This post has been updated, and you can read it here: What Paint Colors Go With Gray Furniture?
I have to give credit to gray. For a color that is so neutral and really neither here nor there it’s really holding its own and STILL a very sought after hue. People want gray in their homes but sometimes get stumped when they have to tie in the rest of their decor to liven up this *quiet hue. So what colors go with gray and how can we jazz up our homes when gray is the feature color?
CR Laine
The obvious choice is to add wall color to coordinate with your gray furniture. You can do so much with gray furniture, the options are really endless. But what paint color is the best choice to coordinate with gray furniture? Here are some Sherwin Williams colors that go with gray.
Looking at these colors you’ll see Fashionable Gray which will give you a monochromatic, classy look. It’s light, soft and versatile since it’s a fairly quiet color. You, of course, can incorporate more color into your room with pillows, throws, art and area rugs to bring in just tad more interest to your room. Have fun with this floral damask for drapery or if you’re not that brave, pillows would be perfect.
Manitou Blue is the “in” color now and even a darker navy is an excellent choice but just about any blue will look amazing with gray. The “Re-Blue” as CMG refers to it adds a nice spin on the already very popular blues that we all love.
Now Moroccan Brown is probably a color that you wouldn’t consider for your home but think about it for a minute. What if you have this Berkshire leather chair in your living room? It would look pretty impressive, wouldn’t it? I would certainly use a warmer gray fabric for your furniture to tie in the yellow tones or warmness of this particular leather. Can’t you just see yourself sitting in that chair? Cozy.
CRLaine
Fired Brick red will be the hue for you if you want a bolder more modern feel. This red will definitely be the focus in the room so you will really need a super quiet piece of furniture to take backstage to this strong color.
So, when you’re purchasing furniture for your home, considering gray is just smart. Like I said earlier, you can dress it up or keep it traditional. There is so much you can do with gray so invest in the best furniture you can afford but also, color is key here.
*Quiet color – when I refer to a “quiet color” it usually just either a soft color or a neutral color that you really don’t notice right off the bat.
Decorating by Donna • Intuitive Color Expert 
I’ve jumped on the gray-band wagon..maybe even a bit overkill, but I love it and it really does go with everything. I’ve mixed it with turquoise and bright orange in my living room with dark woods as well as lime and navy in my sons room…it really is that perfect color.
Sounds beautiful! Turquoise, great accent color to go with it. That’s actually my next blog post 🙂
Pingback: Color Trend + Color Trend = Fabulous! | Decorating by Donna • Charlotte's Color Specialist
Great post, informative information for our clients!
Thanks Eric and that is one of my most popular posts. Gray is still a very popular color trend.
Help! My once gray couch turned an awful green whenever we moved! We don’t have animals or smoke, So it has to be lighting and color related. The bulbs are super bright in the new place. I’m so in love with my couches (they have an aztec print to them with black and white as well) I REALLY can’t see myself getting rid of them. Any ideas about how to get my gray back?? Thanks! We are tinking accent colors of blues and either Moroccan red or yellow. Advice appreciated!
Your sofa turned green? Sounds like it may have been too close to a window and the UV got it? Try using different lighting your home or repaint your walls to play off or work with your green sofa. Unless you can replace your sofa, I have no idea how to make it gray again. Sorry!
I have a condo. I have a gray sectional sofa probably like silver gray or gun metal gray (light to medium color), cherry wood floors, cherry wood cabinets in kitchen with green backsplash, white book case. I am looking for a beige to paint the walls. I don’t want to use gray because Iam using greige color in the bedroom walls. What beige would you suggest? I was going to paint the wallsl simplify beige by Sherwin Williams? I know that has a pink undertone but now I am not sure it will work. What do you think and do you have other suggestions for paint? Is there a cream color that might work, I don’t want to go dark on the walls. Please help
I’d look into the beige’s that have a green undertone. That’ll look best with your red (mahogany) flooring. Try Inner Balance from Benjamin Moore.
I just purchased a light gray vanity from home depot but am totally stumped on what color to paint the bathroom! Will a darker gray wall be overkill? It’s a light gray vanity with a bright white sink. Thinking a darker flooring, too. But those walls are just stumping me! Love a bright color accent with bath towels, etc.. too. Any thoughts? Thanks for your post! It’s helpful!
Thoughts? Oodles! I’d like to start with not using gray for a wall color. Since your vanity is already gray you can really use so many colors.
Have you seen Paradise Found by Voice of Color? I’m really pushing greens now and the sage greens will be a nice transition along gray. Try it and see how you like it.
Thank you! I will check it out! I was totally going to go with a dark gray but let me check this out!
Keep in mind you have many options. Gray is still a neutral and you have a white sink so think color 🙂 Dare I say Coral? Yes, I said Coral 🙂
I have a new Dove Gray (light velvet gray) upholstered headboard with brass colored nail head wings in my room and am trying to figure out if I want to paint, and if so what color (faux or solid) or wallpaper the accent wall. Thinking maybe a beige with gold highlights. Not sure. Any awesome suggestions?
I always have awesome suggestions 🙂
Be careful with gray and gold or beige together. Unless it’s a warm gray, it’s going to look weird.
I’m all for solid painting and not faux but then again, that would depend on what type of faux you want.
This is why I hesitate to answer some color questions here. If I don’t have pictures, location and color names, I can’t professionally suggest colors for you. This is why I have a Virtual Color Color consultations available. Some are just $85 for a basic – which I just helped someone who needed advice on brown – and the pricing goes up if you need color for your entire house.
So sorry I’m not too much of a help here. Feel free to contact me via email if you need detailed information.
ps – there are MANY colors other than beige that look way better with gray. Just sayin’ 🙂
Ugh I know, I am sure anything would look better than what I picture. Here is the headboard. http://www.costco.com/.product.100115545.html?cm_sp=RichRelevance-_-categorypageHorizontalTop-_-CategoryTopProducts&cm_vc=categorypageHorizontalTop|CategoryTopProducts
Well the good thing about the headboard Janette is that it’s a neutral color. You can use just about any wall color with that. Do something fun and unexpected, try a gray with a slight lavender tint to it.
I have a dark gray couch but having trouble of what kind of living wall paint goes well with the couch I need your help
Beth – send me an email at DecoratingbyDonna@mac.com along with some pictures of your sofa and surrounding rooms. Flooring will play a big role in this as well so make sure you send me a picture of what type of flooring you have as well. I have a dark gray sofa too 🙂
Hi I have grey furniture for living, what paint color should I go with
Which ever one you like – it’s neutral color 🙂
Hi i just got a med gray leather couch now I need a new dinning room table my living room and dinning room is all 1 big room I was just wondering if I buy a gray dinning room table will it look good together.
Oh that’s super tricky!!!!! Be careful Maria. The grays need to be really close in hue or they’ll clash. I’d recommend coordinating colors instead of trying to match. How about a charcoal gray or black table? That probably would look better.
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate to this fantastic blog!
I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.
I look forward to fresh updates and will talk about this
blog with my Facebook group. Chat soon!
Gail, you’re so sweet – but I do have a Donate button. It’s up on the top of this blog in the black area, just click on the tab that says PAYPAL. Share your Facebook group with me if you please and I’ll share my DONATE button 🙂
https://decoratingbydonna.com/paypal/
I just moved and bought a dark gray leather rap around couch and my walls are all white. My carpet is a light beige color and all my pictures are black & gray. Also, my end table and coffee table are like a marble color with black & different shades of gray. I really need to get rid of these white walls and paint but I have no idea what color/colors?? I’m new to gray furniture. Any help would be appreciated!
Michelle – I would need to see pictures of your rooms so I can tie in your decor. There are so many colors that go with gray. I have a gray sofa t0o and a very unique wall color. Send me an email at DecoratingbyDonna@mac.com and we can talk about your options. I’m using Valspar paint because they have a really nice selection of greens that I love with gray. Chat soon!
I need help selecting a paint for my walls. Just purchased the Gia Grey Sofa from Crate & Barrel.
My apt does not get too much light ..
Oh pretty! Did you try Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore? That’s a nice clean one.
I did and it has a tint of blue. I’m obsessed with lime green and gray.lol and I wasn;t sure if the Gray Owl would work..
Please help:(((
Well blue and gray and beautiful together. Sample it out.
I can’t suggest a Lime Green without seeing your flooring. If you want, I have a color service available for that if you want additional help.
How much would that cost? I def need help.
I have a Basic Color Consultation where I offer three color suggestion for you for $85. I’ll send you a graphic what will have the picture of your sofa with three color boxes under it for you to choose from. My office will be closed till next Tuesday so if you need help, next week would be good for me.
My floors are a cherry wood. Hope I did not make a mistake with grey sofa.
Let me talk to my husband and get back to you . More than likely will hire you!!!
Keep in mind gray and “red” are classic color buddies. Remember the gray and burgundy look? Same thing. You’ll be fine. Now if you have maple floors, I’d be nervous.
OH what a relief!!!! The rug I purchased is grey and cream? Is that okay?
That sounds very ok.
How does it work when hire you for the paint? Will someone come to my house? Or do I send pics ? I’m very excited.
You’re adorable! My office is now closed for a few days but you can send me an email and we can chat there. DecoratingbyDonna@mac.com
Thank you Donna!!!! You have been very helpful!!
I will contact you again for help in selecting the paint.
You’re so welcome 🙂
Aww thank you!!! Will reach out to you sometime after Thanksgiving then.
😉
Ok, I’m in need of some help. My living area is open (the walls are a light gray- Sterling from Behr), I have a dark gray sectional with a multicolored rug (orange, green, pink, turquoise, and small hints of purple, yellow and red). I have two off-white armless accent chairs (my attempt to lighten the area). My dining room has a black, triangular, table with white leather barstools. I am struggling with adding color & contrast to my walls. Also, I want to incorporate burlap into my decor, but am unsure. The fireplace in my living room is bricked from floor to ceiling (the bricks are smeared, so they’re a light tan) and the mantle is a natural wooden block. Please Help!!
Wow!!!! Ok – you do know that I can’t 100% offer advice without seeing pictures of your home. I do have a color consultation available if you want to more precise help. I can tell you this – it sounds like you have a lot going on.
Between the colors in the rug and all the textures you have and want to bring in – honestly, I don’t know if I’d bring any more in.
This is would be a perfect opportunity to rearrange your room and minalimize your space. You may have too much going on. It sounds like you have good bones but again, without me seeing what you have it’s a challenge.
Try bringing interest in to your room not with color at this point but with lighting. Experiment with some upright or accent lighting that can feature some of the spaces in your room. This will always obviously lighten your area. Keep in mind, sometimes less is more.
I hope this helps a little.
Help, I just got this desk as a gift it’s very beautiful its called Toscana Dove Gray Desk from pier one. I’m going to redo my bedroom if I decide to paint my nightstands and tall dresser. Will that be too moncromatic? Right now nothing in my bedroom matches color. what is the best wall colors that go with this type of grey furniture. My walls rt are a lite peach color.thank you
Oh it might be – I’ll need to see a photograph of it to help you out. Send me an email at: DecoratingbyDonna@mac.com
Hi Donna, we have a dark grey sectional couch. I painted the walls SW grassland but something doesn’t look right. I think l have the wrong paint colour. Can you help me with paint colour for this couch. I haven’t purchased accent pillows or an area rug yet until I find the right wall colour or should I be looking at throw pillows and starting from there? Thank you
Did you send me an email about this already?
need help have grey sectional with light wood floors it is a condo repainted the living room red with a little rust and bedrooms are behr grey concrete kitchen is cream with white floors and cabinets are cream also with white appliances i have white granite countertops with grey and brown in it need help with kitchen paint
I’ll need to see a photograph of this room. Please send me an email at DecoratingbyDonna@Mac.com. There will be a charge for this service.
Hi Donna, my bedroom furniture is platinum… what color paint would you suggest….
Well that would depend on the rest of your home. What color flooring, tile and granite do you have? I’d make sure the undertones were all the same. Since your furniture is platinum you may have a larger range of color choices. If you’d like, I can offer you a Virtual Design service. Send me an email with your furniture and a some of your surrounding rooms and I can better assist you with a color choice.
Hi Donna. I have been trying to see how I could bring this family room together with this gray leather furniture. I want a lake cottage feel but don’t know own what to do for paint color or rug choice. Any suggestions?
Cottage feel? Try a cream color or light, pale blue with white trim. It really depends on which gray you have – cool or warm – that will determine the answer. If you have a warm gray sofa, try a cream wall. If you have a cool gray sofa, try a pale blue.
Have greenish walls and grey furniture what color cushions should I get .help
Pillows that have a warm undertone – not cool
Hey Donna! I just bought a silver grey couch from Ashley’s Home Furniture. We’re moving in to a home that has 1 window, a bay window, in the living room, facing south. The walls have a chair rail. What would you suggest painting them? I’d originally thought a beige and white (below the chair rail). But I’ve read online I should do a cool color like grey. I have accents of turquiose and I like the farmhoueThanks for the help!
Now I don’t know what shade of gray you have but here’s some colors to try:
Silver Fox
Stone Harbor
Mt Rainier Gray
November Rain
Smoke Gray
Thornton Sage
Cowboy Boots
A little of everything lol, all Benjamin Moore
Pingback: Which Gray Are You Drawn To And Why? | Decorating by Donna • Color Expert
Hi Donna,
I have chestnut maple kitchen cabinets with brown/grey and white quartz counter top, greyish/dark brown table with grey and light brown (almost cream) chairs. What wall colour and accessories would you suggest. Also what backsplash should I get? I would like a little bit of colour but not to much.
Hi Kathy – I’m going to hop right in and suggest a spicy orange accent color for your kitchen. You can see that colors in some of my newer posts in the blog. As far as wall color, try Olive White or Spring Reflection, both from Valspar. They are in the green family – don’t bring in any more gray.
As far as backsplash, you’ll already be in Lowe’s so look at the green/brown glass options. That will be pretty and will tie everything in.
Pingback: What Paint Colors Go With Gray Furniture: Updated | Decorating by Donna • Intuitive Color Expert
Hi Donna,
We just moved, into a somewhat open-concept house. I say somewhat, as the living/dining room flows into the kitchen, with a large fireplace – there are two entries into the kitchen, no doors, so you can see the medium tone wood cabinetry. The flooring is cream and brown tile, the brick fireplace is an orange tone, and the walls either muddy brown, or iceberg green. Into this mix, we brought medium-grey furniture, and gold-framed Italian artwork in the style of Francois Boucher. For the life of me, I cannot fathom what color to put on the walls. The flooring has to stay, obviously, and we have dark walnut and cherry wood furniture pieces. Help!
Dana, it sounds beautiful and I can so help you but I’ll need to see pictures. Send me an email to: DecoratingbyDonna@mac.com
I have a little issue. My couch is a slate color. I don’t really know what goes with that. I want some blue but not sure. Need some guidance.
Try a navy or opposite on the color wheel, a spicy orange. Of course to answer this correctly, I would need to know the colors of your surrounding rooms to tie it all in. I am available for a virtual design if you’re interested. Email me at DecoratingbyDonna@mac.com
Help! I came across your blog all the way from Dubai 🙂 I used to live in the US but now oversees. I am moving a new apartment and I have a light grey couch and dark brown furtniature. My contemperory rug is Dark blue with beige desgin. When I lives in Minnesota, my accent wall color was rusty orange. The new aprtment will get a lot of sunlight as it has floor to ceiling windows. I was thinking maybe I should go with with the orange accent or maybe change it up to yellow? or if I can try something new. Your guidance is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
I’m not familiar with the light in Dubai but if you said your apartment gets a lot of sunlight, you may want to stay away from orange or yellow.
I can’t suggest a color for you without knowing what paint companies you have access too. Let me know and I’ll see if I can send come color suggestions your way.
Thank you for coming back! I realized we have floor to ceiling Windows in the main living room I don’t think it gets lot of light after the first few hours in the morning. This is an apartment we are renting so the rest of the walls are all white. Hence I was thinking on doing one wall with an accent color of orange. I am looking at the brand Dulux and was looking at three colors tango tussle, fiesta orange, and blistering Sun. Thoughts?
First make sure you can paint in a rental – I know that’s always a problem. If you use a bold color like those beauties, get a tinted primer, you’ll need probably a heavy two coats.
If you’re going orange, go big. I like Moroccan Flame.
Thank you Donna! That’s a great pick. Yes, they can do the accent wall for us. Can i send you a picture of my rug and light grey sofa? Also, my furtnitures are dark brown so I really think it will pull out the color of the Moroccon Flame. I will need to provide them the color tomorrow morning Dubai time so if you need to see anything, I will have to send it to you in the next couple of hours before I go to bed. Please let me know if you can help, if not, no worries, i wil go with Moroccon Flame.
I’d go with Moroccon Flame especially if you love it!
Thanks Donna! So I went to the paint store and they didn’t have Moroccan Flame in Duplux. The rest of the oranges I had previously called out where all either light (thank God I didn’t buy it without seeing it) or reddish.
They had another brand called clark and kensington and I found this color called amaryllis it is a bold orange as well but this is the best i could find. Hope this matches well! Will send you a pic after I settle in so you can see it all 🙂 have a good night!
Happy painting! I love the name of the color, sounds like it has a good chunk of red in it which is good too 🙂
Thank you and fingers crossed for the desired outcome! Thanks much for your guidance.
You’re so welcome! Enjoy your color 🙂
Sorry for too many typos 😦 This is what happens when I type too fast and submit without checking!
My 11 yo daughter is looking to redo her room. She is looking for an Indi vibe. LED lighting, vines, pics/collages, etc. She just got a shaggy muti-grey-colour carpet and a grey shaggy comforter. Floors are a natural parquet wood. She is looking for a cream, beige, off-white (not grey!) for her walls. Something that will show off her LED lights. We’ve looked at a lot of colours on line but get stumped when we try to match something with the grey and the floors.
I’m loving Seashell OC-120 by Benjamin Moore. You can see it painting in my newest post.
Thank you! I watched the blog and saw the before and after pics. The after pic did appear to have a green tint in it which would not be ideal but I am wondering if that is from the original green painted walls. When I look up Seashell OC-120 on Benjamin Moore’s site, I think it will be a hit! I’ve been looking at Revere Pewter, Wind’s Breath, November Rain, Ballet White, and even Gardenia. The 1st couple are too gray looking for my daughter. Seashell looks to have that freshness she is looking for and I think the name itself will have her sold. Thanks so much!
Look at Seashell on the Benjamin Moore website or get the color chip – I think the green was showing through my friends paint or it’s just a poor photo.
Hello Donna
I have dark wood floors, an open concept , a gray couch and gray sitting chairs , now Im trying to figure out what color dining room chairs I should purchase gray or cream , my decorating colors are gray and gold tones.
Why just gray or cream? If you HAVE to choose between those two colors, I’d choose cream but that also depends on the undertone of your gray. Cream color on the chairs? Do you have kids? Plan on using that room a lot? If it was my home, I’d go for a darker color, and accent color on those chairs. Is there a color that you have in the surrounding rooms that you can bring into the dining room? Try that.
Hello Donna
I have an open concept house , not many furniture, light gray couch , dark floors and cream color shades, I would like to put some colors to the walls ,and also a cream chairs and dark dinning room table, I would like to put some accent colors to the walls
Thank you very much.
Sounds like you’ll have many colorful options!
Hello,
We had just picked up a slate color furniture and now we are looking to redo the living room what would be the best colors to go with the furniture
That would depend on your surrounding decor. You can go neutral with Westhighly White or creamy ivory or bring in some color with a spicy orange. So much depends on your lighting, location and the size of your room.