This will be a bit of a pity party post, sorry. I’m discouraged about our dining room. And I’ll go ahead and tell you that we have turned it into an office, so there, the secret is out. :)
I REALLY wanted gray, as that is what I am loving at the moment. But will I still love it many more moments down the road? I can’t say that for sure since I tend to like MANY styles and colors all year long. Did I fall prey into the gray trend? I’m still trying to figure that out. I just really wanted to try something different and get away from the golds, reds, greens, and browns. I just wanted the office to be different. Somewhat traditional, and a little contemporary. And I think that look has been achieved so far, but not sure if it goes with everything else. Does it really need to “flow?” Can’t I just have a crayola box if I want to? :)
Y’all have seen the color of our downstairs…that goldy-tan color. Does gray go with that? It’s supposed to, I thought. But for whatever reason, the gray I chose still looks slightly blue to me. Only sometimes though. Am I imagining it? Do I need to repaint? Did I pick the wrong gray, again? Arghh!!
I bought this rug yesterday, just the bigger version of the one shown in the picture…
I love that rug. It’s so close to the quatrefoil one I wanted from Ballard’s, and it’s even gray. I liked it in the office, I think.
Okay, so enough, tell me what you think about gray matching with tans, browns, and golds. I swear if y’all tell me I have to repaint, I will have to hold a paint party and pray that 1 person shows up because I am so sick of painting this room!! :)
In case you are new to my blog(thank you!), here is a snippet of the gray color I painted in the new office…
And here is the color of most of our downstairs…
And the office is to the left of that big wall, right when you walk in the front door. And that color in the picture above looks a little darker than what it actually is in real life.
Even though I have a home decor blog, that doesn’t make me a designer or an expert. Never will I claim to be. I’m just your average joe who enjoys decorating, and I’m not afraid to ask for help. Sooo…help!!
Thank you! :)
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xxoo,
Decorchick!
I think it works! Of course, would love to see a picture. I’m in the process of changing most of my living areas over to gray but keeping the traditional/ golds, reds and green accents. So it better work! :) New to your site and I just love it. Thanks!
Thank you Cindy!! Good luck to you! :)
1) Love the rug, where did you get it? 2) Calm down about the color. It is your house, do what you LOVE and feel comfortable with. Since you just painted it, givce it a few months. Live with it, use it, and then decide if you want to change. I know gray is very “in” now, but since it’s a neutral, I think it will be around for a little while longer.
Ha, Garden Ridge. Wise words Elz, thank you!
I am having the exact same dilemma with my office makeover! My office can be seen from my entry way, which was supposed to be a light taupe color but looks gray (I still love it though). So I know whatever color I paint the office must be a muted shade, though I’m afraid it will look too modern compared to the entryway, humpf.
Grays are tricky, they often look blue. But here’s my advice which I will hopefully take myself….Just as long as it looks like your style, it will look fine. Whether gray or gold, I’m sure it will have your personal touches in it, which is what will make it all mesh!
ps- love the rug!
Thanks so much Rebecca, you made me feel much better. :) I wanted this room to be a little more less like my “style” just to be different. Maybe I shouldn’t do that. ha
I think even with a different “style” it will still have touches of you, naturally. My office is currently black-brown (which appears more black!) Ikea furniture with stainless steel legs. Nothing like the style of my hardwood floored, crown molding, wainscotted entryway. But I think somehow which accessories and things I love, it will still mesh…. even if the connecting factor is just “things I think are pretty” :)
Or at least this is what my husband convinced me of the other day when I was doubting myself! Best of luck, I will look out for the final product!
Aww you have a good hubby! I bet it looks great! Thanks for your encouragement!
It looks very cool and serene! As far as being too “bluish” can you add warmer light to tone down the blue? I missed the boat with the gray trend…we bought a house a few months ago and it was all dark gray and now it’s turquoise, avocado and sand. Oh well, I like it.
There is no blue in that formula at all…If I repaint I’ll have to go with a brown gray and hope it doesn’t turn out green or purple. Glad you like your colors!!
Of course it’s hard to tell exactly from the photos, but my guess is that what you’re reacting to is that the undertones of the two colors (the tan and the grey) are different. The tan paint has a very warm undertone – but the grey (at least as it looks here) has a very cool undertone. I think that if you went more toward a greige (like a really greyish muddy brown, but with a warm undertone) on the walls in the office, that would seem like if flowed better.
The other thing that you could do is purposely go with a bluer-grey – but again, keep it with a warmer undertone. I really think that the whole issue you’re struggling with is undertones that compete, rather than cooperate.
You could still use that rug (the more blueish tones of the rug would work better if there were more brown in the grey wall color), but I think you’d be happier all around. It would mean re-painting, but I think you’d be really happy with the results.
Good luck!
Yes, I may have to go with the brown gray, and hope it doesn’t turn green or pink. Thanks so much for your input I really appreciate it!!
If you let me know that color that’s on your walls in the adjoining rooms, I’d be happy to give you some suggestions for the office walls are likely to work (I’m an interior designer) and not be too green or pink.
Sherwin Williams Baguette…We have tons of light in our house so Baguette isn’t too dark as it appears on the swatch. I also have a green/gray on the entry wall that is across from office. that is Sherwin Williams Connected Gray, but I may repaint that one day so don’t go by that color. Just go by Baguette for now…Thanks!
I love the mocha color of the walls. I agree with elz, do what YOU love. You are the one who will be looking at the walls day in and day out. You can’t go wrong with a neutral. I would also like to know where you found that rug….thanks!! Have a great weekend!!!
p.s. love your style :)
Ha thanks so much Natalie! I got it at Garden Ridge!
Don’t be discouraged! I am amazed at the progress you have made in such a short time. Your home looks terrific! Just pull some accents of the gold room into the gray room and vice versa–so it looks intentional and isn’t a surprise when one walks from one room to the other. It takes a little time and lots of tweaking for a room to come together–be patient with yourself. :)
Thanks Carol. :) That’s actually what I had in mind for that room. Wanted to use that mustardy yellow color in accents with the gray.
Was recently talking to a friend who works at Home Depot and spent much time working in the Paint Dept. about the color “grey/gray”. She realized I really thought of gray as a lightened black and educated me on the fact that it is not. So sad. Would make like so much easier. I love the grey in your pictures! I guess it has blue undertones, though. I say if you love it, keep it! It’s YOUR office! You have done a marvelous job!
Thanks Guerrina! Yea, grays can have all sorts of undertones. Brown, pink, purple, blue, green…so frustrating!
Oooh, girl I feel ya. I’m having the saaaame issue in my bedroom. Here’s a picture of my paint, it’s Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray and I loved it on the swatch — I wanted it to have some depth and not just look like a drab concrete gray, but it looks so BLUE to me in the room. And I don’t want an icy blue room, they feel very cold to me.
(gray paint is in the last 2 pictures of this post: http://takethesidestreet.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-bedroom-chair-gets-makeover.html)
I’m biting my nails over this paint color stuff. blah. I wish I had any major words of advice for you, just know I feel your pain — I don’t think gray will go “out” of style because it’s a neutral and while it is having its 15 minutes of fame right now, it was always a classic color choice…
I will also share that I’m thinking about turning my gray into a “greige” — just to warm it up a bit, keep it elegant and contemporary but avoid concrete or ice queen walls. But don’t do that because I’m pretty sure I couldn’t make the drive to come help you paint and then I’d feel really guilty!
I DO love (love, love) your rug though. :)
I’ll have to look at that link when I get back home. It isn’t working for some reason? Yea, I have a room that can look very blue upstairs too that I’m sure I’ll end up repainting. Oh my gosh, my poor walls. And that color was Oyster Bay which is right by Comfort Gray. Frustrating!
If you find a good greige, let me know please? I may want to test some just for giggles…
I think it works too. And let’s face it – it only needs to work for YOU for it to work! Great rug, by the way!
Thanks so much Tara!
Oh I know this feeling… we went with a blue gray for our bedroom. Once we finished painting, I was almost in tears because it looked so baby blue to me (not what I was going for!). But once we repainted the trim a brighter white and added lots of accessories, it became a lot more like the color I was going for!
Sooo my advice is to keep the color on the walls and start adding furniture and accessories… then make your decision. It might be a pain in the butt to hang things on the wall and bring in furniture just to bring it all down if you don’t end up liking the color, but it is less of a hassle than repainting the entire room!! :)
Good luck!!
So true Michelle, thank you! So sorry you had baby blue but glad it worked out for you! Yea I definitely need some color in there to tie it all together.
I think it will work… but I’m anxious to see photos of them two together. I recently was reading the blog Colour me Happy and she has several posts about gray and also another one on beige. Here is the link to her sight. I think you’ll enjoy reading it.
http://colourmehappyblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-everyone-should-know-about-gray.html
Have a great weekend and happy decorating !
Joy
Thanks so much for the article Joy!! Reading now. :)
Well, since I ? blue, I don’t see what the problem is!! ?
You could always ’80s-sponge-paint a different color over top… (ha!)
Speaking of… what about a glaze or something to add depth & give the appearance of different colors from different angles?
Ahh been there done that! I don’t know about the glaze. That’s a possibility?
Girl I feel your pain. I do love grey and am preventing myself from painting the whole house in shades of it. Everytime I pick one out and put it on the walls I think it looks blueish. I think myabe it’s my eyeballs.
But I do think the walls and ceiling go well together – love that crown! What I would suggest is bringing some vibrant color in there in some way since those are neutrals. Whatever you like, turquoise, kelly green, pink! {I’m still trying to bring color into my life myself :-) who am I to talk?}
Can’t wait to see more – hang it there – it’s fab and so are you!
Yea I was going to bring in yellowy/mustard color because I like that with gray. We’ll see what happens. A lot of grays do look blue so you’re probably not mistaken. I hope you do find the perfect gray you are looking for! If you find it, let me know. :)
Thanks for the nice comment Jessica!
Yes, I think the gray works. I think gray works with SO many things which is why it’s sooo awesome. Unfortunately, my husband told me NO MORE GRAY in the house. Sad face.
Sooo, I need to find a color that works well in our main room with super high walls that isn’t overpowering.
Currently it’s Peach. Yuck. Courtesy of the previous owners who painted everything including the ceilings in this house a dirty peach color.
Vomit.
Hahaha peach…nice!!
It works well together. I am a fan of gray. Finding the right one is difficult. I feel for you. I just painted our dining room and office (formerly formal living room) a Wedgewood Blue and the family room which connects is a light mocha. Now to tie in the entry with spans both office and dining room and puts you in the living room. That I’m having a hard time with right now. Maybe stripes are in my future. I’d love chevron strips on the wall, but since I am the chief painter it’s a bit much.
The chevron strips would be cool, but oh so tedious. I got the rug at Garden Ridge, but it’s going back. :( It’s not the best quality anyway.
I won a magic paint stick from Rhoda at Southern Hospitality. I think instead of plain old stripes I’m going to vary the size. I’m going to do a post about it when I get the paint stick. Chevron is more of a neat idea, but executing it could cost me my sanity.
Glad to hear that you are keeping the color. I love it. Thanks for the heads up on the quality of the rug.
Hope you feel better soon! Can’t wait to see the trim.
Thanks so much Robyn! I don’t even know what a magic paint stick is? Sounds neat though!
Where did you get the rug? I really like it.
Oh Friend… Do not feel discouraged! Your home is coming together beautifully and you encourage many to try DIY projects.
I think the gray will work… Gray works with so many colors! It IS a neutral! ;-)
I am sure whatever you decide will turn out perfectly!
BTW – I went to school for many years for my design license & I STILL will not call myself a designer! I prefer “DIY-Hope for the best-Creative-Crafty-Decorator”… it works for me!
Hahaha I like your title!!
I think it will look great! I don’t think the gray you have is a shocking color so you won’t walk in and go whoa! It’s a subtle shade and I think you can blend the two quite nicely. I have two different colors next to each other. I have Behrs Pale Wheat in the FR and then BM Palladium Blue in the DR. They are similar in intensity so I like them together. Plus I bring the color of one into the other room to help blend. Did that make sense? lol
I think it’s just shocking at first because it’s a new to you color. I know I had that reaction when I first painted the dining room!
Oh no, it’s not shocking at all. Probably just to me since it used to be red. We’ll see what happens. Sometimes I like it a lot, and others I get mad. haha. But for the most part I DO like it. :)
I think the colors are fine….if you want to make it flow, paint your shutters and the frame of the mirrors with the same gray you have in your office and that will bring them together.
Thank you Ginger. :)
I’m somewhat in this same dilemma… we have cherry floors and have painted our whole house in shades of brown. I love it, but it’s been several years and I’m loving this gray trend! Not sure it really goes with our reddish-brown flooring, or the other brown walls in our house… but I’m going gray in our bedroom anyway! I think the only thing that is off with the gray is that it has a very cool undertone, where everything else is warm. The mix doesn’t seem quite right… you need a warmer gray in my opinion. Wish I could come help paint, I love painting walls!
Ohhh I wish you could come help me paint too!
I like the combination. They are both muted, restful colors and you could bring them together with accessories. But if you’re like me, and it’s not hitting you right, then it will bug you and you should change it. It’s just paint. (easy for me to say, right?) Lisa~
Ha yes! I’m still undecided. I like it a lot sometimes and get frustrated at other times. :)
Don’t repaint it! Gray is awesome and I think it’ll all tie in together. I’m loving gray too. I picked up Silverpoint from SW for our master bath…when I was painting it on it looked too gray and plain and boring. But there are tints of blue in in too (even though there’s none in the formula) but I think it’s going to be cute after I accessorize. No way am I repainting again. After priming AND painting I think I might pick Behr’s primer & paint in one next for our next house.
p.s. Thank you for telling me about Garden Ridge, I’ll HAVE to check it out! p.p.s. Is there a chance you might be going to Time Out For Women in Plano this weekend? I’ll be there and just thought I’d ask if you might, not that I know if you even know what that is…
p.p.p.s. I wish I would get emailed comments after submitting mine
Hey there, no I don’t know what that is. And that would be quite the drive for me! So what is that? And you should be getting an email (if you leave your email address) if I respond to you. You don’t?
Hi! Nope, I don’t get emails sent to my inbox and I do leave my email address so I wonder if there’s something else I should be doing. I have to come back to the post I left comments on to see if you’ve replied. Anyway, Time Out For Women is a conference for women where there are inspirational talks and songs. It was a 3.5 hour drive for us. It was really uplifting. I just asked cuz I know you live in TX but I wasn’t sure if you were LDS or not. Sometimes I’ll find a blog that I love (like yours) and latter discover the blogger is LDS. Here’s a link to it if you’re interested: http://deseretbook.com/tofw
I love the final look of your office. It is seriously amazing!!!
Emily,
I think it looks fine…it is a bit hard to get the “whole” picture from the photos, but if you choose the right accessories and maybe bring some of the gray into the entryway as well it should work well. The gray appears a bit blue, but that helps it coordinate with the golden tones better. I have a jute striped PB rug in my dining room that has warm golden tones, a chocolate stripe, a slate blue stripe and a lighter gray one and I love all the colors together. Maybe a rug with several colors rather than just gray/white would help tie things together more and give you a starting point for accessories.
For what’s it worth, Ben Moore’s “Revere Pewter” is a darker gray with warm undertones that would look nice with your sandy walls. When I first bought my house, I painted our front room in that color and everyone LOVED it. Here’s a link to the swatch but obviously, don’t just judge by the computer screen. If you think the current gray in your office is going to eat at your for next few months, just repaint it. JMO. http://www.google.com/products?q=ben+moore%27s+revere+pewter&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=qaCvTNLTEYS0lQf569XoDw&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=image&resnum=3&ved=0CC0QzAMwAg
Thanks Jami, will check out that color. It looks really pretty so far. Maybe I should sample it just for giggles?
Thanks Lauren. We were looking for other rugs today. Mr. DC doesn’t like the pattern on the gray one anyway so it’s going back. *Humph* Heck, I might not even use a rug now!
I am a designer and I am here to tell you that, first, if you want a crayola box of a home go for it…it is your home. Secondly, it does not sound like you do so use your gray and create that gray, tan, brown and gold room. Those colors do go together you just have to tie them together with fabrics, accessories etc. find a fabric that has your colors in it and chances are you will find a bit of gray included. (check out our site for great prices on designer fabrics) It will all come together, I promise.
Ha, thanks Diane. I’m still working on the room, just going to take some time. Before I painted I did a lot of research on the color combo and found they do work well together. I think I was just having a bad night when I wrote this post. haha. Oh, and the fact that Mr. DC doesn’t like the rug. :)
I really love the color, and it goes FINE with the other walls! I can’t wait until we own a place and I can paint a room almost that exact same gray.
By the way…if you have a minute…come check out my give-away…it’s got a very similar color gray in the whiteboard menu meal planner I made! :)
http://christinasadventures2010.blogspot.com/2010/10/blessings-give-away.html
Christina
Hi Emily. Just wanted to circle back and say that I think the current gray works (I didn’t make that clear)…I was simply saying that if you think it’s going to bother you for the next however long, just go ahead and repaint it now. Blue & yellow are complementary so the bluish undertone of the gray should go with your goldy/orange walls. Just pull everything together with accents. What if you took your new quatrefoile rug & put it in a room with the sandy/gold color? Maybe the room that joins the office to pull everything together. Adding other accents to tie it together, too. Whatever you do, it will look great, I’m sure!
Thank you for your comments Jami. I do like the color, and it’s really not that blue. Not much at all. I really like it a lot most of the time. I think last night I was having a bad night as I wrote this post. haha. And as far as the rug, unfortunately Mr. DC isn’t having it. It’s not the best quality of rug by any means either. It was cheap and would have probably looked cheap after a short amount of time. I still like it and think it works, but uhhhhh….
My favorite Gray is actually a taupe, but I do think your stuff works!
I just read on a fashion blog the other day that it’s okay to mix brown with grays and blacks! So often to the fashion & decor world follow the same trends… so not that I need THAT to tell me I like something… but it’s always nice to have some reassurance!
I think you should just roll with it, live with it for awhile, accessorize and see what you think after some time passes!
Good luck!
Thank you Tys, you’re right! I even went and bought clothes today and all of them are gray. Strange. :)
I have a gray living room and have had it this color for at least 7 years and I love it- it is open to the foyer which is green. I LOVE the fact that the gray changes color depending on the light coming in and the time of day. I needed a warm gray and it does look a bit blue at times but it is cozy and envelops the room. Relax- gray is a neutral. ..it will look super in your home. Celebrate the fact that it changes as the light changes….
Thanks so much GG. I will try and celebrate! :)
Here’s what I think. If your entire house is matchy-matchy, it’s going to get monotonous. Boring. Dull. Add some excitement. Try new things. Tie it together w/ adding some home decor in the same colors as the other rooms. Here’s a rule of thumb I go by – a friend of mine saw this years ago on Christopher Lowell’s show:
Pick 3 colors (for a room). Anything you buy that has at least one of those colors in it, will blend with the room.
Believe it or not, this works! In my house, I have browns & beiges in every room. Then, each room as it’s own individual color. Family room: green. Living room: slate. Master: burnt orange. Etc.
Now that I’ve typed a book, I like the gray. You can easily tie it all together if you choose. If not, live on the edge! Remember it’s totally changeable at a later date. And it’s in its own room, so it’s not like the gray is smack dab against the other walls.
Now where’s your Shaklee giveaway? LOL :)
Our house really isn’t matchy matchy at all. I like your attitude though so I guess I will live on the edge a little. :) Thanks so much for your great tips!
I LOVE it!! I just did the exact same thing-had the yellow/gold walls and tons of red/green/gold accents and we repainted our living and dining room a grey/blue-it’s more blue than I wanted but I am really loving it. We have dark leather couches and dark hardwood so it all looks really great together. And yes our house for sure looks like a box of crayolas-we have a red office, green bedroom, tan kitchen and hot pink girls rooms so I wouldn’t worry, it looks great!! Wish my grey was more your color than mine but it changes in color every minute of the day with the different lighting and sun-I never knew it would be SO hard to pick a grey paint color!!
I so feel for you- this is the trial and error part of decor, but I love everything you do so I know that when it finally comes together, it will look great! Trust your instincts girlie! Maybe the rug from overstock would be a better fit? :)
Oh my goodness, this is an issue that I deal with daily–only opposite! I moved into a house with gray walls which were okay for about 2 years, and now I feel like I live in a cinderblock. The problem isn’t gray, just this shade of gray. It is darker and colder than your shade of gray. I now have 7 different beige colors painted in swatches on the walls, and my favorite is the one I had to mix myself. People think I am crazy b/c gray is such a trend, but I’m not happy, so I’m changing it for me. And you need to make yourself happy for you! I think if you love the color now, keep it! And if you get tired of it in 2 years, you can always repaint;)
I think that you are over thinking it!! haha! The colors look good together, but what is important is that YOU love it …that it is a space that make you feel like home and comfortable! Forget if it all flows and do what you love!!
I just painted my guest bedroom gray. LOVE-ing gray right now-its SW Colonial Gray. And it does look awesome with tan/burlap/linen. Cant wait to see your finished room!
Painted my bathroom Sherwin Williams Repose Grey last weekend. LOVE IT! While I was there, the paint lady said the ‘new look’ is to pair the grey with the gold/tan/yellow look, so there ya go!
My bedroom is tan, and it flows well, but now I want to paint grey in there also! That grey is just such a soothing color, especially with the white trim. And it is soooo versatile, you can go modern, classic….all kinds of stuff goes with it!
Good luck!
Hey there decor chick!
I love your blog, and recently fell behind and am now catching up, so my advice may come a little late. I can totally relate to wanting a bit of everything in my house. There isn’t a color I don’t love. That being said I want there to be a cohesive feel, too. So not easy to do when you love so many things and styles. I too am not a decorator so take this with a grain of salt. I love the gray and brown together. It reminds me of the Oregon coast, the golden brown sand, and the more often than not, gray skies. A very peaceful combination. So I say go with it. And what a perfect color combo for an office, because if your office is anything like ours, it’s a little stressful sometimes, kwim. But to help tie it together with the rest of the house add just a pop of red and gold, for now just some fall decor until you find the “I can’t live without” perfect accessory. That’s my two cents, I hope it helps. And you know I think you may have inspired me to try some gray in my own house, now that I’ve seen it with the brown, I really really like it!
I am in the same place as you – my home is all warm colors and I have decided to make my craft room grey. I wish I could remember where I saw it, but I saw a photo of a room done in a warm mid tone tan with grey and it was beautiful.