He loves gray and you have dark choc. brown furniture. Maybe take a look at Ben Moore color called Nantucket Gray HC-111. You put a "u" in color so I'm guessing you're from Canada. I think Ben Moore's historical colors are the same Canadian. HC-111 is more green than gray. It's a very toned "neutral" color and can work with many other colors, textures, patters. I love it exterior or interior. Very sophisticated, rich, and flexible.

Well let me see..... In our MB we have mahaogany, walnut, cherry, and aged pine for the casegoods. The floor is 40 yr old golden oak. In my world, all woods go together. If they are loved and inherited, then they go together even more! You can keep the overall feel lighter by keeping the walls, trim, WT, rugs (or carpeting), bedding and wall art in lighter colors. We have sky blue walls, simple white WT, white bedding and most of the art is matted in white or has lighter backgrounds. Wonderful, colorful Karastans on the floor. The room is neither grim nor stuffy. Some would think old fashioned, some would envy the contents and the feeling of an established home that they lend. The sewing cab could make a great bedside table if the height is right. Wall mounted lighting is easy if a side table doesn't easily fit a lamp. One of our nightstands has a bottom shelf that makes a great stash for ready to be read books. Did I mention that not one piece in our room matches any other piece except that they are all wood? LOL! I love seeing unmatched rooms. Matched bedroom sets make me verrrrrry uncomfortable and I can't help but think that I am living in a motel/hotel room.

What else is going in the room? The paper is very striking and I like it but I think bouncing it around will confuse the eye. How about choosing one color from it and paint the whole room that color, for me it would be the taupe color and then put small accents in the room of the grape tone.

I like contrast...but I am also a dude and habitually have a bad sense of style...so take with a grain of salt.