Grey is great. It is the one colour for use as a neutral wall background which goes with almost any other accent colour. For years neutrals have stayed in the cream zone. Not anymore. Grey is reborn. I love using all shades of grey together or in designer speak – monochrome. It is only when the accent colour is introduced, that grey really comes into its own.                    

                                                                                                                                                                           Here  is a mood board for a project we are working on. Its not a great picture but you can see the process.It is a scheme which mixes light grey walls with accents of kingfisher blue in the soft furnishings. This mix is very striking but yet is very easy to live with.                      

The drama is kept to a minimum with soft velvet curtains and textural fabrics used on the cushions.  To emphasise the kingfisher blue elsewhere in the scheme, it has been used as a designer wallpaper – bottom left of board – inset in a glass fronted cabinet, in hints of colour in the pictures behind the sofa and as glass accessories for the shelves.

The sofa we are using is a charcaol and pale grey felt 3 seater with chrome legs by Bo Concept. The side table is black wood and we have used bent glass for the lamp table.  Kian Furniture www.kian.ie and Living Sth William St www.living.ie have really good single pieces to fit any scheme  

                                                                                                                                                        The best grey emulsion to aim for is somewhere between polar grey – which is a white base with a very subtle grey mix or a metropolitan grey which has a definite slate tone. These tones work well in our climate. Any of the grey shades derived from blue or purple will look very flat, extremely stark and cold for most of the year.

Colortrend www.colortrend.ie has  a fantastic range of shades to choose from.

Here are my grey recommendations.  

0524 Nomadic Travels – excellent in every aspect

0525 Marseilles – requires a brave leap of faith but is stunning when used with plum

0533 Techie – is about as dark as it is advisable to go without overpowering a room. Use as accent colour to one of the above.

Tags: Bo Concept, colortrend, designer, grey, IKEA, interior design, Kian, living room, Living South William St., makeover, paint, sofa, wallpaper, www.mertondesign.ie
Posted in Interior Design • Will • No Comments »