skip to main content
Welcome to Houzz India
Choose another country
Sign In
Join as a Pro
History of Houzz
  • PHOTOS
    KITCHEN & DINING
    • Kitchen
    • Modular Kitchen
    • Dining Room
    • Home Bar
    LIVING
    • Living Room
    • Home Theater
    • Home Office
    • Staircase
    BED & BATH
    • Bedroom
    • Nursery
    • Kid's Room
    • Bathroom
    OUTDOOR
    • Garden
    • Patio
    • Terrace & Balcony
    • Courtyard
    MORE ROOMS
    • Puja Room
    • Wardrobe
    • Exterior
    • Swimming Pool
    • View All
  • FIND PROFESSIONALS
    DESIGN & RENOVATION
    • Architects & Building Designers
    • Interior Designers & Decorators
    • Civil Engineers & Contractors
    • Design-Build Firms
    • Kitchen & Bath Designers
    • Landscape Architects & Contractors
    • Home Builders & Construction Companies
    • Photographers
    • Specialty Contractors
    HOME IMPROVEMENT
    • Furniture & Accessories
    • Flooring & Carpet
    • Tile, Stone & Countertop
    • Bedding & Bath
    View All Pros View All Services
  • STORIES
    LATEST FROM HOUZZ
    • Houzz Tours
    • Kitchen Guides
    • Bathroom Guides
    • Bedroom Guides
    • Decorating Guides
    • Outdoors
    • Architecture
    HOUZZ TV
    HOUZZ RESEARCH
  • ADVICE
    HOUZZ DISCUSSIONS
    • Design Dilemma
    • Before & After
    • Polls
    • Home Decorating
    • Kitchens
    • Living Rooms
    • Bedrooms
    • Dining Rooms
    • Exterior
    • Lighting
    • Paint
    • Building a Home
Colour Guides
Colour Guides
14 Living Rooms That Prove Beige Is Not Boring
Top Ideabooks
14 Living Rooms That Prove Beige Is Not Boring8 Breathtaking Stain Colours for Kitchen Cabinets12 Ceiling Colours That Aren't White & Why You Would Want Them8 Colours That Work Well With Black
Appears in
Recent Ideabooks
Decorating Guides
Decorating Guides
10 Ways to Tile Floors
Top Ideabooks
10 Ways to Tile FloorsWhy a Dresser is the Pièce De Résistance of the Bedroom?How Will Design Shape the ‘New Normal’?A Guide to Curtain Styles
Appears in
Recent Ideabooks
See also
Small SpacesDecorating IdeasFloorsFestival Guides
Decorating Ideas
Decorating Ideas
15 Modern Spaces That Celebrate Indian Handicrafts
Top Ideabooks
15 Modern Spaces That Celebrate Indian HandicraftsI Am a Feminist and This Is How My Home LooksKitchen Organisation: 14 Dream Pantry & Cupboard DesignsTo Paint Or To Wallpaper?
Appears in
Decorating Guides

How to Create Magic With Light Grey

The hottest new neutral can be cool or warm, formal or casual, and feminine or masculine. Talk about versatile

Samantha Schoech
Samantha Schoech6 February 2018
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel and design. I just completed my first remodel, turning my crumbling 1941 kitchen into a beauty of grays, whites and natural wood. If I could, I'd sleep on the countertop. That's how much I love it. You can also read my parenting blog on Baby Center http://blogs.babycenter.com/author/sschoech/
More
Print
Embed
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Light grey is this decade’s trendiest neutral. It has replaced beige as the wall colour of choice. (I actually don’t know if this is true in a statistical sense, but it sure feels like it.)

A true neutral grey is a mixture of black and white, but we hardly ever see a true neutral grey. What we see are infinite shades of warm and cool greys. Warm greys have yellow or brown undertones. Cool greys have a blue undertone. The ubiquitous “greige“ is a very warm grey that can look almost beige.

Cool or blue greys tend to have a very crisp, almost icy look to them. They are wonderful with bright whites in formal rooms and with blues and beiges. You can treat them almost like a light blue. Warm or yellow greys are complemented by creamy whites and warm colours like yellows, pinks and natural woods.

But, of course, there are no fast rues. A cool grey can be the perfect way to offset wood, and you are more than welcome to mix a warm grey with blues.

These examples show a variety of mash-ups that work and illustrate the beauty and versatility of the colour.
Kate Riley - Centsational Girl
Light grey on the walls
Grey sets off the white trim and wainscoting in this feminine and traditional room. Bright white and light grey often have a sort of ethereal and romantic look together.
Schwartz and Architecture
This cool grey accent wall in a big, modern room works because all the wood warms it up.

Check out these 17 rooms with grey walls
gogo gulgun selcuk
This domed ceiling in a cool light grey (with hand-painted embellishments) gives this elegant room a dreamy quality.
Aidan Design
This pinkish grey is in the greige family. It’s modern but welcoming and cozy too.
Mackle Construction
A very blue grey helps bridge the gap between the traditional elements in this room and the modern windows. The dollops of colour relax it and give it warmth.

Here’s how to work your room around a grey sofa
Nic Darling
A very pale cool grey is a soothing background for a simple, modern nursery.
Emily McCall
A pale blue-grey on the walls and a darker warm grey behind the open shelving help give this modern farmhouse dining room its eclectic vibe.
Kendall Wilkinson Design
This silvery gray wall covering sure looks like Maya Romanoff‘s Mother of Pearl collection.
Horchow
Decorating with light grey
Variations in grey. A light grey bookshelf and desk against a slightly lighter grey on the walls. It all adds up to a sophisticated and soothing space.
Martha O'Hara Interiors
Grey leather upholstery is such a nice change from the more usual black, white or brown. And it goes with anything. This chesterfield-style sofa would be at home in a traditional, modern or eclectic room.
Crane & Canopy
Here’s the ethereal grey and white combo I was talking about earlier. Just like sleeping in a cloud.
Tim Cuppett Architects
This oversize tufted headboard give this room a regal and commanding presence, but the soft grey keeps it welcoming and comforting.

Take a look at these 10 head-turning headboards
AM Dolce Vita
Romance in grey and creamy white.
Ligne Roset
Light grey to set off colour
First, these textured plaster walls are just too gorgeous to be true. Second, grey sets off bright pops of colour as well as bright white. Wow, now that’s magenta.
CWB Architects
These bright turquoise chairs are set off beautifully by these cool blue-grey walls.
Megan
In a wonderfully eclectic room, lots of ethnic pattern and colour are balanced by the crisp grey walls and white trim.

Everything you ever wanted to know about eclectic decor
Two shots of turquoise in this very subdued grey and white mid-century kitchen.
Tara Seawright Interior Design
Sunshine yellow and light grey are a match made in heaven. Just think sunshine and rain clouds.

Find out why you should pair yellow with grey
Nerland Building & Restoration, Inc.
Light grey in the kitchen
Light grey sets off the texture in marble and goes well with stainless appliances. But look for a warm shade to avoid the laboratory look.
CliqStudios
Light grey Shaker-style cabinets are a great way to modernise a traditional look.
Amy
This very warm greige on the upper cabinets gives this kitchen a cozy farmhouse look but is still crisp and modern.
Weathered wood
Many woods weather to a beautiful silvery grey. These light grey wood floors are an unexpected alternative to the usual brown.
Robert Young Architects
This weathered wood wall adds texture and a hit of nature to a stark white space.
Avenue B Development
Light grey exteriors
A light grey craftsman home with white, charcoal and red accents.
SV Design
Light grey is the traditional colour of Cape Cod-style houses.
Huestis Tucker Architects, LLC
Light grey on a colonial-style home.
DeForest Architects
This very warm Copley Grey has an earthiness that looks great with wood.

Read more:

7 Spaces That Shine Because of the Colour Grey

Tell us:
Have you used light grey in your home? Share images in the Comments below.
Print
Embed
Facebook
Twitter
Email
See 55 comments
Explore Related Topics
Colour GuidesDecorating GuidesDecorating Ideas
Read Related Stories
14 Living Rooms That Prove Beige Is Not Boring14 Living Rooms That Prove Beige Is Not Boring
By Vinita Kunnath·0
Living Rooms
8 Breathtaking Stain Colours for Kitchen Cabinets8 Breathtaking Stain Colours for Kitchen Cabinets
By Jennifer Ott·43
Kitchen Guides
12 Ceiling Colours That Aren't White & Why You Would Want Them12 Ceiling Colours That Aren't White & Why You Would Want Them
By Vinita Kunnath·0
Decorating Ideas
8 Colours That Work Well With Black8 Colours That Work Well With Black
By Kelly Porter·12
Decorating Ideas
22 Ways to Use Colour in Your Home22 Ways to Use Colour in Your Home
By Georgia Madden·7
Photo Books
7 Tricks to Transform a White Room7 Tricks to Transform a White Room
By Vaishnavi Nayel Talawadekar·3
Decorating Ideas
8 Irresistible Colour Palettes for Modern Living Rooms8 Irresistible Colour Palettes for Modern Living Rooms
By Vinita Kunnath·0
Living Rooms
Why It's All Thumbs Up For Pantone Colours of the Year 2021Why It's All Thumbs Up For Pantone Colours of the Year 2021
By Shristi Nangalia·0
Decorating Ideas
8 Refreshing Wall & Almirah Colour Combinations8 Refreshing Wall & Almirah Colour Combinations
By Aditi Sharma Maheshwari·0
Bedroom Guides
Why Have a Neutral-Coloured BedroomWhy Have a Neutral-Coloured Bedroom
By Vinita Kunnath·3
Bedroom Guides
7 Natural Stones That Can Give Your Floor a Colourful Twist7 Natural Stones That Can Give Your Floor a Colourful Twist
By Shristi Nangalia·6
More Room Guides
7 Sophisticated Blues for Kitchen Cabinets7 Sophisticated Blues for Kitchen Cabinets
By Neila Deen·121
Kitchen Guides
5 Bold & Beautiful Sofa Colours5 Bold & Beautiful Sofa Colours
By Lisa Batson Goldberg·50
Living Rooms
Colour Used As Architecture in Milan Flat Inspired by CorbusierColour Used As Architecture in Milan Flat Inspired by Corbusier
By Claudia Schiera·87
Houzz Tours
5 Energising Study Room Colour Combinations5 Energising Study Room Colour Combinations
By Shristi Nangalia·2
Kids Spaces
People who liked this story also liked
14 Living Rooms That Prove Beige Is Not Boring
14 Living Rooms That Prove Beige Is Not BoringFull Story
8 Breathtaking Stain Colours for Kitchen Cabinets
8 Breathtaking Stain Colours for Kitchen CabinetsFull Story
12 Ceiling Colours That Aren't White & Why You Would Want Them
12 Ceiling Colours That Aren't White & Why You Would Want ThemFull Story
8 Colours That Work Well With Black
8 Colours That Work Well With BlackFull Story
22 Ways to Use Colour in Your Home
22 Ways to Use Colour in Your HomeFull Story
7 Tricks to Transform a White Room
7 Tricks to Transform a White RoomFull Story
8 Irresistible Colour Palettes for Modern Living Rooms
8 Irresistible Colour Palettes for Modern Living RoomsFull Story
Why It's All Thumbs Up For Pantone Colours of the Year 2021
Why It's All Thumbs Up For Pantone Colours of the Year 2021Full Story
8 Refreshing Wall & Almirah Colour Combinations
8 Refreshing Wall & Almirah Colour CombinationsFull Story
Why Have a Neutral-Coloured Bedroom
Why Have a Neutral-Coloured BedroomFull Story
  • India
  • ABOUT
  • MOBILE APPS
  • PROFESSIONALS
  • BUTTONS
  • FAQs
  • CAREERS
  • ADVERTISE
  • Terms & Privacy
  • © 2021 Houzz Inc.