26 Gray Accent Walls for a Stylish and Neutral Space

Be it a dark charcoal wall or a soft dove gray wall, a gray accent wall is perfect for adding subtle drama to a space. A neutral yet sophisticated-feeling color, gray is ideal to use on a single wall to create visual interest in a room without overpowering it.

Try a gray accent wall to transform an ordinary wall into a focal point, or use one to make up for a lack of built-in architectural features. (Or, alternatively, highlight unique features like a recessed alcove.)

From paint to wallpaper to stone to wood, there’s no shortage of ways to implement a gray accent wall, either. 

Ahead, get inspired with a round-up full of gorgeous gray accent walls. Whether used in a living room, bedroom, or kitchen, these 26 rooms show what a powerful impact a great gray accent wall can make.

Grid Wall

If you're worried about a plain gray-painted accent wall feeling underwhelming, try doing as Amy Leferink at Interior Impressions does in this luxurious bedroom and dress it up with molding.

A grid made with molding adds dimension to the gray wall behind the bed, making the entire room feel elevated.

If you're thinking of trying a similar technique in your home, keep in mind that lighter shades of gray are likely to make the grid work stand out, while a darker shade is likely to camouflage it.

Charcoal Wall Behind a Bed

The wall behind a bed is the perfect place to put gray on display, as shown in this dramatic bedroom designed by Cannarsa Structure & Design.

Keep in mind if you have all-white bedding, similar to the photo above, selecting a dark shade of gray like charcoal can create compelling contrast.

Mixed With Wood

Believe it or not, gray has a soft side, making it the perfect color to complement walls covered in rugged-feeling materials like wood.

This restful retreat by Staprans Design features a feathery gray accent wall partnered with a wood checkerboard wall. Try a similar pairing to achieve a serene, organic modern-feeling space.

Swirl Wallpaper

One way to enliven a gray accent wall is to select a wallpaper with movement. For this peaceful-feeling gray and white bedroom, designer Reena Sotropa papers an accent wall in a gray and white wallpaper with a swirling, marble appearance.

The paper adds movement to the room, making the white and gray palette feel anything but monotonous.

Natural Stone Wall

This cozy bedroom was designed by Erin Williamson Design, actually showcases two gray accent walls: a charcoal-painted wall and a gray stacked stone wall.

If you've ever wanted to incorporate a gray stone wall into your space, opting for a single accent wall can be a great way to get the look without turning a room into a literal cave.

Charcoal Wall

For a dark and moody effect, try backing a bed in charcoal gray. As designer Alvin Wayne illustrates in this modern-meets-eclectic bedroom, charcoal is a natural complement to rich, earthy shades like navy and mustard.

Marble Accent Wall

Another natural material that can be used to achieve a gray accent wall without paint is marble. In the luxurious kitchen above, Mary Patton Design uses a continuous slab of gray marble as a counter and range backsplash, creating an eye-catching effect.

Shiplap

Because it's a neutral, gray can be the perfect color to adopt when implementing an accent wall in a three-dimensional material like shiplap. The reason? Gray adds interest to a textural material like shiplap without turning it into a statement-maker the way, say, a color like pink or yellow would.

Stone Fireplace

Fireplace facades are a great place to experiment with gray accent walls covered in unexpected materials.

As put on display by Niche Interiors in this modernist living room, a slate gray fireplace is perfect for grounding a room of bold, modernist furniture in natural finishes.

Paired With White

In this serene bedroom, Casa Watkins Living demonstrates one of the easiest ways to banish blah white walls without going crazy: paint one light gray.

Gray and white sit shoulder-to-shoulder on the color spectrum, meaning they're natural complements and won't create much visual friction.

Gray Monochrome

Go gray all the way as Lark + Palm did in this cozy bedroom and used a gray wallpapered accent wall to complement a room full of gray and white furniture.

To keep things from looking too one-note, try layering a medley of different patterns. Chevrons, stripes, dots, and trellis patterns all come together in this space to create a room that's anything but boring.

Camouflaged TV

Hanging a TV over a mantel can be tricky to pull off stylistically. One way to make it look less like a giant black box is floating over your mantel. Paint your fireplace surround dark gray.

As Louis Duncan-He Designs illustrates in the sophisticated living room, a gray surround can make your TV all but disappear. The addition of a wide-slat shiplap also mimics the TV's rectangular shape, making the unsightly electronic recede even more.

Mixed Wallpaper and Paint

As Amy Leferink at Interior Impressions displays in this charming home office and bedroom, a narrow or unusually shaped room can be a great place to play with multiple gray accent walls.

By cloaking two walls in gray and white wallpaper and a third wall in gray paint, Amy creates visual interest that keeps your eye moving around the tiny room. The gray and white palette works to keep things from feeling too busy (essential in a small space), while pops of turquoise up the drama, but still feel in sync with the cool tones.

Brick Wall

Try painting a wall-to-wall fireplace with gray paint to transform it into a statement-making accent wall. Design firm MW Design Group does just that in this retro den, transforming it into the perfect backdrop for colorful Mid-Century Modern furniture.

Shiplap and Cabinetry

Trying to battle a lifeless, all-white laundry room? If so, do as Kate Marker Interiors does in this elevated laundry room and creates a focal point wall, complete with slate-colored shiplap and cabinetry.

In the absence of upper cabinets, shiplap painted the same gray as the lower cabinets gives the illusion of a full wall of cabinetry without the high price tag.

Partnered With Green

If you're working with shades of bright Kelly green and looking for a way to make them appear richer, try accenting them with a dark gray wall.

In this Mid-Century Modern-meets-bohemian bedroom, D Burns Interiors selects a dark shade of charcoal to back a fiddle leaf fig and a banana leaf-print headboard. The contrast makes the green shades in both feel extra deep and saturated.

Painted Up High

As illustrated by designer Maneli Wilson in this industrial loft, a single gray wall can make a striking impact in a space with high ceilings. Painting one wall a dark color and leaving the rest white highlights all of the walls' height, adding depth and dimension to a room.

Rustic Wood Wall

Rustic and yet also modern feeling, a gray wood accent wall is the perfect complement to a wide variety of styles.

Here, Niche Interiors partners a wood accent wall with a cream upholstered Mid-Century Modern bed and modernist wood nightstands and sconces. The wood wall lends an unexpected element, creating an elevating contrast.

Layered Shades

As put on display by Desiree Burns Interiors in this restful escape, there's no better color to back a light gray bed than a dark gray wall.

Since gray is a cool color, warm up your room by adding some textural flourishes such as a faux fur blanket or velvet or wool throw pillows.

Stone Gray Wall

Consider opting for an accent wall cloaked in a medium gray tone like a stone to perfectly complement cool shades like powder blue.

As revealed in this elegant living room designed by Maite Granada Design Studio, the two shades are as harmonious as can be, especially when accented with bright pops of primary colors like yellow and red.

Abstract Wallpaper

Opting for a gray accent wall doesn't have to mean going all in on gray. If you like the idea of gray, but fear an entire gray wall feeling too dull, select a wallpaper paper with a large amount of contrasting color, like Gray Space Interior Design does in the cheery-feeling bedroom above.

Layered Behind Art

If you have a colorful piece of art that you want to make pop off a wall, dark gray can be a good choice. In the room above, designer Alvin Wayne selects a mink color to back a striking pink and purple abstract.

Damask Wallpaper

If you favor bold, wildly-patterned wallpapers, but you're not sure how to pull them off in real life, take a page from this eclectic room designed by Emily Henderson Design.

A dramatic damask print in a gray colorway feels downright reserved when applied to only one wall and accented with sophisticated pieces like a navy velvet tufted bed and leather-wrapped nightstands.

Painted in an Alcove

An architectural alcove is the perfect place to apply a coat of gray paint since it will naturally highlight the change in depth. Even if you want to preserve white walls elsewhere in your home, painting the recessed portion of a wall gray is virtually foolproof, since gray and white are natural complements.

Concrete-Style Wall

Think concrete is only for floors? As designer Alvin Wayne proves in this modernist living room, concrete can also be used to punch up an accent wall.

Consider using this technique if you want a more industrial look. Concrete is the perfect complement to furniture featuring bold finishes like scorched wood and black marble.

Teamed With Black and White

Black and white bedrooms are always chic, but sometimes they can feel a little sterile. One way to give them life is to do as Amy Leferink at Interior Impressions does in the retreat above. She selected a heavily patterned gray wallpaper behind the bed.

Since gray is a blend of black and white, a gray wallpaper will always feel perfectly on point mixed with both colors.

Read Next: How to Choose an Accent Wall: Essential Dos and Don’ts

Read the original article on The Spruce.