Grey is an incredibly exquisite, attenuated shade. Neutral, yet one with depth and softness; it adds subtlety anywhere you may choose to use it, and we here at Bailey find ourselves using it regularly across a wide breadth of spaces. We are also quite fond of how different shades of grey bring such diverse refinements.
Tracking this singular colour across Bailey projects was an expansive exercise in memory and a real journey through the years; we don’t suppose it will be quite the same for you, but we do hope it brings you pleasure. We’ve chosen one image each from several residential projects represented across our online portfolio to highlight the effectiveness of grey in design.
Starting with a space prominently featuring an artwork seemed appropriate, especially an artwork that so embodies what we love about grey. Dreamy yet elegant, this is soothing and simple.
These same qualities explain why we chose to paint the foyer of our Hans Road project with a slightly flocked grey. It reminded us of the inside of a cloud; a feeling we’d love our clients to share when they come home, entering from the busy streets of Knightsbridge.
From cloud to the cosmos seems a quite apt leap of fancy, and one that leads into the observation that solid sheets of colour never appear in nature – rather, it is always gradations of hue. Something akin to this feeling is why we chose this piece in charcoal and white for the flat we were asked to decorate in Upper Park and then surrounded it with smoky chairs and floor, not to mention the sooty built-in cupboards in the outer foyer.
This room in our Discovery Dock scheme represents a lighter, airier use of grey. It breathes, in a much gentler way than if we had chosen to use white or light pastel colours.
A slicker, more straightforwardly glamorous use of grey is showcased here. The leather couch and faux fur throw are accentuated by the different shades in the rug and the silver accents throughout the room. Grey can be cool and entirely self-possessed in a way sometimes tough to accomplish with other colours.
The use of slate in a bathroom creates a perfect canvas against which to display utterly romantic accessories such as these paperweights and perfume bottles. Both sentimental and atmospheric, slate created an environment in this room that, for us, was the ideal balance between masculine and feminine elements.
The centre of this room is the fireplace mantel in dark grey. The colour is true to the heritage piece, yet modernises it; it anchors the room while also bringing an elasticity that black, for instance, would not have given brought to the space. We enjoyed using it to help determine the objects and colours for the rest of the room.
We liked the idea of finishing with something shiny. Silver is a wonderfully frosty shade, especially in velvet – how utterly luxurious! The cushions in pale grey and then in charcoal on the white chairs provide textural complexity which we felt then led beautifully into the paintings on the wall.
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