Gray Color Suggestions for Striped Walls

Shades of Gray

• Gray has many shades, and you can use this fact when you're decorating to create many different looks. For an industrial look, add furnishings and accessories in steel gray. To get this look, paint furnishings such as the coffee and end tables with a pounded steel paint. If the walls have gray stripes that are a couple of different shades, find accessories such as rugs that feature these shades. Additionally, putting darker shades of gray, such as charcoal or slate, on the floors will visually ground the space.

Patterns

• Patterns add visual interest to a space, and using a common color such as gray allows you to mix patterns such as stripes with other patterns. To employ this technique, look for patterned accessories such as throw pillows that feature the same color of gray that your walls have, which allows you to introduce patterns such as fleur di lis, paisley or checks into the room. Ensure that some larger elements such as your couch are only one color: the shade of gray on the walls, which will prevent the space from looking too busy and gives the room visual balance.

Focal Wall

• Striped walls without any kind of visual break can make a room look very busy. To create a focal point and to give the room some visual depth, paint one of the walls in the room with a dark gray. Grays that have a bit of tint, such as blue or purple, allow you to tie in some of the color elements you have in the room without adding those colors to your walls. A gray focal wall will stand out because it looks different than the striped walls around it. If the room feels claustrophobic, choose a shade of gray that's nearly white instead, which will open up the space.

Wall Decor

• Your wall decor can further enhance the grays in the stripes as well as break up some of the lines created by the stripes, which makes the room look more interesting. To accomplish this, hang up mirrors and sconces with ornate silver-gray frames. Find some wall vases that are darker gray than the gray on the walls, and put colorful blooms in them. Create a false window by hanging a metallic gray curtain up on one of the walls.