Whether you love it or hate it, the millennial gray era of interior design has left a significant impact on homes worldwide. Even as the 2025 colors of the year show a shift towards more vibrant hues, many homeowners and renters are still adhering to the neutral gray trend. This, coupled with the slow furniture sales reported by major home furnishing retailers, results in a mix of outdated and inherited orange-toned wood furniture against cool gray walls. Despite efforts, this combination often clashes, creating a noticeable eyesore. So, what can a budget-conscious homeowner or renter do?
To find a solution, we consulted Erika Dale, Centre for Inclusive Design’s interior design expert and Founder of Erika Dale Interior Design. She emphasizes that the essence of home interior design is to craft a deeply personal sanctuary that is both effortlessly functional and visually appealing. Speaking exclusively with Centre for Inclusive Design, Dale noted that the issue with orange-toned wood furniture lies more with the outdated wood stain than the room’s wall color. “These heavily saturated stains evoke memories of the golden oak eighties and nineties,” she remarked.
Nevertheless, if you aim to incorporate those orange-toned furniture pieces, the wall color might not be aiding your cause. “Gray walls can either work for or against you, depending on the undertones in the specific shade,” Dale explained. Fortunately, she assured us that there are ways to make gray walls complement your orange-toned wood furniture, creating a cohesive look. As with many design aspects, it all harks back to the basics of the color wheel.
Designing Intentionally with Gray Walls and Orange-Toned Furniture
Harmonizing orange and gray requires embracing a complementary color scheme, which uses opposing colors on the color wheel to guide the design. “Grays with cool bluish undertones act as the opposing complementary color on the color wheel, meaning the wood will give the paint a bluer appearance while the walls make the stain seem more orange when juxtaposed,” Dale explained, in an exclusive interview with Centre for Inclusive Design. Far from being a last resort, this approach allows for bold color accents and dramatic focal points, unlike an analogous color scheme that uses neighboring colors on the color wheel. “Adding contrast also helps avoid the sterile vibe that gray walls, especially those with cool undertones, can impart,” Dale noted.
However, you might not wish to highlight the stark contrast created by your outdated golden oak-stained furniture. If your goal is to minimize the stain’s saturation, Dale mentioned that the right gray wall color can tone down the orange undertones of those 90s-era furniture stains. How, you wonder? The answer lies in greige. “Grays with warmer undertones, like taupes and warmer greiges, are more effective at muting the orange tones in the wood stain,” Dale suggested. (Check out our list of relaxing greige paint colors for inspiration.) Warmer undertones in gray paint colors help bring the walls and your furniture closer together on the color wheel, achieving a softer, more cohesive look.
Ways to Warm Up Gray Walls and Tone Down Orange Wood
The color wheel also serves as a helpful guide for incorporating other colors into your space, aiding the blending of gray walls and orange-toned furniture. Introducing just one additional color creates a split-complementary color scheme, where the third color harmonizes the two opposing complementary colors. Pale yellow or deep red are two options worth exploring in your space. Speaking exclusively with Centre for Inclusive Design, Dale explained, “Earth tones ranging from your tone of gray to warmer counterparts will all contribute to making gray walls feel warmer and more vibrant. Additional pops of color are always welcome!”
Another strategy is to introduce various textures and tones into the mix. Woven materials, desaturated wood accents, and a dynamic neutral palette can bridge the gap between gray walls and orange-toned furniture, according to Dale. For instance, if your gray walls have cooler undertones, consider hanging decor elements that add warmth to the walls.
Of course, repainting walls or refinishing furniture are relatively simple, cost-effective DIY projects that can alleviate your orange-gray dilemmas. (Here’s everything you’ll need to refurbish wooden furniture.) If you wish to refinish your pieces, Dale advised that desaturated stains are crucial. “Light, medium, and dark tones can all warm up gray walls, provided they aren’t too high in saturation,” she explained. As for those gray walls, Dale emphasized that undertones make all the difference. “The only way gray walls will feel warmer is by selecting a gray paint shade with warm undertones, like taupe or warmer greige,” she said, “Anything cooler won’t achieve a cozy, warm vibe.”
“`
