Whilst grey is the arguably the most popular neutral in interior design today, 'greige,' a combination of grey and beige, is being favoured more and more for its capacity to warm up an all-over grey design scheme. Greige is really the best of both worlds, combining the cooler and more placid look of true grey with the warming nature of beige.
Greige is nothing new to the design world, in the 1980s, Giorgio Armani became known as 'the king of greige' for his abundant use of the colour in his designs. But a proliferation of greige paint is moving the trend to the fore.
COAT sells a ready-made Greige swatch pack with five of their most popular greige paints. 'A top colour for summer decorating projects is Tuesday’s Child, a graceful light greige, with a slight green undertone, which is natural and bright, bringing that biophilic feel to the room,' says COAT Paints’ Colour Curator, Aaron Markwell.
Greige is certainly not the most difficult colour to use in your home, but its application can take some getting used to – using grey or beige independently is as easy as it gets, but marrying the two and striking a balance between cool and warm design schemes comes with some challenges.
'How you dress the room is really important in making neutral schemes sing,' says Aaron. 'Upholstery in slightly deeper tones than the walls adds grounding and subtle contrast that looks really considered. When choosing accents like cushions and artwork, use a bolder version of your neutral colour. For example Coffee browns for taupe schemes or olive greens for greige schemes like Tuesday's Child.'
Read on for 13 ways to use greige in your home...