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Do you have a question about a design project you’re working on in your home? Steinhafels is teaming up with OnMilwaukee for a monthly series called "Ask the Designer." No question is too silly, small or complicated! We are here to help make your life a little easier. Let’s face it; after a day of work, taking care of the kids, grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning, the LAST thing you want to do is anything creative or thought-provoking!

This month’s question comes from Lori Winiarski Wright on Facebook. She says, "I'm having a difficult time with gray and tan colors. I don't think they go well together. My living room and kitchen walls are tan, and I'm going for more of a white and gray color scheme. I don't like the tan walls; what color do I go with?"

In addition to helping you choose furniture pieces, our Decorating Solutions designers are also trained to advise you about all aspects of design – from flooring, to cabinets, to paint colors.  There are many factors to consider when choosing a wall color: color of the flooring, furniture, moldings, counters and cabinetry.

Designer Aaron Keller of our Menomonee Falls store will tackle Lori’s question. Aaron explains, "Gray is a very popular trend, and if you have been looking at paint swatches, you probably realized there are many different shades of gray. Every neutral color, including gray, has an undertone. The undertone has to work with the other elements in your space. Spaces are visually pulled together when the undertone and color scheme all work together."

Aaron adds that when you combine tan and gray, the key is balance of color throughout the space, and each tone has to be equally represented.

Cabinets and wall color

• Oak cabinets: If you have oak cabinets, you are best off using a warmer gray.  
• Cherry cabinets: Use a gray with a slight red undertone.  
• White or espresso cabinets and molding, go with everything!

Keep in mind the other elements in the room like flooring, counters and backsplash. Many times when changing from one color scheme to another, one or more of the elements in a space may need to be changed as well to pull the space together.

Examples of projects

In this photo you can see how well the gray backsplash works with the white cabinets and the bright wall color. However, many other wall colors would also work, including a beautiful gray.  White kitchens are very popular because they go with everything! Again if you have a wood tone cabinet, the wall color’s undertones need to work with the stain on the cabinets. The wall color you choose also depends on what kind of statement you want to make with the wall color. Monochromatic, bold, soothing – you can drastically change the feel of the room with the color you chose.

This is a combination space of creams and grays. The wall color is a popular hue by Sherwin-Williams, and is a brown/gray, also called griege. Balancing the cream-based colors and the grays equally throughout is the best way to pull a space together. This example also shows how connected each element is in the overall design.

Hope that helps Lori! Good luck!

Do you have a question for our designers? Post your question in the COMMENTS section of this article, along with your name and location. Or you can post it on the Steinhafels or OnMilwaukee Facebook pages. We’d love to have our designers answer your question next month.

You can also check out our Steinhafels Blog every week for a new Decorating Solutions #TipoftheWeek.