My Eyes Hurt

My parents are arriving in a few weeks to transform our dining room from perfectly fine to absolutely marvelous (I hope, once I get those new sofas!) We are painting, crown moold-ing and whatever else ignites our fancy. (Maybe paint the stairwell and upstairs hall, perhaps paint the brick on the fireplace???)
Before that, I am desperately trying to find a paint color that complements our awesome dining room color of Sweatshirt Grey (totally looks better than it sounds!) Hence, the eye hurting from staring at paint colors that look different but similar enough to make it hard!

The living room is open to the dining room and while it is not totally open concept, you stare at one room from the other, so I want flow! A few months ago, I went on the search for some new paint colors and thought I stumbled upon the right color - I wanted something complimentary and grey and cool, but not too cold. I wanted the room to still feel warm and welcoming. The nice lady at the local paint store helped me to find some colors with brown in them that would warm it up a bit. I thought I had settled on Harbor Gray from Benjamin Moore. On Monday, I had it color matched at Sherwin Williams because they are having a sale and a HUGE sample was only 4 bucks! Yesterday, I added some swatches to the walls.

Eh, I wasn't sold. It feels a little icy for me. My friend, Aimee, happened to be over and I asked her what she thought. Her answer, "Are you going for a cool look?" That helped me seal the deal. While I want it to be coolish to compliment the dining room, I certainly don't want it to be cold.

So, back to the paint store today and I found a few more colors that might be a bit warmer, (with the help of another person at the paint store.) One of the colors was actually one of the original contenders that I pushed aside the other month. Oops, I guess 2 recommendations from the paint people can't be ignored. The 3rd color is a color I saw in a model home that I loved. It is reading more brown in my house than it was in that home - it definitely was more grey there.

Anyway, enough chit-chat here are some pics. I put some swatches all throughout the room in differently lighted areas. I was just back upstairs and it looks different to me already than before.

The top color is Harbor Gray by Benjamin Moore. The middle is Smoke Embers by Benjamin Moore and the bottom is Perfect Greige from Sherwin Williams. Smoke Embers is looking a little purple here but it doesn't in real life.

While I do like the taupe-y color, it is a little more brown that I want. But, I know my husband will like that one best. They look differently in the room than they do in these pictures too of course. Not sure if I am sold yet, I need to live with it for a while. I do know that Harbor Gray, the top color is out - much too cold!