I recently did my Instagram Q&A and had several questions on how to finish out a room. I’m going to be sharing them here in my next few posts with some more insight, to help you if you are having a similar decorating challenge. Oh, and links to the products too!
First up is this room, a freshly painted charcoal gray space at the front of a house, no doubt originally planned to be a dining room when this home was built.
As we are all doing these days, these homeowners are creating a space here that they would get more use out of. Formal dining rooms are not always a priority for most families.
They had these big lounge chairs with ottomans and had painted the room a dark, charcoal gray.
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This room needed some warmth to balance it out.
I had to ask the purpose of the room, as it wasn’t quite clear to me just from looking at it. They wanted a place to read, relax, converse, maybe laptop or scroll.
Many lounging spaces these day no longer center around the tv!
I felt it needed another furniture item, a bookcase, that would add some interest, add height to that back wall and give a real purpose to the room, as a sort of library or reading room.
Right now, it almost reads as a media room without the media. It’s just all low upholstery, which is a lot like a home theater room.
Charcoal gray and white room needing a little warmth to finish it off.
I also felt it needed some warmth and variation, the dark gray and white were a good base to start with, but layering in another color tone would help finish it off nicely.
First I found the bookcase. I like this one because it was just the warm color tone I was looking for. It was a modern look and I liked the details like the curve at the bottom and the woven texture in the back. You don’t have to put much in a bookcase like this as it interesting all by itself.
Then, I found the light fixture. Same thing here……warm tone, textural and I like the modern orb shape.
I really wanted to replace the rug, as it that shaggy gray one they had just wasn’t doing anything for the room. I like more warm tones and this fiber rug with a large pattern will help things look really up to date.
Next, we need some art on each side of the bookcase. I like this art pair for their white background the graphic gray organic motif. I would do the wood frames, like shown, to add that warmth.
Lastly, pillows! Since we are heavy on the gray seating here, adding some warm, textural pillows will help break up that sea of gray.
Here’s how it shapes up in a sketch. (Oh, and I’d add some warm toned textural sheer draperies too.)
Room sketch to show how room would finish out with new furnishings. carlaaston.com
And here’s how those new items look against a dark charcoal gray. Perfect!
Moodboard for adding warm toned items to a gray room. carlaaston.com
I think it is much more balanced now while still being neutral and overall cool toned. Can’t wait to see a finished pic of this space!
Need some help with your wall decor?
Just like in this room above, the way you decorate your wall depends on the furniture you have in the room and the way you’ve laid it out. I go over that and much more in my Wall Decor Guide.