Sherwin Williams Big Chill: Paint Color Review
A popular gray paint color for GOOD REASONS!
While Pinterest has been paying homage to the warmer end of the gray world with colors like Sherwin Williams Repose Gray and Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter, one color has been patiently waiting for its time in the sun (or in the shade, more appropriately), and its time has come!
Or maybe not. Gray isn’t the hot shade it once was, and I receive about 80% fewer requests for it in my Online Color Consulting. However, there are still those out there looking for their perfect shade of gray, and this just might be it.
WHAT TYPE OF GRAY IS BIG CHILL?
Big Chill is a soft, cool-toned gray. However, just because it’s cool doesn’t mean it’s icy cold. Rather than being a traditional gray, Big Chill has an almost stormy approach compared to more icy crisp gray paint colors. When I have clients looking for the elusive ‘perfectly neutral gray paint color (which doesn’t exist, by the way), Big Chill is often one of the colors I suggest.
Why doesn’t a perfect neutral, fool-proof gray exist?
Because there is no such thing as a fool-proof neutral, you know, that ONE COLOR that works everywhere, every time? Nope – it’s all a lie. There are so many things to consider – exposure, flooring, countertops, light bulbs, personal tastes, and how much wine you’ve been drinking. A perfect color for one room can be terrible in another, just based on a change in the environment or personal perception.
Anyway, let’s get back to Big Bad Chilly.
WHAT’S BIG CHILL’S LRV?
With an LRV of 62, Big Chill is considered a light color. There are light colors that can totally wash out when hit with natural light and light colors that lean to the heavier side. This one sits RIIIIIGHT in the middle.
It will hold itself well in a darker, more shadowed room (that has enough artificial light) and a reasonably well-lit room, only washing out a bit at the height of the day. However, if your room gets a ‘more than average’ hit of natural light, it will wash out, as will any neutral in this range.
Not sure what LRV is? It could save your paint-lovin’ life – read all about it HERE.
WHAT ARE BIG CHILL’S UNDERTONES?
If you like slightly cool grays that give the illusion of having no undertones, you might love Big Chill. If you prefer obviously warm grays, you need to get the heck outta Dodge and go to this blog post instead.
This is because Big Chill has a very passive blue undertone. While it can politely nod at the other gray undertones, it’s not as flexible as other gray paint colors. Some blue undertones are crisper and lean easily into the other undertones—not Big Chill. As mentioned earlier, this beautiful shade of gray usually favors a soft stormy look—not traditionally warm, but not icy cold.
See how lighting can affect how a color looks? The picture on the left with the lights on shows how Big Chill can flash a cool gray-blue. The photo on the right with the lights off shows Big Chill at its natural best.
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BIG CHILL IN A NORTH-FACING ROOM
While there are always other factors to consider, you can expect Big Chill to look a wink cooler in a north-facing room as the gray natural light slightly enhances the cool tones of this color.
BIG CHILL IN A SOUTH-FACING ROOM
In a room with southern exposure, Big Chill may wash out a smidge at the height of the day, but most of the time, it should act like a soft, cool, but generally neutral gray.
Here’s your Peel & Stick sample of Big Chill!
You can also jazz up Big Chill with a feature wall. Check it out in this gorgeous bedroom. MAD LOVE!
WHAT’S THE BEST WHITE TRIM COLOR WITH BIG CHILL?
When I use Big Chill, there’s a range of white paint colors I consider, depending on the look I want…
- Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace or Sherwin Williams High Reflective White work when I want a cleaner contrast (with Chantilly Lace being the softer of the two)
- Sherwin Williams Pure White when I want a contrast that’s clear, but a bit gentler and softer.
SHOULD You Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets WHITE? A Questionnaire
WHAT COLORS ARE SIMILAR TO BIG CHILL?
Good for you for asking! One of the most important parts of finding your best paint color is to sample and compare similar shades! While you won’t find an exact match for ANY color between brands, however, there are some with similar intentions…
- Sherwin Williams On the Rocks is awesome. It has a similar approach but a bit more of a purple undertone. Believe it or not, a purple undertone suits more interior finishes than blue!
- Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray. Big Chill is lighter and also a bit more neutral-looking, whereas Stonington has just a wink and a more stormy blue undertone.
- Sherwin Williams First Star has the same intentions with its undertone and general look but is lighter with its LRV of 69.
And if you’re thinking of color matching between brands (ie: getting BM to make an SW paint color), you might want to read THIS first.
Read more: Paint Color Review: Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray
Big Chill is also in the running with Benjamin Moore Gray Owl as one of the TOP cool gray paint colors. Compare the two and see how Gray Owl picks up a touch of green (as well as blue) undertone in comparison to Big Chill. Big Chill MIGHT pick up a green – if you have grass, trees or Kermit outside your window which can reflect their green tones slightly onto the walls.
Read more: Paint Color Review: Benjamin Moore Gray Owl
There are SO many beautiful grays to choose from! Deciding which one is BEST for you and your home involves looking not just at your exposure and landscaping, but also at the hard and soft surfaces of your home such as flooring, countertops, linens and of COURSE – personal taste!
What are the best paint colors to put with Big Chill?
Welllll, Big Chill is a WEE bit fussy but does have a few good partners…
- some grays that are darker than it with a blue undertone
- navy blue can be gorgeous with Big Chill!
- Big Chill doesn’t love many strong cream, beige, tan or greige paint colors – there are only a few exceptions (mostly in the off-white range)
Not sure if Big Chill is the color for you? I’ve got more!
Paint Color Review: Sherwin Williams Crushed Ice
The Most TRUE GRAY Paint Colors with No Undertones
Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams On the Rocks
Paint Color Review of Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray
Paint Color Review of Sherwin Williams Silverplate
Need help picking YOUR perfect gray?
Check out my affordable Virtual Color Consulting packages!
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN 2018, UPDATED IN 2021
What a great note – thank you! It’s input like this that helps other readers decide whether a colour could work for them – I’m so glad you’ve found my site handy!
I just painted my son’s room Smoke Embers by Benjamin’s Moore (color matched by Sherwin Williams) but I see strong lavender undertones. I am wanting to repaint it and thinking about SW Silverplate. What undertones should I be aware of with it?
Abigail
Hi Abigail! Yes, that can happen with Smoke Embers as in the ‘gray’ world it leans more to the purple side than the blue/green. I actually LOVE Silverplate. It has just a very vague blue undertone, but it’s not too icy. I find it’s more what people ‘expect’ when they think of a typical gray colour.
I hope that helps!
~Kylie
We painted with this color in our previous house as well and all I saw was purple !
I made a mistake and used the Big Chill in my great room and in half of the room it reads a purple undertone. It looks best with natural light and stay away from reddish orange tones because you willl see a lavender hue.
Hmmm, that is odd for Big Chill, if anything it’s cousin On the Rocks would be more inclined to do that – thanks for letting me know!
~Kylie
Thank you for this article. I had been looking at Big Chill, and then googled the name and found your article. Your thoughts and photos confirmed this was the color for my newly renovated bathroom. I just LOVE it – I am not a huge fan of the all-neutral color schemes that are so popular now, because I love color and colorful art, but Big Chill is fantastic. It is soft and goes with so much. It is not icy or blue (north facing windows), and not a blah grey at all. It complements my ceramic ‘calacatta’ tiles and trim in “SW Pure White” perfectly. I painted my cabinets a smoky blue – “SW Bracing Blue” . I am enjoying your other blog posts too. Very informative!
Well that is a great note to get – i’m glad the info came in handy!
Hi! Have chosen Big Chill and Pure white for walls and trim. Would Pure White also work if I continued it on the ceilings and cabinets? Great blog and informative. Thanks for any help you can give.
Yup! Pure White would look lovely with Big Chill!
Thank you so much!!
Oops!! Wrong place! Sorry
Hi. We were debating between BM Harbor gray and grey owl for our son’s room(5 yr old) that’s north facing withh very terrible natural light. The room looks dark and dull. Somehow came across Big Chill and love the color.
We are now planning to go with Big Chill on three walls with SW “Scanda”, a blue shade as the accent wall. Hoping this will go for years to come as it’s a color a boy of any age will love to have or can live with????..
I know you recommended Pure White for trims, ceiling and door but I was wondering how Extra White will go with this color, or for all the doors/trims for that matter.
What’s the biggest difference between Pure White and Extra White? Thank you so much.
After we decided, the first thing I did was to come to your site to see if you have reviewed this color. So happy to see that it’s one the color you love. Thanks again.
LOVING your blog. I’m officially obsessively checkonf LRV now! I’m planning on going with Big Chill for our kitchen, foyer and upstairs hallway. But will a cool gray like this work with Beige carpet? Or should I go with something warmer like Repose?
Hi Lori, I’m glad it’s helping! Now there are many different types of beige, but off the top of my head I’m inclined to say that it MIGHT be a touch too cool and a slightly warmer gray might be a better choice…I wonder if even SW On the Rocks might be an interesting thought as it takes a touch of the blue out.
If you want me to take a look at things, I do E-design that is affordable and fun, and that way I don’t need to guess! https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/product-category/interior-paint-palettes/
~Kylie
I read tons of your blogs and plan to use big chill in my open floor plan dining room, it’s north facing and has tons of walnut stained furniture, I used mindful gray before, it literally made me depressed, do you think big chill will do better job in this room?
Well, I’m usually hesitant to recommend too much without seeing a room, but it sounds to ME like this could work for you. Mindful Gray, being a warm gray is a bit of a heavier (some might say drab) feeling. Big Chill is by far more fresh and cool and ‘should’ do a much better job for you!
Hi I change my mind after saw your living room. I decided to go with Alabaster with a naval accent wall!
I just wanted to tell you how helpful this post was in choosing a paint color for our beach condo. I feel like I owe you a free night, or week! It was a tired yellow that I’m sure was the bomb diggity in the 90s. I needed to paint the entire place in one color, that would hold its own in the light and in the dark. At first I fought Big Chill because I thought it would be too dark., Based on the samples I painted. Boy was wrong! When we got back down there after they painted it, I was in love.. It’s so beautiful! I wish I could attach a before and after pictures for you to see. Thank you for your blog – you are the best-est!
This is just a fantastic note! I recieve so many questions in a day that it was just AWESOME to read your note – THANK YOU! And seriously, I’d LOVE to see it (you can send it to kylie@kylieminteriors.ca) If it’s clear enough/quality I could even use it on my blog – you’d be FAMOUS! You can seriously send as many photos as you like as I LOOOVE flipping through and seeing (and I can always edit to a degree).
Anyway, THANK you again 🙂
~Kylie
Hi Kylie! Which ceiling color would give a more modern feel to Big Chill, Pure White or Extra White?
Thank you!
Hi! Big Chill can suit both. Pure White has a weee tiny wink of warmth in it, but it’s barely noticeable. It would contrast ever (like ever) so slightly with Big Chill. Extra White is more clean/crisp/cool, but I can’t say which one is more modern or makes the most sense with your home in particular – both are valid!
The wife and I took the plunge and decided to do Big Chill in the whole interior of our home; including the ceiling. Now we’re thinking to add contrast and have the ceiling be a white. Does anyone have a recommendation on a great coordinating white that will complement Big Chill?
Hi Damian, good choice! Now if you want a clean look, hit SW High Reflective White. You can also check out SW Pure White which has literally 1 WINK of warmth in it, just enough to stop it from being totally white, really. Hope that helps!
Does this color have any purple undertones? Silver bullet & white metal from Home Depor have an obvious hue of lavender. Tried SW big chill on the wall, but can’t get purple out of my mind!! ????
Hi Jessica! While any gray CAN pick up any cool undertone given encouragement, Big Chill is more of a gray with a vague blue undertone 🙂
Hi, Kylie! I’m so pleased to have stumbled on your review. We are building a new patio home – very open plan. I had already selected Big Chill for the whole house with white trim – there are wood floors (natural finish – very light) throughout except bedrooms & bathrooms. (I’m putting gray carpeting in bedrooms). Now I need to purchase area rugs and upholstered furniture for the living room and sun room…any suggestions on color to gravitate toward or to avoid?
Kylie,
Thank you so much for your thorough reviews! I spent weeks trying to pick a color for the majority of the walls in our new house (that I hadn’t seen in person). It’s easy/west light with a LOT of honey oak in it. We redid the kitchen cabinets in white, painted the built ins SW Peppercorn (which look great) and used big chill on the main room, kitchen, dining, hallway, master bath and two bedrooms.
Big chill is perfect! It’s light, so when the sun is shining in it does wash out a little, but it’s such a versatile color. In the evening it’s the perfect gray, in different rooms it has a touch of blue or the faintest purple. But I love that it’s light enough to not be a drag. It looks crisp and clean and definitely toned down the honey oak.
Thank you for the blogs! You’re a life saver 🙂
Would big chill go with naval paint color?
Yup, I’d do that!
Thank you so much for this post! After 2 months of agonizing over whole-house light grays that didn’t look baby blue or purple this post gave me confidence in picking Big Chill over BM Graytint and I couldn’t be happier!
This is an AWESOME CHOICE! Graytint is NOT for the faint of heart, whereas Big Chill is SOOOOOO much easier to work with and settles in rooms so much better!
Painted the walls of my white kitchen with big chill. I have tons of southern sunlight coming through. I was expecting it to go blue. Nope, it went to a warm purple. I’m going to paint over it with gray owl so that all that southern light doesn’t turn my grays purple. No blue came through. It was purple.
Thank you for this post! Just painted my north facing bathroom in Big Chill and I love it! Just the colour I was looking for. A soft grey to go with my marble like tile in the shower area. No undertones to speak of just a nice light grey colour. Thanks Kylie!
You’re most welcome, I’m glad you love it as much as I do!
I am agonizing over whether or not to use Big Chill over Light French Grey throughout my home. I am trying to move away from the creams and beige colors, I just had new cabinets put into the kitchen, the color is sweater weather. My flooring is hardwood in a light tan with off white veining. My countertops are a little warm with streaks of light blues, subtle greens, beiges, and greys, and my island is a darker shade green. I am so hoping that the Big Chill and flooring pulls all this together, as I do not want anything too dark. Am I delusional?
Ooo, I’m glad you asked! I wouldn’t do EITHER with Sweater Weather. Sweater Weather is a stormy gray with a touch of green in it, along with blue. It won’t work with Ligh French Gray as it caters to violet, and even Big Chill which has a minor blue is too similar in depth. You’ll want to get a good 15-20 LRV points between your cabinets/walls (or you may as well do your walls the same as the cabinets – which I wouldn’t do). Most homes with cabinets like Sweater Weather best suit a very gentle off-white or even a white.
If you REALLY want to stick with gray, check out First Star, but personally i’d go a bit softer/lighter/warmer, i.e., SW Origami White or even BM White Dove!
Hi Kylie! Love your blog and videos, and they are so helpful!! I’ve been trying to score some virtual packages to no avail, but will keep at it! Currently, I have BIG CHILL in a full open house layout, with all countertops in Stratus White, all cabinets are Echelon River Rock paint finish, my flooring is a porcelain white tile – Caracalla color. I’m interested in repainting (all builder from 2017ish) and curious about Agreeable Gray for wall, or if I should keep big chill (or another suggestion to keep the undertones of the counters and floors). Would welcome a new color for cabinets too as I’m also debating repainting them soon as well.
Thank you!
I’d probably skip agreeable gray and go with something more like Big Chill or repose gray
Do you use Big Chill very often on exteriors?
Hey Christine! Not often, as it doesn’t often suit brick or stonework, but when there’s only a roof to consider, it can work – depending on the color of the roof/trim/windows 🙂