Interior Decorating Ideas with Gray Walls

Gray might sound like the snoozefest of wall colors, but it can be stylish, elegant, chic, beautifully simple, and cozy too. This neutral color, in cool or warm tones, contributes to the perfect backdrop for white, black, and colorful furniture, decor, or wall art. Get onboard and enliven your space with varying shades of grays and the many ways to decorate with them with our decorating ideas for gray walls.

📷 Amber Interiors

📷 @ourhomecgn

📷 Erin Gates Design

Add Dimension

If you are decorating with gray walls in your living room and are afraid of them looking bland, add dimension with paneling and decorative moldings. An effective solution to incorporate unique gray walls is to add wood paneling designs that will help break up the simplicity of the gray and add texture to your walls. If you prefer to keep a majority of your gray walls smooth, another option to add some depth to your space is to incorporate decorative moldings for an architectural element.

📷 @jennytran

📷 @jennytran

📷 Benni Amadi Interiors

Bring in the Bold

If you are working with a lighter and warmer shade of gray, which generally feels cozier than cool-toned grays, it may look boring standing alone. However, this is the opportunity to have your walls serve as a great base to mix and match furniture to bring visual interest to the room. Almost every accent color will go with your gray walls as light gray walls beautifully complement and grounds a brighter palette of furnishings and decor. You can bring in multiple textures, colors, and patterns that will surely stand out from the basic, but effective, wall color.

📷 @clareduffyxx 

📷 @_foodstories_

Contrast

One of the easiest decorating ideas with gray walls is to contrast with them. Although they can seem intimidating and overpowering, dark gray walls add drama to a room, especially when it contrasts with everything else in the room. Gray is the middle ground between black and white and it is also a great mediator color to soften the high-contrast duo. A dark gray backsplash balances a kitchen full of white cabinetry and black countertops. Dark gray walls will not look dreary beside white moldings, furniture, bedding, and area rugs. Light gray walls also help black and white furnishings and home decor truly pop. Contrasting with gray creates a soft and soothing look.

📷 @stefiereads

📷 @stefiereads 

📷 Benni Amadi Interiors

Add Wood

When we think of how to decorate with gray walls, we think of adding wood pieces. Warm wood decorative accents and furnishings complement multiple shades of gray, especially lighter shades. The soft and warm colors of wood furnishings bring out the warm undertones of the gray walls to create an overall look that’s inviting. Cool toned gray walls will contrast with the warm tones of wood furnishings to make both of the surfaces pop.

📷 @homesweethome_at_23 

📷  @farahjmerhi

📷 @modernfarmhouseglam

Mix with Mirrored Furniture

Since gray is an essential color of glamour interior design, it is the perfect option for those who want to decorate with gray walls and love this interior design style. A quick and simple way to achieve a luxurious look with gray walls is to incorporate items such as mirrored furniture, metallic accents, and tufted pieces. If you are looking for a more subtle glam look, a chandelier in a room full of neutral furniture and light gray walls can be just as effective.

📷 Michelle Gage

📷 Michelle Gage

📷 Michelle Gage

Gallery Wall

Gray walls set the tone for a gallery wall. Wall art for gray walls has no limits as almost everything works with them! Gray walls provide an understated backdrop for a bold, colorful, or eclectic art display or help create a nice balance for even the simplest gallery wall to stand out. One of our favorite accent colors for gray walls is gold because gold frames, decorative mirrors, and art pieces never look bad paired with gray walls.

📷 @zeynepshome

Create a Monochromatic Space

Decorating with gray walls does not only involve one shade of gray. You can create a monochromatic look with various shades of gray displayed through furniture, lighting fixtures, and decor. You can also create a gorgeous monochromatic space by combining a wide range of gray, white, and black tones.

Gray walls are not often considered and are underestimated for the value it could bring it a room. If you are ready to play around with what gray walls could add to your home, our free DecorMatters app has numerous unique templates to help you design multiple spaces with different layouts and furnishings until you have designed your dream home!