Gray is the result of a combination of two contrasts: black and white. Everyone knows the stable expressions "gray overcoat", "longing gray", "gray everyday life." At the level of reflexes, gray is associated with something gloomy and bleak. In fact, like any other color, it has its own shades and semitones, each of which has a certain effect on the room. Regardless of how gray is beaten in the interior, it can not be used as a monotonous basis, since from the point of view of psychology he is a "loner" and "presses" on a person with his overabundance. But in the role of an additional background, which shades the other tones, this color fits perfectly.

Wallpaper can combine several colors at once or several shades of gray. For example, wallpaper, where a "cold" background depicts a floral ornament that gives a shine of metal, will look great in a strict living room. Add a little sun in such a slightly gloomy picture of gray furniture in a purple strip or with a bright, flashy pattern of green, brown. A worthy addition to the interior will be small pads in the creative chaos scattered across the sofas and armchairs. If the walls have a dark gray "mouse" color, then they will have to be balanced with bright, and sometimes even screaming accents. In this role can make a yellow sofa, cheerful turquoise curtains or even a blue wardrobe. To design such a contrasting room, the eclectic style is appropriate.

       

Bedroom

Помещение спальни обязательно должно расслаблять. Сочетание серого с белым цветом считается классическим. Bedroom оформленная в таких тонах создаст иллюзию «открытости» пространства и подарит ощущение чистоты и легкости. Тончайшие светло-серые полупрозрачные шторы добавят эффект воздушности. Серо-белая атмосфера обычно разбавляется не слишком яркими оттенками голубого, бежевого, светло-зеленого в обоях. Не нужно допускать цветовой агрессии в этом помещении.

Gray and its shades perfectly convey the texture, so you can "play" with it, alternating and trying all the new tones, which in different ways visually reveal the same elements of the decor. On the floor you can lay a soft carpet of neutral shade, which will "land" the space. Blankets, pillows or furniture in gray-blue tones evoke memories of the sea. It is this combination that is most often used for decorating bedrooms with marine motifs.

Fabric wallpaper returns to fashion, so you can experiment with velvet, wind, jute, linen, jacquard or silk wallpaper in gray. Features of the texture of each type of fabric will be revealed using color. The richness of drawings and patterns will create a unique microclimate in the bedroom.

See also: Wallpapers with flowers +75 photo examples in the interior

       

Kitchen

The design of the kitchen in gray tones is considered practical and never goes out of fashion. In ashen colors, you can decorate only the furniture, leaving for bright colors walls, curtains and elements of kitchen utensils for decoration. In another version, on gray-pale shades of wallpaper or tile eyes will rest, "clinging" to the bright kitchen panels. Gray wallpaper in the interior of a small kitchen will expand the space, making the tiny room wider and higher. In such a room, the "culinary" mood will not leave the practical hostess, but the shade should also be chosen correctly. Its choice should be stopped on soft, warm colors: smoky, silvery, quartz. Cold, dark shades will not contribute to the appetite, will create a very uncomfortable atmosphere in the kitchen, if it combines a cooking area and a dining room.

It is important to know! To bring an element of "animation" to such a kitchen designers recommend using natural materials: wood, stone, rough brick. This measure is simply necessary if the room is designed in one of the modern styles, which differ "coldness" and "manufacturability."

       

Bathroom

For the bathroom, the gray color fits perfectly. It is universal and can play the role of a background for bold design experiments. Both dark and light gray tones will become the basis for both the classical interior, and for a bath in the style of minimalism or hi-tech. For calmer options, a game with combinations of shades of the main color is suitable. Only they must be diluted with live patterns. The best option will be a delicate floral ornament. If the basis of the decoration of the walls is the "battle" of contrasts, then there is enough monotony that will only emphasize this technique. Chrome, "metallic" or color of the marengo will look stylish and modern on vinyl or liquid wallpaper.

It is important to know! Particular attention should be paid to mirrors and metal surfaces: holders for towels, hooks, cranes, furniture handles, soap dishes and cups for toothbrushes. Glitter of metal will echo with the general tone picture and harmoniously complement it.

Entrance hall and corridor

The corridor and hallway serve as the "face" of a city apartment and a private house. These rooms are the first to stand in the way of your guests and can tell a lot about your host. If in your own house when planning an entrance hall you can make a wide and spacious, then in apartments these premises are often small and barely manage their functional purpose. Wallpaper gray shades will help "lighten" the room, which a priori has no windows and only lighted artificially.

This can be played by placing a large wardrobe with mirrored doors or a narrow modern pier glass with a high mirror, which will reflect the numerous light sources. Together with the gray wallpaper, they allow you to breathe deeply and enjoy the space in a narrow and cramped room. A cold hall with rational use of space will immediately show that a business man lives here who does not like to waste time in vain and appreciates every centimeter of his apartment. Soft combinations of gray and white in the wallpaper with the addition of bright colors and practical patterns will tell the guest and the fine nature who likes to dilute "gray everyday life" with notes of optimism and vivid impressions. Eclecticism in the interior of the hallway, which is based on dark gray, will show an extraordinary man, loving a slight mess, confusion and a heap of images.

Read also: Decorative corners on the corners of the walls

       

A color scheme

In the classical version, black and gray wallpaper with smooth transitions and without fancy drawings will look very stylish and noble, but the "striped" design of the walls will give the room an excessive "workload". In combination with white, this "pastel bouquet" should be thinned with bright accents to avoid the sterility effect of the "hospital environment". Gray wallpaper paired with bright colors in a small apartment can visually expand the space, if they are skillfully used in the color solution of the ceiling and walls. In general, the gray "station wagon" looks harmonious in almost any combination. The main thing is not to combine more than three color bases.

If you intuitively can not grope this thin line between style and bad taste, then limit yourself to two colors, it's difficult to guess here. One of the most stylish and rich combinations is gray with purple or gentle-lilac tones. This combination is suitable for any room: for the kitchen, hall, nursery, bathroom or bedroom. The difference will only be in accents. In the bedroom they can be placed on photo wallpapers or pendant collages, in the living room on shelves and shelves, and in the office on lighting fixtures and carpets.

It is important to know! If you decide to resort to gray in the design of walls and do not dilute it with other shades, then you can revitalize the space with photos in simple metal frames or a collage with famous reproductions.

       

Light colors

Серый сочетается абсолютно со всеми цветами. Он является чистым полотном, на котором вы можете изобразить все что угодно вашей душе. Light colors обоев в комбинации с такой основой зададут спокойный тон всему помещению. Идеально подобное оформление для спален и комнат отдыха, в которых обстановка будет вовсе не так сера, как может показаться на первый взгляд. Серый отлично гармонирует со светлыми оттенками:

• Blue;
• Beige;
• Gently green;
• Soft lilac;
• Deep pink;
• Pale yellow.

To give a "life" to the situation, only a couple of not very bright "points of support" for the eye will suffice: an invoice wall, an unusual sconce or a carpet ripped from a "drowsy" style. It is desirable to scatter the accents in the room in different planes of space.

       

Dark colors

With dark colors, gray will also look exquisite and expensive, but do not overdo it with cold. The glitter of metal, the reflux of silver, the dullness of slate color can not be combined only with the cold of blue, dark green or deep Bordeaux. You and your family members will morally simply "freeze" in a room with such wallpaper. If the color palette can not already be changed, then try to recoup the materials. Velor, velvet, coarse linen in the upholstery and curtains will soften the cold and give it depth. A rough texture of untreated stone, brick, wood will help break the gloss of "dead" flowers and add life to the room. Rounded shapes and curves of the lines in the furniture will smooth out the sharpness of the corners, add comfort to the living space even if the overall style remains reserved.

       

Bright colors

Gray in the wallpaper serves as a support for a bright pink color. He supports it and does not allow to behave aggressively in the interior. Orange and yellow colors of the pulse, the sun, moods are also ennobled due to the interior with gray wallpaper. If in the usual perception they are associated with youth and gusts, then in such a combination you look at these shades with a completely different look and are surprised at how two colors can change each other. In combinations of bright colors with red, you can find new depths and open completely unexpected faces. If gray with bordeaux or carmine evokes philosophizing and causes nostalgia, then bright red calls for action. In combination, it will not be superfluous to add white or black for contrast. Color novelties of past years: the color of mint, mustard and aquamarine is ennobled in gray in the wallpaper and as if experiencing a change of turbulent youth for a period of restrained growing up.

Read also: Moldings for walls: 40 + designer receptions for interior decor

       

Choosing furniture

Wallpaper in gray tones should with something to contrast. It is not necessary to arrange gray furniture in a gray room, otherwise the interior will turn out to be "white-white whiter". Bright prints on the walls, on the floor, will attract a part of attention and turn the picture of perception upside down: not the walls and the floor will be the background, but the furniture. For stylish furnishing in the style of high-tech or post-modernism, metal handles and chrome inserts are used, which will echo with the general color solution.

To design an apartment in the style of American art deco furniture is draped with leather and coarse cloth, and its parts are made of wood or materials imitating natural stones. In combination with gray, these elements seem at first sight to be "strangers" to each other, but the originality of style quickly captures and supports the impression of a creative search. Adherents of ornate luxury of rococo, Empire and Baroque, too, do not forget about the gray. This color looks rich not only in the wallpaper embroidered with silver thread, but also in the fireplace marble, in the silk upholstery of chairs with carved legs and catchy floral patterns.

       

Choosing curtains

Curtains of any shades of gray are safely used in large, spacious rooms with large windows. You can even visually narrow the space using thick fabrics. Light shades of this color will look beautiful both on air semi-transparent curtains and on heavy curtains. Dark "asphalt" halftone curtains are not used in small rooms with tiny windows. If there are also walls of bright or dark color, then such shades of gray peremptorily fall under the taboo. Combine these curtains with gray wallpaper is carefully: the shades should be different and visually complement each other.

       

Dark gray wallpapers are harmoniously combined with gentle pastel shades of curtains. To complete the picture, solid ebony furniture with soft-colored upholstery is suitable. Light gray walls with patterns and ornaments will look beautiful with muted matte shades of curtains: wine, indigo, tender lilac, mint, sienna, coral. For Scandinavian style, minimalism, postmodernism, abstractionism, loft and even a delicate provence, only natural fabrics will fit: linen, cotton, silk, net, cambric. For luxury and chic baroque, classic or modern, it is better to use "rich" fabrics: satin, velvet, velor.