If you enjoy dark tones in your home and want to try something new, let me introduce one of my new favorite neutrals: Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal! Its dark green-gray tint seems to suit almost anything. It’s the perfect dark neutral.
From the outside of your home all the way into the interior rooms, Kendall Charcoal (HC-166) pairs well with cream or taupe paints, plenty of white trim, or gold accent pieces.
This color looks gorgeous in every kind of light and in every photo. It’s truly beautiful!
NOTE: If you’re painting the room yourself, these tools will help a lot. And this post shares my best tips for painting a room in 5 easy steps.
Which Colors Go With Kendall Charcoal?
Many colors work beautifully with BM Kendall Charcoal. Here are a few shades to try:
- Benjamin Moore Whirlpool
- BM Mascarpone
- Benjamin Moore Solitude
- Repose Gray
- Mindful Gray
- BM Edgecomb Gray
The Undertones of Kendall Charcoal
Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal has such versatile grey-green undertones that it shifts depending on what you place around it.
This color really does go with almost everything, doesn’t it? I’m crazy about the undertones in this gorgeous library from Easterling & Long. Simply styling the table with greenery lets the deep greens in the side cabinet shine through.
My one piece of advice: don’t be afraid to use a dark color in a small space!
It looks great even in small spaces or as an accent wall, which not every dark shade can manage. This luxurious color stands out beautifully against crisp white accents and trim. I can’t stop dreaming about an office like the one below, washed in natural light.
Which Colors Coordinate With Kendall Charcoal
Kendall Charcoal is fabulous for trim, an accent wall, or painting over stone or brick. It also plays well with warm neutral whites, beiges, greiges and taupes like Edgecomb Gray or Shoji White.
If you need a trim color to coordinate with Kendall Charcoal, consider White Dove, Alabaster or Simply White. They all work well together!
Kendall Charcoal vs. Revere Pewter
Revere Pewter is much lighter than Kendall Charcoal but belongs to the same family: a neutral gray with a green undertone. If you love Kendall Charcoal but aren’t ready to commit to something that dark, try Revere Pewter!
Kendall Charcoal vs. Chelsea Gray
Chelsea Gray is another warm neutral gray with green undertones. It’s a touch lighter than Kendall Charcoal, which makes it a bit more versatile.
Kendall Charcoal vs. Grizzle Gray
If you love Kendall Charcoal but aren’t fond of the green undertones, try Grizzle Gray. It’s another dark gray, but with blue undertones!
Kendall Charcoal in Different Rooms
These photos show how Kendall Charcoal works in several rooms of your home. This dark, versatile neutral looks amazing on kitchen cabinets, front doors, walls, and even in mudrooms.
Explore these lovely decor ideas that use Kendall Charcoal paint.
Kendall Charcoal Kitchen Cabinets
Kendall Charcoal’s dark undertones pair beautifully with cabinetry, as the examples below show.
This shade is incredibly versatile and especially lovely on cabinets and doors. It also pairs well with light or medium stained wood, as you can see in this kitchen from Revision LLC.
I really love the look of rich gray alongside light wood, whether on the floors or in furniture. It’s worth considering if you have oak in your home that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
This amazing mudroom from Decor Pad features dark gray cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal. Lots of patterns and colors are at play here, yet somehow they all come together!
Hello, two-toned beauty! If you aren’t ready to commit to cabinets in this dark shade everywhere, you can always paint only half of them.
If you want mostly light colors but love an accent shade, this kitchen below is a great source of inspiration.
The back kitchen island from Mia Mia Mine was painted Kendall Charcoal before getting gorgeous quartz waterfall countertops. The perimeter cabinets are painted Sherwin Williams Pure White, which makes the charcoal island really stand out!
This gorgeous kitchen (thanks to The Inspired Room) has beautiful cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal!
The cabinets pair perfectly with nickel hardware and white Caesarstone countertops. The striped rug is a smart choice because it highlights those cabinet undertones! I love carrying the colors from the cabinets into the rug, which ties the room together in a subtle yet effective way.
Kendall Charcoal Inside the Home
This masculine gray den from Decor Pad features striking gray prism cabinets on either side of a door. The walls are painted entirely in Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal, and the result is very dramatic.
This whole room radiates modern elegance. While it isn’t exactly my style, I’m really drawn to this image; something about it pulls you in.
My own dining room has upper walls painted in our favorite new charcoal gray, which contrasts beautifully with the white lower half.
This modern farmhouse dining room also features an original 1990s brass chandelier that surprisingly works well with this wall color. And check out my favorite gorgeous mirror! If only Pottery Barn still carried it. I’ve gathered similar round statement mirrors in this post.
I plan to bring in pops of color for each season, starting with pinks and whites for spring! I’m excited to make this masculine wall color feel feminine with floral accents and pretty accessories.
Kendall Charcoal on the Exterior
When I said this color is versatile, I wasn’t kidding! It looks perfect on the exterior too. Since it’s such a lovely neutral, you can repaint your front or back door with it, just like The Inspired Room did.
It works with any accents you add around it, including houseplants and cute rugs.
When you paint the outside of your house, add bright white accents the way Interiors by Color did. It gives your home the eye-catching curb appeal you’re looking for.
I love how well this color works with the natural stone in the pillars, and how it ties together the furniture and lawn decor too.
BM Kendall Charcoal doesn’t only work with stone. It can make brick accents pop too! In fact, I think the dark gray exterior of the home shared by Kelly Bernier Designs makes the red tones stand out even more.
Plus, the dark gray lets the white trim take center stage. It’s a wonderful way to show off your unique roofline!
Kendall Charcoal – The Ideal Neutral
The best thing about Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal is that it works in nearly every room, inside and out! It pairs with any accent color. If you’ve ever been tempted by a darker shade, this is a safe place to start.
Check Out More of the Best Home Decor Paint Colors
If you love Kendall Charcoal, take a look at these other Benjamin Moore paint colors:
Tips for Painting a Room on Your Own
I’ve gathered some of my favorite tools for painting a room yourself. First, check out this post I wrote: Painting a Room in 5 Easy Steps. These are the tools I rely on when painting my own rooms, which is the case 95% of the time!
- Paint Brush – These brushes cost a bit more than basic ones, but they’re worth it! I’ve used them for more than a decade, and if you rinse them thoroughly after each use, they last for years.
- Painter’s Tape – an absolute must for taping off edges. You’ll want to tape every edge if your hand isn’t very steady.
- Drop Cloths – a must-have if you don’t already have some lying around the house.
- Paint cup – Sure, you could use any old cup, but I’ve come to swear by this one. The magnetic piece holds your brush neatly in place when you take a break, and it fits my hand perfectly so it doesn’t cramp.
- Roller Tray – This is the only paint tray I’ll ever use again. The magnetic piece holds the roller in place nicely. The liners are a bit of a luxury, but I won’t paint without them because they make cleanup a breeze!
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