In today’s design détente, staying neutral is the aim.

When it comes to fashioning the look of a master bedroom, a relaxing, soothing color palette is the order of the day and night, as vibrant, bolder hues can ignite feelings more volatile than passion – turbulent unrest.

Fortunately, a neutral shade like gray, in all its dimensional warm and cool glory – smoky gray, blue gray, pewter, slate gray – is an intoxicating, sleep-inducing chill color that is not only stylish and elegant, but chic and sophisticated, according to interior designer Linda McDougald’s Postcards From Paris.

Harmonizing such a reserved and quiet color into a visually appealing, yet tranquil bedroom however, requires a design methodicalness that considers both the room size and all its elements: furniture, art and accessories, ambient and natural light, and wall paint.

So if you’re searching for a neutral palette for the master bedroom, but the homogenized hues of beige tones signal an uninspiring boudoir design death, liberate yourself: go gray.

A hazy shade of gray. Image via Postcards From Paris.