It seems like everyone is jumping of the gray bandwagon. Are you considering updating your home with gray walls? You may just need to think again . . .
Although gray may be the right choice for you, here’s an example of where it just didn’t work! My lovely client had lived in her older home for many years and wondered if it was time for an update. She decided to paint several of her rooms gray, as she had seen that trending neutral all over design magazines and blogs. Unfortunately, she was NOT happy with the results. That’s when she called me in for help. Here is the “before” of one of her bedrooms:
before
This is the bedroom of her adult son, who is away at college and will probably only return for weekend visits in the future. My client painted a “current” gray neutral on the walls of her older home with antique furniture, and the whole thing fell flat. I suggested a COLOR that would make the antique furnishings and classic architecture SING. And, of course, I had to rearrange her furniture and art . . .
after
Here’s the “before” from another vantage point:
before
The bed linens were in the wash, which is why there are no pillows in the “after!” Yes, the walls are vivid, but can you see how the color makes the wood tones come alive?
after
Here is the bedroom of my client’s college-age daughter that she attempted to “update” with a gray paint color on the walls:
before
Once again, the gray does NOTHING for the antique wood furniture. I chose a different color that I knew would revitalize the entire room. Let’s see if you agree:
after
So let’s move into the den, where the homeowner had painted another version of gray to update her space.
before
It just wasn’t working on so many levels. But never fear – The Decorologist is here! This is the new look, along with some pretty cool bookcase staging, if I do say so myself:
bookcase after
Color changes everything – for good or for bad. No new furniture or accessories were purchased in these examples – just using what my client already owned (although I must be honest, we scoured some closets to find some things).
styled bookcase
The lesson here? If you have an older home or antique and traditional furnishings, you may need to think twice about going gray . . . Do you agree, or no?
Much better Kristie! The warmth of the wood just glows and now the items in the bookshelves are just highlighted. I have had gray in my bedroom for 10 years and have always considered it a great neutral and a great choice-so I am glad to see the grays coming into vogue now. But you are so right-you have to look at the room in total-the furnishings, the wood tones of the floor and trim, the carpeting-the “permanent” items. And in the end, you need to pick a color you love-no matter the fad or fashion-you need to be able to live with it for a number of years to come! Well done once again!
Yes! I’ve been saying this for years! I learned the hard way in 2009 when I painted my formal dining room gray and watched it suck all the life out of my beautiful antiques. Antiques shine (literally and figuratively) when they’re near colors that enhance their beauty.
Yes! Gray can suck the life out of an all-wood room!!!
I lived in a 108 year old house and painted the formal dining room BenjMoore Cliffside Gray. Gorgeous colors, looked beautiful on the wall with the wainscot and mouldings.. then moved my furniture in. I’ve never understood what was off but you’re ABSOLUTELY right – it has just washed everything out. Did you repaint the room? Any suggestions?
OH MY GOSH! What a difference! I cannot believe how much better these rooms look!!! Great job and great post!
Thanks, Taryn! Have a great weekend 🙂
I completely agree. I have a brownstone and I wanted to repaint the first floor (which has a very open floor plan). Removed all furniture and paintings, etc., from the walls, drop clothes… As I was painting, loved the more contemporary look the gray gave it. Put all my more traditional furniture, antiques, and paintings back and now I hate it!
Yes and yes! There are many of us, for reasons you stated in this post and for practicality, who are abstaining from the “paint your trim white and your walls grey” trend. Thank you for showing us how it is done. I absolutely love the color you chose for the daughter’s room. We went with “relaxed khaki” and “wool skein” both by SW in two of our rooms and will eventually paint every wall in this older home, and will likely keep away from grey as a wall color. It’s beautiful, but it doesn’t work everywhere. Btw, Pinterest needs your article so I’m going to repin it everywhere 😉
Wool skein is a great color! I used it in my living room, dining room and hallway and we couldn’t be happier!
Honestly, I love seeing some happier colors on the walls, instead of more grey. I am sure in 20 years grey will be thought of as a very outdated color, like the ubiquitous hunter green of the 80’s.
Beautiful changes. I have walnut stained solid wood six-panel doors throughout my house and I would never paint them so I need those colors you are talking about. Someone before us did paint all the baseboards and window sills white. Any suggestions on what to do about that? What color is the green in the first room?
Thanks for saving me from the same mistake. My kids have been asking me to update our house, but I also have older furniture with the same warm wood tones and the same honey colored oak flooring (and a clay colored brick fireplace)….it’s so easy to see from your pictures that grey just doesn’t work here. I’ve been thinking about a light shade of blue/green…..can I ask you what the color was that you used in the daughters room? That looks like the color I need!
I’ve never been a fan of gray walls. It’s silly, but I attribute them to an episode I saw back in the 90s (dating myself here) on Scarecrow and Mrs. King. They painted Mrs. Kings dining room gray so they could transform it into a makeshift interrogation room. I just can’t get that image out of my head when I see gray walls! lol I absolutely love the color you chose for the son’s room!
Scarecrow and Mrs. King?? That’s too funny, Donna!
Frankly, I am not a fan of gray…DEPRESSING!
What you did is lovely but I am a huge fan of gray and we are definitely going with soft grays in our home. There are so many gorgeous grays – the list is endless. But we can certainly agree to disagree. To each his own,
Well, this sort of frightens me. What do you think of an accent wall? I want to paint my living room gray, and one of the walls has an antique piano and a wooden bookcase against it… should I paint that wall another color?
Agree completely. The rooms needed color to work with her furnishing and huge difference. I don’t have any gray walls because we have dark wood and all the fabrics have ivory in them. I like looking at gray rooms but they wouldn’t work for us. But our daughter is moving to a new build this summer and updating her furniture so we are doing their master in gray and yellow! Fun!
I love gray walls, but they’re very modern. The colors u picked suit the lovely classic furniture – it’s so refreshing when the color just feels right!
Yes, there’s a time and a place for every color!
Yes, I live in an 125+ year federal style home, and though I keep trying to jump on the gray bandwagon…..I just can’t abandon my greens that make our antiques and wood floors come alive….
The good thing is, you have LOTS of other colors to choose from – blues, yellows, even lavenders can work great with antiques and wood.
Thanks! I’ll remember that!
Both bedrooms come alive with your color choices! I don’t know what that shade of green is, but it reminds me of “Georgian Green” by Benjamin Moore which I have used in 3 different rooms (over the course of 2 different houses). And I love the blue you used as well! You really do have the knack for color!
I think wood and color or at least an antique/creamy white is so much better than blah greys and neutrals. Neutrals can be nice in the right setting and with some contrast and texture to add interest. And I do like white kitchens and baths, and white rooms with lots of light and wood floors. But I agree, color really sets off much traditional furniture and architecture.
Craftsman homes in particular need some sort of color to look right, especially warm colors and earthtones and the right color makes it look ten times better. And I think jewel tones look good in Victorian homes with lots of dark wood trim. The Victorian interior may have been fussy, but they also often interesting and sophisticated color combinations. We think of Colonial as being mostly muted tones and white, but that is mostly from the revival period– if you go to historic interiors, they often used very vivid colors. Each period has its aesthetic, and I think you can learn a lot from each period, and adapt to fit modern tastes and lifestyles.
There are more than one way to skin a cat, and more than one color that complements your architecture. It can be intimidating to take the leap, esp. after if all that trouble you hate the result, but boy, getting it right really makes a space. You have so many great examples of that on your website. And I like that you work with what the client has and the home’s architecture, rather than making every space your style and sort of all the same.
My favorite house you did was the artist house with the room rearranging and the brilliant artwork: Throwing Caution (and Your Home’s Floorplan) to the Wind . What a difference between that and your own house! Well, that 60’s random white tiled entry is a close second, and the swags and furniture rearrangement in the house with the huge arched windows. So hard to pick!
Thanks for having the courage to speak out on gray. You can also count me in the “I’d never paint my walls gray” camp. It almost always feels too cold for me. I’ll forever be a white wall person — nothing makes me happier than a good stark white wall. Love the colors you chose for the warmer toned antique woods in your client’s house. Would that second bedroom be Palladian Blue? Having said all that, I do think there are situations when gray walls can look amazing — especially with honey toned woods. Here’s my favorite example: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/206813807858465308/
Oh my! Thank you!! I painted my entire house last year but could only bring myself to paint one room gray – the home theater. It works and looks awesome. Other rooms were a lovely green similar to the one above(master bedroom), blue, also similar to above and soft mauve (guest bedrooms), brushed subtle apricot (with black for the home office, looks amazing!), a peach and white laundry room with chandelier!! and soft khaki shades for the formal and informal living areas. I was afraid my living areas would look dated without the lighter, cooler shades popular now. However, I just KNEW they wouldn’t work with my traditional pieces. THANK YOU so much for not jumping on the bandwagon just because something is trendy – but using your amazing sense of taste and style!! Love following your blog. Angela
Oh, I love that green! And yes, I too love gray, but have yet to use it on any walls in either of the two houses we’ve been working on. My furniture is all antiques, and the houses are vintage — 30s and 40s. And I just can’t do it. Although I certainly can appreciate a good gray room! Maybe the bathroom at the cottage…Thanks for explaining why it doesn’t work everywhere!
I love the color that you picked for the daughter’s bedroom – it is exactly what I’ve been looking for for our guest room. Is there any chance that you would share this information?
I would love to know the color too!
Kristy, your work here is amazing! What a difference the colors make! You have a real gift! Personally I didn’t care for the gray trend the last time it came around in the 80’s. And gray is a difficult color to wear. I do love a good gray on exteriors.
Great post!
Kristie, thank you for asserting what I chose to do the right paint color here in our newer home. I moved in with my walnut, oak, and dark wood furniture, but the house had some bamboo flooring and white doors and trim. So I did beige-white walls throughout. However, I am now redoing the office which has a stark white built-in, black desk and chair, and black and grey striped sofa. I am planning to do the built-in walls in a grey and leaving its white trim. Should I also paint the room ‘s walls grey? I ‘m thinking this might add cohesion.
I LOVE…”Never fear, The Decorologist is here!”. Just wonderful refreshment you bring to people, Kristie!
The reward is probably in the happiness they express to you when you’re done. You’re amazing!
As always, you are too sweet to me, Paula!
As my mother in law used to say about my husband, “You deserve it!”
Great post! I do think it depends on your home and furnishings. I have a more contemporary home with vintage/cottage/industrial/ French furnishings. I painted every room in my house gray, and I love it! I have lots of windows and light, and white trim, and it looks beautiful! I get compliments on it whenever people come over. There are grays that are almost “Chameleon” like in that they can seem cool or warm. f you like gray, keep on looking until you find the right one!
Hi Kristie,
What about colors like Grey Wisp and Grey Cashmere which are grey but not quite as drab as regualar grey? Could these greys work with well with antiques or would you still recommend going with a more solid, vibrant color.
Shannon,
I don’t really consider those colors gray – they are grayed down, but not really neutral grays. Those colors can look beautiful with antiques and dark wood – no doubt!
Well done! Wood, being from nature, really needs nature-inspired colours to bring out its beauty, so I’m glad you were able to help this client. I’m not really a fan of grey to begin with, though I do like some of the greyed-out colours, such as the one we have in our bedroom—BM November Skies, I think, and yes, wooden furniture, including some antiques! I’ve lived in the midwest my whole life and there is nothing BUT grey from October to April or May—grey skies, grey snow, dead grass that seems grey because of the grey sky…give me colour, please!
Anyhow. Beautifully done—I’m sure the homeowner is so much happier now!
Great post Kristie, thank you 🙂
I quite like the gray trend in other people’s pictures, but it’s a horrible color for me to wear so I won’t be having any gray rooms or sofas. We’re about to repaint the exterior and I picked a soft gray (green undertones) as that will look current and go beautifully with our black roof, red door and white trim. But inside, depending on how much light the rooms get, we have painted in shades of white, cream, and yellow-beige. We have some wood furniture and some painted/upholstered pieces so it’s not really an antique filled home, but the soft warm colors go much better with the vibe than a gray would.
While the exterior of my home is grey, and I love it, I would not enjoy grey interior walls. It seems so depressing and trendy to me.
I am hoping it’s on its way “out”.
However, I love to see charcoal grey on baseboards (done in that classic 1920’s timeless style), or on a kitchen island.
I, too, almost jumped on the gray bandwagon, but thought twice. I have golden oak hardwood floors throughout my house, a lot of traditional style furniture (both light and darker woods), and few more contemporary pieces. I figured the style of my home wouldn’t work with gray, so to be safe I decided to go with a warmer neutral and chose SW Macadamia for my foyer and family room/kitchen. It’s a tiny bit more gold than I would have liked, but I’m happy with it overall (can’t change it since I had to hire painters for the cathedral ceiling in the foyer). I still have the adjacent rooms to paint (formal living room and dining room) and can’t decide if I should stick with the same color or choose a grayish blue-green. I may stick with the same color to be safe and add blue-green accessories and accent furniture pieces.
We just repainted our whole house from Kilim Beige to SW Repose Gray. We used it at 100% in the hallways and at 50% in the other rooms. We are in love with it!!!! We have mostly new furniture with lots of dark to provide contrast. I am amazed at how well the color goes with all of our existing artwork and decor. The one thing that REALLY surprised me is that it works well in the one room we still have old “90’s” furniture in. Anyone still have a goldish tapestry pattern chenille couch???? We do; the Rushmore from Thomasville. Ugh…wish I could replace everything in that room.
Love this!!! What color is in the daughter’s bedroom?
Thanks!
Definitely. I hate gray as a main color, not suitable for the majority of spaces and depressing on top of that.