The enthusiasm for all things decor grey shows no signs of abating and we’re pretty much spoiled for choice in terms of indoor paint. There are hundred, literally hundreds to choose from. Outdoor paint is fairly well covered too, with some delicious shades of exterior paint by both affordable and premium brands.
However, painting outdoor timber, especially in darker shades of grey can be a bit , no, who am I kidding, a lot of a faff. Undercoating then double top coating is extremely time consuming and labour intensive. I should know. I’ve had the dubious pleasure of painting not only all the external woodwork here at Moregeous Mansions but also lots of fencing for clients too. Deep grey, deep joy. I’d searched the aisles of DIY sheds and asked at my local paint stockists for grey exterior wood finish to no avail, with the result that I’ve been padlocked to a paint brush for many 2017 hours.
So, when yet another dark grey was needed a couple of weeks ago, this time for the fabulous new sleeper benches at our Baths, Google beckoned. I wasn’t confident but figured surely someone was smart enough to have launched a cool grey product designed for outside. And, to my surprise and delight, I found one!!
Called Royal Exterior Wood Finish (posh eh), I online ordered 5L in Anthracite to be delivered to site. Water based, with (they said) excellent coverage, my superstar niece Tess & I popped the tin and got cracking.
1L is £16.99 and covers about 8msq, but they do 2.5L, 5L and 25L too. Just in case you’re painting the whole street. My opinion? Excellent stuff. Really good coverage, easy to apply as it’s lovely and smooth, no smell, and goes on far easier than paint. Gutted I didn’t find it before I did the fence panels at home. Seriously gutted.
Here’s our before and after. Even though the natural timber seating looks great, it’s too rustic to sit in front of an Edwardian red brick building in my design opinion, hence the grey. We’ve still to build the permanent planters, which will also be given the same treatment.
The below image is only one coat so you can tell it’s good quality, Or maybe that’s the specialist lady painters 😉
And the reason the garden needed to look so good? Our Withy Baths “Great Get Together” Picnic, held for over 80 local residents, sponsored by Southway Housing and Forever Manchester in collaboration with our local Age Friendly initiative.
A fantastic time was had by all and the new seating was much in demand. Especially by our local MP helping out deflating hot lips at the end of the day.
This charcoal finish is a super find and I’m happy to recommend it to anyone looking for a luxurious grey look, though there is a ligher slate grey too if this is too dark a shade for you. If you’re still wondering whether to even go garden grey, check out some inspo here.
NB: I paid full price for this product. This is a genuine recommendation, not a paid for post, which Protek don’t know I’m writing.
If you want to check it out, you can find it here: https://www.protekwoodstain.co.uk/wood-stain/royal-exterior-wood-finish-anthracite-grey
Big thumbs up from Team Moregeous!
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