Why You Shouldn’t Paint Your Dining Room Gray

While grays are uber-popular now, as a Paint Color Consultant I typically steer clients clear of gray for dining rooms.  Here’s the reason:  dining rooms are typically full of wood furnishings. Neutral grays don’t work well as a backdrop for wood tones – the space goes dead, in my opinion.

gray dining roomsource

 

 

The exception would be if you used lots of white in the room – in fabrics and/or painted casegoods,  as well as some pops of a specific color in the space along with the gray.

gray-dining-room-by-kelly-porter2

Kelly Porter

 

 

If my clients want gray, I encourage them to think about color families they are open to.   Grayed down versions of a color can give them a “gray” look without making the wood look drab.  

gray green dining room

grayed green walls

 

  

Greens and blues as a backdrop for wood furnishings actually makes the wood appear richer and more alive than do neutral tans and grays.  

blue paint color dining room blogpost about this room

 

 

So grayed-greens, grayed-blues, and grayed-lavenders are really good choices for a beautiful dining room.

lavender purple dining room

grayed lavender walls

 

I realize that some people may not agree with me.  But just because a color is popular or trendy, doesn’t mean it belongs just anywhere.  So what do you think?

If you want to learn how to choose just the right paint colors for your home, order my Color Workshop Video!

 

34 Comments

  1. cassie

    I think the examples you gave are good, but I don’t really agree… I think it’s all in how you accessorize and make it cozy. We painted our dining room kendall charcoal and have dark wood table and wood bentwood chairs and it is my absolute favorite room in the house!

    Reply
  2. Lauren L.

    I agree! I know gray is all the rage right now but personally I’m not a fan. I recently painted my dining room Ben Moore Stratton Blue and everyone loves it! I have dark wood furniture and it looks so much better against the blue/green/gray than it did against the red that I used to have.

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      Lauren,
      Stratton Blue is a GREAT choice with dark wood furniture. I’m sure it looks beautiful!

      Reply
  3. Holly

    I think it depends on the color of gray. Dark grays are okay but pale grays that are so popular now don’t do much for wood tones. The grays and whites that fill so many rooms are too bland unless you dress them up and accessorize them. Thanks for the advice.

    Reply
  4. Eva

    Yeap! I agree, as you say unless you hang a lot of art full of colors or white objects on everything.

    Reply
  5. Sandra

    I totally disagree to rule out all shades of grey totally. I believe if you use a grey with blues and whites it works well with all wood furniture. Your right to suggest decorating with whites, but to totally rule out grey no. Just my opinion! 🙂

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      Sandra,
      No, certainly not all shades of gray – just the more neutral ones. Grays with obvious green, blue, or purple undertones can be perfect in dining rooms.

      Reply
  6. Laura @ The Turquoise Home

    I totally agree! My open space in my home is painted Revere Pewter, but my dining room is Wythe Blue. Love the blue/green with my weathered oak dining room table and chairs. 🙂

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      Good choice, Laura! Revere Pewter is a great neutral, but rarely works well in dining rooms – not without painted furniture.

      Reply
      • Cathy Norris

        Good to know, Kristie! I have a very open concept house but I think I have enough delineation between the living room/family room/foyer and the dining room/kitchen to paint them a different color. I was leaning towards Revere Pewter for all but am rethinking that now. My DR has a large walnut table, dark wood sideboard and low boy!!! So much to think about; perfect timing!!

        Reply
  7. Cathy Norris

    I love the room with the grayed green walls and blue ceiling. I think it perfectly compliments the dark wood table and mix of light and dark accessories. Can you share what that color is?

    Reply
  8. Lee

    I agree with Cassie. We painted our dining room a dark charcoal and I like it a lot. There is a good bit of moulding and detailing and the area below the chair rail is a picket fence white so the gray does not make the wood floor look drab at all.

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      Lee,
      I think it helps to have white below the chair railing, so that dark wood furnishings don’t blend into the wall (dark gray).

      Reply
  9. Lex

    I’m so torn! I bought a home with gorgeous medium gray wallpaper in the dining room that has a subtle reflective quality to it on it’s very small scale pattern. The wallpaper really “reads” as a solid color with sheen. I normally wouldn’t have picked gray in there, but I like the wallpaper itself. The problem? This is in a north facing room AND those windows open onto a covered porch. So overall, the light is cool and the room is rather dark. We haven’t bought any furnishings for in there yet, so my options are wide open. To keep the wallpaper or not, that is the question. :-/

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      Well, if you don’t already have furniture in there, consider a sideboard/hutch/buffet table in a painted finish (rather than a wood tone). You could do a wood finish table, but maybe mix in some painted or fabric upholstered chairs. Then you could keep the gray wallpaper you love.

      Reply
      • Kristie Barnett

        Oh, and make sure you have great lighting! A hanging fixture + a pair of fabulous lamps on the sideboard.

        Reply
      • Lex

        Great advice, thanks for taking the time to respond Kristie! I think it also helps (as someone above mentioned) that there is ample white moulding and detailing below the chair rail in this room. Between that, great lighting, some color from painted furniture and even a well chosen area rug on the wood floors below a wood table, I should be good to go. So glad I clicked into this post today. 🙂

        Reply
  10. Kelly

    I think the medium to dark shades of gray, blue and green look best with natural wood. I do not see many lighter colors I like with the wood and that includes gray.

    Reply
  11. Donna Frasca

    Hi Kristie! I think when we use any color for a room looking at wood tones would dictate which color we should use. I just designed a gray dining room (you can see it on my FB wall) and it came out beautifully!! Granted the furniture in that room and the surrounding rooms are beige and black so it works well. Oh and the floors are a gorgeous dark brown so that is an added bonus. If they were natural wood, gray would be a NO 🙂

    Reply
  12. Maria

    Such a great post! I love color, but could not, would not have bright color in main areas. Just learned the solution: grey them.
    The lavender is GORGEOUS and I don’t even like lavender.
    The green is a dream, I’m drooling here. This is the third time today that I come back here to drool some more over that green wall, and in hopes to get the name and brand.
    Would you share, please?
    Thank you.

    Reply
  13. Jess

    What about homes that don’t have a formal dining room? In our home you open the door right into a combination living dining room area. We live in a single level, and did I mention we also have rounded corners? What to do about this space???

    Reply
  14. debbi in Texas

    Grey has never been a “color” for me; it’s boring and I don’t use it. I need warmth that can also work with the woods in the house. A rug, however, does allow color to be chosen and creates the coordination necessary for multiple colors. I usually stay within a three color maximum that coordinates with the rug and the other colors in other rooms. It works for me.

    Reply
  15. T. Hunter

    I recently painted my dining room Anonymous by Behr and love it. Most of the furnishings are painted black and I have TONS of milk glass on display. I think I will be bringing in accents of yellow and possibly a little bit of brown. My question is, do you think that combination works? Thanks so much for all of the inspiration you provide on your blog!

    Reply
    • Kristie Barnett

      I am not familiar with Behr’s colors. What is it’s undertone (green, blue, purple?)

      Reply
      • T. Hunter

        This was my first experience using Behr paint. I typically use Benjamin Moore paint. Which, in my opinion, is a much higher quality paint overall! In the dining room, which has a lot of natural light, it appears to have no undertones at all. Just a pure dark grey. When I tried it in another space in my home, it appeared to have a slight purple undertone. Hope that makes sense.

        Reply
        • T. Hunter

          Forgot one thing, it is almost an exact match to Cinder by Benjamin Moore.

          Reply
  16. Gretel

    I disagree. Neutral greys look absolutely beautiful with wood. Gorgeous. The problem with the example you’ve shown (imo) is that there isn’t a good contrast of value between the grey wall and the wood floor and they take up a similar proportion in the room so the whole room looks flat.
    On the other hand if you cover the floor and look at the colour of the wall compared with the darker wood beam on the ceiling, it’s a perfect match. A more masculine feel, but also sophisticated and beautiful.
    I do however agree with you that greyed down greens and blues are absolutely beautiful with wood tones. The effect on the atmosphere/ mood is different however.

    Reply
  17. Lindsey Hall

    I completely agree. Except I’d go for a more conservative yet practical approach. I applied Drawitpaint to all the walls. I’ve learned with kids that the wall is very food stain resistant and when my children feel inspired and go nuts. I can still wipe it clean in a jiffy after being away for business for a month. (The husband takes care of the kids while I’m gone)

    Reply
  18. Susan

    I was thinking of gray for my dining room, but now think I need a color.
    I have Brazilian cherry floors and a dining table with red undertones.
    Some type of muted inky blue?

    Reply
  19. rosemary prather

    I want to use grey in my dinning room on one wall and the other wall a lighter grey. I have carpeting in this room, a royal blue, do you think I should use grey on the walls? Dinning room flows into living room area where there is light grey furniture. Please give me a suggestion as to what will work.

    Reply
  20. Agnes

    I have sombre grey on three walls and red on one wall in dining room. It’s perfect we love to linger there coz of the overall feeling one gets. I’ll do Grey’s again

    Reply
  21. Agnes

    I mean ombre

    Reply

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