The deed is done. Our foyer is freshly painted and it already feels transformed.
The space seems a foot taller and at least two feet wider than before—such is the subtle magic of paint.
This photo captures the color best: a soft neutral that shifts with the light. It reads like a balanced blend of sand and greige—neither too cool nor too warm—and looks lovely against the crisp white trim.
We tested a handful of swatches before deciding, and after comparing options in a makeshift palette we narrowed it down.
In the end we went with Good ol’ Edgecomb Gray. Despite the name, it reads warmer than a true gray—closer to what most people call greige. Interestingly, it didn’t look right in our last house, but here it’s perfect. Lighting, room orientation, and surrounding finishes can change how a color reads, so a swatch that fails in one space can sing in another. Given how many rooms connect to the foyer, that adaptability made the choice easier—and that felt important since this color needed to coordinate with a lot of surrounding spaces.
The foyer connects to four rooms on the main level, flows up the stairs, and opens into a hallway that leads to six more rooms. Because it ties all those spaces together, we wanted a neutral that would work with many different palettes.
Before painting we filled small nail holes with spackle and primed the patched spots as well as any exposed drywall left from our wallpaper removal adventures. Once the prep was done it was time to paint.
We used Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray in an eggshell finish from their no-VOC Natura line. The walls needed just two coats; the trim, however, took four. John handled the rolling while I cut in around chair rail, crown molding, baseboards, and seven doorways. It’s always funny how fast rolling goes compared to cutting in, but the careful edging made a huge difference in the final result.
I love this color so much I could sing about it—though my dance moves would likely ruin the performance. It’s one of those paints that changes throughout the day: at times it reads like a pale, platinum cloud and at others it warms up to a richer, milk-coffee tone. The overall effect is airy and breezy, like a beach sky tempered by cozy warmth.
After painting, we swapped the old yellowed outlets and switches for bright white ones. It’s a simple, inexpensive update, but paired with fresh paint it really helps the space feel refreshed and modern.
We’re excited to add art to the walls and continue updating other rooms, though painting the rest of the house is a future mountain to climb (note to self: one project at a time).
We added a pop of color to the front door to make a focal point, and the white trim and doors help tone that down so it isn’t overpowering. The neutral walls combined with dark floors and hardware keep the space grounded. The light fixture is still on my list to update to an oil-rubbed-bronze finish.
I like a particular angle of the stairs where the blue spindles near the top almost read as black—they shift with the light. We’re considering painting the spindles white eventually, which will require several coats, and we’d love to ebonize the top portion of the railing to match the dark hardware throughout the house.
For now, we’re savoring the victory of finishing a lot of trim, doors, chair rail, and crown molding, and of getting a fresh, cohesive color on the walls.
Change is good.
More Of Favorite Paint Colors
If you’re having trouble choosing the right paint color, check out these detailed posts where we share our favorite picks and why they work:
- The 12 Best White Paint Colors
- Benjamin Moore Simply White
- Sherwin-Williams Pure White
- Sherwin-Williams Extra White