By convention, I painted seven rooms, powder room and bathroom, with “Congenial Gray,” 36 walls in total and 10 gallons of paint. With the paint out of the cans and onto the walls, it soon became apparent that the ceilings would need painting as well. I know, I should have addressed the ceilings first. But not until sunlight flooded the rooms did the disparity between “Navajo White” and “Congenial Gray” show their true colors; nothing kindred, pleasant or harmonious about them.

I went with a lighter shade of gray on the ceilings and another three gallons of paint: “Despicable Gray,” “Gotcha Gray,” “Reckless Gray,” I don’t remember. There were 490 shades of gray to choose from.

Wall-to-wall carpeting was installed. After vacillating for days, I selected a budget-friendly synthetic Berber, “Anchovy Gray,” a shade darker than the walls. (I hate investing time and money in paint only to choose the wrong carpeting.) Gray slate was installed in the bathrooms.

The new furnishings arrived, mostly upholstered gray polyesters and nylons, a few natural fibers. The décor was fashionably ambiguous........

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