Color Match is not an Exact Science

I am really stumped on going gray. I cannot for the life of me decide which gray works the best in my living room!!! It's driving me daft, honestly. So I shared the tale of my madness in running out and buying 6 sample pots of gray only to ultimately decide I needed to wait for my new curtains. So, I waited. And then, they arrived! Oh, happy day!!!

So I, of course, immediately hung the curtains. The first thing I realized is that I am going to need to buy a silver curtain rod and hang it higher to the ceiling so the fabric doesn't puddle as much on the ground (it's been on my to-do list for 3 years...). The second thing I realized is--the two panels will DO it. I don't have to buy additional panels to cover the entire window--these rock it out. Bonus points? The fabric has some linen in it so it adds texture to the room and the lining does a fabulous job of blocking light but still allows for some light. Here are a couple close encounters so you can see what I am talking about.

So now that I have my curtains, I thought for sure I would immediately latch onto the perfect color. But the opposite happened. I didn't like any of the shades I tested. In the picture just above, you can see the first color I actually bought the gallon of paint of Behr paint color-matched to Benjamin Moore's Gray Husky.  Against the curtains, it looked even more green. But what really got me was every time I held the paint deck up against the curtains, it looked ahmazing. It looked gray. But on the wall, it looked green.  

So I thought I might as well take the chance and go to the master and get a sample of the real thing.  I got a couple of test pots from Benjamin Moore in Gray Husky and Gray Owl. (In hindsight, I should have also bought a test pot of Silver Chain, since that is one shade lighter than Gray Husky. Dang.)  I put the Benjamin Moore paint test colors on the wall right next to the Behr color-matched swatches, and lo and behold, this is what you see: 

The color on the top is the Benjamin Moore Gray Husky. The color right below it is the Behr Color Match to Gray Husky. W.O.W. Quite the difference, hmm?  It is more gray if you go with the real thing.  To the left of the Behr Color Match is Gray Owl. As you can see in the picture below, there is a slight green tint to it as well. 

In fact, Gray Owl reads to me as a darker shade of the color I already have on my walls, Benjamin Moore's Titanium. Since I am ready for a change, I do not think it will be Gray Owl. But neither am I completely sold on Gray Husky. Do I like it? Heck yes, now that it's the actual color! Does it go with the curtains? Definitely. Am I ready to commit? Heck, no!   

People, I need help (mental help?!). I am now on my seventh test pot and no closer to Neverland. 

I was talking to my friend Alma the past week about my dilemma and she said something along the lines of how it's because they don't look like me. I like the dark, dark colors. I am mostly drawn to charcoal gray and black and the inky depths of the Bermuda seas. This could be why I am struggling with going gray. I love gray, and I love gray rooms, but they aren't quite getting me there. 

I don't feel like my upstairs can handle going all dark. Being a split-level, where the rooms are all open to each other, the colors have to have flow. So now, I am stuck. Do I bite the bullet and go with Gray Husky and give it a chance? Do I go white like my favorite inspiration shots in Room and Board? (All white strikes me as pretty boring, though....) Do I do one accent wall in a dark color?