A round-up of taupe and gray trim paint inspirations for a modern-meets-classic look and the best paint colors to pull it off.
Our sad, beige, spackle-marked guest bedroom has finally been getting a paint job as of late. After rolling some white paint on the walls, it’s already looking 1000% percent better.
But our next step in the paint plan is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while… gray trim!!!
If you haven’t noticed this trend floating around on the scene lately, allow me to introduce you to this gorgeousness. Even though it’s sort of the latest “what’s in” with interior design, it’s also a classic that can look stunning in all kinds of styles.
So I thought I’d share a few of my favorite gray / taupe trim inspiration photos along with some of the best paint colors to pull it off.
Source (Me!)
After filling up my guest bedroom Pinterest board with a bajillion gray trim pins, I dove deep into all of them for hours to research all of the best, most recommended gray and taupe paint colors to pull off the look.
(And I found a winner for our space that I can’t wait to show y’all later this week!)
What do you think?
Love? Like? So-so? Or maybe in the oh-my-gosh-someone-get-me-a-paint-brush-right-NOOOOOOOOOW! Yeah, I feel ya on that last one, if that’s you.
All the gray trim luuuuurv!
Our current house has gray trim, and I don’t know if I love it! The main issue is that we’re renting and they used the same flat gray paint on all the trim, walls, and ceiling… if there was more dimension, I’m sure I’d love it more, like in the pictures you showed!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
We are redoing our house right now, and I have used all 3 of the Sherwin Williams colors! I love the Repose Gray! It changes colors with the time of day. The Dorian Gray is an accent wall in our dining room, and the Agreeable Grey will be the master bed and bathroom color. I have never thought of painting the trim gray, but after this, I want that it in our next house!!! It is beautiful and thank you for the idea!
We went a step down on the card from SW Repose Gray to Mindful Gray for the base color of our home and I second that I changes color during the day. I adore it, we go from a bright clean gray in the morning to a moody clay gray in the evenings. Our bedrooms are Dorian Gray and I love the cozy feeling it gives them. That paint chip card was the best!
What color will you use with the Wrought Iron painted doors, which btw I absolutely love!!!
Hi, Cindy! I have the nursery currently that has the grey trim. We use the grey for the room side of the door while the hall side of the door is still wrought iron. We will use the same technique for the guest room.
As someone who grew up as a military kid and then a military wife, and either living in military housing or rentals, I ABHOR white walls. Now granted, they were almost always paired with white trim. Maybe if there had been some lovely gray trim in that 46 years I wouldn’t feel so adamantly opposed to a white-walled room now.
…be still my heart!
Gorgeous, totally doing it!
We’re redoing a place that was flooded by hurricane Michael and I’ve wanted to go with this look.
I’ve saved some of those same inspirations. Would love suggestions on which white looks best alongside the grey trim. We refinished the wood ceilings and will refinish the wood floors.
Ah I should have included some whites! We’re using Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee. Benjamin Moore Simply White is also pretty if you want one that isn’t as creamy. If you want a very bright, true white, Behr Ultra Pure White is great.
Did my house in this scheme last year, and love it! For our trim, I used BM Pale Oak, which is a soft greige, and couldn’t be more in love!
AWESOME!!
So love this gray trim idea! But am wondering how it would go with our current black interior doors? I know you have that too so am curious how you are going to incorporate it into your scheme!
Hi, Eileen. In the rooms that we have the grey trim we used grey for the room side of the door. We kept the hall side of the door with the wrought iron. I hope that helps.
What color is in the first example?
Hi, are you using an enamel for trim? Gloss, semi-gloss, satin? Have you tried Behr Alklyd enamel? Self leveling, dries rock hard. Water clean up!! Takes a bit to learn to use it but turns out very nicely. It can be matched to any color from any paint manufacturer.
I also love the grays. Am installing slate-look porcelain tile on lower portion of 2 walls behind the whirlpool tub and will be using a soft medium gray for trim, with white walls.
Have you ever used sage for trim? In our previous home we painted the formal living, dining room and hallway pale sage, with enamel trim and doors in sage 2 shades darker. Rich! I was planning to use this same color scheme in the master here and master bath. However, the tile floor in bath is white, grey and…pink/rose. So. Sage didn’t fly. Too busy. Think the grays will tone down the floor, since we can’t change it.
Thank you for your posts. We are knee deep in renovations of a 2600 square foot house. Doing. It. All. Life is all about continuing to grow and even though we are in our 60s, (and hubby works full time) we are determined to embrace each learning curve! This is our 9th home in 44 years, so we have acquired some skills along the way, and discovering new ones too. Learning to juggle chores, laundry, cleaning, meals, and the never ending lists of projects in middle of renovation chaos….has been a big challenge!
Any tips you might have on how to do all this without becoming totally fragmented and overwhelmed would be most welcome.
Thank you again,
D
Thank you Lauren. Would you mind please clarifying something for me? The paint you are using on your trims, and doors, is a semigloss Benjamin Moore – the same paint that is also applied to walls? How does it hold up under daily use – wear and tear? I’m so old-school! Enamel was always the choice for trim and doors for a tough durable finish. Ty ty ty! It is a journey. One I would be loving a whole lot more if I were a few years (decades) younger! 😉
Appreciate your expertise very much!
I love all the gray examples. My house (when purchased) had tan walls and chocolate malt (slightly darker than tan) colored trim. Everywhere. After 8 years I was sick of the tan walls so I found a light gray that changes color with the light. I painted the living room, dining room, hallway and kitchen that color since the rooms are open concept. I’m just not up to tackling an entire house full of chocolate malt colored trim & doors. Any thoughts on what other colors (preferably neutrals) that would go with the trim? Anything except white that is….. Thanks!
Just stunning! Would love to know the paint color for those gorgeous kitchen cabinets please
The photo samples are stunning. I have had gray trim for 30 years. I still love it. My gray is Sherwin Williams “Cubist Gray”.
That is awesome. I am so happy to hear you still enjoy the color choice. 🙂
I absolutely love the last picture which assume is the gray you selected!!! Which color did you end up going with???
Thank you! I ended up choosing Benjamin Moore Winter Gates but we have gray trim in our daughter’s nursery too, which is Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray.
Can I ask where the gold light fixture in the nursery is from? It’s beautiful
You certainly may!! 🙂 Amazon. https://rstyle.me/+m1LE3_ToGZirvsh04JdVUA
What color did you use for the walls to compliment gray trim? Just bought a house and it has gray trim but pink walls.
In Regan’s nursery, we painted her walls Magnolia Home True White
Hi! How do you feel about SW Ellie Gray? I ha e my kitchen cabinets this color and my whole home interior walls are SW Snowbound white. We have a clean, fresh look and I now want to paint the baseboards/trim/crown molding in Ellie Gray. I didn’t know about gray undertones when I first chose these colors.
Do you think SW Ellie Gray as a trim color would work well with white walls? Especially SW Snowbound white?
Thank you!!
Ah I’m not as familiar with that color and haven’t seen it in person, so that’s tough to say. Paint colors are so fickle and change so much in different lighting. My best advice would be to just get a paint sample of it, apply it to some white foam board or cardstock and hold it up against your white paint in the room where you plan to use it to see how it looks. I often tape a paint color to a wall and look at it in different lighting throughout the day before making my decision.
Love them all! Do you happen to know the color of the trim in the first photo?
I’m sorry, I don’t.
Could you please tell me the trim color names in this article?
I tried to link all the sources, but most of them aren’t listed unless you check the sources and they’re on there. So sorry!
Hi! This is so helpful and I just love the examples. Where did you find the woven patterned rug? Thank you!
Most of these photos aren’t of my home, but I’ve linked the source beneath the photo so hopefully that will help!