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Gray with gold you mentioned in another post about Evolution in taste, I saw this on Pinterest and it sure is a WOW.

Edited to add link:
Evolution in Taste thread on this board:
http://boards.hgtv.com/eve/for...4079532/m/5353979367 (didn't want to hijack that thread)

I know it might not be your taste, but thought it might spark one creative thought with this color combination for walls or furnishings, or even an accessory. I think this idea even used in sparse amounts is glorious (gold over gray)

If I missed the mark totally, well, no harm meant. For it is the idea, not necessarily the exact pattern and design made my mind go to a gray/gold daydream, hope it does same for you!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Mary Ruth, tho I missed the post you mentioned, I am also considering gray with gold in my dining room. I have yet to select the gray for the walls which will be pulled from the rug tho. My chandy is brass, my formal dishware is gold, my holiday chargers and flatware are gold which is why I'd like to unite the gray w/ gold tho not as equal in proportion as your pic illustration. I will also have some white in the room (trim, wainscot, curtain rod).

More examples of this unexpected combo:
http://mandarinastudio.wordpre...010/03/23/gray-gold/

http://www.houzz.com/gray-gold

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks...ion--Gold-Meets-Gray

http://bazaarofserendipity.blo...1/11/gray-walls.html

http://cotedetexas.blogspot.co...s-new-turquoise.html

From my color studies, gray (being cool) and gold (being a warm yellow color, or beige warm) makes such a nice balance in the room.

The British have used gray and yellow for a very long time as a winning combination with class!

Froo:
How special! I think this combination is so special!
http://pinterest.com/search/?q=gray+and+gold+



Look at that furniture re-do! Love this I found on Pinterest! Charcoal (dark) and gold embelishment. She even painted the original hardware to match.

Froo we posted at the same time!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

So rich, classic and elegant. Thanks for the link, MR. Love to look at this cool/warm scheme that I won't soon tire of. Love the sheen of the gold against the rich gray backdrop.

Me must keep in mind that even jewelry designers have teamed gold and silvery grays and how versitle and special this marriage of metal finishes is. I have long advised those who fear that brass is passe on this board, that you can bring it up to speed w/o changing every fixture by mixing the metals in a space. Manufacturers of faucets have been doing so for some time now for this very reason. Mixing of patinas is also pleasing to the eye.

I'm looking forward to our gray and gold scheme. For us it will help tie our French and American Empire antiques with the 1970's contemporary architecture of our new(to us) condo.

We ripped up all the old tile and laminate, so right now all our furniture is piled up to the ceiling in the bedroom.Next Monday the red oak floors go in the living room/dining room, then Tuesday the entry hall and the bedroom.Excited to be creating a new backdrop for our treasured pieces.

This is the before, pardon the window treatments, they're temporary.

Charles D,
Since you have the love for French and American Empire styles, I will watch carefully as that is the style I LOVE as well!

Loving the 'before' so I am so excited about seeing the AFTER!!!
Love that sleigh (daybed) sofa! I can't wait to see gray & gold mix!

Thanks for sharing! As you can see a few others were excited too and we started the party a bit early without you, sorry! LOL

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Mary Ruth you are too funny. I'll try to post pics as we go. The French sleigh bed does double duty as our guest sleeping and our sofa.It's covered in a black satin with gold welting that has really held up well to two guys and a pit bull, so that's staying. The plans, once the floors are in, are to paint the walls charcoal to match our new rug, and to reupholster the French chairs in a bright gold velvet with a greek key tape trim. The sheers are still undecided. I'm pitching a charcoal sheer tergal from Duralee, but so far I haven't worn him down enough!

Thank you Charles for sharing!

I found this on Pinterest. Interesting to also use the Sable/orange tones/gold colors in accessories and the metal gray color too.


Charcoal sheer? Hummmm will make light mysterious! Some Men...hard to convince or win over, don't give up! LOL

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

I couldn't help it! I saw this photo on Pinterest and thought of your project! And what a neat idea to put prints on tall frames and have them be like panels on the wall? I thought that might be a good idea!

Anyway the gold was part of the reason I gave the photo another look!

http://www.thecreativityexchan...er-diy-wall-art.html

How to gold leaf on a print or on paper, could create art for your home. (Of course using your grays)

Now that I know you are doing gray and gold, I seem to be seeing it in my travels!

How's it coming along?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Mary Ruth thank you for the pics. The photo with the art stacked above the mantle is very much my personal style. Half of the oak floors were in last Monday.Because of the storm the installers can't come back until this coming Monday, but we weren't home for three days so no matter. The red oak looks beautiful and is just enough of a contrast to the antique red mahogany furniture.It also makes the white painted furniture look very "Dorothy Draper" which I love. The test colors on the wall have us leaning toward a SW color called Peppercorn. So far we have replaced our old Romanian Brown and gold paisley rug with a steel colored solid rug. It updated the old furniture immediately.Will keep you posted.Thanks for the encouragement.

I posted a picture of our Virginia house (sold 3 yrs ago). I loved the contrast of the Red Oak with the mahogany wood in my mahogany furniture. I liked the mix. We liked it so much we added a mahogany band in the floor. The counter top is Oak (stair-tred material) but we pieced a few together to make the width and did a new routing where the bull-nosing was) stained it to match the mahogany strip in the floor.

Can't wait to see your photos! I do not get many opportunities to observe interiors with Empire influence so I am excited about your project!

I was afraid you might think I was cyber-stalking you with so many posts! LOL

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

I wanted to add that in our Florida house, we have no fireplace, no mantel. BUT I am going to rectify that, I LOVE mantels, so we are going to build one with an electric fire box. Here in Florida we do not need the heat, but I miss the flicker of a fire (we only had a gas fireplace in Virginia, not a real fire box). So, I do like the heat that is subtle and I can get a small heater in the firebox to kill the chill in the air but that would be like for maybe 5 days a year... the light (I LOVE mood lighting at night) that flickers is nice.

I am looking forward to having a mantel to add to the look of my living room.
Picture of my mantel in the Virginia house.
My house here in Florida will not have that Colonial molding, so the feeling will be different, but still wondering whether to have white trim or not.

I kept that Sheridan Shield shaped (or acorn) mirror, that is what got me going towards the style for the house.

Just realized this photo was taken at Christmas time so the 'over mantel' shelf is installed over the white mantel regular shelf top. We did this so that the Christmas decor would not damage the original mantel shelf. It is made from Poplar and I did a faux mahogany paint on it (mixed the color to match my mahogany).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

This was the way the mantel looked without Xmas decoration, I found a second mirror I put on the mantel and liked the stacked look. (I also still have this mirror, and hope to use the same way) I want to put an antique mirror on the over mantel area, so I would have about 3 reflective surfaces, but have not worked this out yet.

Looking back, we sure DID a lot of work in that house! DH and I did the flooring, trim and all the work over the 'builder box' we bought! LOL!
Photo is the day we closed on the house in 2002!

Furniture on that off white carpet, to me, looked like furniture on a cloud!

We hurried and got the house ready for our Open house we had in the second week after moving in. The house was the model of the development that DH had built as a Superintendent for the biggest builder in the area (38 homes). I knew we would make changes, BUT had no idea we would change it all so drastically!

DH brought home a set of 'free' white columns and that started it all! Then we got free dental molding and that started the wall panels and crown work!

I hated that large 'hole' that was for the TV above the gas fireplace. We put studs and closed that up, then mimicked the mantel style for the over mantel and added a deeper shelf. DH also put electric (for plugging in lights and for Xmas decor). We always thought we would add a nicer fireplace and redo this area, but there was no time by the time we ended up selling the house.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mary Ruth,

Charles,
Did you make that cabinet with the mirror on the doors? I like the Architectural element it has! And the Pediment top.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Ruth:
Charles,
Did you make that cabinet with the mirror on the doors? I like the Architectural element it has! And the Pediment top.

The cabinet, which we use for the TV and stereo was made by Baker. They had discontinued it, so I got it from them at a great price. It originally had a taupe crackle finish and clear glass, so I sanded off the finish and spent a few weeks painting it with a white satin finish oil based paint.I used a brush so I used super fine emory paper in between each coat and it came out pretty good.