NEW WAYS WITH GREYS

Detail and definition with charcoal and gunmetal

Amuch-used shade in recent years, grey has become a neutral that we are almost as confident using as we are white. It’s a perfect background for most furnishings and suits all sorts of light conditions and room aspects, plus it can partner splashes of strong colour or pretty pale shades, particularly pinks and yellows. Warmer shades of grey with lots of pink in are easiest to use, while richer versions work better as accents.

A reversed-out scheme, where doors and window frames are painted in deeper shades or a petrol hue of blue-grey, can work beautifully with warm off-white walls, defining the architecture of a room, in contrast to using a strong wall colour with pale woodwork. Greys also look great on panelling or cabinets and furniture with sharp, defined colours such as navy or fresh white.

TAILORED TREND Grey lends itself to most styles of decorating, but wools and stripes, with a nod to smart traditional tailoring, work particularly well. In this bedroom, mustard shades and prints are balanced with a dove-grey upholstered, buttoned headboard, striped linens (reminiscent of mattress ticking) and a wider striped rug