To redo my house from scratch because of the 'grey' fad?

[StormcloakNord]

DH and I just moved into a new(ish) house. Built in 2014 and the decor is very new and clean etc. Problem is everything, and I mean everything is grey. Grey walls, grey carpet, grey bathrooms and grey kitchen.

It's depressing. We have plans to move out of this house in about 5 years time but we're about to spend a couple thousand redoing everything. Carpets/walls/furniture.

Are we BU? Is the grey thing going to stick around for years and we've wasted money putting everything back to neutral?

Want2bSupermum a lot of people don't use primer, buy cheap paint and then complain that they spent a lot because they had to do 3-4 coats.

Lol @tilda. Really?

It’s called 1 coat of emulsion and then 4 coats of kitchen paint, smart arse.

Feel free to come around though and decorate for me though if you know better.

And Tulsa, it was Dulux paint.

You are going to live in this house for at least 5 years. That’s a long time to ‘settle’ on something for the sake of selling. I did it for 10 years (I was the queen of beige) with the idea of always having it prepped for selling. And then we split up and my ex moved out, and I decided to decorate my house in the way I wanted, and not to give a thought about selling. My house is now a riot of yellows, and aquas, and teals and cerises, and it’s not to everyone’s taste, but to me it’s fabulous, and warm and welcoming and interesting. If and when I sell, I may paint the whole thing white, but until then I’ll live in the moment and enjoy living in my space, not what I think a complete stranger might enjoy in five years.

We will have to agree to disagree @touchmybum

IMO grey decor is the vilest of the vile IMO, and as has been observed on this thread, is loathed by many, and makes a home difficult to sell. SO it's not just me who thinks grey is minging..... You are WELL outnumbered on here.

I don't think all these people can be wrong..............

Love magnolia or not, a house with walls painted in it, will be far more appealing to most than grubby depressing grey.

It's a fad, pure and simple, and one that is dying out fast. You carry on with your amazing colour-matching of all your various greys, whilst the rest of the world moves on to more interesting and less depressing colours.........

*tilda

animal I'll pass, I already have a job.

I love your hall visitorsentrance very striking, I’m sure I would love your house.

Reminds me of Mrs hinch’s new build, yuck! I would def spend to re do

I agree @titsywoo having a house full of grey DOES smack of a lack of imagination. People with all grey through the house, often have a bit of a dull personality, and are trying to look cool and edgy with various greys throughout the house.

Shame they don't realise the grey trend is deader than Westlife.

Grey isn't bad per se. NOTHING is bad per se, and nothing is good per se - it depends on taste, how it's done, etc. There are lovely, classic stately homes with grey walls and they are beautiful. Many famous Farrow & Ball paints are shades of grey - an elegant colour that goes with everything.

What I dislike is the cheap brothel aesthetics of invading BM Bargains, buying every silver/crushed velved/mirrored/diamanté/furry tat under the sun and plaster it all over the place. EVERYTHING is grey and shiny and the owners seem to think it's tasteful when in fact it's like "vajazzling" the house. Everybody does it. Every "i love my new build" instagrammer does it. This look was never good and is getting tired now.

Stay away from this OTT aesthetics, buy good quality furniture (second hand works), avoid clutter/useless shiny thing-me-bobs and stay true to what you like. If that means changing everything to beige, so be it. Carpets and paints are cheap, and you don't have to replace the whole kitchen; just paint the cupboards.

Grey started as a fad around six years ago. If you went and looked at Knight Frank or Saviles, all the most expensive houses were done out in grey. Now they are all white or neutral. That says to me that this is a fad coming to its end. The grey fad seems to have percolated down to B&M and Home Bargains. That’s a very good sign something will soon be out of fashion, most people are aspirational in their choice of decorations, so the sort of thing you can pick up in Poundland is not on their radar.

White is not a practical choice for most people, so I would say neutral is probably the way to go. I have noticed that there does seem to be a trend for darker neutrals like olive greens and warm browns as opposed to Magnolia.

I never understood the grey fad. If you've ever spent any length of time away from the UK and then come back here you will notice that nearly everything is grey here - buildings, clothing, uniforms, complexions, the sky. I just don't know why anyone would want to add to that by painting their house grey???

OP - just do a quick white wash of the whole house and then decide where you want to add a bit of colour. White paint is cheap.

I wish people would stop saying pop of colour, it makes me a bit stabby

Me too. It invokes an image of balloons popping over various parts of the house and plopping bright coloured powder like a colour run.

How about introducing something like this colour, I think these rooms look lovely, grey is a neutral so can go with so many colours.

"olive greens and warm browns" remind me of NEXT Home palettes from 2005. And the soon the furry cushions and silver velvet trend hits Poundland, the better.

And another vote against "pops of colour" - the expression and the trend. Reminds me of the "colours" line at Argos, usually red, purple or lime green.

I agree it’s the overkill that killed grey. Used sparingly, it’s fine, but house with grey walls, grey carpets, and grey furniture in every room are really off putting.

Goes in cycles greencoat, something that was in Next 13 years ago is probably something just about due a revival.

I recently moved into a place that has grey walls in the lounge, I hated it at first but It has really grown on me.

I bought these canvas prints and they work so well with a neutral tone, was the best thing I have bought online for a while.

shopbunnies.com/collections/frontpage/products/rabbit-art-canvas

i.imgur.com/ikmJZ2r.png

We had F&B Elephants Breath on the walls in our bedroom in our last house. It was gorgeous and warm and not at all depressing (we had the original dark red tiles round the fire and touches of red elsewhere).

We've just moved house and there has definitely been a bit of not very well done 'grey is fashionable' going on here so we have dodgy blue grey lino in the bathroom and office grey carpet in the playroom (we've painted the room white and added an orange sofa, carpet still has a few years in it yet though so we'll live with it). But the magnolia everywhere else annoys me more, after living in a predominantly white house it feels very dingy and will be going soon.

I think the problem with all of these fads magnolia, cream, white, now grey is just when people do the whole house in the same bland neutrals wth no design, style or character. There's nothing intrinsically wrong in using grey as a neutral in one or two places. However if you want a country cottage buy one, they lend themselves to actual decor, soulless boxes don't and wind up being painted the same 'fashionable neutral' throughout because the developer bought it by the gallon and the people in the estate bought a house there because it was a suitable option, they either didn't want to decorate or bought a house for practical rather than emotional reasons, and are happy with identikit houses, gardens, commutes, SUVs on the drive etc. Nothing wrong with that but don't buy into it then complain.

Yes- well worth redecorating and recarpeting, even if it's all in good condition. ( Can you pass on the old carpets to a charity?) I'm not a big fan of grey and when it's EVERYWHERE , it's just so grim. I was buying new sofas about 5 years ago when it was THE colour in the shops. I'm so glad I didn't succumb ( went for midnight blue velvet and still love it).
So, yes, redo everything or you'll have to start pairing anything new that you buy, to a colour scheme you can't stand. It would surely drive you mad to live in a grey world for 5 years, even with pops of other colours.

Twenty years ago new builds were all cream/magnolia with light wood (or laminate!) floors. That became very boring, so is probably ripe for revival. I think you have to pick colours that suit your house- the Victorian grey hall a Pp just posted looks lovely. A country cottage would probably be super dark. My house is mainly yellow with bits of warm red- would not suit in a modern light flat. But when people are putting their houses up to sell they often go for the latest “neutral” and right now that does still seem to be grey.

We've painted our newly bought house white throughout and then use paintings and pictures and accessories to add colour. Easier to sell on

And Tulsa, it was Dulux paint.
But was it Dulux trade? That’ll cover a dark colour in a coat or two.