, this color has been discontinued. Tried Light French Gray but we are looking for something a touch dark like `Seattle`. Any recommendations that match close to `Seattle`?
I just painted my my walls this past year with Seattle. What I did was take a copy of the formula to Lowes & they mixed it up for me. Beautiful color! I have a photo on my phone but couldn’t figure out how to up load it here.
That’s awesome. Just for backup, do you have the formula for Lowes?
Yes I do. Tried to figure out a way to upload the photo I took of it here….but can’t find a way. Not at home at the moment. When I get home I will write it out & post.
I just went back through the original article “The Perfect gray Paint for any Home” and found the photo of the formula. As you’re scrolling through the article she has a photo of the formula. I took a screen print of it and took it to Lowes. They did a great job…beautiful.
I just went back through the original article “The Perfect gray Paint for any Home” and found the photo of the formula. As you’re scrolling through the article she has a photo of the formula. I took a screen print of it and took it to Lowes. They did a great job…beautiful.
Ya, I tried in my local lowes but there were not able to make based on the formula. They can do only with the color name and they cannot find that color in their system as this color has been discontinued in Sherwin Williams. After trying in multiple Sherwin Williams stores, finally one of the stores they agreed to mix it. I Will test it this week. Thank you for all the help.
Himalayan Trek by Benjamin Moore is similar to Seattle. We love it no matter the lighting!!
This is a rather long post, but if you’re on the hunt for the most pristine gray, I’m sure you’ve already spent more than your fair share of time. I experimented all weekend on different grays. I started by buying Gray samples using the SW color cards. To my dismay I saw blues, greens, purples on the sample area in my living room. I stumbled on this blog and it helped steer me in the right direction. Thanks to Elizabeth. The goal for the rest of the weekend was to get a sample that exactly matches Elizabeth’s (Master) formula. First hurdle: the base in the Master was “White”, but SW has stopped selling that base as a sample. It only sells exclusively in bulk. You could get it by talking to a Sales Rep, but you’d have to jump a few hoops, and frankly I don’t think it’s going to make that much of a difference, as confirmed by the Sales guy himself. He said the “white” base is for certain large specialized orders and using “extra white” is fine. Second hurdle, they don’t sell the Optima Supreme that’s in the Master formula anymore. The next best, as suggested by a store in FL that gets called the most for Seattle, is ProMar200. Another commenter on this blog used the same and got good results. Next hurdle, the clerk in the store pushed back on mixing the Master formula with the above 2 changes. I pushed him to just do it. Lets call this M2 (master2). I started at 100% so I could come back to the store and re-tint to get the darker shade (the reverse is unimplementable). I also bought a second sample using the formula suggested by Dusty below starting at 100% (D1). I painted a Letter sized section on my wall. After looking at other houses with gray I figured my eyes are somewhat sensitive to blue. Anyways, mine is a living room with 15 foot ceilings and above average lighting. The M2 was darker than D1, but no other noticeable difference. Next I got the store to retint M2 to 125% and D1 to 150%. M2 was still slightly darker than D1. I think it’s because M2 has more black than D1. For my situation darker is better, so I’ll go with M2 at 125% which is as close as you can get to Elizabeth’s formula as of today. I can update this section when the full paint job is done in a week or two. Try to look for SW coupons on google and their website. I found a well hidden $10 off coupon if you buy $50 or more (in addition to Labor day 30% off). Some other observations:- This is as gray as I can find given the amount of time I’m ready to invest in this. There’s still a hint of blue in both, but it’s very minor and perhaps because my eyes are sensitive. The point is that both, M2 and D1 are close enough to not be able to tell the difference in terms of no blue/green or other hues.
Hi! I can’t thank you enough for being such an amazing part of this community and sharing your tips, tricks, and everything you had to go through to try and find this color. Some can easily match while others it is an obstacle course to get the perfect shade. I know your post will help others! Thank you again!
I wish I would’ve came here beforehand.
I literally painted my entire living room with a gray that was mixed for me at my local hardware store. I noticed that the paint looked purple when I started, I called the paint department and the person I spoke with said that once it dried it would look gray….Nope, Now I have a living room that is purple, lol.
I started doing some research and what I discovered is that colors will change depending on your lighting. Basically, fluorescent lighting can make grays turn cold, so if the paint was mixed with more blue tint then maroon, then it will look more blue, if it was mixed with more maroon tint then blue, it will look more purple.
However, if you have allot of natural lighting then the gray will look more warm, thus avoiding the blue/purple problem.
Solution is to let your local Sherwin Williams store know what kind of lighting you have…is it a dark room or do you have allot of natural lighting.
If it’s a dark room, then Sherwin Williams can adjust to avoid this problem.
Always Always if unsure, purchase a sample first, to try and if the color works then go back with the formula information in hand to purchase.
Now I am going to try the Seattle Gray sample, will let you know the outcome. Anything is better then these 4 purple walls, lol.
We are going to use this grey in our upstairs which will be carpet. We are trying to pick out carpet to look good with it but struggling to find something that matches. Any suggestions on what to lean towards?
Never have I been more frustrated with trying to choose a paint color. Do you think agreeable grey can work as an overall color with oak cabinets &trim. I have tested it already and although I don’t see it on my sample board, I’m afraid it’s going to show purple, which I do not want. any thoughts or other suggestions on what will work with golden oak? Thanks!
Help! Went to SW to get this color made with your formula, but he couldn’t make a sample with those codes. So he pulled it from the computer using what he had as the Color Wheel formula. Instead of Gold for the last color it has “New Red”. What difference do you think this makes? I like it…but would I like it better made as you have it?? Any advice??
Actually it also has Raw Umber as the 2nd color also instead of Maroon.
Hi Elizabeth!
I am a huge fan of your blog, I have a very similar taste to yours when it comes to home decor/projects. Just wanted to say thank you so much for writing and posting this blog. The painters just left my house and I could not be happier with how beautiful this grey color came out on my walls. It doesn’t pull any blue or purple or pink or orange or green – it is grey through and through! We painted a room grey at our old home, it took so long to decide on a shade of grey, only to be disappointed by the blue hugh it was pulling under certain lighting. This “seattle grey” is really perfect for us – we are taking it through the entire house we love it so much! Thank you again for sharing, keep sharing your posts like this!! (Also, checked out your “9 popular grey paints” post – super helpful!)
Hi Lauren!!
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you not only joining me here on the blog, but for taking the time to leave this comment!! Beyond thankful for you for reading! I’m so excited that this color worked out for you just like it did for me. It truly is a spectacular gray. We painted our last kitchen gray only for it to turn out purple. I know the struggle! See you over on Instagram as well!
Elizabeth, first I want to thank you for this post and the 9 different grays. It really helped with the search for the perfect gray. There is another blog with Seattle formula but it is a lot darker then your formula. I have to say that the 125% (to make it darker) on your formula is the difference that makes this color great. So to help others, I want to say I went to Lowe’s and get the Seattle formula out of their computer, it was too light. I can see how can be compared to the LFG from SW. I had to go to a Sherwin Williams store (to use their tints) to get exactly your formula. And voila it is the perfect gray. One note I want to add: I tried to add black to the lighter one I got from Lowe’s and that basically turn my gray to purple.
Hi Denise! You are SO kind and you are very welcome. My goal is to always help others as they turn their house into a home. So, if it only helps one person, my job is done and I’m thrilled! So thank you for letting me know. Thank you for sharing what you learned and went through. Every little bit helps the readers that read this post. Enjoy your weekend!
I just went to Sherwin Williams today and they were able to mix Seattle from the database, so I assume it was at 100%, not 125% as shown on your label. It has ended up looking EXACTLY like SW Light French Gray. I literally can barely see a difference, as I have LFG on the wall already. So I’m a little disappointed, as LFG skews blue in my house.
Hi Jackie! Thank you for sharing this! Are you able to look at your label and see the percentage of your paint? I’ll be testing 9 different gray colors this weekend and Light French Gray is one of the samples I purchased today. I’ll make sure to do a comparison of Light French Gray and Seattle.
Hi Elizabeth, Thank you for this great tip. We just paid hundreds of $ to have a portion of our house painted by a contractor and the “Lazy gray” from SW turned out be blue! Both my husband and I just went to the house (we haven’t moved in yet), and needless to say, we are so disappointed. I was hoping to paint the whole downstairs neutral gray (family room has vaulted ceiling) and I am so stumped now. Also, what do the percentages 100% and 125% signify?
Yep. I feel your pain. Mine went blue too. I’m back to looking at BM Gray Owl and Stoneington, but have yet to decide.
I’m posting a blog post Monday of 9 different gray paint samples I went out and bought that seem to be the most popular ones you often hear about. I put them all to the test, placed them side-by-side on a white wall, and will be taking pictures of them in natural light and at night with lamps on. I’m hoping this post will help readers, like yourself, find the right gray color for your home since Seattle tends to be a hit or miss when mixed. I want to continue to help those trying to find the perfect gray. Especially when Seattle doesn’t work out!
I can only imagine how frustrated you guys are! Paint is such an amazing way to transform a home but such a hard decision when trying to find the perfect color. From what I understand, the percentages deal with the base white color and controls the paint color to be lighter or darker. For example, if the paint reads 50%, it’s 50% lighter.
It doesn’t have a % on the label so I only assume it’s at 100%.
I was glad i found this blog and was getting ready to ask SW to mix the formula for Seattle, but your formula turned out blue as well. So back to square one 🙁 .
I’m so glad you found the blog as well! I’m sorry that yours turned out blue. We went with Seattle because it’s a gray color no matter what the lighting is (natural light or with lamps) within our home. I’m noticing that some readers are having amazing results when mixing this paint and others have gotten a slightly different gray color depending on the percentage of white, the base white color used, etc. Not sure what the solution is with getting the exact color in my home.
I’m posting a blog post Monday of 9 different gray paint samples I went out and bought that seem to be the most popular ones you often hear about. I put them all to the test, placed them side-by-side on a white wall, and will be taking pictures of them in natural light and at night with lamps on. I’m hoping this post will help readers, like yourself, find the right gray color for your home since Seattle tends to be a hit or miss when mixed. I’m right here with you to continue to help those find the perfect gray when Seattle doesn’t work out!
Hello! By any chance would you know the formula for wavelength by Frazee?! Thank you!
I wish I could help but I don’t have it! Let me know if you find it. Love the color!
I just had a can of wavelength mixed at Sherwin Williams. They have the formula in their computer. The formula will change depending on the size and sheen, so it’s best to check with them.
Absolutely! Thank you for bringing this up as well!
OMG your blog was a god send. I normally go through 10-13 samples before finding a paint color that works. I tried one SW color that looked like a true, neutral gray (gray screen I think) and it instantly went purple on the wall. I then thought of your blog and since you seem every bit as hell-bent as me on finding a true gray, I had the CW Seattle mixed. I love it. It is perfect. You saved me many hours and dollars. Best of all, I truly love the color. I used it in a darkish, north facing bathroom and it is so soothing now. Thank you!!!
Hi Cathy! You have no idea how much I appreciate you leaving this comment! This is why I love to share. Glad it saved you some time (and money) since you didn’t have to buy as many samples. I can only imagine how great it looks in your bathroom! Great choice of space to try it in.
Thank you so much for this post! My husband and I recently bought our first home and the walls were a ghastly yellow (with some even worse accent walls that had some kind of faux finish in a swirled yellow). Similar to many of the folks on here, after looking at what seemed like every shade of gray and trying an expensive number of samples, everything looked blue on the walls! It was especially difficult because we have no overhead lights in this apartment and hadn’t bought floor lamps yet, so were going by just daylight through the windows. After stumbling across your post my local paint shop/hardware store was able to find Seattle in their system. We liked the sample and just had a painting company paint our apartment. The color looks FANTASTIC! (The base paint the store used was Benjamin Moore, but the paint is definitely a true gray. The company did two coats on the walls, and even the first one actually looked like the right color without primer).
I so THRILLED to read your comment!! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m glad I could save you some time, money, and that you love it as much as we do! Congratulations on the purchase of your first home!
Hi,
Thank you all the research you did to the find out the paint formula. I would like to know what color white you used for the baseboard? There are many it’s overwhelming
Hello Maritza! There are SO many and can be very overwhelming. I used Extra White by Sherwin Williams for all of my baseboards, trim, and doors. I hope this helps!
Thank you…I appreciated!
This color kind of remind me of repose gray by sherwin Williams. I think repose gray looks like a true gray!
Hi Kassie! Repose Gray is another amazing color by Sherwin Wiliams! Repose is slightly lighter than this color. It’s my second go-to! Thanks for stopping by.
I bought it, I hope it works for me. I love lighter colors and my husband likes darker.
Yay! Let me know how it turns out! Good luck painting!
Can you give me the formula code for this lovely gray paint? I do not see the formula code listed on this page.
Caroline,
Elizabeth posted her formula previously and she used SW Optima Supreme Satin and her label reflected 125% Formula. When I used this formula in my brother’s house, it was too dark for his 1949 cape cod (limited natural lighting) so I asked SW to do 85% formula and it turned out great. I will show the formula below in case you and others want to try it if Elizabeth’s formula does not work for you. We used ProMar 200 Flat:
CCE+COLORANT OZ 32 64 128
B1-Black 16 – 1
R2-Maroon 1 1 –
Y3-Deep Gold 5 – 1
It is my understanding from the SW guys here that different regions in the US use different bases so their Seattle formulas might also be a little different. I will say while our 85% formula is a little lighter than Elizabeth’s, both of them appear to me to be strictly gray and beautiful on the walls.
Good luck…
Dusty
Durham, NC
Thank you Dusty for the information. So glad to hear this paint color finally worked out for you!
Hi Carolina! I have the formula I used in an image posted in the blog post. Please let me know if you can’t find it!
Im going to try this tomorrow. I went to a sherman and williams and they found the seattle color by frazze. They did say they had two different ones in the system. well i got the 3213 one and it was gray but really light and felt like it almost had a blue look to it. I got it 50% darker and it looks really gray now but im going to try the one you have because it looks really good on your walls.
Hi! You have NO idea how happy I am you posted the formula! I had seen it on an IG post where she’d stated it was Seattle by Frazee, SW, and when I put it on my wall yesterday, I was a little disappointed to see it was darker than the photos. I just compared it to your formula and it varies a bit, so I am getting dressed and going NOW with your formula to get a sample. Thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!!!
I’m sorry did I miss what the formula is?
It’s one of the last few images towards the end of the post. Let me know if you can’t find it!
I am thinking of painting the exterior of my house this color, what do you think and what trim color would you use? shutters as well?
Hi Melody! What is the outside of your home? Wood siding, stucco, etc.? I think this would be a gorgeous color to use on the exterior of a home. Trim I would do a bright white like Extra White by Sherwin Williams. With the shutters, I would go with either a charcoal gray or black. It’s such a timeless look. Let me know what you end up going with!
Seattle Gray (Frazee now Sherwin Williams) Update.
I went into a local SW and took the various formulas that I had gotten sample of and have seen on this and other boards and asked them why the differences. They said when they took over Frazee and other companies, they calibrated these colors to match their paint system. They said it also depends on the type of paint that is being used and she ran me off one using their basic ‘cheapest’ paint and then did one for a medium contractor grade paint and, indeed, they formulas was a little different. I had gotten a quart sample as well as a gallon and the numbers were very different and she said that will happen whether it is a quart, gallon, or 5 gallon bucket. She also said SW out west might also have a different formula than here in NC which seems bizzare to me. I reached out to Erin (SunnySideUp) and she was kind enough to send me a recently purchased quart photo of her formula and it was very different than my quart formula. Erin’s had Black (B1) 3/1/1; Raw Umber (N1) 6/1/1; New Red (R4) -/1/- and mine had Black (B1) 5/-/-; Maroon (R2) -/1/-; Deep Gold (Y3) 1/1/1. I intend to follow up with Sherwin Williams corporate office/technical support just to understand better but I have to start painting an interior in a couple of days and it feels like the Seattle I got last is a little dark so I am getting one more gallon ‘sample’ in the same builder grade flat we intend to use ($27) at 75% to see if it feels right given the amount of natural light in this 1949 cape cod. Should be easier than this, imo. Dusty
Yesterday I posted in regards to the Seattle pain color. I brought the numbers you gave to my Sherwin Williams paint store and purchased a sample bottle. I painted a swatch next Tommy swatch of SW Repose Gray and the Seattle was darker! From all the pictures I’ve seen the Seattle looks very light and it isn’t I’m liking the Repose Gray better now! Oh well. That’s why I buy samples.
Hi Patricia! Thank goodness for paint samples! They come to my rescue all the time. It is slightly darker than Repose Gray (which is another favorite of mine). I would love to see your space painted in this color. Best of luck!
I was at a Sherwin Williams store this morning and explaining the color Seattle may be under Frazee paint. The man found three different combinations for Seattle. I’ll go back next week (there’s a sale here in Florida) and I’ll show them your paint can which I snap shot. I just decided to google this color and saw your story! Thank you very much.
Sounds like people are still running into difficulties getting this color. FYI I took a screenshot of the picture of her formula and went to my local Lowes home improvement (So California) I felt it was a shot in the dark but it was worth a try before searching for a Sherwin Williams store. The employee at Lowes was able to take the information right from the can and locate it in their computer system within about 2minutes!!! She mixed a sample and rubbed it in a white card. We both fell in love instantly. I purchased iand rolled it without even sampling it. I couldn’t be happier with the results.
Hi Tamara! I’m thrilled that you tried this color and love it! It certainly is a stunning color for any home. And yes, I agree! There are still some bumps in the road when trying to find this color. Thank you for sharing your tip! I’ve updated my blog post to hopefully help others. It is best to take the formula on my paint can and have any home improvement store match it. It’s crazy how some Sherwin Williams are varying in the hues of this color.
Elizabeth,
I liked your photos and I saw your paint can shows you did 125% Formula and I wanted to ask if you originally tried the standard 3213 Seattle and found it to be too light?
I just bought a gallon of the standard and it had the same B1-Black (22) but had different Maroon and Deep Gold.
The popular SunnysideUp website which seems to have started the Seattle buzz just said it was Seattle by Frazee (that I could find) and I have seen several sightly different formulas online so trying to find the best one to use.
Any thoughts would be appreciated as I am doing a renovation in NC and scheduled to paint next week
Dusty
Hi Dusty! I went with what the Sherwin Williams employee recommended for this color. I found Seattle in Color Wheel’s color sample swatches. They created it using the sample and pulling the information from their data base. They did have Color Wheel paint on hand to mix it in. Did you try mixing the Seattle in a Sherwin Williams paint?
Elizabeth,
I initially for a sample size at Sherwin Williams and the formula had a lot less Black (B1) and it was too light so I went back and ask if using flat might appear little darker (less sheen less light reflection) and the SW rep said that is true somewhat so I got a gallon of flat. As my email to you showed, the formula I got was the same amount of black your label showed but the Maroon and Deep Gold were different. You would think Sherwin Williams would have a standard formula for 3213 Seattle. It would be great if Erin at the sunnysideupblog would reveal her Seattle formula. Even if it was a Frazee paint, the specific mix of colors in her Seattle paint could be duplicated by Sherwin Williams to create her ‘perfect gray paint’ for all of us.
Dusty
Just when I was going to give up I came across your blog! Just moved into a new (older) home and all the walls are a ugly tan. Ugh. I think I have tried a dozen gray paint samples and they all look blue or purple. My question is….dif you prime your orange wall before painting? I was told to get the true gray I will need to prime. Oy…I really fo not want to! Your home looks beautiful! Thank you.
Hi Rebecca! I went through the same thing. I painted the kitchen of my first home gray only for it to take on a purple hue. I repainted it the next day! That’s a great question. I didn’t prime any of my orange walls but I did buy a higher priced paint that had primer mixed in. It helped tremendously and only took two coats to cover up the orange. Didn’t change the color of the gray at all. Please let me know if you have any other questions! I’d love to help.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I have been having the exact same problem and just found your site. Thank you for sharing this Seattle information with us!
Hi Emily! I’m thrilled to hear that this post helped you and saved some time hopefully! It was certainly challenging to find this paint but so worth it.
I just bought a house and I have a whole Pinterest board of grays, whites and navy’s! I had pinned the article you reference using Seattle by Sherwin Williams. I am sooo happy I found your post before I began the hunt for this color. Thank you so much for sharing this! Such a huge help 🙂
How exciting is this!? I’m thrilled you found this blog post and hope it saves some time. Congrats on the new house by the way. Let me know if you have any questions!
What a neat color! What accents do you think you’ll add to it? I read this really interesting blog the other day that suggested that we can affect the mood of the room with what colors we add to it. http://tpmfl.com/blog-post/how-color-affects-mood-for-your-home/
Isn’t it!? The amazing thing I love about this color, is just about any color will go. I’m going to be adding a lot of whites, using greenery, and pops of navy or mint. And I couldn’t agree more with the article. There are even colors we naturally avoid, often for no reason. Thanks for checking out my blog post!
You are amazing! I’m sitting in my living room with six paint splashes on the wall and I HATE THEM ALL!! I’ve heard about this color but the task of finding it seemed too stressful (especially since this project already has me stressed out) Thank you!
I am so excited to hear this!! I have been there way too many times with the paint splashes all over the place. I literally painted a sample spot on almost every wall in the rooms I wanted to paint this color just to make sure. So glad I could take some of the headache out of finding this color. It was for sure an adventure. I would love to see a picture once you’re done!