diff --git a/lib/ap/core_ext/string.rb b/lib/ap/core_ext/string.rb
index 4b8d29c..f922403 100755
--- a/lib/ap/core_ext/string.rb
+++ b/lib/ap/core_ext/string.rb
@@ -4,11 +4,15 @@
 # See LICENSE file or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
 #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 class String
+  ANSI_ESCAPE = "\033"
+  ANSI_COLOR_BASE = 30
+  ANSI_BRIGHT = 1
+  ANSI_NORMAL = 0
 
   [ :gray, :red, :green, :yellow, :blue, :purple, :cyan, :white ].each_with_index do |color, i|
     if STDOUT.tty? && ENV['TERM'] && ENV['TERM'] != 'dumb'
-      define_method color          do "\033[1;#{30+i}m#{self}\033[0m" end
-      define_method :"#{color}ish" do "\033[0;#{30+i}m#{self}\033[0m" end
+      define_method color          do "#{ANSI_ESCAPE}[#{ANSI_BRIGHT};#{ANSI_COLOR_BASE+i}m#{self}#{ANSI_ESCAPE}[#{ANSI_NORMAL}m" end
+      define_method :"#{color}ish" do "#{ANSI_ESCAPE}[#{ANSI_NORMAL};#{ANSI_COLOR_BASE+i}m#{self}#{ANSI_ESCAPE}[#{ANSI_NORMAL}m" end
     else
       define_method color do self end
       alias_method :"#{color}ish", color 
diff --git a/spec/awesome_print_spec.rb b/spec/awesome_print_spec.rb
index db7b3ed..b63d60c 100644
--- a/spec/awesome_print_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/awesome_print_spec.rb
@@ -164,11 +164,11 @@ EOS
     it "colored multiline (default)" do
       @hash.ai.should == <<-EOS.strip
 {
-    1\e[1;30m => \e[0m{
-        :sym\e[1;30m => \e[0m{
-            \"str\"\e[1;30m => \e[0m{
-                [ 1, 2, 3 ]\e[1;30m => \e[0m{
-                    { :k => :v }\e[1;30m => \e[0m\e[1;33mHash < Object\e[0m
+    1\e[0;37m => \e[0m{
+        :sym\e[0;37m => \e[0m{
+            \"str\"\e[0;37m => \e[0m{
+                [ 1, 2, 3 ]\e[0;37m => \e[0m{
+                    { :k => :v }\e[0;37m => \e[0m\e[1;33mHash < Object\e[0m
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -180,11 +180,11 @@ EOS
     it "colored multiline indented" do
       @hash.ai(:indent => 2).should == <<-EOS.strip
 {
-  1\e[1;30m => \e[0m{
-    :sym\e[1;30m => \e[0m{
-      \"str\"\e[1;30m => \e[0m{
-        [ 1, 2, 3 ]\e[1;30m => \e[0m{
-          { :k => :v }\e[1;30m => \e[0m\e[1;33mHash < Object\e[0m
+  1\e[0;37m => \e[0m{
+    :sym\e[0;37m => \e[0m{
+      \"str\"\e[0;37m => \e[0m{
+        [ 1, 2, 3 ]\e[0;37m => \e[0m{
+          { :k => :v }\e[0;37m => \e[0m\e[1;33mHash < Object\e[0m
         }
       }
     }
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ EOS
     end
 
     it "colored single line" do
-      @hash.ai(:multiline => false).should == "{ 1\e[1;30m => \e[0m{ :sym\e[1;30m => \e[0m{ \"str\"\e[1;30m => \e[0m{ [ 1, 2, 3 ]\e[1;30m => \e[0m{ { :k => :v }\e[1;30m => \e[0m\e[1;33mHash < Object\e[0m } } } } }"
+      @hash.ai(:multiline => false).should == "{ 1\e[0;37m => \e[0m{ :sym\e[0;37m => \e[0m{ \"str\"\e[0;37m => \e[0m{ [ 1, 2, 3 ]\e[0;37m => \e[0m{ { :k => :v }\e[0;37m => \e[0m\e[1;33mHash < Object\e[0m } } } } }"
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/spec/string_spec.rb b/spec/string_spec.rb
index 6cdd8d8..009333c 100644
--- a/spec/string_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/string_spec.rb
@@ -14,5 +14,7 @@ describe "String extensions" do
   it "should have black and pale colors" do
     "black".send(:black).should == "black".send(:grayish)
     "pale".send(:pale).should  == "pale".send(:whiteish)
+    "pale".send(:pale).should == "\e[0;37mpale\e[0m"
+    "whiteish".send(:whiteish).should == "\e[0;37mwhiteish\e[0m"
   end
 end