I was just talking to a designer in a tile shop the other day, debating on what color tile to use with gray walls. She steered me away from beige/tan because next to gray it can look orange. Light oak cabinets might also look orange next to the gray. I personally would use white cabinets. White will be a really crisp, clean look with the gray. Especially without a window in the room. You can always wipe them down if they get dirty from your sons? We're planning to repaint our white vanity and if you use semi-gloss, they wipe clean pretty easily.

I think it depends on the shade of gray. -- speaking as someone who considered painting the bathroom gray too, and being overwhelmed by all the different colors that can be called "gray." Some of them are warm and could look quite nice next to oak. You would want to have your vanity top and floor picked out first to see how everything pulls together (might be a little too much gray, if those plus the walls were all the same shade). I agree with the pp that white would also look nice and might be doable even with the kiddos (though if they are like mine, painting the vanity the color of their toothpaste would really be the safest bet).

One more piece of advice -- our bathroom has no window either, and paint looked completely different in there than it did in the paint store. I highly recommend the little sample cans. Good luck!

There are so many shades of gray out there - literally. I think that is one of the hardest colors to pick. Over in the decorating forum it was amazing how many people were trying to pick the perfect gray. We ended up with a light grayish with I think blue undertone for our walls- the Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray for our bedroom.

Not sure if a skylight would be a possibility for your bathrooms. We didn't have any natural light in either bathroom and at first I was hesitant to add a skylight - worried about leaking etc. The one in our hall bathroom we have had for several years now - so far so good - and just added one to our masterbath. Depending how big the bathroom is - a solartube may be another option. It gives you some natural light, but you don't get the ventilation option.

I can't help with the cabinet color and young kids. We went for a dark brown. I think a dark brown would look good with gray - our walls though are blue with gray undertone and the floor is a linen - brownish beige. We have Silestone (Blue Sahara) for the countertop. I'm telling you only half the toothpaste ever makes it to the sink with the kids - the other half is on the countertop. I am happy to have a pattern and Silestone for their bathroom.

If you are going with a gray tile - not sure if you looked at American Olean Siena Spring. We have the Cascade color (yellowish color) in one bathroom and I love the pattern. It has an earthy feel without trying too hard if that makes sense. I haven't seen the darker colors in person but I think the Riverbed is a greenish gray - sort of slate like. The wood shown with some of the inspiration picks looks like a light brown .

Here is a link that might be useful: Siena Springs Tile