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When I moved to my then-new home in 2004, I had the interior painted cream-washed beige. I like it because it feels warm in winter and cool in summer, a big plus here in Arizona.
I'm sure a lot of other colors would have looked great; I just picked what I thought I'd enjoy living with for a long time.
I think it's really just a matter of trends. Greys have a cooler more contemporary feel and so more people are using it in interior design. (My main living spaces are in 4 shades of grey.) Color trends also tend to mimic fashion trends and greys are hot in fashion as well.
That's fine if you don't plan to hold on to the vehicle for very long.
Personally I hate the whole gray thing going on now, and wouldn't consider any vehicle with a gray interior.
My Audi has a rich, tan leather interior (with black accents) and I love it, even after two decades.
Oops. I thought I was in the automotive forum.
Nevertheless, my comments remain the same. I don't like cool colors. However, at least paint can be easily and frequently changed.
I've been looking at lots of new construction and finding light silver gray in pretty much every single house I see.
I don't see the appeal, but I guess people like it. I still prefer Benjamin Moore Shaker Beige - it looks good in all light and goes with EVERYTHING.
I don't mind this in some of the rooms, but I've been seeing this a lot in kitchens -- light silver gray walls, with light gray or white backsplashes, white or gray cabinets, white marble or light gray/white granite countertops, and while it has a certain elegance, I don't love it in the kitchen because it is very cold overall. I actually think even a darker gray would be better.
I do give my house some some coloring but with art and furnishings these days, instead of paint colors. I'm older and having to switch out paint colors ever few years is something I don't want do anymore, to be honest as this stage in my life it's just easier to switch out stuff.. Still I believe one should do whatever they love in their own home~
I think this is where a lot of people go with their thinking. Plus, furnishings are easier (and more likely) to get changed out every couple of years. Maybe that dark green sofa looks great with pale green walls, but if you change it out for a purple sofa, it might look horrendous--so you either have a color clash that you can't stand, or you end up repainting your walls lilac. Then maybe in a few years, you get a red sofa, so you have to repaint the walls again....and a lot of folk just find it easier to keep the walls a neutral color so their furniture can be bright red, floral, stripes, whatever, and they're spared the time/trouble/expense of painting their living room walls every time they do this.
I had my kitchen red for a time, very lovely but it caused me to feel stress every-time I walk in there, plus it made me feel hungry.Yes we repainted lol....
The people who owned my house before me painted three walls of the kitchen cream, and the last wall a bright, cheerful red--but only the part over the counters and under the cabinets (the part over the cabinets is cream colored), so it acts more as an 'accent' color, rather than dominating the entire kitchen. I really like it--it adds a bit of 'pop' to the kitchen without overwhelming the room in that color, and there's little enough of it that if I decided I was done with it, I could probably repaint it myself in half a day, if even that long.
I think this is where a lot of people go with their thinking. Plus, furnishings are easier (and more likely) to get changed out every couple of years. Maybe that dark green sofa looks great with pale green walls, but if you change it out for a purple sofa, it might look horrendous--so you either have a color clash that you can't stand, or you end up repainting your walls lilac. Then maybe in a few years, you get a red sofa, so you have to repaint the walls again....and a lot of folk just find it easier to keep the walls a neutral color so their furniture can be bright red, floral, stripes, whatever, and they're spared the time/trouble/expense of painting their living room walls every time they do this.
The people who owned my house before me painted three walls of the kitchen cream, and the last wall a bright, cheerful red--but only the part over the counters and under the cabinets (the part over the cabinets is cream colored), so it acts more as an 'accent' color, rather than dominating the entire kitchen. I really like it--it adds a bit of 'pop' to the kitchen without overwhelming the room in that color, and there's little enough of it that if I decided I was done with it, I could probably repaint it myself in half a day, if even that long.
Sweet~ The red was just on one wall as accent but for whatever reason it just made me become moody stressed maybe it was menopause who knows but so unlike me plus the hungry lol... So I painted it and felt better. I do have some toss pillows with red and no problems...As of yet! ... LOL
Gray is a trend that comes around every 20-25 years, at least in my lifetime. There's nothing really new or modern about it.
My parents house in the early 1960's had gray carpet and aqua drapes in the LR and DR. Their sofa was an aqua/blue floral. I don't remember the wall color......think it was some version of offwhite or cream. The gray was a deep gray kind of like steel gray.
Fast forward to the mid-1980's gray was big again. This time it was a silvery gray and that color carpet and wall color was all the rage. It went well with sandy beige with a hint of yellow in it and not much else except red. It was a hard gray to coordinate with other colors.
And here we are again. This time is a cooler gray that has lots of blue or green in it. Easier to coordinate with other things.
My theory is that it has something to do with current economic times. Because its actually a little depressing imo. Mid 1980's and 2000's weren't so great economically. Don't know about the early 60's.
We bought and redecorated one house in 1986. We painted the family room a cool light grey with white trim. Same for the adjoining hall and kitchen. The house came with a harvest gold fridge. It was in good shape, so we sprayed it black, which was never used on refrigerators back then. We used black arm chairs and accessories in the family room. When we sold the house, everyone loved that "new" black refrigerator and it was requested on the sales offer to go with the sale!!
Wall color can affect decorating, especially carpeting...back in the 80's we painted
walls a light cream color, then put in a cream colored carpet...but the walls made
the carpet look pinkish...went back and painted the walls an antique white and the
carpet looked cream again...
I painted my LR with gray and after finishing, realized it tends to get closer to purple at night. Purple was never my favorite so I wish I picked a diff gray. My Windows don't look it to driveways or asphalt. My kitchen which opens to the LR is very brown do I needed another neutral to keep their house from being top monotone.
The same thing happened with my bathroom. I painted it gray but in the lighting it looked purple. (Unfortunately, different lighting was installed and we didn't know until after the fact.) I had to repaint anyway so I went with something silvery. Much better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagoliz
My whole house is gray. I love it. Fifteen years ago when I was decorating it was damn near impossible to find a gray area rug or couch. Now they're everywhere. I like my grays, and I'll keep using them for years, even if others deem them out of style.
I've always heard and I firmly believe that you should decorate according to what you like personally and find aesthetically pleasing. NOT according to what is fashionable or trendy, because those will change.
I love it too. Gray isn't a trend to me. Gray is a color I really love. It is also a very large part of my wardrobe. But people here automatically think if you like something that just happens to be a trend that it is a trend to you as well. It doesn't mean I'm against other colors either. My husband chose Dusty Miller for the bedroom, which is actually quite nice. (And works with my gray bedding.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCalCpl2
I really hate the plain old plain old.. With all the millions of colors to be had, why just stick with boring colors..Live a little and be bold...Paint with a flair and be dramatic.... Pastels, Satins, pearls, etc... Give your house some color....
What I like about painting things a neutral color, besides the fact that I actually like neutral colors, is that I can change up the colors of my area rugs, my pillows, etc. very easily. I'd rather do that over repainting. The room I'm sitting in might be beige but I have oranges, reds, etc. all over the place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by luv4horses
There is a big trend at this time to use gray as the basis of interior color schemes rather than the warmer sand/tan/beige tones that were popular over the past several decades. I'm not saying anything new here. But, I have this theory and invite your comments on it.
My theory is that the reason for the switch up is that houses are being planted on smaller and smaller lots so that natural colors are not seen outside of the windows any longer, just the colors of asphalt roads and neighboring houses. So gray works really well, it is modern and young, and it goes with the color of asphalt and driveways. In past years, where natural landscapes and planned landscaping were the normal views, interior walls with more natural colors blended in better with the outside views. This is of course ignoring more colorful choices, but addressing the warm vs cold neutral color schemes. What do you think?
Back to the original OP, no I don't think so. Many places have been smaller lots for ages, like major cities. Eventually, beige will become popular again and then back to gray.
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Grey in 1986
