Grey, my favourite neutral

Posted on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 by KiM

Update: Our friend Drey of bijou kaleidoscope just introduced me to the grey living room of Kim from Four Beds Two Baths, as seen above. LOVE IT! I always loved a teak credenza against a grey wall. Thanks Drey and kudos Kim!

My sister was talking to her neighbour the other day about grey walls. Her neighbour said grey walls were cold and depressing. I SOOOOO disagree with her, and so much so that I had to post some photos of grey rooms to prove her wrong. I LOVE grey, but I admit, choosing a warm grey can be difficult. But I think you can do alot with furnishings in a room with grey walls. No matter what the shade, as long as you throw in lots of creams and nice plush fabrics (faux furs in particular), or some pops of colour, like orange or yellow (both of which I adore with grey), you can’t go wrong. To me, if a neutral is what you’re after, think about using grey instead of white. Didn’t you know grey is the new white? 😉

Steven Gambrel Taylor Howes
PointClickHome Jeffrey Bilhuber
Domino PointClickHome
Fox-Nahem Design Jeff Herron
Beckers Domino
Domino Domino
Domino Reinboth & Company

drey says:

ya know, this is something i’m really loving now… would love love love to incorporate crisp grey into my living room. like a crisp new grey lounge! 🙂

but i guess it can be dreary if it’s not planned… like most beige apricot of home rentals in Australia!

Cory Ann says:

I love grey walls. I have to hold myself back from painting every room grey. I have three grey room. A bedroom, office and living room. And love them all.

Your so right that many colors and pieces can work well with grey. And you can find warm greys too.

I love your examples, makes me want to paint more rooms grey.
Cory Ann

Thanks for sharing so many great images! Some good food for thought…makes me want to make a trip to the paint store.

Cakespy says:

You are quite right…this is a lovely showing of how versatile and non depressing grey can be. I especially love the bottom left Domino image (complete with pony!)

My apartment is grey at the moment and it’s a perfect example of what colour not to paint a room. The previous owner chose a cold blue based grey and it is so depressing and light sapping. Can’t wait to paint! I would definitely advise on a warm toned grey.

Anonymous says:

It’s so hard to find the right grey! Anyone want top take a stab at the wall color in the Jeffrey Bilhuber photo?

orangred says:

hell yes, grey + !!

just don’t tint grey living room paint w/ purple (headachey, depressing) which my friend’s friend (or frienemy, maybe) did.
so she painted over it very pale blue, but now wants it back to grey, but pearl grey…let’s keep it light, grey, i said, w/ pops of turquoise, like her favorite jewelry + silver things to balance the heavy brown furniture she chose, not the beige stuff i see her eyeing in catalogues! (eek!)

with grey, orange and white walls in my bedroom, there’s orange linens, yellow painted wood furniture, + a few purple accesories– and it’s not depressing darn it; at leat no one’s said it looks like a fast food place…yet.

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