Upholstered Chair from Ashley Campbell, Denver, AshleyCampbell.com; Silk Pillow from HW Home, Greenwood Village, HWHome.com
Style
Color You Can Use
Purple & Gray
PHOTOGRAPHY
Martin Crabb
PRODUCED BY
Constance Marsh


Benjamin Moore Aura Paint (top left to bottom right): Chambourd, Silhouette, Aplomb, Wisteria, Inspired and Cinder, Belcaro Paint, Denver, BenjaminMoore.com


Accent Table from Ashley Campbell, Vases from Artisan Center, International Villa, Show of Hands and Decade, Denver

This season’s purple and gray palette is one of our favorite trends to come out of this year’s Maison et Objet trade show in Paris. Nuanced and versatile, the pair forms a balanced marriage—as an accent, purple enlivens the dull tendency of gray, and gray stabilizes purple, preventing it from overpowering a space. They’re destined for each other.                 

But don’t just take our word for it: Here, color experts’ tips on how to add this sophisticated, sultry pairing to your home’s palette:


Laurel Quint, principal of Q Design, says:

  • “Keep the tones [of purple and gray] very close together. Not a lot of bright, poppy kinds of contrasts… Create depth with texture and subtle tonal differences.”
     
  • “[In a mostly lavender scheme,] we added just a touch of deep plum, which popped the paler purples… Plum came in through one pillow on the sofa, and it was just amazing how it grounded it and made everything more lively. We were surprised by it. Everything felt so airy, you almost couldn’t connect the lavender threads, but when you just drop one piece in, it became so strong. The plum has to be the same tone.”
     
  • “I love to put lavender and grays in a bedroom because it’s very soothing. The only thing to be careful about is the light. We picked a purple that had a lot of pink in it to warm up that white overblown feel.”
     
  • “A lot of gray can get dull and take away from the architecture. I think it would be a good scheme for a space that had a lower ceiling, because you could paint everything the same color and have the background be thelandscape.”


Adds Doty Horn, director of color and design for Benjamin Moore:

  • The gray scale is really a popular direction; it’s a newer direction. Gray can go many different ways—it has a lot of undertones of other colors in it. If it’s a purple-based gray, when you team it up with a purple, it’s going to bring that out of the gray.”
     
  • “Purple is one of the “on the fence” colors. It’s a chameleon color. Because of its combination of red and blue, it can shift both ways. Purple is a chameleon color that can be quite sophisticated in its usage. It’s not for the novice. You’re choosing a more sophisticated palate to work with.”
     
  • “If you want a cooler combination, use the blue side of purple; if you want the warm side of purple, go with red—which is what I typically recommend for consumers because it warms up the gray.”
     
  • “If you’ve got very limited natural lighting, then you want to try to keep the colors on the warm side: yellow-based grays, red-based grays, even charcoal.”
     
  • “Gray is synonymous with contemporary and minimalist design. You can use unfinished wood to go with gray and it adds a nice finish to it. Wood has a lot of texture and a lot of warmth to it.”


Angela Haney of Trio Interior Design, says:

  • “Gray is a very easy and fun neutral base color to work with, but don't be fooled. If you don't select the right accent to draw "pop" from your eye you will find yourself with a dull setting. The blue base of many of your purple colors allows for a ‘popping’ effect when combined with gray. Be sure when using these colors that the intensity of the gray and purple are in close proximity.”
     
  • “I like to combine these colors because of the element of surprise that it allows. Typically, people will gravitate towards tones of reds, golds, and deep neutrals when trying to implement a classic design. By combing gray and purple it allows the creation of something timeless that can be used in both a traditional setting or a modern, contemporary setting.”