This paint trick for a dark room is a great way to brighten up a dark space with just a few words to the person at the paint counter.
As much as I loooove our porches on the outside of our house (we have 3!) it really takes away from our natural light. Especially in our kitchen.
I found out a trick a little while ago when we did our bedroom makeover. I found a paint color I loved, but it was just too dark for our room. I asked the person at the paint counter to lighten it by 50%, which means that they only use half of the pigment.
I LOVE Revere Pewter in our house. It looks different in every room, but it always looks good. It’s a true “greige” (gray/beige) without any funny undertones.
See all of our modern farmhouse paint colors in our home here.
Butttt I was a little worried it was going to be too dark in our dark kitchen. So how do you use a paint color you love – but might be too light in a dark room?
My best paint trick for a dark room:
All you have to do it ask the person at the paint desk to lighten up your paint by a certain percentage. When they lighten a paint color 25%, they use 75% of the pigment, etc.
It will still keep the same undertones of the full strength color, but will just be lightened up accordingly.
I ended up lightening up Revere Pewter by 75%. I figured I might as well be “bold” and lighten it up a lot!
I really wish I had some fun finished pictures for you – but…not yet. Right now I’m just painting at night while my kiddos are sleeping and doing it one section at a time.
And just LOOK at how well it turned out! We’re so happy – the lightening of the Revere Pewter was just what this room needed! See the whole finished space here.
See the whole plan for this room right here
Make sure you’re following on Instagram to get all of my behind-the-scenes looks into our projects in my stories!
What a great tip!! Our house is also darker because there are so many mature trees outside our windows, plus a big sunroom on the back of the house. So I tend to go with beiges to keep walls light. But this might be a good way to get color, but lighter. Thanks for the tip!
This is a great tip! Can’t wait to see the reveal.
What do you think about revere pewter for a master bedroom.our house is dark because we have mature trees all the way around the house
What color is your trim?
Hey there. I’ve been to 3 different Benjamin Moore paint stores and not one of them knew how to lighten the color or darken. They said they can’t. I’m at a loss and not sure what to do 😫
Oh nooo! I’m so sorry that’s so frustrating and they should definitely know how to do that! I got mine done at Lowe’s before. They will match Benjamin Moore colors too. I’ve never had them give me an issue with that request!
Thank you so much for this awesome post! We just bought a new house and found out that all of the walls were revere pewter except for the family room which was this awful yellowy tan. Thanks to your blog, we ended up doing the 75% lightened revere pewter and it has made a world of difference for our family room while still complementing the rest of the house!
Do you happen to have any photos? I recently painted our dining room at 50% and it was still dark – curious how 75% is? Thanks!
Hi all!
I would like to lighten a paint color too (it’s REPOSE GRAY). But how do I know how light to go? 50, 60, 75% et cet?
My foyer/hallway is painted in MINDFUL GRAY, and I want my kitchen to be in REPOSE GRAY. But I know you’re supposed to go 2 shades lighter or darker, and REPOSE GRAY is only 1 shade lighter than MINDFUL GRAY, not 2.
Any suggestions on how light to go with REPOSE GRAY?
Thanks to you all,
Carla
Found you while researching Accessible Beige and your tip was genius! Our painter never even heard of lighting color by asking for a % reduction in strength. I went 25% Horsepower and it was like painting with a cream with beige undertones. Perfect1. So happy I found your blog.
My kitchen is dark. I am trying to decide on revere pewter mixed at 25% lighter. My trim is edgecomb gray. Will this be enough contrast? My ceiling will be dove white dove.