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House and home

Is the whole worldturning grey?

(149 Posts)
Rosina Wed 23-Feb-22 08:05:02

Glancing at some properties for sale locally I was struck by the amount of grey used in colour schemes; widening my search area (you can see I wasn't too busy that afternoon) almost every house was painted grey outside, or inside, or had a grey kitchen, and quite a few had newly installed windows with grey frames. It is a smart neutral that can look good with all sorts of brighter shades, but the almost universal sloshing on of grey paint came as a real surprise. What happens when everyone suddenly gets bored with it? A tin of paint will sort out some schemes, but the windows, kitchens, bathrooms tiled in sombre shades...?

Josieann Wed 23-Feb-22 18:41:30

I was told that the upper half, (walls), should have a lighter colour than the lower half, (cupboards). Think black or navy trousers with a pink nor white top! So I would say white with your grey units.

Jane43 Wed 23-Feb-22 20:12:57

I wish I was more adventurous when decorating rooms. There is a limit though - when we were touring in California we stopped for a meal at a wonderful place friends had told is about called The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. All the rooms are elaborately and brightly decorated, even the rest rooms. Here is an example of one of the guest rooms:

images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a550e02692ebee90baeba58/1577400483736-0Z3MLN6IDJNJIQRDBIKK/141-Madonna+Suite.jpg?format=1500w

Every guest room is different and many of the wash basins are made from natural stone. They must be a nightmare to clean.

Georgesgran Wed 23-Feb-22 20:57:25

ShazzaK - my kitchen’s Overtly Olive and I’m going to change my accessories and accents to pink.

JaneJudge Wed 23-Feb-22 20:59:56

everyone wants grey or beige
nothing has changed

JaneJudge Wed 23-Feb-22 21:00:34

I quite like that Jane43 grin

Sara1954 Wed 23-Feb-22 21:17:54

One of our granddaughters who lives with us is desperate to have her room painted white, it was painted a couple of years ago a bright turquoise, and accessorised to match, this was all to her specifications.
Apparently now, that colour is totally out, and embarrassing when her friends come around because it’s so babyish, it really isn’t!
She tells me that white is the in colour, and anything else is so dated.

LadyStardust Wed 23-Feb-22 21:49:00

My next door neighbours have painted their entire perimeter garden fence grey. The shed is painted grey. The garden furniture is grey. The tubs and planters are grey. It is totally soulless and looks like a prison exercise yard.

Rosina Wed 23-Feb-22 22:35:56

Jane that is a lovely vibrant room - fine for a short stay but possibly migraine inducing if you tried to live with it. We stayed at a hotel in Le Touquet which was so imaginatively decorated and furnished with the most amazing colour schemes; it was something that might have been designed for Alice in Wonderland - but not to be repeated at home. The lighter greys that posters have shown on here do look very smart, but it's the dark, gloomy greys that I keep seeing that can only drain all light and life from a room - hard to live with I would have thought.

Kim19 Wed 23-Feb-22 22:59:23

Thank heaven's I'm still thrilled with my light grey high gloss kitchen. Waited long enough and paid high enough for it to last indefinitely.

M0nica Thu 24-Feb-22 07:10:56

I can see nothing wrong with grey, in itself. We have painted our bathroom grey, but it is when you see so many houses where everything is grey: floors, walls, curtains, furniture, cushions - and every single room in the house is the same monotone colour, with no other colour to relieve it.

At present it is not just houses, hotel rooms, holiday rentals are all decorated and furnished throughout in the same monotone.

It was just as bad when we had the 'cream dream', and before that when everything was white.

As a character in a G&S opea says: Yes, we all love toffee, and toffee in moderation is a capital thing. But to live on toffee - toffee for breakfast, toffee for dinner, toffee for tea - to have it supposed that you care for nothing but toffee, and that you would consider yourself insulted if anything but toffee were offered to you - how would you like that?

For toffee read 'grey'

Kim19 Thu 24-Feb-22 07:14:41

Agreed but I find basic grey the perfect foil for splashes of vibrant colour. Lovely!

vegansrock Thu 24-Feb-22 07:18:42

I’m with team grey here - I like grey as a neutral and there are a wide spectrum of greys - dark, light, bluey grey, greeny grey etc it’s. a good colour to team with blues, teals, mustard, pinks. My bedroom is Farrow and Ball French grey which is really a shade of blue and is very restful, I have a grey sofa with lots of bright cushions.

jaylucy Thu 24-Feb-22 11:55:50

I'm waiting to redecorate after we have our windows and outside doors replaced and I didn't realise there were actually 50 shades of grey!
Hopefully the colours that I have actually chosen, have only a tint of grey !
Grey reminds me of my school uniform!

Lilyflower Thu 24-Feb-22 12:02:07

My DD has a white and grey themed house with coastal shenanigans and it's light, airy and lovely.

However, what gets my goat is the pairing of traditional red brick walls and grey windows and doors. It's merely a fashionable thing and doesn't remotely 'go'. Amersham High Street, a gorgeous Georgian street has been blighted by grey doors.

Someone will wake up one day, as with avocado bathrooms, and say, 'what were we thinking?'

polnan Thu 24-Feb-22 12:02:33

Being somewhat cast down by the news this am
I would suggest that the world is soon to be red.

Moggycuddler Thu 24-Feb-22 12:03:13

I've noticed with a lot of everyday clothes, such as plain tops and t-shirts, all you can get is black or white or grey. I like a bit of colour! I'm a 60s child!

Dottynan Thu 24-Feb-22 12:08:28

An "expert" on the radio stated that grey is now on way out.
I really like it but am thinking twice about redecorating

Theoddbird Thu 24-Feb-22 12:23:40

This reminded me of the time my youngest was watching a black and white film on tv. She must have been about four at the time. She asked if everything used to be grey. It did make me laugh.

kevincharley Thu 24-Feb-22 12:25:30

Damn sight better than magnolia which had a very, very, very long run.

harrigran Thu 24-Feb-22 12:28:41

I like grey, my kitchen is grey and white and everyone who comes into the house compliments me on my good taste. I posted a picture on FB when it was first done and a woman contacted me and asked if she could have first refusal if I was putting the house on the market, I had just spent three months renovating the whole house confused it wasn't to put it up for sale.

nipsmum Thu 24-Feb-22 12:32:20

It's not really a new concept. We moved to a new house in 1970 and everything was painted in various shades of grey. I hated the d internaloors.

nipsmum Thu 24-Feb-22 12:33:45

I hated the internal doors they were in what could only be described as battleship grey.

Candelle Thu 24-Feb-22 12:35:33

We have a friend whose sitting room has grey carpet, walls and furniture. It looks 'coordinated' but a little like a prison (not that I have been in one! Rather, what I imagine an up-market prison to be like!).

I guess that if she is happy with it, I should shut up as individual taste is paramount (but it is depressing for visitors...!).

Chaitriona Thu 24-Feb-22 12:36:14

I don’t see many grey windows but a friend who is an artist has had them for a long time in London and I thought they looked good. White seems pretty universal here in Edinburgh. I suppose it makes the historic tenements look uniform. Which is good. I think in the past they would have been green or brown. I suppose most internal woodwork was also brown. Almost all white now. It seems normal to us almost unnoticeable but would look strange to a time visitor from the past. I have unpainted brown woodwork in my hall. I did have a furniture restorer do some work on it. A dying trade as people don’t like antique furniture. There are so many doors in the hall and it is nice to keep a bit of history as the house was built in 1880. There are other such houses still have unpainted woodwork here. it can look a bit dull perhaps but once painted I don’t think it could ever be restored.

M0ira Thu 24-Feb-22 12:38:05

Not in our house. Love colour! I chose the paint colours for our dining room??