Gray has been a go-to neutral for awhile now. Everyone seems to want it in their interiors.
It’s stylish, it’s neutral, it's here to stay.
Prior to that, warm tones were all the rage. And most people, out in our suburbs anyway, still have lots of beige interiors.
So, how do you go gray after being beige for so long?
How do you take your warm colored house that has beige or gold in it and introduce the cooler shades of gray?
The minute you put a cool gray next to a warm beige or cream, you can tell:
That ain’t gonna work.
It just looks off, and the undertones kill it. Often, it makes the gray look baby blue.
Here in The Woodlands, we have A LOT of beige … and travertine ... and warm neutrals.
Not that there’s anything wrong with warm neutrals, but, if you WANT to go gray, if you want a cooler palette, if you want a change in your look... How do you do it without the clash?
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Chances are you have warm neutrals everywhere - most people around here do.
If they have travertine or travertine-like tile on floors, backsplashes, bathrooms, etc., then warm neutrals will follow: warm neutral granite counters, carpet, paint, window treatments, furniture, etc.
And these items don’t come cheap.
If you don’t have the luxury of being able to redo everything in your beige interior but want some gray, I’ve got just the thing for you - well, actually, two things.
1) use Dark gray with creamy trim and finishes
I’ve worked on several projects where we’ve done a dark gray to contrast with a warm beige or warm white.
One interior had Sherwin Williams Antique White everywhere (which is a very yellow white): on the cabinets, mouldings, doors, and a travertine-like tile in the kitchen, breakfast room, and in every bathroom. Overall, the entire house had quite a yellowed look.
The client wanted to go gray, so we did, but we did not paint all the Antique White enamel. We just painted the walls and ceilings, making the paint job much easier and more cost effective.
In this job, below, we had the same issue. Everything was warm toned and golden colored. Sherwin Williams Antique White was the color of the trim, doors, and ceilings. That’s a very yellowed white.
BEFORE Dining Room
The dining room, above, had a slight warm light green on the walls. All the warm toned furnishings also played into the golden color scheme overall.
We used Sherwin Williams Dovetail, to bring a cooler, more gray color tone. More on this beautiful home remodel here.
Dining room paint colors, SW Antique White trim, doors and ceiling with SW Dovetail walls. | How To Go Gray When Your Whole House Is Beige, carlaaston.com
Really, it’s quite remarkable. Going a darker gray makes the Antique White look even lighter and more white.
Why? Because color is very relative. It is highly influenced by it’s surroundings. And a dark warm gray color next to that yellowish tone of Antique White provides such a nice contrast that it looks amazing. Rich. Dramatic. Gray...
And no longer yellow ;-)
This dark charcoal gray master bedroom, below, works beautifully with a creamy beige toned rug, nightstands and bed in a beige linen. The room reads as gray, doesn’t it?
A dark gray pairs beautifully with a light beige or cream color in this master bedroom. | How To Go Gray When Your Whole House Is Beige, carlaaston.com
See how this outdoor sectional sofa, seen in The New American Home, uses a gold/beige color mixed with dark gray? The high contrast between the two makes this work really well.
But suppose you don’t want to go dark gray.
Suppose you want to go gray, but you like light and airy. You're not into the drama that a high contrast can bring.
Try this…..
2) use a Beige And Gray Color Scheme
Use a beige and gray color scheme by modifying your palette with fabrics or finishes that combine the two.
If you have neutral upholstery, cream or ivory or beige, you can make gray your accent color. There are lots of new fabrics out there that combine beige and gray to make for a fresh look and a cooler palette.
You'll be surprised how a warm, neutral room can cool down fast by purposely applying gray (as an accent color) with beige.
So feel free to keep that beige sofa or beige floor or beige paint color and simply change out a few things to gray.
Window treatments especially, like drapery panels in predominantly gray, will bring that cool tone to your walls and go a long way to refreshing a warm color scheme.
Below are some beautiful examples of a beige and gray scheme.
This warm white living room with a beige stone fireplace takes on a cooler look with gray toned upholstery.
Gray furniture turns a warm white living room with a beige stone fireplace cooler toned. The rug combines a light gray with a warm white. | How To Go Gray When Your Whole House Is Beige, carlaaston.com
Here’s a nice scheme I put together recently that uses this palette.
Let’s say you have the cream paint color in your house. You could add in some dark gray on cabinetry or on walls in a small room, without going dark everywhere. Then do fabrics that blend beige and gray.
A gray and beige color scheme cools down creamy trim paint and travertine tile. | How To Go Gray When Your Whole House Is Beige, carlaaston.com
Here’s a gray and beige tile combination that works well to combine warm and cool tones. From the ASID Showhouse, Christina Mullen, CM Designs.
Beige and gray tile combination in bathroom with free standing tub. | How To Go Gray When Your Whole House Is Beige
The gray and beige fabric pattern on this ottoman and chair, seen at High Point Market, help marry a warm and cool color palette in neutrals.
Warm wood, a gray rug, and then fabric on the ottoman that mixes the two colors creates a purposeful color palette. | How To Go Gray When Your Whole House Is Beige, carlaaston.com
The beige and gray pattern on this chair makes for a nice mix of this neutral palette. | How To Go Gray When Your Whole House Is Beige, carlaaston.com
These mosaic tiles combine combine beige and gray into a scheme nicely.
Marble mosaic tile with beige and gray color combination.
Recycled glass mosaic tile in beige and gray chevron pattern.
This beautiful rug, pictured below, mixes beige and gray in a sophisticated way that looks intentional. It is a great rug to build a whole warm/cool color scheme on top of.
This beautiful wool rug mixes beige and gray nicely for a subtle, neutral palette. | How To Go Gray When Your Whole House Is Beige, Carla Aston, Designer
Here are more beige and gray combination rugs that I saw recently at market. You could lean into some gray upholstery, drapery and pillows on top of these and really cool down a warm beige room quickly.
Rugs that combine beige and gray really help to cool down a warm beige color scheme. carlaaston.com
Beige and gray strie, modern look rug to combine a cool and warm color palette. carlaaston.com
Beige and gray patterned rugs can be used to combine a cool and warm color palette. carlaaston.com
Lastly, here are some beautiful new natural stone slab materials I recently saw at a local slab warehouse that caught my eye. They combine beige and gray beautifully and naturally!
Silver travertine slab combining beige and gray | carlaaston.com
Quartzite slab combining beige and gray | carlaaston.com
This showroom space, below, combines beige walls, gray dining chairs and a rug that mixes both beige and gray for a cohesive look.
Shop This Look
Here are some examples of pillows, throws and accessories with a gray / beige color combination that would help you marry these two neutrals together in YOUR home. :-)
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