The New Grey

When choosing paint, flat, matt finishes are better than semi gloss when it comes to grey paint as a way to ensure it doesn’t look too industrial. Grey bedroom schemes are a great place to add texture with fabrics and layering.

Try grey linen sheet, a confident alternative to white, as they feel restful but also have a more masculine quality. Wool blankets with a big open weave or natural sheepskins can add comfort and interest without having to resort to patterns that could detract from a minimal, sleek feel. Other rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms are ideal for adding grey in natural materials such as slate flooring tiles or a subtle grey veined marble counter top.

Colour combos such as grey and pink bring wit and a modernist edge to decorating with grey. If you aren’t ready to commit to a large piece or expensive upholstery, try using blankets or throws, graphic prints on seat pad fabrics, handles on drawers or window coverings.

Using a soft fabric blind like Silhouette® Shades will also make the daylight filtered through it seem like warm summer sunlight and warm up a rooms feel. Grey living room ideas can borrow from French classicism with a hint of pale blue. Although tonally similar, they play off each other in a surprisingly pretty and fresh way. (To really finish the look add in a gilt mirror.)

In this Scandinavian inspired room, pale wood blinds can work as a neutral tone to compliment floor boards or rattan. If you want to keep it to grey exclusively, layering tones can add great richness: the breadth of hues is a revelation. Try a soft grey against a harder graphite shade or for a very modern look try “Griege” the hottest new palette. A much warmer version of the colour adorning the current designer’s notebook, Kim Kiner, Vice President, Textile & Material Design for Hunter Douglas has cited it as the big design influence for 2017.

Good lightning is key to making a space seem welcoming when decorating with grey. Overhead light can make this colour seem harsh so avoid spots and look for uplighters or lamps with a golden coating inside or creamy shades instead. This immediately throws some golden shimmer that transforms this colour instantly into a warm and inviting retreat.

Hit two trends in one by incorporating brass, copper and steel into grey furniture sets with pewter table tops or brass drawer pulls. Metallic looks need to be used carefully when decorating with grey so that they don’t feel too industrial.

Go for matt grey surfaces and some rich fabrics instead. Herringbone wool on sofas with copper buttons, a deep pile rug with grey and brown tones under a coffee table with a brass and glass or a silvered or smoked mirror surface will lend the slinky feel of one of the other big interiors trends, the 1970s nightclub. Time to kick back with a martini and enjoy your decorating hard work.

Visit our living room window blinds page for more inspiration.