Generally speaking, the headboard is the most dominant visual section of furniture in a bedroom, and as it’s normally set front and center, it’s best to use it as the foundational shade that informs your selection of surrounding furniture.
Gray headboards are particularly in right now, as is, well… gray everything.
One of the reasons for this shade’s surge in popularity is that it’s one of the most versatile colors out there, meaning you’re not short of options when it comes to matching your other furniture to your headboard.
In this article, I’ll be taking you a few of the very best of these options in the hopes of getting your creative juices flowing, and helping you to add those perfect finishing touches to your boudoir.
Let’s dive straight in!
A Few Pointers On Picking Furniture To Go With A Headboard
The aim of the game for most people when decorating their home is to pick items that meld well with an established aspect of a room, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case when you’re starting out with a bed.
As the largest piece of furniture in the room, in the best spot in the room, you can allow it to stand out amongst the rest of your furniture, and it won’t look awkward.
Keeping furniture in roughly the same style as the bed is actually more important than your choice of color. However, tastefully contrasting designs can also go down a treat.
If you do go for a contrast in one way, try to instill a common thread in another that ties all the pieces of furniture together.
For example, if you’re pairing round with rectangular furnishings, a common color will bring some cohesion to the table.
Turquoise
Greeny-blue shades go down a treat with gray hues. The richness of the turquoise contrasts with the smart minimalism of the gray, leading to a truly nuanced match.
You do, however, have to be careful with this combo, as your room may end up feeling a little cold.
That said, you can brighten things up a bit with a few vivid accent pillows or throws.
This will work particularly well if you also have dark gray walls, and if the headboard has some slight patterning too, such as tartan.
Medium Wood
If you’re looking to imbue your bedroom with a bit of warmth to counteract the coldness of the gray headboard, I’d highly recommend choosing some middle-shade wood with lots of rich grain patterns.
The flame of the grain and the warmth of the tone will make your bedroom seem a lot cozier and inviting, which is exactly what you want when you’re hunkering down and snuggling up for a long night’s sleep.
Medium wood will also add some lovely detail to the visuals, ensuring the space doesn’t look too samey or dull.
This shade will look particularly amazing placed in direct line with the headboard, i.e. a chest at the end of the bed, a wardrobe facing the bed, or even picture frames in your line of sight when you wake in the morning.
Dark Wood
When I say dark wood, I mean dark wood! Gray of all kinds works exceptionally well with rich, dark hues.
Of course, bringing some darkness into the room won’t exactly make the place feel airy and light, but it will add warmth to the crisp-colored headboard without relying on loud colors that could detract from the stylish aesthetic.
With eye-grabbing hues, dark wood works particularly well as asymmetrical furnishing.
So, instead of choosing matching dark wood side tables, consider opting for a single statement piece, perhaps a dresser or a small bench.
Dark wood also helps color pop, so if you did want to add a few bright splashes around, add them to your dark wood piece for maximum effect.
Matching Gray
If you love gray so much, why not just stick with it for the rest of your furniture.
Yes, it will look quite minimal, perhaps even slightly industrial, but you can offset this vibe with pure white walls, colorful sheets, and warm-tone picture frames.
Mismatching Gray
Gray plays well with, well… gray.
Thus, you can celebrate your love of this color by choosing furniture that has a different shade of gray than your headboard, and it will look spectacular.
Switching up the gray will work well for symmetrical items, such as side tables.
If you’ve got a light headboard, go dark with the tables. If you’ve got a dark headboard, go light with the tables.
This “the same but different” look will create an astounding visual impact, whilst still looking refined, smart, and sophisticated.
Then, as with matching gray, you can mix things up a bit with colorful embellishments dotted around the room.
Red Wood
If you like the idea of medium wood warming the place up, red woods like cherrywood and red oak will turn up the heat significantly.
These rosy woods will form quite the contrast, so it might be worth using a middle shade somewhere in the room to ease the transition, but when done just right, it can be truly splendid.
Pink
Obviously, a bunch of hot pink furniture will look a little strange in any room, but if you keep things subtle, perhaps with a piece of furniture with dusky pink accents, it can add a playful vibe to an otherwise buttoned-down aesthetic.
And the space will look no less elegant either.
Pink and gray work wonderfully well together if you match the colors correctly, and if you can’t find any furniture that is made with pink accents, why not buy some paint and add them yourself?
Silver
Silver is essentially gray with some added sparkle, and as we’ve already established how good gray on gray looks, it should come as no surprise that silver furniture can also look amazing alongside a gray headboard.
The shine of silver will add a bit of luxury to the room as well as boost the light factor, which may be just what you need to make a small room feel more spacious.
Yellow
Who doesn’t love a pop of yellow amongst gray? It’s sunshine in the city; it’s a buttercup blooming in a wall; it’s warmth and sunlight incarnate.
Final Thoughts
Did any of these furniture colors speak to you?
Remember to consider related factors such as wall color and sheet color when choosing your furniture, and you’re sure to create a lovely space for you to relax in and get a good night’s sleep — hooray!
I’ve lived the majority of my life in small towns around the East Coast, but that doesn’t stop me from creating modern homes with a comforting vibe. I’ve helped stage and create countless homes in this style, and I’m confident that I can help you too.
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