7 Ideas for Using a Gray Carpet in Your Living Room
Soothing and often practical, gray carpeting can look elegant too, especially if you consider these ways to work with it
A gray carpet can be a smart choice for a living room, but it also can present a series of design dilemmas: Which wall color should you pair it with? Which sofa shades work best? Should you go for light or dark? If you’re unsure, take a look at these gray color schemes for inspiration.
2. Go to the Dark Side
In a busy space used by several people, such as a living room, deep gray may be a safer choice for those worried about spills and marks. A dark carpet doesn’t necessarily mean a dark space, though. This Issie-Mae design is a nice example of how charcoal flooring can complement a bright and fresh living room.
In this context, the dark gray anchors the design but doesn’t dominate the room. This is due to a thick cream-and-black rug in the center that links the two tones, along with a midtone gray sofa that helps bridge the gap.
Color Guide: How to Work With Charcoal Gray
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In a busy space used by several people, such as a living room, deep gray may be a safer choice for those worried about spills and marks. A dark carpet doesn’t necessarily mean a dark space, though. This Issie-Mae design is a nice example of how charcoal flooring can complement a bright and fresh living room.
In this context, the dark gray anchors the design but doesn’t dominate the room. This is due to a thick cream-and-black rug in the center that links the two tones, along with a midtone gray sofa that helps bridge the gap.
Color Guide: How to Work With Charcoal Gray
Find rugs of all colors in the Houzz Shop
3. Choose a Fine Stripe
If you look closely at the gray carpet in this sunny living space, you’ll see a subtle stripe that adds texture and visual interest to the floor. This particular light gray almost tips over into beige, which helps warm up the room and create that cozy feel.
A good choice for high-traffic areas, a lightly patterned gray carpet also will be more forgiving than a solid color when it comes to spills and marks.
If you look closely at the gray carpet in this sunny living space, you’ll see a subtle stripe that adds texture and visual interest to the floor. This particular light gray almost tips over into beige, which helps warm up the room and create that cozy feel.
A good choice for high-traffic areas, a lightly patterned gray carpet also will be more forgiving than a solid color when it comes to spills and marks.
4. Unify an Open Plan
By covering the floor of the living and dining areas in the same light gray carpet, the owners of this home tied the two spaces together. The wash of pale flooring ensures that the different zones feel connected and considered.
Placing a patterned rug in front of the sofa is a clever way to break up the largest area of floor space. It also avoids the effect of having a sea of carpet on which the small coffee table could have looked lost.
By covering the floor of the living and dining areas in the same light gray carpet, the owners of this home tied the two spaces together. The wash of pale flooring ensures that the different zones feel connected and considered.
Placing a patterned rug in front of the sofa is a clever way to break up the largest area of floor space. It also avoids the effect of having a sea of carpet on which the small coffee table could have looked lost.
5. Add Texture
A textured wool carpet is the perfect foil for the other fabrics in this living room, showing that an all-gray scheme can have lots of interest if the finishes and materials are chosen thoughtfully.
Although the main elements in the room are drawn from the same tonal range of gray, the homeowners cleverly mixed the textures to break up the space. The linen sofa, the wooden coffee table and the ridged wool carpet combine to create a room packed with subtle detail. The energy-efficient home is by Alatano Bros.
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A textured wool carpet is the perfect foil for the other fabrics in this living room, showing that an all-gray scheme can have lots of interest if the finishes and materials are chosen thoughtfully.
Although the main elements in the room are drawn from the same tonal range of gray, the homeowners cleverly mixed the textures to break up the space. The linen sofa, the wooden coffee table and the ridged wool carpet combine to create a room packed with subtle detail. The energy-efficient home is by Alatano Bros.
Shop for linen sofas and sectionals
6. Layer Up
This living room by InSite Builders & Remodeling is pretty much the definition of cozy. With its deep, squishy sofa and layers of plush textiles, it invites relaxation. The carpet is an integral part of this design, providing a soft layer of wall-to-wall warmth underfoot for padding between the sofa and the table.
The color of the carpet is clever too. It has subtle gray and cream stripes, which reference both the gray sofa and the cream walls and accessories, neatly pulling together both key elements.
Browse plush floor pillows and poufs
This living room by InSite Builders & Remodeling is pretty much the definition of cozy. With its deep, squishy sofa and layers of plush textiles, it invites relaxation. The carpet is an integral part of this design, providing a soft layer of wall-to-wall warmth underfoot for padding between the sofa and the table.
The color of the carpet is clever too. It has subtle gray and cream stripes, which reference both the gray sofa and the cream walls and accessories, neatly pulling together both key elements.
Browse plush floor pillows and poufs
7. Cool Down a Bright Palette
The yellow patterned wallpaper is undoubtedly the star of this living room, but the gray carpet plays an important role too. By providing a wash of cool color, the carpet tones down the bold wallpaper and provides a neutral base to prevent the room from feeling too theatrical.
If you want to create a splash with a vibrant wallpaper like this, a gray carpet could be the perfect foil. Just be sure to chose a plain version with no pattern or texture that could compete with the paper.
Tell us: Have you chosen — or are you tempted to choose — a gray carpet for your living room? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
More on Houzz
How to Get New Carpeting
Read other stories about working with gray
Find a carpet dealer
Shop for wallpaper to complement your carpet
The yellow patterned wallpaper is undoubtedly the star of this living room, but the gray carpet plays an important role too. By providing a wash of cool color, the carpet tones down the bold wallpaper and provides a neutral base to prevent the room from feeling too theatrical.
If you want to create a splash with a vibrant wallpaper like this, a gray carpet could be the perfect foil. Just be sure to chose a plain version with no pattern or texture that could compete with the paper.
Tell us: Have you chosen — or are you tempted to choose — a gray carpet for your living room? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
More on Houzz
How to Get New Carpeting
Read other stories about working with gray
Find a carpet dealer
Shop for wallpaper to complement your carpet
This living room by The White House Interiors feels light, bright and sophisticated thanks to the use of similar shades of pale gray across all the surfaces, from the walls and the built-in shelves to the upholstered furniture to the carpet.
A smart way to make a small space feel bigger, this design trick is often used with a very dark shade highlighted by light accents, but it works equally well when reversed like this.
To replicate the look in your home, choose one shade for the main elements in your room, be it light or dark gray, but ensure that you break it up with accessories, as demonstrated here by the black-framed coffee table and the wood-framed mirror.
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