Bye Bye Magnolia- I've Moved on to Glamorous Grey!

sneak peek of the grey, and one of the wallpaper samples I'm considering for the feature wall
After decorating my homes in the same magnolia shade for almost ten years, I have to admit I was pretty sick of it. As much I love the fact that the light and bright shade goes with any accent colour, I had grown tired of it’s warm toned and almost yellow appearance in some lights. Time for a change! The trend has definitely moved on to more cool toned shades and I’m only too happy to hop on board, and so a couple of weekends ago I made the decision to completely redecorate my house in grey. I’m currently in the process of finishing it up, but I’ll share pictures once it’s done. The only issue I’m having now is that all of my cream home accessories look terrible next to the grey walls, and so I’m having to go through and replace everything to match. Here are the areas I’ve been working on so far.

Paint
After a big dilemma and wasting almost £50 on a grey paint that ended up being way too dark, we (I) finally settled on ‘Grey Day’ by Valspar. The name might not be all that inspiring, but the shade is gorgeous. My advice is to definitely buy sample shades before investing in a big pot of paint. My mistake was trying to rush it, and choosing something that I assumed would be fine. Turns out it wasn’t. Luckily it’s all sorted now and I’m so happy with the new colour- the difference it’s made to the rooms is dramatic. But I could have done without such a costly mistake with the first pot!

Curtains
I’m so picky with curtains. I currently have the exact same curtains up at four different windows in my home because they were the only ones I liked. But since they’re cream, unfortunately they’ve got to go. I’m considering buying curtain fabric and having them made up that way, since it means way more choice and I know I’m not going to find anything ready made. Plus it means I can have matching cushions made, and even re-cover my dressing table stool in the same material. I’d never even considered this as an option until recently but it makes so much sense, especially as you can choose your own lining to make them as light or heavy as you want. 

Cosy Throws
I’m obsessed with cosy throws. They have to be really silky soft and big enough to wrap yourself up in. If like me you have leather sofas you'll know how cold they can be when you first sit on them. I’ve been buying my throws from eBay for a few years but my most recent was from B&M and it's so soft and snuggly. If you don’t have these in your living room you’re seriously missing out, they’re about £20 and worth every penny. I went for one in a light grey/ silver shade, but am on the hunt for a dark charcoal one too. 

Rugs
This was a bit annoying as I had only just bought two new cream rugs a matter of weeks before deciding to change the colour scheme. Typical! But luckily I spotted similar fluffy ones in Ikea in a lovely mid-toned grey, so that’s what I’m currently using. They seem to be quite good quality too, so if you’re looking for inexpensive yet nice looking rugs this is one place to check out. I’m now keeping my eyes peeled for something for my bedroom and office.

Have you ever completely changed the colour scheme in your home?