apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My whole apartment is a case study of grey/charcoal/navy, etc. The biggest and best advice I can give you is that any shade of grey OR charcoal you choose is going to look unique in your space. They change colors based on the lighting, surrounding furnishings, and the paint color you put next to it. My entire living room/dining room is a greyish color, but next to my ivory couch it looks blue. Next to the dark charcoal dining chairs it reads more true grey.

I would get a few fabric samples of the two sofas you're deciding between, and tack them up near where you would place the sofa. You'll probably like one immediately and want to toss the other.

I don't understand the concern about whether a piece will look charcoal or navy - If you enjoy the fabric and the color, who cares what it's called?

However, the best thing to do when making any major purchase like this is to take swatches of the fabric home so that you can see it in it's future environment - the flourescent lighting of many stores make fabrics and woods appear very different that they will in natural and incandescent light and with the wall colors of your home.

If the store refuses to provide swatches - it's time to move on to another store.

No need to agonize. Just take a pillow slip to the store with you when shopping for sofas. That way you can see exactly how the colours interact. There's really not much danger of charcoal looking like navy, but if you can see the two greys side by side you'll probably feel more comfortable making a choice.

Yes, everyone's right so far. You really have to compare real fabric swatches, preferably in the light of your own home.

Are the sofa and the duvet in the same room? It doesn't all have to match up.

Ask for a fabric swatch. I wanted a gray sofa and brought home something like 10 swatches of just grays, or almost gray neutrals. What looked like grays in the store, but ended up looking like greens, purples, browns in my place.

Look at it in the daytime and in the evening so you can see it in different lighting situations.

Good Luck!

I painted the walls of our master Benjamin Moore's "almost black" and one of the things I like about it is that depending on the light it's either dark gray, black, red, or purple. I think if the color changes like that it gives more light to what could otherwise be a very 2 dimensional space/item.

At the risk of sounding redundant:

1) get a swatch
2) try it with your furniture in your home
3) if you like it, go for it
4) Be Brave.


my walls: (and yes, we were going for cave-like. It's easier for us to sleep in a dark space and we don't really use the room for lounging.)

http://embritadesign.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-to-do-list.html

Gray is a fantastic neutral. We ended up with many shades of it in our home.

We have a warmer gray Camden sofa from Crate and Barrel. It matches my kitty, comes in a smaller size and it's extra firm (which we prefer).

In the bedroom I have a black and white duvet cover with gun-metal gray sheets (lavender undertones).

I also have a green-blue gray marmoleum in my bathroom (which contrasts nicely with the wheat colored oak floors).

I'm thinking about stealing this gray entry hall from Trey Russel, if I can just figure out what paint color that is:

http://tinyurl.com/5z4aka

My sofa is grey and my chair is charcoal I have had both for 8 years they still loook great and allow me to change out colors in the rest of the space. I think its the canvas of color it works with everything and timeless.
I sell textiles for a living and have access to all kins of colors nothing beats charcoal.

Group samples of all the elements that you think of using. Fabric samples, paint swatches, pillow covers, existing accessories and furniture that you think for your new decor.

Play with it in the different light settings of your home and compare to the elements that you can't change that easily such as your floor, built in cabinets and so forth.

Leave the combo out for a couple days, live with it, walk away from it, come back to it, get used to it and then decide what you like best.

It is very important that you to have an overall visual of the elements, colors and patterns you think of using. A certain color might look great in the setting of the shop but does it look good and to YOUR likings with the other elements that you like or already have?


Places like CB2, Crate and Barrel, Room and Board and so many online vendors give out samples....get your accent colors from pillow covers or small accessories. If you don't like them, you can always return them and try something else before you make the big purchases.

grey vs gray.
COLOR SHOWDOWN!!!