A Grey and Tan Obsession

I’ve been on a bit of a Pinterest kick lately. Specifically, home décor stuff. All sorts of it.

One thing I’ve realized lately is that I’m totally in love with a grey color scheme. I’m sure this is probably because my house is basically tan everywhere you turn and I’m just over it and like to make things difficult for myself. I actually think that’s part of the reason why I wanted to try to sell our new couches a couple of months ago (which we never sold, by the way).

So I got talking about it a bit with Chelsey the other day, and then last night, she ended up sending me this pin…

ARTICLE + GALLERY: How to Go Gray When Your Entire House Is Beige - Pt. 2

And now, knowing that I could totally still go grey with my tan couches? I’m totally obsessed with the grey and tan color scheme.

An interior designer I definitely am NOT, so I would have never thought to put these two colors together?! But I really think that with a little updated paint, some new throw pillows, and maybe some new accessories, I could totally grab the look in our living room.

Here is some of my “Pin-spiration” for potential ideas…

Morrison Fairfax Interiors: Lovely blue and brown living room with steel blue walls paint color with glossy white .

I feel like that picture most closely resembles what we already have with the darker tan couches and dark coffee table. I’d want to go a little lighter with the grey paint color though.

I absolutely love the look ok this picture, but it’s really nothing like what we have…and it definitely doesn’t look too kid friendly.

Gray Paint Colors for Living Room with Brown Couch | Living Room Ideas

I pinned this photo because it just looked a bit more like my house…pillows all over, animals…all it’s missing are about 1,894 toys.

Absolutely obsessed with these pillow cases. Love the lighter, muted tones of the grey paired with that tan.

Some potential color options…love having it all on the same palette. Makes it much more easy to envision.

grey and tan – living room … how to get the grey/tan to work together

Loved this for an idea of some various accessories to add in. I’d love to be able to add a contrasting accent chair someday, in a darker grey. But the practical side of me would much rather prefer a nice big, comfy recliner.

wood top with weathered gray stain on IKEA hemnes table

Technically, we really don’t need a coffee table. And I love ours for the sake that it lifts up and down and is SUPER convenient. But there’s something about this one that I just can’t leave alone. Plus, it’s made from an Ikea table, so I feel like it could probably be made fairly cheap?

So now I’d love to hear from you guys…

How are you when it comes to interior designing? Do you have that “eye?”
What are some of your favorite color palettes/combinations?
Is your current living room what your “dream living room” would look like?

P.S. – the winner of the Just Mayo giveaway has been chosen (sorry for the delay!). Congrats to reader, Ashlee!

Ashlee, be sure to shoot me an email with your name and contact info – sweettoothcourtney at gmail dot com – so i can get you set up with your goodies! 😉

Comments

Brynn says April 9, 2015 at 6:18 am

Grey and tan is a beautiful color combination, it immediately made me think of the beach. My living room is a dark grey (walls) with pops of yellow, white and bright blue. It was a big decision to do a darker grey wall, but it is stunning! I receive so many compliments on the grey color. Decorating is one of my favorite things, if only I had someone else to pay for it!

Ann says August 1, 2016 at 3:54 pm

Hi Brynn,
I have zero decorating finesse. My living room furniture has a cream background with grey and tan accents. I have natural hardwood floors (no stain) and dark woodwork. The painter is coming at the end of the month to do the adjoining living/dining rooms. Do you have any suggestions? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I plan to stay for a few years but then the kids will be grown and I’ll be ready to sell so I’m looking for something that will increase resale value.
Thanks,
Ann

I have zero decorating finesse. My living room furniture has a cream background with grey and tan accents. I have natural hardwood floors (no stain) and dark woodwork. The painter is coming at the end of the month to do the adjoining living/dining rooms. Do you have any suggestions? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I plan to stay for a few years but then the kids will be grown and I’ll be ready to sell so I’m looking for something that will increase resale value.
Thanks,
Ann

Love this color combo! Totally makes me think of the beach and who doesn’t love the beach, right? Let us know how it turns out!

Love these pictures for inspiration and I totally say buy the IKEA coffeetable (I’m a horrible influence!) Target and HomeGoods have had some really awesome home decor and pillows lately too!

I love Pinterest for interior designing! I am terrible at it otherwise. I’ve been pinning a ton of home stuff lately. I’m into a navy with yellow pops. I love color!

Pinterest if the devil! I will be happy with my current “situation” and one scroll through Pinterest and I hate everything I own, lol! I’m actually awful at decorating and putting things together so I keep it simple. We just replaced a dark brown sectional with a light beige 3 piece set and I love that so much more. I’ve added pops of turquoise, yellow and orangey colors and I really like it. I received a great piece of advice recently, decorate for YOU and what you like. Don’t worry about trends or whether it’s how decorating “should be”. You live with it, so you have to love it. Exactly.

If you don’t already watch it, you need to get into Fixer Upper on HGTV. Joanna Gaines is absolutely amazing and everything she designs is perfect. She is totally into that color scheme as well!

Courtney says April 9, 2015 at 8:50 am

Hahaha, we already talked about this Em, rememberrrrrr?? We’re both equally obsessed with her and that show (LOVE IT!) 😉

I LOVE this. you read my mind. We are moving in a few months and we currently have tan couches, light gray walls, and a grayish ottoman. I want to go with a darker gray in the next room. Also, if you do Costco, the have this rocker/recliner/swivel chair that we have in my sons nursery and LOVE. Its super comfy. The Dawson Swivel Recliner http://www.costco.com/Dawson-Swivel-Glider-Recliner.product.100033863.html

Courtney says April 9, 2015 at 9:43 am

Love that chair! Sadly, we don’t have a Costco near us 🙁
I hadn’t really paid attention to those colors together before, but i like it!

My husband and I are currently in the process of building our custom home! Pinterest and Houzz are my best friends! It is so much fun seeing all of my ideas come to life! 🙂

Oh I’m loving this tan/grey theme. Unfortunately with a black dog that gets slobber every where this might be just a dream to me! We had an interior designer come in when we first bought our house to tell us how to make our living room more ‘adult’ appropriate instead of college flare…and three years later we still have dark green couches and mismatching furniture. With a baby on the way I’m not sure how quickly I’m jumping to make a change just yet! Love these ideas though!

I love Pinterest for home decor inspiration!! Love what you picked out especially the coffee table!

I have tan couches and grey walls! I’m still working on the details, but a very similar look down to the dark coffee table 😉 I used Benjamin Moore Silver Half Dollar on my walls and I LOVE it! It’s a soft, light grey and it makes the room feel so open and airy! Check it out for sure!

Courtney says April 9, 2015 at 9:27 am

Melissa! That color is beautiful, just checked it out! Definitely something I’d probably want to use – thank you!! And hey, I guess great minds think alike 😉

Neutrals can be best for showing off YOUR favorite things, like a work of art or a special rug. I like neutral tones in my living room because I’d rather have simplicity and clean lines, and the eye drawn to my favorite print on the wall.

Courtney says April 9, 2015 at 9:26 am

You sound like you totally know your stuff, Melissa! Haha, I think I could learn a thing or two from you 😉

Alyssa @ Renaissancerunnergirl says April 9, 2015 at 9:57 am

Oh, I just grew up with a mom obsessed with HGTV (but not with actually decorating) so I’m the one who took the tips to heart 🙂

I’m currently all about the white and pale green. I’m slowly but surely trying to get the bedroom those colors.

i like to think i’m creative but in terms of interior design, my go-to is basically bohemian-esque randomness. if i like it, i stick it on a wall (which means in my bedroom, b/c i have very limited wall space in my NYC apt), and it’s basically a free-for-all of colors and patterns and God knows what. my idea of “wall decorations” are scarves and purses and baseball caps at the moment…my bedroom resembles something out of a surf bum’s San Diego -style beach hut, i’d say. 🙂 my dream living room, hmmm…def not what i have…my current living room barely fits a couch.

Beautiful, Court! I love this look! The minute I get a room how I initially wanted it, is usually the minute I’m ready to change it again. Haha! My husband loves me for that. 😉 I’m still working on our living room…it’s slowly but surely coming along. Still need some covers for our throw pillows, a rug, and an ottomon, but everything else is there. I’m sure by the time I get the remaining stuff, I’ll want to change it again.

omg i’m terrible at styling anything! rooms, a house, myself lol that’s where my mom and sister come in!

looooove this color combo too. :0) so clean and pretty.

I just did this in my living room! We have light tan couches as well and a light tan and white patterned carpet (mocha scroll from pottery barn) and we painted our walls repose gray by Sherwin Williams. I was hesitant too at first but after Pinterest searching I went for it. We like the end results and I totally recommended mixing the two colors!

Love the new color scheme! We just painted our walls a darker greige – you grey beige taupey color and I am trying to pick a color scheme… I miss my brighter blue walls! I’m thinking yellow and navy… I need a new couch but that’s not happening yet, so our brown couch will have to make do! Gotta love pinspiration. Love that steel blue wall, so warm and welcoming!! Good luck! Can’t wait to see it come together!!

I too love all the grays, so much so that I incorporated it into my wedding! My maid of honor is wearing a silver-gray dress, and all my bridesmaids are wearing steel gray. I’ve also got some blacks and whites happening, but the gray is the star of the show. In terms of home decor, I painted my master bedroom a blue/gray color a couple years ago and just love it. It is so calming. Our main bathroom is also painted a light gray color – I figured the gray walls would work well for the nautical theme I’m trying to go with in there. So many good ideas for gray/blue/tan color schemes!

I do not have that “eye”, but I sure try! We’re in that phase where we are finally getting rid of hand me down furniture and cheapies and slowly replacing them with quality, purposeful pieces. I would probably paint every room in my house gray if I could, its my favorite neutral!

I feel like I am terrible at interior decorating. I mean, I think I have good taste, but I also feel like I just tend to throw a bunch of neutrals out there and go with it. I REALLY wish I had the money to hire a designer friend to tell me what would ACTUALLY look good! Ha!

My husband is a graphic designer, and loves interior design / decor with a modern look (he’s actually renovated and designed our whole main floor). You can bet we would have every single room in our house painted a shade of grey! It’s classy, subtle, and calming as long as you keep to the blue tones and not the yellow (I’ve learned from him). It’s the perfect backdrop for hits of color too! I love the grey / tan combo ideas you have going on!

Same obsession here. It all started with my desire for a gender neutral nursery, was further influenced by my serious disinterest in painting the nursery walls, which were already tan, so here we are going with the grey and tan theme and I’m loving it!

Omg!! You just made me so happy. I’ve been dying for grey in my bedroom but our headboard is tan burlap stuff from west elm and now I have an idea how to do it

Courtney says April 10, 2015 at 10:30 am

I LOVE greys! I’m all about that light, breezy, airy feeling and love soft greys, blues, and whites. I’m slowly transitioning our furniture over – the painting, that’s the easy part. It’s convincing the hubby we need all the new furniture that’s turning out to be a bit challenging. 😉

In case you are looking- 2 beautiful light greyish colors are light French grey- I have it in the nursery, and sea salt- in my dining room and living room. Both are Sherwin Williams. They are gorgeous, and I have gotten a ton of compliments on both! My whole family has the sea salt now.

Courtney says April 15, 2015 at 10:35 am

Thanks, Katie!

Thank you for this post! I did my living room wall in a sunny beige several years ago and totally did not like it. Yesterday I changed my curtains to a light gray and added a couple of gray throw pillows and a complimenting art piece on the wall. I now love it. By the way, my old curtains were a dark tan/brown/burgundy color. What a difference the light gray curtains made, especially after I added the gray throw pillows. Also, green plants make a great accent color. I learned that many times we can make small changes that make a big change in the look. I’m now motivated to make more new modernizing updates. Thank you!

Sheila Driver says April 23, 2017 at 8:55 pm

Also, it reminds me of gold/silver jewelry, which I love!

What would you suggest when my home is beige and I thought I purchased a cream couch but in my home it looks a light green….However, when I move it into my dining room or even the hall it turns into the right color, but in my family room it looks green.

would like to know where did you get those covers for the pillows grey with tan