5 Tips For Incorporating Charcoal Gray Into Your Home Decor

In books and poetry, the color gray is always portrayed as a rather dull and gloomy color. In today's society, however, the meaning of gray has shifted and has even become a trending color in many modern homes. Colors Explained mentions that gray is the perfect color when looking for neutrality or a versatile background to fit a variety of different styles and designs.

Despite the smooth and calming look, the color gray can bring to your home, choosing a gray that's too dark can be a bit unsettling if not incorporated correctly or strategically with your home styles and designs. For example, charcoal gray is one dark shade of gray that is rather difficult to incorporate into a home design without overpowering the area. When done correctly, however, it can provide a timeless look that adds a unique touch to any part of your home (per Homedit). So, if you're eager to try out some charcoal gray within your home, here are a few creative tips on how to correctly incorporate and strategically place this color into your home decor.

One way you can incorporate charcoal gray into your home is by developing it into a style. According to The Homey Space, a mid-century modern style is known for working perfectly with elements of charcoal gray. To apply a mid-century modern style to your home, MasterClass suggests starting with modest and minimalistic-looking furniture. Because this style boasts a clean and organic look, keeping elaborate pieces to a minimum and mixing a variety of organic materials with your man-made materials is also a must when trying to produce this style. During this entire process, it's also recommended to blend a variety of outdoor elements into the indoor portion of your home.

Once you've incorporated your charcoal gray into a mid-century modern style, The Homey Space suggests also adding in one or two more colors that pop. For example, charcoal gray looks amazing when it is paired with a rich cranberry red, a bright pumpkin orange, olive green, navy blue, or even a mustard yellow. This not only helps your mid-century modern style look more lively, but it can also make the style feel much more original.

If you plan on incorporating charcoal gray into your home as a wall color, it's important that you understand that because it is a relatively dark color, it has the potential to make a room look small and gloomy. SlideHouse, however, states that by counteracting the dark wall color with plenty of natural light, you can create a pleasant and unique look within your home (via YouTube).

For the best results, it's imperative that you find a very bright and naturally lit room within your home to boast your charcoal gray walls — for example, a living room with large windows or a bedroom that consistently receives plenty of sunshine. Depending on your home, natural light may be limited; therefore, Eco Line shares plenty of ways to naturally bring more light into different areas of your home, allowing you to still boast charcoal gray walls within your home. First, you can start by adding a variety of mirrors and other shiny objects to reflect and harness what little light is already present within the area. Similarly, adding lightly colored furniture can also naturally brighten the area. Although it may be rather expensive, installing a glass block wall between a lighter and darker portion of your home is also a great way to bring more natural light into a room.

SlideHouse mentions that instead of painting an entire room charcoal gray, you can also use this dark color to create an accent wall within a specific room (via YouTube). An accent wall is when you paint one wall within a room a vibrant or dark color of your choice and leave the rest of the walls a light or neutral color. When choosing a wall to accent, Walla Painting suggests making it the first wall you see upon entering that specific room to ensure residences and guests always have it within view.

After painting your accent wall charcoal gray, you need to decide on a common color for the other walls. If you want to keep a more neutral style within the room, Pursuit Decor recommends using neutral colors, like white, beige, or light gray. You can also use brighter colors to contrast and liven that area. For example, yellow, orange, tan, red, and burgundy look great when accented with charcoal gray.

Furniture is another great way to add charcoal gray to your home decor. The Homey Space claims that there are a variety of wooden charcoal gray furniture pieces on the market, like dressers, tables, and cabinets, that can easily elevate your home style with a dark, rustic look. Farm Food Family also specifically mentions the stylish addition a charcoal gray couch can be to your home's living or family room.

Regardless of what charcoal gray pieces you decide to add to your home, however, it's important you still style the rest of the room with fitting colors. For example, Farm Food Family further shows that orange throw pillows or a yellow throw blanket can create a stunning look with a charcoal gray couch. Using a monochrome theme around your charcoal gray furniture with other shades of gray can also create an eye-catching and unique area. If you are looking for a more popping effecting, mixing red, turquoise, purple, or navy blue into the space can also have stunning results.

As you start incorporating charcoal gray more and more into your home decor, you may feel the style of your home shifting over to a very masculine look. While some homeowners like having a masculine-looking home, SlideHouse mentions that masculine styles can feel very bold and serious (via YouTube). So, to incorporate a bit of warmth and comfort into your home, you may want to add a feminine touch.

SlideHouse states that you can easily add a feminine touch to your charcoal gray home with splashes of pink and lavender. Pursuit Decor further proves that pinks, such as dusty rose and pastel pink, tend to pair very nicely with charcoal gray. This means that by adding these colors, you not only add a feminine touch but also compliment the intensity and style of the charcoal gray. You can add these colors to your home in the form of throw pillows, blankets, or even pieces of furniture.