Is Fifty Shades of Grey a racy romance novel or design book?  Who can tell by the title?  Actually the spelling of “grey” in the US may be a clue since we tend to spell the color “gray” but in Great Britain, it’s more common to spell it “grey”.  Whether you like, love, dislike or ambivalent about the controversial books, now is the time to consider bringing some “shades of grey” into your home.

The color gray has been a trend for several years now.  Beige walls like these…

are being replaced with grey walls like these…

 

 Instead of opting for white kitchen cabinets like these…

Some are choosing grey stained cabinets like these…

Why gray?  It’s sophisticated, classic, refined, dignified, authoritative, elegant, cool, futuristic.  But some would say it’s unsettling, depressing and probably a sign of our financial times.  Others feel it’s the color of intellect, knowledge, power, wisdom and victory.  Whatever you think, the color grey is going to be around a while so why not embrace it…

What exactly is the color gray?  Basically, it’s a series of colors ranging between black and white.  We made gray by mixing black and white together in grade school.  Some would argue it’s not a color at all.  Probably true if you strictly mixing black and white together but most greys in your home have another color added to it.

There are different types of grays such as green-grays, blue-grays, true gray, etc.  Basically each color can have black and white, or gray,  added to it.   Any color that has been “grayed” is called a tone.  It’s probably not proper color theory language, but for my paint consultations, you’ll often hear me say “this is a toned blue or toned green”.  If you don’t want a minty looking green on your walls, then add some gray.  If you don’t want a cold looking blue on the walls, add either orange or gray (adding a color’s compliment on the color wheel (orange is blue’s compliment) does the same thing as adding grey).  Basically, gray can solve lots of color issues.

This Munsell diagram below shows how the pure hues change as more grey is added the closer you get to the core.

Grey can also be either cool or warm.  Add some blue and you have a cool grey like the dining room below.  Dark wood tones and blues are common in cool gray rooms.

Add some yellow and you have a warm grey like the dining room below.   Notice they paired yellow dining chairs and table with the warmer grey.

I’m sure many women are dreaming of having Christian “Grey” in their home.  But since we can’t have that “Grey” would you consider doing the other “Gray” in your home?