apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Dreary gray sky day... I would be sad all the time in this environment.

I thought the ceiling looked lower. In fact, in the first picture I couldn't understand how some of the pictures, etc. seemed to extend into the ceiling. This particular color scheme passed by sophistication on the way to dreary, to me.

I have a medium dark grey in my bedroom and its very soothing, calm and fresh looking. This is very drab to me.

I love this. I also combine grey and blue in my home, albeit a lighter shade.

I don't find it dreary at all, and I'm from Oregon where it is grey 9 months of the year.

what color grey is this?! I love it and have been looking for it for months.

Depressing...

i have grey accents in my bedding and other small accents in my decor ,which i can handle, but i need happy color not emo-screamo, depressing, sadness color like grey.

I think the light, more than the color, is affecting the mood in these photos.

My livingroom is a little bit lighter color than this - and it's really a very cheerful room. Soft and soothing. And the neutral gray makes an awesome platform for colors to pop from.

Look how the red chair, the red guitar, the Eames hang-it-all, and the blue chair all seem much more vibrant against the grey than they would against a white back drop.

I gotta say, I love the furniture in this room, and the paint job, but it needs like lime green curtains or really bright pictures hung up... The gray is really nice but there still isn't enough color for my taste! A bit too depressing for me, even with the beautiful furniture.

As someone that intentionally chose many different grays, blues and greens as her color scheme and not one of the rooms has every been called depressing, the above photos are missing something major: Brightness and Balance. And I live in gray, rainy Oregon and concur - grays don't need to be dour.

Grays can be wonderful - light and warm and soothing and can have the ability to pick up and bounce light and undertones in wonderful surprising ways.

However, damn, you've got to have some balance in there! And either the lighting is way too dark or the colors themselves are. My grays are much, much lighter and many of them have colored undertones which picks up in photos.

The comment about the lime green was right on. I balance my grays with things like bright red Knoll Saarinen chairs, colorful pillows and throws, warm fir floors, bright rugs and other accessories like artwork. Having lots of white around (ceilings, trim, lamps, curtains, bookshelves) seems to balance everything as well and makes the grays and blues just pop. And not just one or two elements per room (like the above photos).

I think the gray walls, with the grayish/tan carpet and gray curtains is just a twee over the top gray.

My Grays/blues are:
Living room: Benjamin Moore Titanium (at 125%) light gray, BM Kentucky Haze Blue Accent Wall - medium blue/green

Bedroom: Benjamin Moore Pebble Beach - medium steel gray with blue/lavinder

Bedroom 2: A custom green/gray made by mixing Benjamin Moore Brushed Aluminum with BM tree moss.

Bath: Miller Paint Orchid Shadow - medium to light cement gray with purple undertones. This color is shockingly sexy and flattering.