10 stylish ways to use grey in your bedroom
Take inspiration from our grey bedroom ideas and create your ideal sleep space, whether it’s pale and calming or dark and dramatic.
Take inspiration from our grey bedroom ideas and create your ideal sleep space, whether it’s pale and calming or dark and dramatic.
Grey is a colour that’s tailor-made for a beautiful and relaxed bedroom look. The best grey bedroom ideas give the popular neutral a refreshing twist. The first thing to appreciate is that grey comes in a wide range of shades. Take your pick from the palest gossamer smoke to the darkest intriguing lead.
Grey swings with ease from mellow to moody. Being the ultimate liveable neutral, even if you lavish grey on all four bedroom walls, accents shades in even the trickiest colours have the potential to easily mix and mingle in the scheme.
So, while a grey backdrop may lean towards conservative, you have the power to ratchet up the mood at will. And don’t think your walls are the only décor route to go down if you want to add grey to your bedroom. You can also add the colour with furniture and accessories, from upholstered beds and painted storage to sheets and curtains.
Bring bold biophilic joy to your sleeping space
Just as flowers can cheer up – and be sustained by – a rainy day, florals can enhance a grey bedroom scheme.
There’s a lot to love about this room, styled by Oka, using Edward Bulmer Natural Paint in Aerial Tint. We particularly like the classic framed floral artwork with vintage yellow backgrounds and the perky blue and white pattern on the lamp shades and accent cushions.
According to Edward Bulmer, the shade used is all about evoking the changeable characteristics of an English sky. Fittingly, the colour passes from grey to blue in certain lights, and as it’s anchored with yellow ochre, it has a softness that keeps it from feeling too cold.
Include your favourite English garden-grown flowers in a vase and give your grey bedroom an extra burst of colour and floral joy.
Textured wallpaper brings glamour to a room
Adding a touch of shimmer to your grey bedroom walls can give your sleeping retreat a luxurious lift. You get to boast all of grey’s coveted neutral qualities, but also to make a subtle grand gesture with your pared back metallic walls.
The designer of this bedroom, Cave Interiors, had no need to further embellish walls with art works and the like. Each wall covered in a textured silver-grey paper is already a star player, bouncing light around. Take the designer’s lead and use earthy colours, like the green bed, to add sophisticated vibrancy to your sleeping space.
Wallpaper isn’t the only way to get silver-grey bedroom walls, but it’s almost certainly the easiest. Choose from plain textured options or up the ante with patterns. Suppliers like Graham and Brown stock similar papers.
Don’t enjoy hanging wallpaper? Stick-and-paste options take the hassle out of hanging wallpaper the traditional way. Our guide to easy DIY projects shows you how.
Light grey walls feel classy and timeless
Grey bedrooms can feel relaxed, but they can also be gracious and genteel retreats. The secret to this highbrow look is to keep the walls light and the rest of your décor choices classic and neutral.
Case in point is this well-appointed bedroom. The quiet and calm grey on the wall is Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl. And it is complemented by Simply White on the ceiling and woodwork.
These paints whisper together, but the furniture choices make a more definitive statement – classic French elegance. Details like a dreamy fairy-tale metal canopy bed and a Louis-style chair in dark grey upholstery (along with campaign storage and gilt mirroring) are staples in chic francophone interiors.
We like how the traditional lighting is positioned in front of a pair of matching gilt mirrors. Try this clever interior design trick to bounce light around your grey bedroom, giving it an extra layer of character and brightness.
Silver-grey silk sheets make your bedroom the place to be on rainy days
True, grey may not be the first colour to spring to mind when contemplating romance, but grey does have a soft side. In fact, it may even have a wild side. You’ve just got to tease it out. If you’ve added a lick of dark grey paint to your bedroom walls, you might be looking for a way to take the edge off its potentially serious image.
Look no further than your bed linen. Few accents in a bedroom will send the allure factor into overdrive like silk bed linen. Lavish this ravishing textile on your bed and watch your space go from staid to sensual in a flash.
And while this might not be the most glamorous of information, it is worth knowing that rolling around in silk sheets has some unexpected perks. Not only does it feel glorious and cooling on your skin, but silk is naturally hypoallergenic and won’t irritate even the most sensitive skin. So, get as much skin on it as possible. We like the Silver Grey Duvet Cover, available from Sweetpea and Willow.
Large-scale murals add scenic drama to your sleeping space
It takes creative minds to envision realistic morning fog as the ideal grey bedroom backdrop. But when you think about it, it makes sense. If the fog is rolling in, where better to be than wrapped up warm in your bed as the mist quietly engulfs the trees? The very idea creates a soothing sense of peace that is enough to lull anyone into a long, deep sleep.
This grey gradient design called Morning Fog by Rebel Walls is a more artistic approach to your grey bedroom than a painted wall. We think you should follow this bedroom’s styling lead and keep furniture simple. Modern straight lines help to keep the gentle mural the star of the show.
Check out some other grey fog motif murals at Ever Wallpaper and Photowall. Picking stick-and-paste mural options means you can enjoy your large-scale foggy landscape in no time.
Use a winning colour combination in your bedroom
Grey in certain lighter shades can sometimes be perceived as a little cold. But one of the colours that warms up grey no end is burnt orange. It’s a colour we naturally associate with happy and welcoming spaces.
A great place to start to add a pop of burnt orange charm is your headboard. Even a plain burnt orange fabric will make a big visual impact in your grey bedroom.
Other options are burnt orange velvet cushions and furniture upholstery. This colour palette looks particularly good with dark flooring and storage – they give the scheme a classic, timeless feel. Remember that a little bit of burnt orange in a grey room goes a long way.
Don’t feel you have to go overboard to make the most of this grey bedroom idea. Take the lead from this scheme designed by Neptune and keep your burnt orange touch light for a restful bedroom with just a touch of orange energy.
Grey elegantly frames the cream scene
It can be tempting to stick to the décor script and have grey walls and light woodwork. We have another grey bedroom design idea for you to consider. If you are unsure about a wholesale grey room, keep your bedroom walls nice and light with cream and use grey for the detailing instead.
This is a sophisticated look. Use a light grey you love for skirting, architraves and window frames. Extra points if you also paint your fifth wall – or ceiling – in the same shade of grey, as this will make for a sophisticated decor touch. For a little extra pop, use a darker grey for painting doors.
Do you have wooden bedroom furniture that could do with a makeover? Make like this room styled by Benjamin Moore and give freestanding furniture a lick of grey paint too. The side table in this polished space matches the door – this makes for a coordinated and considered look.
The paint colours used to pull this grey and cream bedroom scheme together are Benjamin Moore Harwood Putty on the walls, Bruton White on the woodwork and ceilings and Slate on the door.
Wallpaper or contrasting paint creates an artsy canvas effect
Using simple timber moulding on your bedroom walls is a very easy way to give your sleeping space a high-end look. No wonder panelling is so popular on walls, giving them a sophisticated 3D effect.
Step this look up. Instead of painting a grey colour all over your panelled wall, try adding a patterned wallpaper in the frames created by your panels. You’ll end up with a vibrant and polished grey bedroom with the charming feel of a French boudoir.
Add a grand decorative iron bed, like the Camolin cast iron bed with brass from the Original Bed Co., and you will end up with a showstopper.
Not a fan of wallpaper? Why not use a colour that complements your main grey paint, or pick up some stencils and get creative?
Maybe you like the panel look but don’t want to install timber moulding. A good option to enjoy the look is to fake it with faux panelling wallpaper.
It’s a great budget idea and DIY project
The great thing about using paint to zone your bed with a faux headboard is that it’s easy to change your mind. Using a light grey paint today and swapping with a dark grey paint next time is just a simple DIY project away.
This room styled by Dunelm features a grey faux headboard with a perfectly sharp horizontal line. This gives the room a polished and classic look.
To re-create this look yourself, simply decide what height you want your faux headboard to be and draw a perfectly straight line with a pencil. Run masking tape along the line and paint in the faux headboard area. But don’t feel confined when it comes to the shape of your faux headboard.
If you’re up for a slightly more involved DIY challenge, scalloped headboards are very popular, as are more abstract shapes.
Grey wardrobes never go out of fashion
The one thing every bedroom needs is plenty of storage. If you’re going to have built-in storage, this means splashing out to get the internal details just right. But it’s the exterior of the wardrobe that the world sees. After all, this large piece of furniture can defines the character of your bedroom.
Grey is often the go-to hue for built- in wardrobes. And just like this classic grey bedroom styled by Hammonds shows, they will look as great tomorrow as they do today.
The colour goes beyond fickle interior trends and is seen as timeless and versatile. Melissa Denham, design stylist at Hammonds Furniture is a big fan of grey bedroom storage:
“Sleek, contemporary grey built-in wardrobes make the perfect addition to any bedroom. They instantly create a modern yet classic and elegant look, that is soothing and inspiring.
“Grey is not only a stylish choice but helps create a naturally relaxing environment that’s perfect for sleep. As a colour choice grey lifts and simplifies any interior scheme, making it easy to partner with other colours and other furniture choices.”
The other great thing about neutral grey wardrobes, is that it’s easy to change the character of your room on a whim with accents, rather than taking on a big paint job. If you really fancy a change with your grey wardrobes, consider swapping the handles. Both silver and gold toned finishes will work beautifully with grey paintwork.
You have a surprising number of tones to work with
Helen Shaw, director of marketing (international) at Benjamin Moore, is a big fan of using grey in the bedroom:
“Grey is hugely versatile, with both light and dark shades working well in the bedroom. Soft, muted shades create a relaxing sanctuary feel and evoke a healing energy. Whereas darker, charcoal hues create a cosy space to retreat to at the end of a long day, which look beautiful when dimly lit with lamps and candles.
“Grey harmonises well with almost every other hue, making it an adaptable neutral. Make sure you opt for a harmonising undertone to ensure a cohesive look to your scheme; a grey paint with a green undertone is a fool-proof choice, as this sits at the centre of the colour wheel, so flatters both warm and cool colours.”
Patrick O’Donnell, Farrow and Ball international brand ambassador, suggests you try to avoid thinking of grey as grey at all and see it as a neutral that is perfect for any bedroom space, whatever your style.
“Ranging from light to dark and soft to warm! Paler, brown-tinged greys like Ammonite and Purbeck Stone can feel surprisingly warm and layer effortlessly with many complementary colours from greens, blues and pinks (all very colours of the moment!).
“At the darker end, shades like Mole’s Breath and Down Pipe, can be deeply comforting and cosy, particular in poorly lit, north-facing spaces.
A green-based grey can also provide a sanctuary of calm, with delicate colours like French Gray, Eddy or Bone used across walls, woodwork and ceiling. These shades will act as almost neutral, and easy to layer with other shades and a multitude of textures and wood tones.”
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