I’m always so inspired by small-space living and the way the layout of a small apartment can fit together like a glove. It all comes down to selecting exactly the right furniture and accessories and finding a color palette that works in a small space.

This beautiful home is not quite as small as a studio space, since it has a separate bedroom, yet it still combines multiple functionalities in just two rooms. Head over to this blog post to find a list of the most inspiring studio homes and how you can make them work.

A living room with grey walls, beige soft furnishings, and a blue touch

The living kitchen of this apartment combines a sofa area, a kitchen, and a small dining table. The grey walls a give soft look to the daylight coming in through the windows and they add a bit of sophistication to the interior design of the space.

The beige color palette in the soft furnishings warms up the color palette and the beige wall-to-wall (or almost wall-to-wall but you get the gist) linen curtains by the window make the room appear wider. I love the way they contrast with the cool undertones in the grey paint on the walls.

The textured off-white area rug adds a soft touch to the sofa area with the beige sofa and lightens up the hardwood flooring, again making the space appear bigger. The rug also visually separates the sofa area from the rest of the space. The beige sofa is an older Ikea model, enhanced with a Bemz custom cover* and I love the way the Formakami ricepaper pendant* centers the coffee table in the space.

A blue dining table highlights the blue undertones in the gray paint

The blue table is definitely the point of interest in the room, as it’s a color you don’t often see on a dining table.

In my own home, I always try to play with the combination of cool and warm tones, as it tends to add so much interest to a space. You don’t even have to go for a big furniture piece like in this case, you can experiment with a blue pillowcase on a beige sofa, or integrate a blue vase into your setting to try it out.

A bedroom with an exposed brick wall

The bedroom has the same grey wall color as the living room, which appears a lot warmer because of the combination with the exposed brick wall.

While the exposed bricks already add so much texture to this bedroom, the rest of the decor has been kept quite simple. You can find a combination of linen throw pillows* in warm colors and a white linen bed skirt* on the bed and the same linen curtains as in the living room are used by the bedroom window.

Two mirrors decorate this small bedroom, reflecting the space from two separate angles and making the space look both bigger and lighter.

via Kvarteret Makleri

This beautiful Scandinavian interior in a turn-of-the-century Swedish apartment is decorated almost exclusively in tints of light grey, with a few beige, black and natural tones to bring in some variety in the color palette. This result in a very elegant and sophisticated look that matches the architectural style of the apartment well.

A classic gray kitchen in a Scandinavian interior design

Through the old sliding doors in the living room, you can take a peek into the kitchen with classic gray cabinet fronts in a minimal design, combined with a subway tile backsplash that goes all the way up to the ceiling.

The white of the subway tiles comes back in the dining table, which is warmed up with natural oak dining chairs. The kitchen gets a lot of natural light and the white table and tiled wall reflect this in a nice way.

The light grey walls in the space soften out the look and even the round arch going towards the hallway has been painted in light gray paint colors, which is a nice touch. The kitchen design itself is minimal, which you often see in a Scandinavian interior design, yet the classic elements of the space add a certain elegance to the space.

Light gray paint colors throughout the living room

The living room has been painted in a slightly darker shade of gray paint, which makes it a bit moodier. The natural light coming from the window can be dimmed by these heavy grey curtains that go wall-to-wall, and floor-to-ceiling and they give the Scandinavian interior design of the room a luxurious look and feel.

The sofas, area rug, and pouf have been picked out in a white and light gray palette, which brings out the cool undertones in the gray walls. The TV has been mounted on the wall and is matched up with a black bench and lamp for a bit of contrast in the space.

Different shades of grey in the bedroom

The bedroom has a warm gray paint on the wall that is a bit darker, which is matched by the gray linen curtains on the wall that filter out the natural light coming into the room.

The light gray palette has been matched with a soft beige headboard, white bedding, and a beige day cover on the bed. These warm tones warm up the space and I love the set of fabric pendant lights on the ceiling that provides a soft glow inside the space. The basic Ikea Ivar cabinet is painted in the same color as the wall and offers some extra storage space in the bedroom.

Just like in the living room, the black elements like the bedside tables and the wall lamps add a bit of contrast to the gray paint on the wall and give the space a bit of character.

via Brspec

I love the way this apartment (sold via Innerstadtspecialisten) with light greige (grey-beige) walls has been decorated in a modest color palette with variations in the textures and materials of the kitchen, in the furniture, and in the soft furnishings.

An oak kitchen with a limestone countertop

I think the combination of the light oak kitchen cabinets with the beige limestone countertops and the greige wall color works in a very warm and inviting way. Limestone countertops are really on-trend lately and I think they offer such a soft tone to any color of cabinets compared to the widely popular white marble.

The exhaust has been built-in and painted in the same color as the walls and together with the tall module against the wall, they are the only wall cabinets in this kitchen which makes for a very open and airy look in this L-shaped layout. The kitchen island with a waterfall countertop also provides lots of storage space, so rather than going for wall cabinets, an open shelving solution was picked out to display just a few items.

The black tones in the open shelving and in the pendant lighting above the kitchen island provide a lovely contrast to this otherwise warm look and a series of functional spots have been added on the ceiling to light the other side of the kitchen.

A living kitchen with a built-in TV cabinet

The decor of the living and dining room has been kept quite modest, with the black accents of the kitchen coming back in the dining chairs as well. The wall by the sofa has been turned into a TV wall with a custom-built cabinet for storage that has been painted in the same color as the wall for a tone-on-tone effect.

A minimal bedroom with dark grey elements

The bedroom is a lighter shade of warm grey on the walls, which has also been used on the built-in wardrobe for a subtle and elegant look. While the base palette of the bedroom is quite light, contrast is added by the dark grey bedding on the bed and the beautiful floor vases by the window.

via Innerstadtspecialisten

This beautiful yet simple apartment in Sweden has the most delicate warm grey paint color on the walls in the living room and a cool pale blue paint color in the fresh bedroom. The apartment itself is quite simple and modest, yet I find the subtle decor minimal yet striking.

Warm grey walls and lots of textures in the living room

The living room of the apartment has been painted in a warm grey (try out a swatch of Farrow & Ball Pavillion Grey* if you are looking for something similar) and the warm undertones of the paint are brought out by the combination of warm beiges, off-whites, and browns in the accessories and soft furnishings.

The light linen sofa (It’s the Ikea Soderhamn model with a Bemz custom cover*) is decorated with a beautiful mixture of throw pillows in warm colors and above the sofa, you can find an arrangement of art prints in the same tints for a cohesive look.

Opposed to the sofa a vintage sideboard adds even more warmth to the space which has been decorated with tints of brown and beige as well for a lovely warm look.

Pale blue walls in the bedroom

While the walls of the living room provide the space with warm undertones, the bedroom has been painted in pale blue wall color (try a swatch of Farrow & Ball Oval room blue* if you are looking for something similar) which adds a cool atmosphere to the space.

The pale blue wall color is paired up with crisp white linen bedding* and beige linen throw pillows* and together with the art print on the wall these really add a lovely warmth to the setting. I love the play between the warm and cool tints in the space and the linen bed skirt* adds a bit of a romantic touch to the room.

via Stadshem

This beautiful turn-of-the-century apartment in Sweden (via Sjöman Frisk) has been fully painted with different shades of dark grey for a moody effect that looks stylish and characterful. The open-plan living kitchen has a slightly lighter shade of dark grey walls, while the bedroom features a deep charcoal grey that is a few shades darker and almost seems black from some angles.

The bedroom and living room are adjacent to each other, which means you can see the gray paint colors throughout the space nicely complementing each other.

Rather than going for a feature wall, the owners of this apartment didn’t hold back and painted every single wall in dark grey, including the window and door frames for an impressive effect. Imagine this apartment with white walls and it would have a lot less depth wouldn’t it?

A living kitchen with dark gray walls

A living room area with grey walls and green accents

The asymmetric shape of the dark grey living room includes a sofa and a dining area, which all evolve around a dark grey color palette that is warmed up by the wood tones that add some warm undertones to the palette.

The living room works well in such a dark color scheme because of the abundance of natural light coming through those tall windows. Note that the wall space above the windows has been kept in the same color as the white ceiling, to make the space appear bigger.

The soft grey sofa is combined with a light grey area rug and green tints in both the throw pillows and the plants and the round mirror on the wall reflects the dining space from the living room area, which is such a nice touch.

A dining area with a mixture of dark grey, black, and oak wood

The large black dining table adds more depth to the dark grey walls, while the dining chairs soften out this palette. The large artwork on the wall is a great focal point in the living room altogether and lightens up the dark grey walls in the space. Rather than going for a gallery wall, you can select a big piece like this one to really break up dark gray walls, and you don’t have to hang all the individual picture frames in the right spot, which is a big plus.

The Flos AIM modular pendant lamp* above the table adds a little something special and ties the living room design together in such a nice way. This lamp works so nicely here because of the high ceilings and fits the color palette perfectly.

A white kitchen with a black countertop to accentuate the dark gray walls

While the lighter area rug and the white armchair in the living room brighten up the color palette slightly already, the white kitchen with black countertops really adds some contrast to the interior design of the living room.

The black laminate countertop and the black open shelving match nicely with the dark grey walls and the white subway tile backsplash and mimic the contrasting palette of the dining area. When you combine grey walls with black accents, it brings out the dramatic touch mid-grey or dark grey walls can add to a room, while if you combine it with tints of dark blue, it will have the same effect yet in a much cooler fashion.

A bedroom with charcoal gray walls and dark curtains

The dark gray walls in the bedroom are a few tints darker than in the living room, which makes this space even more dramatic. Since there is only one window in this narrow space bedroom, the daylight that comes in is far reduced, making gray walls a great choice to enhance the small-space look.

While the dark gray walls and the dark curtains add a lot of depth to the space, the single print above the bed, the light and white bedding, and the lighter gray paint color on the built-in wardrobe brighten up the wall color a bit which adds a lot of interest to the interior design.

A back bedroom home office space against the dark gray walls

A modular String shelf* in black has been added to the gray walls opposite of the bed to add a small spot to work from the bedroom. The deep color palette of the black shelving and the gray walls have been warmed up by the reds in the accessories and the art print on the wall.

How to achieve dark grey walls in your own interior design

Will dark grey walls work in my space?

While a dark shade of gray walls can look very impressive in a room of any size, this wall color tends to work better for more spacious, well-lit spaces. If you are working with a darker, smaller room, I would go for gray walls that are a few shades lighter to open up the space more.

Are gray walls difficult to style and decorate?

Gray, in all shades, is a neutral color, and even though you can vary on the warm or cool undertones, giving your walls a gray coat of paint will result in neutral walls, which can serve as a perfect backdrop for a wide range of colors and materials in your decor.

How do I select the right paint for my grey walls?

Selecting gray paint for your walls is not that tricky, yet you do have to try out samples first as the natural light and the materials in a room can highly influence the cool or warm undertones that are brought out.

A few paints swatches you can try out for your grey walls

If you want to achieve mid to dark-gray walls like in the living room of this apartment, try out Farrow & Ball Plummett*, which intensifies in smaller spaces and has a modern look and feel perfect for minimal living spaces.

If you want to go for really dark gray walls like in the bedroom of this apartment, go for Farrow & Ball Off-black* and add a dramatic touch to your space.

But as I always recommend to my interior design clients as well, always buy a tester of the paint and take a look at how the paint reacts to the space.

via Sjöman Frisk

This small attic apartment decorated with blue elements throughout is full of both vintage and modern treasures that go so nicely with the exposed brick wall that adds character to the space. What speaks to me the most however in this space is the kitchen.

The custom-built kitchen is spread out from the main living area into the hallway, providing storage space in each section. If you would like to see more space-saving solutions for small homes, I recommend checking out my post about small studio apartments.

A grey and oak kitchen with extra storage space in the hallway

The section of the kitchen that holds the main functionality has been constructed out of oak wood cabinet fronts combined with a dark marble countertop. The upper cabinets are made out of a grey laminate and match the tall cupboards that continue towards the hallway. I think this is such an elegant storage solution that uses different materials in different sections.

The rest of the space includes a small dining area with a beautiful blue pendant light that contrasts so nicely against the exposed brick wall and I love the way the blue comes back in the stool with the lemon tree as well.

A bedroom in a similar color palette

The bedroom has the same combination of warm tints with elements of blue that can be found in the living room, which ties together both rooms in a nice way.

The subtle warm grey color on the wall (Farrow & Balls’ Old white* might give you a similar look) warms up the black accent pieces and spreads a soft light throughout the space.

via Nya kvadrat