How. Is. This. Possible?!?

I'm really here today, blogging on a Sunday, just an hour before an incredibly important Ravens game, because I need some confirmation that I'm not plain crazy (or blind, but that's actually debatable). Here's what happened...

Remember how I linked to Decor Chick's blog in my last post to show you that she too had paint-selection issues and I wasn't the only one? So I decided that I liked the color she chose (SW Balanced Beige) so much that I'd just go buy a sample can of it. I was pretty confident that I'd love either that one or the other one she was looking at seriously, SW Windsor Greige.

Here are her swatches to remind you what those colors look like:

Especially note in this photo how they look next to her white trim to give you a truer sense of their shades and values since her walls are a very warm color already.

You can see that they are nice, cool, neutral colors. They're that delicate mix of beige and gray that I'm trying to pinpoint. This is why I was so certain that one of those two colors would be "The ONE."

Furthermore, here is here finished living room and entry hallway that she painted Balanced Beige.

Lovely, right? Almost precisely the look I'd love to achieve. So finally, I've found these two colors that are actual serious contenders and I really really like them. I ran out to the Sherwin Williams store on Friday night and just grabbed sample cans of each because I was that confident. I wish I would have known that Sherwin Williams sample cans are much bigger than Lowe's or Home Depot, and cost about $3 more as well :/ Lesson learned.

So I rush home and can. not. wait. to put this paint on my walls and begin an agonizing debate over which PERFECT color I'm going to choose since both are just so close to what I want. And here's how they looked...

Balanced Beige (same color as Decor Chick's living room above) on top, Windsor Greige on bottom.

Is it me, or do they not look at all like her swatches? I mean, I know lighting and my God-forsaken blue walls do play a part, but I was stunned and instantly disappointed. So-called "Balanced Beige" looks exactly like a brown paper bag. How is it so light, and mid, and so much grayer/more soothing on her walls?

I really thought the samples she painted looked a lot like the samples I had been pouring over. But as a comparison, here are my samples with Balanced Beige and Windsor Greige at the bottom.

 You can see that those two colors are drastically darker than the ones I've been considering and seriously make me afraid that if my whole house was that color it would look like we were in a cardboard box/paper bag. If you haven't noticed, I'm really really trying to avoid that effect.

Here they are on a wall by themselves away from the other samples.

And one more time in a different spot near the other samples.

And for good measure, in the kitchen on an already neutral-colored wall.

So am I nuts? Or do they look dramatically different in my house than in her pictures? I really started to think maybe I was losing my mind. They do admittedly look a little better in the kitchen without the blue around them. These pictures were all taken in daylight though, and I'm really afraid that on a cloudy day, or in the evening, or in artificial light they're really going to look like cardboard. It's possible that they'll be nice and cozy but right now they just look dark and scary to me. I will try painting a bigger swatch, but I also don't want to have to prime over the swatches if we go with a lighter color.

This morning I went back to my paint chips and started reconsidering them now that I'm leaning more in the direction of a cooler neutral. 

I narrowed those down to about 10 that I think are honest contenders. I guess we'll see though. For now, it's game time. Good luck, boys!!

And Happy Birthday to the best (and most adorable) running back in the NFL, Ray Rice!