“Cheerful” and “gray” don’t sound like they belong in the same sentence, do they? But look:
Thanks to painted wainscoting that covers a third of the walls, a dramatic curved window, and a coral rug, gray is anything but dreary in this D.C. dining room….
(When the client’s children grow out of their grab-anything-within-reach-with-their-grubby-little-mitts phase – ah, we remember it well! – we’ll do a floor-length, sheer linen drape on a curved rod on that massive window.)
The wall color is Benjamin Moore‘s AC-28 Smoke Embers. It’s a GRAY gray. Not taupe, not lavender, ever so slightly bluish…it could be too dark in a room with less light, but here, it’s a hit.
The wainscoting and trim are Benjamin Moore’s excellent off-white standby, OC-95 Navajo White, semi-gloss finish. (We also used Navajo White in a flat finish on the ceiling.)
You may recognize the rug, by the way. Sometimes called the Bogart (Garnet Hill) and sometimes called the Soho, it’s a wool flatweave that works beautifully in both traditional and contemporary settings.
Where would YOU use gray?
It is so hard to find a gray that doesn’t go blue, as Coventry Gray did in the basement, or one that goes green. We finally settled on Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter for our kitchen/breakfast room/entry hall and hallway. It is gray gray and we love it. We don’t get direct sunlight in any of those rooms, but it really brightens things up.
Love this room and the gray walls! We’re planning to paint our breakfast the same shade of gray and already have white wainscotting. Could you tell me where you got your roman shade? I’d love to add a patterned roman shade to our windows!
Hi, Shondra! The shade fabric is Thomas Paul – very affordable – and we had the shade made by a local fabricator. so glad you like it! Good luck!
I love this color. We are looking to do gray in the dining room and have a chair rail. Is it totally not cool to use two shades of gray – one above, one below the chairrail. I love this color you used but will it be too much all the walls? We do get tremendous light in our dining room as well.
You totally could do two shades of gray. I prefer the darker on the bottom. If you get a lot of light, you should be fine!
Hi! I love the room’s design. We are actually working on a very similar design with the coral Bogart rug. We are hesitating because we are not sure how bright this coral rug is. In your images it looks sort of pinkish. Can you tell me how bright it really is?? Also… is it rough or soft under your feet?
Thanks a million!
I am really getting into gray for our new house. I’m loving BM “Pale Oak” at the moment…
Kelly at ArteStyling is helping me: see my latest post! So different: a new houses in the South compared to our old house in the Hudson Valley: a wonderful challenge!!
That's so pretty, I really love the unique wainscoting. I love gray, BM Coventry Gray is one of my favorite colors in my home.
Thank you for all of these positive comments! Sounds like this bunch has NO fear of gray – terrific!
Carin – check the blog tomorrow for the answer to your question
Thanks again!
HI Bossy
this is the exact color combo I need for a client of mine in Ohio. I am trying to steer her away from gray walls but she is insisiting and I love how this turned out. My computer will not allow me to save your photos for some reason. any chance you could email me the last one with the blue hydrangeas on the table at hayniedi@cox.net? I would really appreciate it and I am not going to publish it anywhere but if I did I would, of course, credit you.
Thanks
diane
I have the same rug in my laundry room and just painted my very similar dining room ben Moore beach glass which looks close to this – love them both!
My kitchen … still the most beautiful gray! It's a Benjamin Moore color; I can't remember which.
Will we be seeing pictures later with the new drapes?
I love the blind! What's that fabric?
love this room! It really is cheery.