Way more than fifty shades

    Yes it’s true. Fifty shades barely scratches the surface of gray.  Mix black and white paint and you get gray. Big deal, ho hum, boring. Here’s another thought: mix any two complementary colors to white and get gray, which makes the actual number of grays infinite. That, to me, is exciting. No, more than that. It’s inspiring!

   My husband and I  thought we were being totally original when we decided to go with a gray and white palette for our guest room. Once we started on that project, however,  it seemed like everyone I met was going with gray and white in their home decor projects. News flash: it’s a trend! 

    

The great thing we discovered about gray and white in a bedroom is that the overall effect is calming. I can go in that room any time of the day and feel peaceful, because the mood is softly undemanding. When on those rare occasions I luxuriate into an afternoon nap, the gray and white room is my go-to place for a deep restful snooze. And on those even more rare occasions when we actually have guests, they always say they feel relaxed and at home in their gray and white room.

This dish of rocks resides in our gray and white guest room, for obvious reasons. They were some of our free souvenirs from Munich, scooped out of the Isar River in the English Garden.
   

When it comes to mixing paint, any hue can be grayed down by adding its complementary color.  For a quick review of complementary colors on the color wheel go here. Most colors in nature are grayed down versions of color. This is especially obvious in the winter when everything - the sky, the trees, and the ground, are all different shades of gray. 

    

Then, as Spring dramatically arrives, and little flowers start popping up, we get to enjoy some vibrant pops of color again. Of course, the colors look especially vibrant because everything surrounding them is gray! That principle also works in composing a painting. Some of the most dramatic impactful paintings are mostly grayed down, neutrals with just a “pop” of vibrant color.

So, want your green grass on that landscape to look more natural? Add a little red. Want that blue sky to calm down a bit? Add a little orange to the palette. How about making those too bright reds in the foreground recede? Add some green to the mix and watch it appear to quiet down.  You will find as you explore color mixing there are way more than fifty shades.