Can You Add More White to Grey Paint to Make It Lighter?

How to Lighten

• Consider the hue of the original paint. When lightening a pastel shade of grey, adding a small amount of white is going to have a big impact. Add a little white into your grey paint, then mix and test the result, continuing in this way until you find the perfect combination. With darker hues you might find that it takes a lot more white paint to noticeably lighten your color.

  Adding white paint will reduce the brightness of your grey, cooling the color and its vibrancy. This will be most noticeable when lightening warm shades of grey, such as taupe or greige.

Sheen

• In addition to finding the perfect balance of color, it’s important to ensure that your grey and white paint are in the same, or similar, sheens. For example, mixing a semigloss paint with a gloss may lead to an “in-between” sheen. However, mixing a flat paint with a semigloss can lead to streaks and other problems when you apply the result to your wall. For best results, ensure that both are the same sheen, and fully stir both paints before combining, so that colorants aren’t left at the bottom of the can.

How Much?

• An important tip is that accurately mixing a second batch of this DIY tinted paint may be next to impossible. The biggest issue when mixing your paint at home is color consistency. According to the Home Depot paint calculator, one gallon of paint will cover approximately 350 square feet; mix more than you think you'll need to avoid consistency problems. You can use a 5-gallon bucket with a secure lid to combine two gallons of grey paint with the desired amount of white paint (or vice versa for darker hues). For future touch-ups, save a swatch of your custom blend. Stir the paint thoroughly to mix it and then allow the stir stick to dry. Then write the name of the room on which you used this blend. If you do ever need to order up a new batch of custom paint, the professionals at your local paint store may be able to color-match based on this swatch.

Mixing

• No matter how much paint you ultimately mix up, it’s important to mix it thoroughly. Paint a few small spots on each wall or paint a piece of foam board and move it around the room. This allows you to check the color in different lighting.