Gray is the result of a combination of two contrasts: black and white. Everyone knows the stable expressions “gray overcoat”, “gray longing”, “gray everyday life”. At the level of reflexes, gray is associated with something sullen and joyless. In fact, like any other color, it has its own shades and midtones, each of which has a certain effect on the room. Regardless of how gray is beaten in the interior, it can not be used as a monotonous basis, since from the point of view of psychology he is "lonely" and "presses" on a person with his overabundance. But in the role of an additional background that sets off other tones, this color fits perfectly.
He adjusts to a calm mood and, despite his deceptive "invisibility", can harmoniously integrate into the design of almost any room. The issue of combining gray with other colors should be treated with great care.It is worth considering the size of the room, lighting and its functional purpose.
Living room - a room in which the whole family usually gathers for intimate gatherings. The design of this room should at the same time set for relaxation and have a pleasant conversation. You can use brighter combinations with gray in the living room. They will muffle the main color, will dilute it. Making walls in a uniform gray color is undesirable. This option can be suitable only for very large rooms with French windows that will “draw” attention to themselves with the help of a panoramic view. In all other cases of plain gray walls should be avoided.
Wallpaper can combine several colors or several shades of gray. For example, a wallpaper where a floral ornament depicting the brilliance of metal is depicted on a “cold” background will look great in a strict living room. Gray furniture in purple stripes or with a bright, flashy pattern of green, brown color will add a bit of the sun to such a slightly gloomy picture. A worthy addition to the interior will be small pillows in creative chaos scattered on sofas and armchairs. If the walls have a dark gray “mouse” color, then they will have to be balanced with bright, and sometimes even flashy accents. In this role, a yellow sofa, cheerful turquoise curtains or even a blue cabinet can play. To design such a contrasting room, an eclectic style is suitable.
Bedroom
The bedroom should definitely be relaxing. The combination of gray and white is considered classic. A bedroom decorated in such colors will create the illusion of “openness” of space and give a feeling of cleanliness and lightness. The finest light gray translucent curtains add airiness.The gray-white atmosphere is usually diluted with not too bright shades of blue, beige, light green in the wallpaper. No need to allow color aggression in this room.
Gray and its shades perfectly convey the texture, so you can "play" with it, alternating and trying all new tones that will visually reveal the same decor elements in different ways. On the floor you can lay a soft carpet of a neutral shade, which “lands” a little space. Blankets, pillows or furniture in gray-blue tones evoke memories of the sea. It is this combination that is most often used to design bedrooms with marine motifs.
Fabric wallpapers come back into fashion, so you can experiment with velor, wind, jute, linen, jacquard or silk wallpaper in gray. The texture features of each type of fabric will reveal with the help of color. The richness of drawings and patterns will create a unique microclimate in the bedroom.
Kitchen
Kitchen design in gray tones is considered practical and never goes out of style. In ashy shades, only furniture can be decorated, leaving walls, curtains and kitchen utensils for decor for bright colors. Otherwise, on gray-pale shades of wallpaper or tile, the eyes will rest, “clinging” to bright kitchen panels. Gray wallpaper in the interior of a small kitchen will expand the space, making a tiny room wider and higher. In such a room, the “culinary” mood will not leave the practical hostess, but the shade also needs to be selected correctly. It is worth stopping your choice on soft, warm colors: smoky, silver, quartz. Cold, dark shades will not contribute to appetite, they will create a very uncomfortable atmosphere in the kitchen if it combines a cooking area and a dining room.
It's important to know! To bring an element of “revitalization” to such a kitchen, designers recommend using natural materials: wood, stone, rough brick.This measure is simply necessary if the room is decorated in one of the modern styles that are distinguished by "coldness" and "manufacturability".
Bathroom
For the bathroom, gray is perfect. It is universal and can play the role of the background for bold design experiments. Both dark and light gray tones will become the basis for both the classic interior and the bathtub in the style of minimalism or hi-tech. For more relaxed options, a game with combinations of shades of the main color is suitable. Only they will definitely have to be diluted with living patterns. The best option is a delicate floral ornament. If the “battle” of contrasts is at the heart of the decoration of the walls, then monotony is enough, which will only emphasize this technique. Chrome, "metallic" or the color of the Marengo will look stylish and modern on vinyl or liquid wallpaper.
It's important to know! Particular attention should be paid to mirrors and metal surfaces: towel holders, hooks, taps, furniture handles, soap dishes and cups for toothbrushes. Shine of metal will be echoed with the general tone picture and harmoniously supplement it.
Hallway and corridor
The corridor and the hallway serve as the “face” of the city apartment and private house. These rooms are the first to get in the way of your guests and can tell a lot about their host. If in your own house, when planning, the hallway can be made wide and spacious, then in apartments these rooms are often small and barely cope with their functional purpose. Wall-paper of gray shades will help to "lighten" the room, which a priori has no windows and is illuminated only artificially.
This can be played by placing a large sliding wardrobe with mirrored doors or a narrow modern dressing table with a high mirror, in which numerous light sources will be reflected. Together with gray wallpaper, they will allow you to breathe deeply and enjoy the spaciousness in a narrow and cramped room.A cold entrance hall with a rational use of space will immediately show that a business person lives here who does not like to waste time and values every inch of his apartment. Soft combinations of gray and white in the wallpaper with the addition of bright colors and practical patterns will tell the guest and the subtle nature, who likes to dilute the “gray everyday life” with notes of optimism and vivid impressions. Eclecticism in the interior of the hallway, which is based on dark gray, will show an extraordinary person who loves a light mess, confusion and a heap of images.
A color scheme
In the classic version, black-and-gray wallpapers with smooth transitions and without elaborate drawings will look very stylish and noble, but the “striped” wall design will give the room excessive “congestion”. In combination with white, you will have to dilute this “pastel bouquet” with bright accents to avoid the sterility effect of the “hospital setting”. Gray wallpapers paired with bright colors in a small apartment can visually expand the space if they are skillfully used in the color scheme of the ceiling and walls. In general, the gray "station wagon" looks harmonious in almost any combination. The main thing is not to combine more than three color bases.
If you intuitively cannot find this thin line between style and bad taste, then confine yourself to two colors, it is difficult to make a mistake here. One of the most stylish and rich combinations is considered gray with purple or pale lilac tones. This combination is suitable for any room: for the kitchen, living room, nursery, bathroom or bedroom. The difference will be only in accents. In the bedroom, they can be placed on murals or hanging collages, in the living room on shelves and racks, and in the office on lighting fixtures and carpets.
It's important to know! If you decide to resort to gray in the design of the walls and not dilute it with other shades,then you can revive the space with a photo in simple metal frames or with a collage with famous reproductions.
Light colors
Gray is combined with absolutely all colors. It is a clean canvas on which you can depict anything your soul wants. Light colors of wallpaper in combination with such a basis will set a calm tone for the entire room. Ideally similar design for bedrooms and lounges, in which the atmosphere will not be as gray as it might seem at first glance. Gray is in perfect harmony with light shades:
Blue;
Beige;
Pale green;
Soft lilac;
Deep pink;
Pale yellow.
To give “life” to the situation, it will be enough just a couple of not too bright “points of support” for the eye: a textured wall, an extraordinary sconce or a rug that breaks out of the “drowsy” style. It is advisable to scatter accents indoors in different planes of space.
Dark colors
With dark colors, gray will also look elegant and expensive, but do not overdo it with the cold. Shine of metal, tint of silver, matte slate color cannot be combined only with the cold of blue, dark green or deep burgundy. You and your household will simply freeze morally in a room with such wallpaper. If the color palette cannot already be changed, then try to recoup on the materials. Velor, velvet, rough linen in upholstery and curtains will soften the cold and give it depth. The rough texture of raw stone, brick, wood will help break the gloss of “dead” colors and add life to the room. The rounded shapes and bends of the lines in the furniture will smooth the sharpness of the corners, add coziness to the living room, even if the overall style remains restrained.
Bright colours
Gray in the wallpaper acts as a support for a bright pink color. He supports him and does not allow him to behave aggressively in the interior. Orange and yellow colors of impulse, sun, mood are also ennobled due to the interior with gray wallpaper.If in the usual perception they are associated with youth and impulses, then in such a combination you look at these shades with a completely different look and be surprised at how the two colors can change each other. In combinations of bright shades with red, you can find new depths and discover completely unexpected faces. If gray with burgundy or carmine evokes philosophizing and causes nostalgia, then bright red calls for action. In combination, it will not be superfluous to add white or black for contrast. Color novelties of past years: the color of mint, mustard and aquamarine are ennobled with gray in the wallpaper and seem to be undergoing a change of violent youth for a period of restrained growing up.
Furniture selection
Wallpaper in gray tones should contrast with something. Do not arrange gray furniture in a gray room, otherwise the interior will turn out from the category of "white-white-white." Bright prints on the walls, on the floor will draw some of the attention on themselves and turn the picture of perception upside down: not the walls and the floor will be the background, but the furniture. For stylish hi-tech or postmodern furnishings, metal handles and chrome inserts are used that will resonate with the overall color scheme.
To decorate an apartment in American Art Deco style, the furniture is draped in leather and rough fabric, and its details are made of wood or materials imitating natural stones. In combination with gray, these elements at first glance seem “alien” to each other, but the eccentricity of the style quickly captures and maintains the impression of a creative sophistication. Adherents of the elaborate luxuries of Rococo, Empire and Baroque should also not forget about gray. This color looks rich not only in wallpaper embroidered with silver thread, but also in the marble of the fireplace, in the silk upholstery of chairs with carved legs and catchy floral patterns.
Curtain selection
Curtains of any shades of gray can be safely used in large, spacious rooms with large windows.You can even visually narrow your space using thick fabrics. Light shades of this color will look beautiful both on airy translucent curtains and on heavy curtains. Dark “asphalt” halftone curtains are not used in small rooms with tiny windows. If the walls are bright or dark in color, then such shades of gray categorically fall under the taboo. To combine such curtains with gray wallpaper is careful: the shades should be different and complement each other visually.
Dark gray wallpapers harmoniously combine with delicate pastel shades of curtains. To complete the picture, simple ebony furniture with upholstery in soft colors is suitable. Light gray walls with patterns and ornaments will look beautiful with muted matte shades of curtains: wine, indigo, delicate lilac, mint, sienna, coral. For Scandinavian style, minimalism, postmodernism, abstractionism, loft and even gentle provence, only natural fabrics are suitable: linen, cotton, silk, mesh, cambric. For luxury and chic baroque, classic or modern it is better to use "rich" fabrics: satin, velvet, velor.
Gray is the result of a combination of two contrasts: black and white. Everyone knows the stable expressions “gray overcoat”, “gray longing”, “gray everyday life”. At the level of reflexes, gray is associated with something sullen and joyless. In fact, like any other color, it has its own shades and midtones, each of which has a certain effect on the room. Regardless of how gray is beaten in the interior, it can not be used as a monotonous basis, since from the point of view of psychology he is "lonely" and "presses" on a person with his overabundance. But in the role of an additional background that sets off other tones, this color fits perfectly.
He adjusts to a calm mood and, despite his deceptive "invisibility", can harmoniously integrate into the design of almost any room. The issue of combining gray with other colors should be treated with great care.It is worth considering the size of the room, lighting and its functional purpose.
Content
Living room
Living room - a room in which the whole family usually gathers for intimate gatherings. The design of this room should at the same time set for relaxation and have a pleasant conversation. You can use brighter combinations with gray in the living room. They will muffle the main color, will dilute it. Making walls in a uniform gray color is undesirable. This option can be suitable only for very large rooms with French windows that will “draw” attention to themselves with the help of a panoramic view. In all other cases of plain gray walls should be avoided.
Wallpaper can combine several colors or several shades of gray. For example, a wallpaper where a floral ornament depicting the brilliance of metal is depicted on a “cold” background will look great in a strict living room. Gray furniture in purple stripes or with a bright, flashy pattern of green, brown color will add a bit of the sun to such a slightly gloomy picture. A worthy addition to the interior will be small pillows in creative chaos scattered on sofas and armchairs. If the walls have a dark gray “mouse” color, then they will have to be balanced with bright, and sometimes even flashy accents. In this role, a yellow sofa, cheerful turquoise curtains or even a blue cabinet can play. To design such a contrasting room, an eclectic style is suitable.
Bedroom
The bedroom should definitely be relaxing. The combination of gray and white is considered classic. A bedroom decorated in such colors will create the illusion of “openness” of space and give a feeling of cleanliness and lightness. The finest light gray translucent curtains add airiness.The gray-white atmosphere is usually diluted with not too bright shades of blue, beige, light green in the wallpaper. No need to allow color aggression in this room.
Gray and its shades perfectly convey the texture, so you can "play" with it, alternating and trying all new tones that will visually reveal the same decor elements in different ways. On the floor you can lay a soft carpet of a neutral shade, which “lands” a little space. Blankets, pillows or furniture in gray-blue tones evoke memories of the sea. It is this combination that is most often used to design bedrooms with marine motifs.
Fabric wallpapers come back into fashion, so you can experiment with velor, wind, jute, linen, jacquard or silk wallpaper in gray. The texture features of each type of fabric will reveal with the help of color. The richness of drawings and patterns will create a unique microclimate in the bedroom.
Kitchen
Kitchen design in gray tones is considered practical and never goes out of style. In ashy shades, only furniture can be decorated, leaving walls, curtains and kitchen utensils for decor for bright colors. Otherwise, on gray-pale shades of wallpaper or tile, the eyes will rest, “clinging” to bright kitchen panels. Gray wallpaper in the interior of a small kitchen will expand the space, making a tiny room wider and higher. In such a room, the “culinary” mood will not leave the practical hostess, but the shade also needs to be selected correctly. It is worth stopping your choice on soft, warm colors: smoky, silver, quartz. Cold, dark shades will not contribute to appetite, they will create a very uncomfortable atmosphere in the kitchen if it combines a cooking area and a dining room.
Bathroom
For the bathroom, gray is perfect. It is universal and can play the role of the background for bold design experiments. Both dark and light gray tones will become the basis for both the classic interior and the bathtub in the style of minimalism or hi-tech. For more relaxed options, a game with combinations of shades of the main color is suitable. Only they will definitely have to be diluted with living patterns. The best option is a delicate floral ornament. If the “battle” of contrasts is at the heart of the decoration of the walls, then monotony is enough, which will only emphasize this technique. Chrome, "metallic" or the color of the Marengo will look stylish and modern on vinyl or liquid wallpaper.
Hallway and corridor
The corridor and the hallway serve as the “face” of the city apartment and private house. These rooms are the first to get in the way of your guests and can tell a lot about their host. If in your own house, when planning, the hallway can be made wide and spacious, then in apartments these rooms are often small and barely cope with their functional purpose. Wall-paper of gray shades will help to "lighten" the room, which a priori has no windows and is illuminated only artificially.
This can be played by placing a large sliding wardrobe with mirrored doors or a narrow modern dressing table with a high mirror, in which numerous light sources will be reflected. Together with gray wallpaper, they will allow you to breathe deeply and enjoy the spaciousness in a narrow and cramped room.A cold entrance hall with a rational use of space will immediately show that a business person lives here who does not like to waste time and values every inch of his apartment. Soft combinations of gray and white in the wallpaper with the addition of bright colors and practical patterns will tell the guest and the subtle nature, who likes to dilute the “gray everyday life” with notes of optimism and vivid impressions. Eclecticism in the interior of the hallway, which is based on dark gray, will show an extraordinary person who loves a light mess, confusion and a heap of images.
A color scheme
In the classic version, black-and-gray wallpapers with smooth transitions and without elaborate drawings will look very stylish and noble, but the “striped” wall design will give the room excessive “congestion”. In combination with white, you will have to dilute this “pastel bouquet” with bright accents to avoid the sterility effect of the “hospital setting”. Gray wallpapers paired with bright colors in a small apartment can visually expand the space if they are skillfully used in the color scheme of the ceiling and walls. In general, the gray "station wagon" looks harmonious in almost any combination. The main thing is not to combine more than three color bases.
If you intuitively cannot find this thin line between style and bad taste, then confine yourself to two colors, it is difficult to make a mistake here. One of the most stylish and rich combinations is considered gray with purple or pale lilac tones. This combination is suitable for any room: for the kitchen, living room, nursery, bathroom or bedroom. The difference will be only in accents. In the bedroom, they can be placed on murals or hanging collages, in the living room on shelves and racks, and in the office on lighting fixtures and carpets.
Light colors
Gray is combined with absolutely all colors. It is a clean canvas on which you can depict anything your soul wants. Light colors of wallpaper in combination with such a basis will set a calm tone for the entire room. Ideally similar design for bedrooms and lounges, in which the atmosphere will not be as gray as it might seem at first glance. Gray is in perfect harmony with light shades:
To give “life” to the situation, it will be enough just a couple of not too bright “points of support” for the eye: a textured wall, an extraordinary sconce or a rug that breaks out of the “drowsy” style. It is advisable to scatter accents indoors in different planes of space.
Dark colors
With dark colors, gray will also look elegant and expensive, but do not overdo it with the cold. Shine of metal, tint of silver, matte slate color cannot be combined only with the cold of blue, dark green or deep burgundy. You and your household will simply freeze morally in a room with such wallpaper. If the color palette cannot already be changed, then try to recoup on the materials. Velor, velvet, rough linen in upholstery and curtains will soften the cold and give it depth. The rough texture of raw stone, brick, wood will help break the gloss of “dead” colors and add life to the room. The rounded shapes and bends of the lines in the furniture will smooth the sharpness of the corners, add coziness to the living room, even if the overall style remains restrained.
Bright colours
Gray in the wallpaper acts as a support for a bright pink color. He supports him and does not allow him to behave aggressively in the interior. Orange and yellow colors of impulse, sun, mood are also ennobled due to the interior with gray wallpaper.If in the usual perception they are associated with youth and impulses, then in such a combination you look at these shades with a completely different look and be surprised at how the two colors can change each other. In combinations of bright shades with red, you can find new depths and discover completely unexpected faces. If gray with burgundy or carmine evokes philosophizing and causes nostalgia, then bright red calls for action. In combination, it will not be superfluous to add white or black for contrast. Color novelties of past years: the color of mint, mustard and aquamarine are ennobled with gray in the wallpaper and seem to be undergoing a change of violent youth for a period of restrained growing up.
Furniture selection
Wallpaper in gray tones should contrast with something. Do not arrange gray furniture in a gray room, otherwise the interior will turn out from the category of "white-white-white." Bright prints on the walls, on the floor will draw some of the attention on themselves and turn the picture of perception upside down: not the walls and the floor will be the background, but the furniture. For stylish hi-tech or postmodern furnishings, metal handles and chrome inserts are used that will resonate with the overall color scheme.
To decorate an apartment in American Art Deco style, the furniture is draped in leather and rough fabric, and its details are made of wood or materials imitating natural stones. In combination with gray, these elements at first glance seem “alien” to each other, but the eccentricity of the style quickly captures and maintains the impression of a creative sophistication. Adherents of the elaborate luxuries of Rococo, Empire and Baroque should also not forget about gray. This color looks rich not only in wallpaper embroidered with silver thread, but also in the marble of the fireplace, in the silk upholstery of chairs with carved legs and catchy floral patterns.
Curtain selection
Curtains of any shades of gray can be safely used in large, spacious rooms with large windows.You can even visually narrow your space using thick fabrics. Light shades of this color will look beautiful both on airy translucent curtains and on heavy curtains. Dark “asphalt” halftone curtains are not used in small rooms with tiny windows. If the walls are bright or dark in color, then such shades of gray categorically fall under the taboo. To combine such curtains with gray wallpaper is careful: the shades should be different and complement each other visually.
Dark gray wallpapers harmoniously combine with delicate pastel shades of curtains. To complete the picture, simple ebony furniture with upholstery in soft colors is suitable. Light gray walls with patterns and ornaments will look beautiful with muted matte shades of curtains: wine, indigo, delicate lilac, mint, sienna, coral. For Scandinavian style, minimalism, postmodernism, abstractionism, loft and even gentle provence, only natural fabrics are suitable: linen, cotton, silk, mesh, cambric. For luxury and chic baroque, classic or modern it is better to use "rich" fabrics: satin, velvet, velor.