Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey

The colors in the vintage carriage house that we left behind four years ago were an earthy salad
of olives, sage, khaki and walnut. With the house we were moving to so full of light and near the coast, I envisioned pale grey, bleached wood floors, sky blues, lots of white, and natural linen furniture.

Farrow and Ball’s well-edited palette of paints are rich in both pigment and subtlety. Their Colour Card includes insight into each color’s history and visual effect.

Phillip Jeffries makes a vast collection of natural fiber wallcoverings. One of my favorites is Manila Hemp, shown above in Linen.

I love the intricacy of paisley. The Donghia fabric I used to make these shams adds a beautiful embroidered texture to the room.

After some experimentation, I chose paint colors in several shades of both warm and cool grey as the foundation for the main rooms in the house. I had the bedroom and dining room walls covered with grass cloth in deeper shades of the same color palette, which adds depth and texture to these adjacent rooms. I’ve liked the versatility of this arrangement; it’s so easy to add a range of new colors and texture with art and accessories. White and black adds clarity and structure.

Recently greys have made a striking comeback in fashion and home furnishings. They can be very calming if the room isn’t left too monochromatic, and become an elegant 
neutral when accented with saturated warm color like daffodil yellow or terracotta, or indigo and a fresh swath of green.