For a long time, gray was associated with boring offices and government offices, but modern designers have found its secret power – to reveal muted shades and blunt too bright. Simply said, be the perfect background. Today, gray is a welcome guest in the house. Like any other guest, it has its own characteristics. We’ll talk about them later.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, gray was the favorite color of aristocrats and was associated with noble luxury. Today it causes conflicting feelings: on the one hand, it is harmony, calmness, and stability, on the other – fatigue, boredom, and melancholy.
- Gray is suitable for people with a high speed of life. It slows down the nervous system and calms down. Color affects the brain, helps to look at the problem without emotions, with a clear head. Office design is the best proof of this.
- Grey furniture has a specific and very elegant look. And if you don’t know where to find it we can recommend Nyfurnitureoutlets.
- The gray color has few loyal fans and ardent haters – even here it remains neutral. Although pragmatists and rationalists sometimes prefer gray to everything else. But for people who are prone to depression, gray should be avoided – it will not give them anything but a depressed state.
- Gray is infinitely multi-faceted. To prove it, we suggest refreshing your memory of school drawing lessons.
- Neutral gray is obtained by mixing black and white. This borderline color is associated with cleanliness and freshness. Depending on the proportions, we get darker or lighter shades.To get warm and cold shades of gray, add a mixture of diametrically opposite colors to black and white – red and blue, blue and orange, yellow and purple, or combine the famous trio of red, green, and blue.
- As promised, we are destroying the ingrained stereotype – more than 50 shades of gray. And even more than 250. Unfortunately, their exact number cannot be calculated using the most sophisticated mathematical calculations. But most of the shades have very poetic names, which arose mainly due to associations: London fog, thundercloud, wet stone, river mother-of-pearl.
- Gray is the new beige, according to the designers. It, like other neutral colors (white, black, beige, brown, ivory) is combined with all shades of the color circle. Moreover, gray brings harmony to the interior – it highlights muted tones, and balances too saturated ones. Let’s look at the most popular combinations and solutions.
Grey and beige
The combination of practical gray and warm beige is at the peak of popularity. Their mixing gave the world a new fashionable color-greige. It looks best in the bedroom or living room, creating a cozy and peaceful atmosphere.
We can tell that the combination of light gray and ivory is quite successful. It turns out to be gently and subtly. If desired, it can be diluted with color accents, interesting textures or patterned textiles.
Gray and pink
Gray and pink complement and emphasize each other: the first becomes less formal, the second gets the missing expressiveness.
The combination of caramel pink and light gray is perfect for a children’s room or a small living room. White and beige will help to set off the main colors.
Do you want to make your interior more expressive? Graphite and mauve will help you out. Usually gray is in the background, but in this case, distribute the saturated active colors equally.
Grey and yellow
The combination of gray and yellow requires careful handling. They look good together, but in some combinations, they are not friends with each other. Designers have been trying to reconcile this pair since the 60s of the last century.
Yellow color improves brain activity and improves mood, so dilute them with a neutral gray interior – the perfect solution. However, the combination of bright yellow and dark gray can create a tense atmosphere, and the combination of light gray and pastel yellow looks dull.
Yellow attracts attention. Make it accent and dilute it with another color (for example, green or black), and diversify the gray background with white. You will get an impressive combination of two main and two accent colors.
Grey and blue
Gray and blue are a rather strict combination. It looks harmonious in the home office or bathroom. Blue color calms and suppresses aggression, as well as increases concentration. Note that the darker the blue, the lighter the gray should be. And vice versa.
Grey and red
Red is quite aggressive and can cause irritation, so the combination of gray and red also requires caution. It’s not for everyone. For example, the Union of dark red and graphite looks very beautiful and elegant, but there is no smell of comfort here. Try adding details – the result will surprise you.
Gray and red are suitable for bathroom decoration. The combination of a gray background, red accessories and white glossy plumbing looks spectacular. The main thing is to keep in mind the rule-accent red should take up about 10 % of the color scheme.
Another successful combination is cream / beige / coffee with milk color + light gray + shallow shades of red. This is a simple recipe for creating a very delicate and unusual interior.
About Peter C.
Peter is a digital nomad who largely writes from Asia, Europe, and South America. Always following the "vibe," he sets up shop in hostels and AirBNB's and continues to entertain us with wild stories from life abroad.
