As some of you may know, we’re finally renovating our guest bathroom.  It’s a bit of a good news/bad news deal.  Good news:  I have many of the major components [vanity, wall sconces, canned lighting, fan, bathtub, toilet, crown, base and door casing selected; bad news:  I’ve decided to select a paint color with a hint of gray  to it to go with the Carrara (thanks to Vignette Design for setting me straight on the spelling) marble vanity top and floor.

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The vanity we have ordered (below) is a Pottery Barn design.  Due to limited space in the guest bathroom we choose this little 26″ wide piece.  The counter-top is Carrara marble, and is part of the reason I’m looking at gray paint.

This is the recessed mirror/medicine cabinet we’ve ordered.  The wood looks aged and has a little white/gray to it.

The wall sconces we’re using are these Pottery Barn beauties.   Again, I think they lend themselves to the gray I have in my mind…yet to be found!

I visit a lot of blog sites and am almost always impressed with how lovely rooms can look with gray paint.  However, I get to the store and am overwhelmed by all of the shades of gray to choose from, not to mention the samples they offer are the size of a postage stamps and it can be difficult to select from that sample.

While I love this bathroom by Jill Sharp Brinson, I believe it’s too dark for my small space.

This paint (below) is “Natures Essentials” by Benjamin Moore…its very close to what I imagine but I couldn’t find the color at my hardware store today so the search continues.

This gray and white (below) is lovely but may be a little dark, the room in the image is quite bright and cheery so it can handle the darker paint.

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What’s that you say, just buy the little sample pots so many paint companies offer?  Let me just say this about that…they rarely have the color in sample size that I’m interested in and when they do it can be pretty pricey.  Does this ever happen to you?

I love the gray of this room (below) and the black and white accents are something that appeals to me.

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This soft gray is perfect but I don’t have the name of the paint so the search continues.

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Polished Pebble recently redid a bathroom in their Ojai home and I love the  Cararra trim accent used with the white subway tile.  I’m following her design idea and using 12″ Cararra tile on the floor.

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This is a pretty pale shade of gray that accents the blue and white beautifully.

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This taupe-gray (below) is what I really envision.  Love this room!

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Heirloom Philosophy painted her living room recently a Farrow & Ball color called Hardwick White.  I like the contrast with the white trim, which is what I’ll be using on the crown, base and door casing.  What do you think?  It’s hard to see the actual color on a computer screen, don’t you agree?

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On the right (below) is Hardwick White; on the left (below) is Lamp Room Gray, both by Farrow & Ball

So I’m doing my due diligence and revisiting some of the beautiful gray rooms I’ve seen on various sites and then I’m going straight to my friends for honest input and advice.  Isn’t that always the best anyway.

I will be posting before and after photos once we’re underway.  Meanwhile, while I try to compile all of the components I welcome any and all input from you, my faithful readers.

Meanwhile, if any of you have a wonderful gray paint color you’d like to share please email me.

Images: 1. Vignette Design; 2., 6.,  7. & 8. Heirloom Philosophy; 3. & 4. Griege ; 5. Polished Pebble