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Colour guides · Grey
There is no such thing as a neutral grey. Every grey leans — towards yellow, pink or brown on one side, towards blue, green or violet on the other. That lean, the undertone, is what makes one grey feel cosy in a room and icy in the next.
Here are twelve Mylands greys, six warm and six cool, compared so you know which to choose before opening the tin.
Updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team
The short answer
Choose a warm grey — The Boltons No.28, Frieze No.84, Ludgate Circus No.89 — for a north- or east-facing room, or a scheme of timber and natural materials. Choose a cool grey — Sloane Square No.92, Islington No.23, Mid Wedgwood No.113 — for a contemporary scheme of white, black and metal, or to cool a very sunny room.
At a glance
| Colour | Family | Tone | Light | LRV ≈ | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Boltons™ No.28 | Grey | Pale tone | West | 66 % | North-facing rooms, bedrooms, bright living rooms |
| Frieze™ No.84 | Grey | Pale tone | South | 65 % | Woodwork beneath a deep colour, hallway walls, ceilings |
| Ludgate Circus™ No.89 | Grey | Pale tone | North | 53 % | Living rooms, dining rooms, schemes of wood and leather |
| Grey Ochre™ No.152 | Grey | Pale tone | North | 52 % | Hallways and sunless rooms, rustic kitchens |
| Chambers Gate™ No.85 | Grey | Pale tone | North | 50 % | Country houses, beamed rooms, dining rooms |
| Amber Grey™ No.156 | Grey | Mid tone | West | 26 % | Studies, libraries, evening living rooms |
| Sloane Square™ No.92 | Grey | Pale tone | North | 68 % | Contemporary interiors, galleries, bright rooms |
| Islington™ No.23 | Grey | Pale tone | North | 61 % | South-facing kitchens, west-facing bedrooms, bathrooms |
| Mid Wedgwood™ No.113 | Grey | Pale tone | North, South | 46 % | Dining rooms, entrance halls, classical woodwork |
| Drury Lane™ No.115 | Grey | Mid tone | North | 24 % | Lofts, studies, contemporary kitchens |
| Oratory™ No.237 | Grey | Dark tone | North | 14 % | Colour drenching, studies, bedrooms |
| Leadenhall™ No.118 | Grey | Mid tone | North | 18 % | Exterior joinery, kitchen cabinets, accents |
LRV: light reflectance estimated from the on-screen shade, from 0 (absolute black) to 100 (absolute white). Light: the orientation in which the shade looks its best.
12 colours
Warm grey · the palest
A very pale grey with a pink-brown undertone, almost a light greige. It is the easiest warm grey in the range: it brightens like an off-white and warms like a beige, without being either. The grey for a north-facing bedroom or living room that wants to stay light.
Our tip — North-facing rooms, bedrooms, bright living rooms
Warm grey · the stone grey
A pale grey with a beige undertone, the colour of limestone. It is the grey we recommend most often for skirtings and woodwork beneath a deep colour — it does a white's job without a white's hardness — and it is just as handsome across whole walls. Impossible to go wrong with it.
Our tip — Woodwork beneath a deep colour, hallway walls, ceilings
Warm grey · the light taupe grey
A pale-to-mid grey with a yellow-brown undertone, stronger than Frieze. It has the quality of old plaster greys: it looks as if it had always been there. In a living room of wood and leather furniture, it makes a ground that warms everything placed against it.
Our tip — Living rooms, dining rooms, schemes of wood and leather
Warm grey · the ochre grey
The name says it: a grey that carries ochre. Its yellow undertone is the most pronounced of the warm greys on this list, which makes it precious in a truly cold room — a hallway, a utility room, a north-facing bedroom — where it gives the impression of a sunbeam on a grey wall.
Our tip — Hallways and sunless rooms, rustic kitchens
Warm grey · the thatch grey
A mid grey with a beige-yellow undertone, a touch deeper than Grey Ochre, with the softness of old thatch. It is a country grey, at ease with beams, stone and linen — and one of the few mid greys that never look sad on an overcast day.
Our tip — Country houses, beamed rooms, dining rooms
Warm grey · the deepest
A mid-deep grey whose amber undertone — golden brown — pulls it towards taupe. It is the most enveloping warm grey on the list, the grey of a study or an evening living room. Under lamps it turns the colour of blond tobacco; by day it stays a grey, but a grey with blood in it.
Our tip — Studies, libraries, evening living rooms
Cool grey · the palest
A very pale, almost perfectly neutral grey — a whisper of yellow, no more — which reads as cool beside The Boltons. It is the grey of contemporary interiors: clean, calm, without texture. It makes an ideal ground for art and design furniture, and it keeps its crispness in every light, north included.
Our tip — Contemporary interiors, galleries, bright rooms
Cool grey · the bluish grey
A pale grey with a very slight blue-green undertone, the colour of a January sky. It cools a warm room — a south-facing kitchen, a west-facing bedroom — and gives the whites around it a porcelain gleam. Facing north it keeps its clarity but loses its softness: pair it then with warm materials, timber and brass.
Our tip — South-facing kitchens, west-facing bedrooms, bathrooms
Cool grey · the grey-blue
The bluest grey on this list — a Wedgwood porcelain grey, with a candid blue undertone. It is an elegant, slightly formal grey, that of Georgian dining rooms and entrance halls. It asks for light and cool whites; with a cream white it looks dull.
Our tip — Dining rooms, entrance halls, classical woodwork
Cool grey · the mid grey
A mid grey that is almost neutral, with just enough blue to stay on the cool side. It is the 'architect's grey' par excellence: it draws volumes without colouring them, and shows off concrete, metal and dark timber. It stays crisp all day, facing north or south.
Our tip — Lofts, studies, contemporary kitchens
Cool grey · the slate grey
A deep grey with a blue undertone, the colour of dry slate. It has the depth of a night blue without being one, which makes it very easy to live with colour-drenched — walls, woodwork and ceiling — in a study or bedroom, even a north-facing one. Superb with brass and walnut.
Our tip — Colour drenching, studies, bedrooms
Cool grey · the deepest
A mid-deep grey of rare neutrality — neither blue, brown nor green — which reads as cool simply because it warms nothing. It is the grey of exterior joinery and graphic kitchens, the one that makes a red door or white tiles stand out. Use it as an accent rather than on four walls.
Our tip — Exterior joinery, kitchen cabinets, accents
Put the sample beside a sheet of white paper in daylight. A warm grey looks faintly beige, pink or yellow; a cool grey looks faintly blue, green or violet. On our colour card, the warm greys on this page — The Boltons No.28, Frieze No.84, Ludgate Circus No.89, Grey Ochre No.152, Chambers Gate No.85, Amber Grey No.156 — all carry an undertone between yellow and pink. The cool greys — Sloane Square No.92, Islington No.23, Mid Wedgwood No.113, Drury Lane No.115, Oratory No.237, Leadenhall No.118 — lean towards blue, or towards nothing at all.
Which orientation? North and east light is cold: a cool grey looks cooler still there — crisp if you want freshness, sad if you want comfort — while a warm grey simply stays grey. South and west light is warm: a cool grey stays crisp there, a warm grey can turn beige. Our guide How light changes colour takes each case in turn.
Which materials? Wood, leather, linen, terracotta and brass call for a warm grey. Concrete, steel, white marble, black and chrome call for a cool one. Mixing the two can be done — but then the grey must follow the dominant material.
Which white beside it? A warm grey with a warm white (Holland Park No.5, Maugham White No.2); a cool grey with a cool white (Pure White No.1, Charterhouse No.4). Crossing them makes the grey look dirty and the white look yellow. See also our greys for a bedroom, our grey schemes and all our greys.
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