Grey Living Room Ideas
Grey living rooms look best when you know whether your grey is warm or cool and add one or two warm colours to stop it feeling flat. Cream, wood and brown keep grey soft, while mustard, blush or rust in the art and cushions give it life.
Below: warm and cool greys, colours that go with grey walls, sofas and rugs, and how to choose art for grey walls.
Prints for this look
The colour palette
Warm grey or cool grey?
Grey is never just grey. Warm greys (sometimes called greige) have a beige, brown or pink base and feel soft and cosy. They suit north-facing living rooms and pair with cream, oak and brown. Cool greys have a blue or green base and feel crisp and modern. They suit bright, south-facing rooms and pair with white, black, chrome and navy.
A grey that looks perfect on the paint chart can turn cold on a shaded wall. Paint a large sample and check it at different times of day before you commit.
Colours that go with grey walls
- Grey and cream is soft and timeless. Use cream for the sofa, curtains or rug.
- Grey and brown feels warm and grounded, with walnut, leather and caramel.
- Mustard and ochre are the classic accent and make grey look lively.
- Blush and dusty pink soften a cool grey.
- Charcoal and black add depth to a pale grey room.
The 60-30-10 rule keeps it balanced: about 60% grey, 30% cream, white or wood, 10% accent. Read more on our decorating rules page.
Sofas, rugs and the TV wall
Grey walls suit almost any sofa. A cream or white sofa looks fresh. Tan leather or a rust velvet sofa adds the warmth a grey room often lacks. A charcoal sofa on a pale grey wall gives a calm, tonal look, but needs a patterned rug or colourful cushions to lift it.
On the TV wall, a darker charcoal grey helps the screen recede. Balance it with a pair of A3 prints on shelves or one A2 to the side, so the TV is not the only thing on the wall.
Art for grey walls
Grey is a generous backdrop for art. Black and white prints look sharp on pale grey; warm abstracts in mustard, rust and blush bring a cool grey to life; botanicals and landscapes soften a warm grey. Choose one accent colour from the cushions or rug and repeat it in the print.
Above the sofa, aim for art about two thirds of the sofa's width. On a 200 cm sofa that is roughly 130 cm of art, hung 15 to 25 cm above the sofa back. Browse our grey wall art or add warmth with yellow and mustard prints.
Sizes at a glance
| Size | Centimetres | Inches | Works for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 21 x 29.7 | 8.3 x 11.7 | Shelves, desks, small gaps, sets of 3 |
| A3 | 29.7 x 42 | 11.7 x 16.5 | Hallways, side walls, pairs |
| A2 | 42 x 59.4 | 16.5 x 23.4 | Above a sideboard or small sofa, the anchor of a gallery wall |
| A1 | 59.4 x 84.1 | 23.4 x 33.1 | Above a standard sofa or bed |
| A0 | 84.1 x 118.9 | 33.1 x 46.8 | Large walls, open-plan rooms, statement pieces |
All our A sizes fit standard off-the-shelf frames, and every print is made to order on museum-grade matte paper.
