In a practical sense, you don’t want to buy a can of paint you aren’t going to use, nor do you want to paint your walls one color to find out that it doesn’t match your furniture, or that it looks strange in the light of that room. Put simply, being sure of the right color is important.
Boothbay Gray by Benjamin Moore is another iconic color from this architectural coatings company which is enjoyed by many interior and home decorators.
If someone, such as your interior designer, has recommended this color, it’s worth knowing a few things about the paint, its values, and what it goes with, so you don’t waste any money or time on your project.
We’ve done the research so you can get back to what is likely a time sensitive project, today. Keep reading to learn more about Boothbay Gray by Benjamin Gray, as well as what we think about it, below.
What Is Boothbay Gray By Benjamin Moore?
In simple terms, this is simply a color of paint sold exclusively by the architectural coatings company Benjamin Moore.
The latter company is not a designer but the name of the company’s founder and also the company. The main color of the paint is gray, and it is referred to as Boothbay Gray.
Benjamin Moore describes Boothbay Gray as ‘A fresh, steely gray with hints of blue.’ It is the hints or undertones of blue that make it so desirable, and iconic, but also somewhat hard to work with.
What Color Actually Is Boothbay Gray?
‘Gray’ being the named color is due to it being the paint’s primary color. You would generally describe this paint as gray, but it does have hints of blue leading many to call it a ‘blue gray’.
As a result of these blue undertones the shade has brought it to life and makes it feel quite fresh rather than the dull and boring attributes we ascribe to a generic gray.
The blue undertones certainly ascribe the paint with a freshness and bring the gray to life, rather than allowing it to become dull and neutral.
This said, the blue and gray together does make the shade a dark shade. In other words, it’s certainly not a cool or light gray color, but an understanding of its LRV, Light Reflective Value, can certainly help us understand how it interacts with light.
What Is The LRV Of Boothbay Gray?
LRV simply means light reflective value and can help us understand how light or dark a color is, and ultimately how it might interact with light as a result.
Think of a brilliant true white color as 100, that would reflect all light, while 0 would be completely oblique and absorb light.
Boothbay Gray, in this situation, has an LRV of 48, which is darker than average. As a result we can consider Boothbay Gray to be a darker, warmer color than it is light.
This will affect how it interacts with light and ultimately how and where we use it.
What Kind Of Light Suits Boothbay Gray?
As we just learned, Boothbay Gray does have a lower than average lightness, meaning it is dark. As a result it’s not going to reflect light particularly well, but if anything it could absorb some light.
Taking this into account, we think it makes sense to use Boothbay Gray in a room that gets a good amount of natural light.
With lots of natural light streaming in, Boothbay Gray will absorb part of it but generally keep a room feeling quite fresh and neutral, in a good way. This could be ideal for a living room, or even for a kitchen that gets a lot of light.
Even in the dark natural light, but with artificial lights, Boothbay Gray could be a little too dark in a room when covering every wall.
One way it might be good to use it, as a result, is to use it in combination with wallpaper, with the Gray on the wall that gets a lot of light.
Tips On Using Boothbay Gray
For one, we think that Boothbay Gray isn;t a good color to use on your trim, which could be obvious, but with a white trim on a wall that has Boothbay Gray, this could be ideal.
Framing a darker color like Boothbay Gray with a bright white can help reduce how dark the walls are but still use the gray to balance out the light in a room.
If you don’t have a trim, try to pair Boothbay Gray with other white colors on features instead.
For example, a classic white steel radiator would be the perfect accompaniment to a wall with Boothbay Gray, but you could even go for shelves, cabinets, or white frames on art, for a similar effect.
A similar trick is to use large mirrors on the walls, this can help reflect the light that would be absorbed by the Boothbay Gray, but reflecting it in this way also makes the
If you are using Boothbay Gray in a room that does have lots of natural light then the blue undertones will come out more and the paint will look a little lighter and bluer, which can be desirable in certain situations, allowing the shade to work reasonably well in both dark and light settings.
One way Boothbay Gray works well is in a room that generally has a lot of features. For example a kitchen that features a lot of white surfaces, or even has light colored wood tops, would look great with Boothbay Gray. Ideally you want to opt for lighter colored features than darker.
Comparatively, another way to use Boothbay Gray is when a room has lots of complex patterns.
For example, if you used it in a living room that has some fairly neutral features, you could use some eye-catching and complex patterns on things like a throw, a rug, or cushions, all of which stand out well against the fairly neutral gray.
Matching other wall colors with Boothbay Gray can be a bit harder. Next to a green or blue wall this blue undertone really shines but in turn makes it quite dark.
Comparatively, next to a red or purple it might actually make the Boothbay Gray look a little lighter. So, bear in mind what other colors you might be matching with.
We would suggest never matching it with black, or hte room would be too dark, but white is arguably a perfect color to showcase the nuances of the gray shade.
Final Thoughts
As should be clear, Boothbay Gray is a highly rated and high quality shade of gray paint.
Benjamin Moore are known for thor paints for good reason, they uniquely combine their paints in a way where they gain a strong undertone.
In the example of Boothbay Gray it’s mainly so unique thanks to the nature of its blue undertone.
The blue undertone in Boothbay Gray is really good and really helps brighten up and freshen up what is usually quite a dross and dull color.
Instead Boothbay Gray is a really great way to freshen up a room with neutral color and still having lots of versatile opportunities to color match, feature match, and match with furniture.
Overall, Boothaby Gray is a really versatile blue gray shade we would recommend.
Whatever you choose to do with your can of Boothbay Gray from Benjamin Moore, we would suggest making sure you can use some form of sample before committing to buying a whole can, and especially before painting a whole room.
Get a swatch to figure out what works best and catch any hiccups before they occur.
I’m Ida Oliveira, and now I want to impart my knowledge of all things interior design onto you. If you’re going through the same process of designing your house, I want to help.
So, I hope that you’ll find everything you need to know on my website. If I make the process even a little easier and more fun for you, Alexander and Pearl will have done its job.
![ow To Design A Room Like An Interior Designer [Step By Step]](https://alexanderandpearl.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/How-Much-Does-A-Pop-Up-Camper-Weigh-33.jpg "How To Design A Room Like An Interior Designer [Step By Step]")
