Blue wallpaper is a feeling of cleanliness, spaciousness and freshness; it is the color of the sea and sky: airy, clean and incredibly light. Blue is considered a cool shade; it gives a feeling of coolness even on the hottest day, but such wallpaper requires a special approach to the design of the room.
Of course, it’s easy to imagine blue wallpaper for the walls of a nursery or bathroom, but what about the interior of a living room, bedroom, hallway or kitchen? In this article we will dwell in detail on the question: how to choose wallpaper in blue tones, and we will understand the design features of residential premises in this color palette. We will also share secrets on how to properly combine this color with other shades.
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Features of gray wallpaper in the interior
Gray is not at all a boring and lifeless design option for useless, standard rooms. Gray itself is a rather interesting color. With all its combinations and in an arrangement with brighter shades, this tone can decorate even a child’s room, not to mention a living room or a spacious bedroom.
Gray can be combined with any other shade, even red or bright yellow. Green, brown, beige, white, all these tones are the simplest solutions for the design and decoration of any room.
Why should you choose gray when decorating your bedroom?
We debunk the myths that the room will be gloomy and boring. After all, this choice has many advantages. For example:
- It is easy to combine with other colors.
- The color gray itself has a wide range of similarities with others.
- And it is also considered practical: it is not too branded and at the same time not dark enough to attract dust and dirt.
- According to psychology, this color acts as a “protector” - it is associated with a strong concrete wall, which seems to protect from external problems and negative influences.
- Another interpretation is that the color in question helps awaken the imagination.
- it easily combines not only with colors, but also with a variety of textures - it looks equally good with glossy surfaces, wood, metal and even stone siding.
- And if the room faces the sun and is constantly filled with color, this will help balance the natural light and make the room more harmonious.
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Gray shade options
There is a simple and uncomplicated tone of a light or dark shade, but you can also choose very noble, rich tones of gray. Moreover, light or dark shades of gray can be combined with any colors. Including accent walls, with drawings, ornaments, and any prints.
No matter how trivial it may sound, gray color in the interior always looks very advantageous. You can decorate the bedroom in exceptionally light shades of gray, or darken a large space by highlighting only an accent wall.
It is important to combine cool shades with cold ones and warm shades with warm ones.
Warm gray goes well with beige, red, brown, and chocolate. Cold - with vanilla, metallic, black, white, lilac.
Photo wallpaper for a small room
Photo wallpapers have a solid image, panorama or landscape on the surface. Essentially, this is just a very large print, which is generally undesirable to use in small rooms, but there are little design tricks. For example, photo wallpapers that have a perspective will create a false “continuation” of the room, that is, for the viewer it will not end with a wall. Suitable for this role:
- A staircase leading into the unknown.
- A long pier cutting through the water surface.
- A forest path running like a snake ribbon into the sky-high distances.
- A city street, firmly ingrained by asphalt into the concrete jungle.
The same method can be used in rooms that do not have windows or have openings that are too small. If the street can only please you with a dull landscape, then why not replace it with a painted one, but more colorful? Photo wallpaper is used to cover an accent wall. It is better to choose the surface that is opposite to the doorway. For cramped rooms, photo wallpapers depicting natural objects are more suitable: the endless sea, a seething waterfall (visually raising the ceiling), a wide field with prickly brushes of ears, a forest bristling with needles of coniferous branches. For eclectic interiors, fusion and ethnic styles, original close-up images of predatory animals or a set of multi-colored house facades in an avant-garde composition are suitable. The color scheme of the painting should correspond to the overall color scheme.
Pay attention to the quality of the drawing. Under no circumstances should the image be flat or lack volume. The “depth” of the painting determines the degree of distortion of space.
Gray wallpaper for the bedroom (new designs)
Don't think that the bedroom will be lifeless and worthless with gray wallpaper. The dark matting will be decorated with an accent wall with a pattern of “Cuba Havana”, “London” with colorful red buses, New York with the embankment and Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty.
Moreover, it is recommended to place the bed against a neutral wall, and hang the TV in the bedroom on an accent wall.
- There is no need to “dirty” the accent wall with paintings or even an ordinary clock.
- It is worth leaving as much space as possible on a beautiful panel.
- From excesses - a sconce or a pair of floor lamps by the bed.
- The rest is austerity and stiffness, neat lines, a classic interior with a minimum of furniture and decor.
Features of small rooms
In fact, you can enlarge a small bedroom or living room only by combining it with an adjacent room, be it a balcony or another room. Unfortunately, it is not possible to create a stylish studio in every apartment (not all walls can be dismantled or even partially demolished). In addition to the “physical” increase in area, it can be designed in such a way that the space will seem larger and more spacious. This is just a design trick, an illusion, but it is precisely this that gives a person a feeling of comfort and coziness. Small rooms often have a whole bunch of shortcomings: non-standard shape, poor lighting, low ceilings, window and door openings that are too large or too small.
Room geometry
Depending on the shape, rooms are classified into two types:
- Standard. Such rooms have a rectangular or square shape. In the first case, the length should not greatly exceed the width of the room, otherwise the narrow room will be classified in the second group of non-standard ones.
- Non-standard. The geometry of the rooms is distinguished by a large number of angles (pentagons, hexagons) or the presence of bay windows, niches, and projections that spoil the architecture of the room and make the space difficult to perceive.
If everything is more or less clear with the standard ones, then it is really difficult to smooth out the irregular geometry of the second type of rooms. To prevent the “irregularity” of the room from being noticeable, it is necessary to select suitable finishing materials. For such rooms, wallpaper in light shades without patterns or prints is more suitable - a classic win-win option that is difficult to go wrong with. This does not mean that you will have to give up design experiments. You can revive the surface of the walls after repairs during decoration using panels, paintings or photographs in frames. Fake decorative round and semicircular arches made of plasterboard will help smooth out the corners. Angular furniture is replaced with unusual ones with smooth lines and mirrored facades.
Illumination
Small rooms, as a rule, have equally small windows. They do not provide the room with the natural light it needs. This oversight can be corrected with the help of artificial light sources, light wallpaper, and mirror surfaces. To make the room lighter and “warmer,” use combinations of pastel shades and brown, white, pink, and peach. A stylish and unusual solution would be to buy wallpaper with a special coating - mineral coating (quartz chips are ideal).
Gray wallpaper for the living room
A hall in gray tones is welcome in any style. So noble in “classic”, “modern”, “loft” and even “grotesque”. Gray wallpaper in the hall can be very dark or very light.
Moreover, it is advisable to choose curtains and the general design of the living room in a classic, discreet style. If combined with brighter colors, this could be furniture upholstery, sofa cover, curtains, pillows.
The gray design of the living room is welcome when the room is made in dark colors and is located on the sunny side of the house, spacious and comfortable. A red sofa and brighter cabinet furniture look great against a gray background.
Ideal range of color combinations
Basically, practice has revealed several of the most successful combinations:
- With snow-white, which in its monochrome is ideal for gray. Modern, art, and a little less classically, offer the most interesting design concept. It can be completely replaced with shades of dark milky or creamy. In this case, it is better to choose different textures of finishing materials. The interior becomes not just cozy, but also as comfortable as possible;
- With brownish, associated with the peculiarities of the rustic style of the countries of Great Britain. It always brings an atmosphere in which a person calms down and relaxes. Elegance and softness are always present with this design. In addition, there is no distraction from the decorative elements. They are perceived in their true purpose;
- With the pink palette comes tenderness and freshness. It does not cause any irritation, but it does help you relax. That is why the living room in this case becomes a favorite gathering place for all family members. The brightness of pink in a high-tech or loft style adds originality.
Gray wallpaper for the kitchen
For the kitchen, you should also choose discreet shades of gray in combination with bright yellow, green, red, and blue. Just two shades in kitchen interior design are welcome.
- A set with facades in red or turquoise colors will be perfectly set off by gray wallpaper, a dark floor, and a vanilla-colored ceiling.
- Furniture cabinets can also be made in light gray tones.
- What about curtains, curtains or blinds in the kitchen? Window decoration with fairly bright shades of finish can also be gray.
- Today, manufacturers offer plastic vertical blinds that are easy to clean and practically do not collect dirt on their slats.
A gray curtain or thread curtains in addition to the main window design are welcome.
The presence of bright decorative elements
A room intended primarily for receiving guests should have an attractive setting and be as pleasing to those present as possible. The main assistants in this regard have always been and remain bright colors.
They perfectly enliven the universal background of a gray living room, becoming accent elements of the interior. These can be pieces of furniture or accessories that have an attractive brownish or yellowish palette. You can safely use a rich red or green tone.
- To create a strict composition in a cold design, a blue color scheme is recommended.
- This atmosphere is most familiar to business people accustomed to the environment of public destinations such as restaurants and clubs.
- Here they will feel more comfortable, which will help create a relaxing atmosphere for communication and relaxation.
- Cushions on sofas, original vases along with lamps, as well as rugs enliven the decor.
You can complement the interior with wallpaper in the form of bright inserts. Just don’t create excessive diversity.
Gray wallpaper in a children's room
There is no need to think that a child will not be able to develop productively while living in a room with gray wallpaper or non-staining furniture.
- Finishing and decor will help add such bright colors. You can pave an accent wall on a gray background.
- If the child is already a teenager, he will only welcome such a decision.
As an accent, designers advise to tear out motifs such as “London”, “Manhattan”, “New York”.
The themes of fairy-tale kingdoms and natural landscapes are more suitable for a girl.
Combination with furniture:
When talking about how to choose furniture, the first thing people pay attention to is the sofa.
The color of the sofa can be light, dark, colored. You can read about how to combine gray color correctly in our article -
Bright furniture will easily fit under the gray background: armchairs, chairs, cabinets.
Light furniture in combination with metal and silver accessories will also make an interesting tandem.
Below are examples of gray wallpaper with shelves and a TV. Practical solutions for large rooms.
Gray wallpaper for the hallway
You can pave the hallway design in light gray tones. If the hallway is small, this will visually expand the space and make the corridor brighter and more spacious. The large hallway will be transformed by a noble dark gray tone.
Only good and high-quality lighting will make it grotesque and beautiful. In a hallway with gray wallpaper, dirt and dust will not be visible. It is important to carry out cleaning on time. The gray hallway will be decorated with exquisite decor, light flooring and a white stretch ceiling.
Lighting in a room with gray wallpaper
Whatever room is chosen to be decorated in a light gray or dark noble tone, it is important to install the lighting correctly. If this is a hall, you can consider multi-level lighting. As additional elements, it is worth installing sconces and a pair of floor lamps.
The main lighting should be bright. When it is turned off, a weak backlight should remain in the form of a diode strip or a pair of secondary lamps.
How to think about lighting?
Above we wrote about the property of light absorption. This is why it is important to place equipment correctly in the room. Ideally, think about different lighting scenarios.
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The first is a ceiling light. For example, make built-in stitches or install a chandelier. The second is the lamps in the bedside area. These can be wall lamps or table lamps. And the third possible scenario is a floor lamp in a recreation area with an armchair or a lamp in a work area (depending on the functionality provided). With this approach, the space will definitely not look dark.
Curtains for gray wallpaper
White or bright accent curtains will do. If the room is completely buried in gray, it is advisable to shade its windows with bright red, orange, yellow, blue, and green curtains.
Moreover, the tones of the furniture upholstery, bedspread or sofa cover should also match the designer’s bold idea. Gray will tolerate any metamorphosis and bright transformations.
It’s just important not to be afraid to experiment, add colors and make the interior more vibrant and beautiful.
You can give preference not to classic curtains, especially for the design of living room windows, but to combinations of curtains with lightweight curtains, simple thread curtains and chintz fabrics, or classic curtains with lightweight organza or satin tulle.
Moreover, gray in these options can be lightweight canvases, and drapes or heavy curtains can be burgundy, red or beige.
Which finish to choose for the floor?
The choice will depend on the size of the living space and the appearance of the walls. So, if the room is small, the floor should not be dark. Otherwise it will become even smaller. It is better to give preference to light shades of wood, be it laminate, parquet or engineered panels.
But in a spacious apartment you can experiment. If you choose rich paint or wallpaper for the walls, you can darken the floor. Even if the light is fine.
Carpets are often placed on the floor in living spaces to soften the interior and make it more comfortable. Remember that large canvases allow you to visually reduce the area. It is better to limit yourself to a small rug and place it under the legs of the bed. Or use a very small rug in the living room.
