Using Grey in your home ...

At one point, people would look at you totally gone out if you suggested painting the walls of your home grey. Grey? But isn’t that dull, dark, dreary and miserable?  Not exactly the look and feel you want to achieve in your home..

However, recent years have seen the humble grey fight back against this stereotype and creep its way into the interior sphere. Spotted now in almost all top interior magazines and blogs, people are going mad for this once shunted colour.

Despite being associated with miserable weather, inside a home grey has the ability to look quite spectacular. The right grey can actually have a lot of light in it, especially when paired with a smart white trim. Even on a dreary day a wonderful, bright grey can look good.

What’s more, grey is a colour that works well with so many other colors. A mix between black and white, grey is by definition neutral, and it is actually becoming the ultimate backdrop because it really does look good with any other colour. Whites, creams and magnolias are inherently dull, and an entire house glossed in such shades can be overbearing, lacklustre and depressive. Grey is perfect for when you want a neutral base colour that isn’t vanilla. It allows you to add colour schemes on top of it that will complement it without overpowering it.  

A modern neutral colour that creates a light and airy feeling yet adds more warmth to a room than basic white. With its varying shades, from light dove to dark charcoal, it is actually as versatile as any colour.

We recommend matching your grey walls with contemporary metal furniture, warm wood floors, and vivid coloured rugs to draw out the warm undertones of the gray walls. This will create an overall look that’s bright, inviting, and anything but sterile.

Little Greene Paint Grey Teal No.226

Earthborn Paint Cat's Cradle

Farrow & Ball Paint No 88 Lamp Room Gray

We have a beautiful range of paints of the highest quality, at the best price.  If you have an item or garment that is the perfect colour for your walls we can match it to produce your dream paint! See more here, or feel free to call us for more advice on - 01206 216000

How can paint impact on profit?

If you manage a business, have you considered painting yourself into profit? It might sound a little silly and you’d be forgiven for being a little sceptical but there are many studies that suggest a relationship between the decor of an office and a team’s productivity.

So what colours should you choose to achieve the perfect working atmosphere?

Perhaps the first thing you will consider is your brand colours. If you run a company where customers frequent the building, then perhaps you might choose to decorate according to the colours of your brand.

Depending on the interior structure of the building –and the theme of your brand – you may decide to just decorate the entrance room in these tones rather than each office. Particularly if your reception area is frequented by clients or potential clients decorating in your brand theme is a positive way to introduce brand consistency across your company.

In terms of the offices where your employees work, there are a few tips that are widely recommended to ensuring that you have a mentally alert and active team:

• Avoid red: while red is a warm colour that can look striking in a bedroom or lounge area, it is generally recommended that you avoid it in the office. Connotations of rage associated with this colour suggest that it could have a negative impact on staff relationships; however, it is thought to be a good colour in socially interactive rooms such as eating areas or areas where ideas are supposed to generate.

• Go green for a calm atmosphere: particularly if you have an office full of stressed lawyers or accountants, you might opt for a shade of green to inject some tranquillity into the room. A calm mind tends to be more productive, hence why many office owners choose to decorate in these shades. At Kent Blaxill, we have many tones of green from subtle shades like Cooking Apple Green (above left) and stronger colours such as 214 Arsenic (above right).

• Black & White: simple and smart, black and white is often used in corporate offices to symbolise a business environment where high standards of professionalism are expected at all times. You can go for a complete white, or  shade such as James White (above) which looks particularly smart in an office environment.

For more colour inspiration for your offices, visit our website to explore our Farrow and Ball collection.