Inheriting grey carpets - what colour to put on the walls?

[movinggrooving]

Hello,

We are moving into a new house that has a lot of grey everywhere.

The property is only a few years old and has good quality carpet throughout, albeit grey, so we want to save money by not changing these. What colour could I paint the walls to bring a bit of warmth to the rooms?

It has mid-grey carpets in the living room, bedrooms, stairs and upstairs hallway. The walls are currently painted white in the hallway and light grey in the rooms.

Thanks!

[Thinkle]

I’ve said this a few times on here, but I’m a bit obsessed with the farrow and ball website and they way they put colours together.
I order the free colour card, match a carpet/fabric to one of the swatches and then look up the advised contrast colour.
For specific colour advice that would depend on the room aspect and how bold you want to go.

[VenusClapTrap]

I would have to change the carpets. Grey is so depressing and officey. Not helpful, sorry.

That said, we lived with hideous carpets in this house for quite a long time while we saved up to renovate. I didn’t bother changing the walls in the meantime; just waited till we could do the whole thing.

[windmill26]

Little Greene FLINT (236),FRENCH GREY PALE (161),SLAKED LIME (105),PORTLAND STONE PALE (155),CLAY PALE (152),GAUZE (106).
All the above would work really well with grey and they would be warmer than white without being too dark.
I am sure you can find similar colours from other paint manufacturer like F&B etc.

[Tyzz]

I had grey carpet in the 1970s and hated it. I couldn't believe it coming back into fashion.
DD is just buying a grey house , she thinks it's great but it looks like a giant man cave to me. One thing they've done which works well is a bright feature wall in electric blue.

[Qc16]

We have just fitted a beautiful silver grey Wilton carpet in all the bedrooms - the walls are Little Greene Pale Dorchester Pink, Pale China Blue and another pale blue we had mixed from Little Green Big Book of Colours which is no longer available but if you have the code they can be mixed.

They all look lovely and in no way dull or officey!

[Givemetrees]

I would do various creams from Farrow and Ball, Little Green etc on the walls. Add lots of texture, wooden furniture - mango, light oak, you can get floor and table lamps with wood legs/stands. Warm white light bulbs. Some Wicker accessories and a big cream/beige rug on top of the living room carpet at least. Warm shades of throw cushions. Add some plants. There are definitely ways to soften greys.

[picklemewalnuts]

I have a soft pink lavender in my kitchen. There's a plummy note in my kitchen doors that it brings out.

[windmill26]

@Qc16

We have just fitted a beautiful silver grey Wilton carpet in all the bedrooms - the walls are Little Greene Pale Dorchester Pink, Pale China Blue and another pale blue we had mixed from Little Green Big Book of Colours which is no longer available but if you have the code they can be mixed.

They all look lovely and in no way dull or officey!

Agree!
I find grey can be very elegant,depend what you do with it.

[XingMing]

Almost everything looks okay with grey, because it's so neutral. I use it as a starting point and then add colours, via paint (cheap) and accessories (which can be moved around). I'm about to repaint my bathroom, which is quite large and north facing, in a pimento orange and a softer tone of pimento, but almost all the fixed expensive-to-change fitments are white, cement grey or wood.

[XingMing]

I may need to buy a few new towels to complete the scheme, but that's not a major expense.

[movinggrooving]

Thanks so much for your responses.

@Thinkle good point about room aspect. Will do a bit research on what works best for each aspect - thanks!

@windmill26 and @Qc16 have googled those shades - they are lovely thanks!

@Givemetrees yes to all of that! Have been looking at sofas with warm oak coloured feet which should work nicely.

[DappledThings]

Any colour you like with grey.

We have 4 bedrooms all with silvery grey carpet. One room is lilac, one is green, one is blue and grey and the other is another green.

Had same carpet in previous house where one was pale blue, one was green and one was grey with a bright pink feature wall.

[Sirrah]

My daughter is getting a silvery grey carpet laid in her two bedrooms this week. One bedroom is a lovely dusky pink, the other is going to have navy and mustard accents, the rest white.

You can put just about any colour with grey, unlike brown or even beige, it's the perfect neutral.