30 Relaxing Blue and Gray Living Room Ideas

1. Use bright furniture as the centerpiece item

If you have a room that is mostly decorated in a muted tone, having a centerpiece color can draw your eye to the center of the space. Bright colored furniture is a great option in this case. Blue in the middle of the color scale such as Cobalt, Egyptian, or Sapphire Blue all work well as a centerpiece color.

2. Pair dark blue walls with light gray furniture

If your room has dark blue wall paint or wallpaper, try going for gray furniture or other accents to blend the area together. Light gray sofas, throw pillows, or rugs can all be used to accentuate the dark blue walls of the room.

3. Use wall art and decor to add color

You don’t have to blend colors using only wall covering and furniture. In fact, using smaller decorative objects as your color accents is perfectly viable. Wall art, throw pillows, rugs, blankets, and other decorative objects are a great way to add color to a light gray living room.

4. Try mixing different textures and patterns

If you’re tired of having matte colors in your room, try going with different patterns or textures instead. Wallpaper can be used on certain walls to add a unique design element to the room. In addition, patterned rugs and throw pillows are also a great choice to add a unique touch to the space.

5. Make use of the room’s stylish architecture

If you have a living room with exposed support beams or decorative ceiling accents, use those to your advantage. They can be color contrasted to other areas and decor of the room to give the entire space a unique and eye-catching feel.

6. Add in some other colors such as bronze or beige

If you aren’t in love with just using blue and gray colorations in your room, there are a wide range of other colors that can work well including bronze, gold, or brown. Add this color to the room in the form of artwork, statues, assorted decor, rugs, wooden furniture, and more.

7. Coastal homes do well with stormy color combinations

If you live near the ocean, you’re probably no stranger to storms. The dark gray skies combined with the deep ocean blue. Bring these colors indoors to decorate your living room and give your gathering space a relaxing yet bold new look. Deep navy blues work well with Ash, Pebble, or Fossil Gray colors.

8. Use a variety of different shades of gray

Instead of sticking with a single shade of gray, you can have various different shades all blending together in a single room. Try going with shades that are 4 or 5 degrees from each other on the color scale for a unique blending of a single color.

9. Blend in bright reds and golds for a unique contrast

One of the benefits of using both blue and gray is they can pair well with a variety of other colors including red and gold. Try adding these bright contrasting colors in the form of wall art, rugs, or throw pillows to give the room a very elegant overtone.

10. Don’t shy away from natural wood furniture

While you might be focusing on just blue and gray, adding furniture with natural wood tones is a great way to contrast while also blending the colors together. Wood tones on the brighter or lighter end of the color spectrum are a great choice such as Fir, Yellow Pine, and Poplar.

11. Be bold when blending different colors together

Regardless of the room size, blending various shades together can add emphasis to the cozy feeling of the space. Gray can be a great color to use for curtains and furniture, and may also be commonly found as the stone color around fireplaces. Pair these with deep blue wall coloring for a relaxing feel to the room.

12. Consider using baby blue instead of navy

While dark blues can make a room feel more cozy, lighter blues such as baby blue, sky blue, and cornflower blue can all blend well with grays of any shade. One of the benefits to lighter blue is that it encourages feelings of relaxation and calmness, making it a great choice for rooms where your family and guests will gather.

13. Don’t use any one color as a dominant color

While you might feel a bit overwhelmed having a single color on your walls, you can offset this color dominance by ensuring your floors, furniture, and ceiling are a different color entirely. If this still doesn’t feel like a 50/50 split of color in the room, try using curtains and window or door frames to help balance it out.

14. Use rugs and shelf decor to add more color

Various decorative and practical items can be used to add color to your blue and gray room. Try using colorful area rugs or carpeting to add a spark of color. You can also use books and magazines on a shelf to add splashes of color here and there too.

15. Gray pairs well with earthtones

Whether you want to add different colors of fabric, or want to add natural wood furniture, various earth tones work well in blue and gray living rooms. Try going with natural or stained wood, bronze decorative items, or brown and gold colored fabrics to really bring the whole room together in a unique way.

16. Consider stonewash and marbling as texture accents

Instead of using solid matte blue or gray colors throughout the room, consider using different variations such as stonewash and marbling on your fabric choices. Perfect for throw pillows, sofas, rugs, and curtains, this unique color option can add depth to the room without making the dominant color too overbearing.

17. Blend a room with the outdoor architecture

If you have large windows and an easy view of the outdoors, use the exterior color palette to your advantage. For example, if there are many gray stone buildings outdoors, use that as your gray coloration and focus on blues indoors. The indoor and outdoor colorations will pair well together when the curtains are open.

18. Focus on a variety of pastels

If you’re sticking to mostly muted and pale shades of blue and gray, you can still add a variety of other colors to the room if you focus on pastels. These pale and less obtrusive shades of pink, lavender, green, and yellow can all work well in a muted blue and gray room.

19. Use navy blue and storm gray for an elegant feel

Some shades of blue and gray are common on antique furniture and walls, and can give your room an elegant and aged feel. Focus on shades such as rich navy, hague blue, or gentleman’s gray to give your room that lived-in feel. Pair it with vintage medallion curtains for a truly unique flair.

20. Gold and bronze chandeliers add an eye catching element

There are various ways to keep the antique and elegant feel to a room. For example, gold accented chandeliers or candelabras are a great way to add a touch of color to the room. Yellow or bronze colored mirrors or lampshades can also be used. These colors work well with various blues and all gray palettes.

21. Red can be a perfectly accented addition to any room

It might seem strange to use bright red in a room that is mostly pale and muted blues and grays, but red blends very well in this case. Bright apple red as well as brick red can be used in wall art, on furniture upholstery, curtains, or rugs to add an eye-catching but unobtrusive dash of color to your room.

22. Dark gray tile flooring may work better than carpeting

While most living rooms may have carpeting, using thick stone tile in a darker shade of gray or blue might be a perfect addition to your living space. Since tile can be found in a wide range of shades and patterns, you can easily add a new dimension to the room simply by choosing a patterned floor tile.

23. Orange and burnt sienna colors can work well

Along the same lines of mixing in golds and yellows, orange can also be a viable color to mix into any living room. Darker shades of orange, as well as burnt sienna shades, work well in gray or blue rooms that also have wood furniture. Try adding dark orange furniture, rugs, throw pillows, or curtains for a unique look.

24. Don’t be afraid of purples and lavenders

The blue color palette can cover hundreds of unique shades, including purple and lavender. While some people will keep any purple shades on a different scale, they pair exceptionally well with most shades of gray. Try using dark purples in place of a navy blue, or pale lavenders instead of sky blue.

25. Area rugs can be your biggest color focus

If you can’t paint your walls or flooring to reflect the blue and gray colors you were hoping for, try using area rugs instead. You can find area rugs in almost any size and color you may want. Find one that uses various shades of blue and gray to help bring this color into your living room.

26. Have a piece of furniture as your centerpiece

If you don’t want to change the color in your entire living room, focus on a single centerpiece instead. This can be a sofa, chair, table, or piece of artwork. This centerpiece should be large enough to draw the eye and centrally located within the room itself.

27. Nautical themed rooms work well for blues and grays

If you love the ocean or coastal feel, the blue and gray color palette will work amazingly well for you. Try adding extra themed decorative accents to the room such as seashells, coastal photos, paintings of boats, and more to help emphasize the feeling of the sea and sky.

28. Bright green plants add a touch of nature

While your color choices may focus on the coastal feel or ocean theme, adding bright green plants can help add a touch of nature to the room. If you want a bright color added to a more muted room, a large plant or indoor tree such as a banana palm or alocasia are a great choice.

29. Focus on neutral and muted tones

Instead of heavily embracing either blue or gray, you can opt to stick to a more neutral middle ground on both colors. Try to go with muted darker tones of each color on your larger furniture or curtains, and use smaller accents such as pillows or area rugs for brighter coloring.

30. Window dressing can be the best way to add color

If you just don’t want to change up your entire collection of living room furniture, but still want to try the blue or gray colors in the room, consider changing up your window dressing. Curtains and privacy shades can be found in various shades of blue and gray to add the color to your room without difficulty.