Bathroom Color Spotlight: Gray

The color gray doesn’t get enough attention when it comes to interior design. It often takes second place to bright hues and classic combinations like black and white. But gray is the new hot color, and is even upstaging neutrals such as ivory, taupe and beige. Gray provides a timeless and elegant feel to your bathroom and is extremely versatile so you can match it with a number of hues and styles. Certain shades of gray can give off a rustic, farmhouse feel, while others evoke a casual elegance. Here’s a guide to using gray in the bathroom, including what other colors to pair it with and how you can incorporate the glamorous shade:

Choose The Right Tone
Once you decide on the mood or ambiance that you would like for your bathroom, you’ll have to choose a shade of gray that evokes that feeling. Gray can range from dark to light and some even have undertones of blues greens and purples. The key is to look at the other colors you have in your bathroom and see which gray hue would best match.

Shades with hints of green are frequently used because they complement a number of wood tones and other natural colors. This shade might go well with a vintage style bathroom or a rustic, country farmhouse design.

Blue-based shades, on the other hand, offer a cooler feel that complements a modern or contemporary-style bathroom. Natural woods and warm metals pair well with bluish grays to help warm the color palette a bit. Blue grays also work well in a room with plenty of natural sunlight.

Finally you have purple-based shades – this hue is gorgeous, but tougher to match with natural materials like wood and metal. With this shade of gray, your best bet is to contrast it with cool white walls or maybe a stark white bathtub to really help bring out the purple undertones.

Can’t decide which shade of gray you would like to use in your bathroom? Well, you can combine all of them for a unique blend of cool and warm. Try layering the colors in thick stripes on the wall for a fun focal point.

Use Light to Highlight Gray
Take advantage of both natural and artificial light in order to help bring your gray bathroom to life. The light can really play up the undertones found in the shade you’ve picked.

Pairing Gray with Your Faucets
The finish you choose for your faucet will largely depend on the shade of gray you’ve chosen. Very dark, masculine grays may pair well with a stainless steel faucet for a shiny finish that really stands out. For a softer shade of gray, a darker faucet may work well, like an oil-rubbed bronze or antique brass.

Incorporate Gray
There aren’t very many areas in your bathroom where it wouldn’t be appropriate to use gray. Paint your vanity a dramatic shade of gray and contrast it with lighter gray walls, opt for gray floor tiles, or mix warm and cool gray tones using cabinets, wall color, flooring and decor to prevent your bathroom from looking too monolithic.

Adding touches of the natural world, such as white flowers or dark colored plants, can help bring life back into the space, and using different textures will really add an extra level of interest to this bold design. Keeping these things in mind, your monochrome bathroom will be anything but dreary!