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Colour guides · Bedroom · Grey
Grey has a poor reputation in a bedroom: people imagine it cold, sad, the colour of a rainy morning. That is true of concrete greys. It is not true of ours, almost all of which hold a touch of pink, green or violet — and which, in a bedroom, do exactly what a bedroom asks: calm, soften, envelop.
Here are ten Mylands greys for a bedroom, from the palest to the deepest, with the light that suits each.
Updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team
The short answer
For a bedroom, choose a tinted grey rather than a pure one: Early Lavender No.260 and Smithfield No.19 lean to pink and mauve, Mews Blue No.98 and Chiswick No.100 to green, Frieze No.84 and The Boltons No.28 to beige. In a north-facing bedroom stay warm (Frieze No.84, Rose Taupe No.292); facing south, cool greys such as Mid Wedgwood No.113 recover their softness.
At a glance
10 colours
The lavender grey
A pale grey shot with mauve, so discreet it passes for a white until a white is set beside it. It is the most restful grey we make — the colour of a sky at dawn — and it was made for a bedroom: it softens morning light and takes on a violet haze at night. Superb with white linen and pale wood.
Our tip — Ceiling in Osterley, a pinkish white, so as not to break the softness.
The warm grey for a north-facing bedroom
A warm, velvety stone grey that never turns cold — even under the blue light of a north-facing bedroom. It is the grey to choose when you want the calm of grey without the risk, and it goes with everything: linen, wool, rattan, brass. It is also the easiest grey to match to existing woodwork, white or cream.
Our tip — A painted headboard in Rose Taupe on a Frieze wall: the softest contrast.
The mews grey-green
A pale grey tinted with blue-green, the colour of a repainted London mews — fresh, calm, a little old. In a bedroom it does what a window open onto a garden does: it gives air. It is at its best in a bright bedroom, facing east or south, where warm light keeps it from looking cold.
Our tip — With a green-tinged white such as Syon Park on the ceiling and white sheets: the summer bedroom.
The pinkish grey
A pale grey with a touch of pink, warmer than Early Lavender and greyer than any pink. It gives a bedroom a skin-like softness with nothing saccharine, and it flatters evening light, which it returns golden. It is the grey that suits a grown-up's bedroom and a girl's alike.
Our tip — With woodwork in Palmerston Pink, a pinkish white, pink is never named but everywhere.
The Chelsea grey-beige
A pale grey with a pinkish-beige undertone, the colour of Chelsea stucco. It is a touch lighter and softer than Frieze, and it slides between grey and beige with the light — grey in the morning, beige at night. In a bedroom it is a neutral ground that welcomes coloured textiles and an all-white scheme alike.
Our tip — The Boltons on the walls, Holbein Chamber on ceiling and woodwork: the hotel bedroom you want at home.
The pale grey-green
A light grey tinted with olive green, the colour of a dry pebble. It is greener than Mews Blue and warmer, which makes it possible in a north-facing bedroom, and it has a country side — raw linen, limed wood — that soothes. It is very handsome with a deeper green on a door or a wardrobe.
Our tip — A wardrobe painted in Sorrel Green on a Chiswick wall: the cottage bedroom.
The Wedgwood grey-blue
A mid grey tinted with blue, the colour of Wedgwood china without the white. It is a proper, slightly cool grey that asks for a bright bedroom — facing south or west — so as not to look cold; under that light it becomes utterly calm. With white woodwork and ecru linen it is a seaside bedroom.
Our tip — Woodwork in Cotton Street rather than pure white: the contrast stays gentle.
The mid grey-mauve
Early Lavender's big brother: a mid grey where the mauve shows plainly, the colour of a lavender bush in shade. It gives a bedroom a soft depth a pale grey cannot reach, without closing it in. It is superb with white, dark wood and brass, and it turns evening light violet.
Our tip — A headboard wall in Lavender Garden, the others in Early Lavender: the most restful gradient.
The warm mid grey
A barely pink mid grey, neither cold nor beige, that does what a mid grey should in a bedroom: rest the eye and flatter everything paler — sheets, curtains, ceiling. It is deeper than Frieze, more neutral than Lavender Garden, and it holds up very well in a moderately lit bedroom.
Our tip — Ceiling in Sloane Square, a lighter grey, rather than white: the bedroom gains softness.
The deep warm grey
A dark grey veined with pink and brown, the colour of a wet river pebble. It is our warmest deep grey, and the only one we recommend without reservation for wrapping a whole bedroom: it makes a cocoon of a room, dark without being black, where you sleep better. With white sheets and pale wood it is sumptuous.
Our tip — Walls, ceiling and woodwork in dead matt Rose Taupe: the bedroom you sleep best in.
The difference between a sad grey and a restful one lies in its undertone. A pure grey — with nothing in it — reflects the light as it comes, and in a north-facing bedroom that light is blue: the grey turns cold. A grey tinted with pink, mauve or beige keeps its warmth whatever the light; a grey tinted with green or blue stays handsome provided it has sunshine. That is the rule of this guide.
North-facing bedroom: Frieze No.84, The Boltons No.28, Smithfield No.19, Rose Taupe No.292 — the warm greys. South- or west-facing: every grey in this guide, and especially Mid Wedgwood No.113 and Mews Blue No.98, which warm light softens. East-facing, bright in the morning and dark at night: Early Lavender No.260 and Chiswick No.100, which change pleasantly through the day. We say more in how light affects colour.
A pale grey makes a bright, calm bedroom; a deep grey makes a cocoon you sleep better in. Both work, on one condition: a deep grey needs either a pale ceiling or — lovelier — a full colour drench, walls, ceiling and woodwork in the same shade. To choose between warm and cool grey, see warm grey or cool grey?; for other bedroom colours, our blues, our pinks and our bedroom ideas.
Colour chosen, the surface remains. These are the Mylands finishes we recommend, room by room.
Walls and ceiling
Matt and enveloping: the finish that makes a bedroom calm, with no glare under the bedside lamp.
Every colour in Marble Matt Emulsion →
Colour drenching (walls + woodwork)
For a cocoon of a bedroom: walls, ceiling and woodwork in one colour, in dead matt.
Every colour in Multi-Surface Dead Matt →
Woodwork, doors and skirting
Wardrobes, a painted headboard, skirtings: a discreet sheen that cleans.
Every colour in Multi-Surface Eggshell →
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