Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think grey decor is so dull?

185 replies

NachoNachoMan · 26/08/2020 23:39

Looking at houses for sale. Not to move, just to have a nosy. There is so much grey! Is it just me or is it a bit boring and samey?

For example... I found this, and whilst it's a lovely house, the decor is so... grey and boring!

www.fineandcountry.com/uk/property-for-sale/richmond/kt8-9bs/1728661

It's like the photos have been taken with a b&w filter on!

There's so many of my friends who have painted a room / rooms / the whole house grey... but I love a bit of colour! Fine to want something neutral, but I think beige/creams are much nicer & warmer.

YABU = grey is great & less is more
YANBU = grey is dull, gimme some colour!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
DotTheCaddy · 27/08/2020 08:48

AIBU to think that the MN obsession with hating on grey is more dull than grey itself?

The80sweregreat · 27/08/2020 08:48

The grey in our kitchen works as it's not everywhere you don't really notice it that much.
I did say to dh it was a bit ' battleship ' but he liked it. We can paint over it in a few years once the trend changes.
In every room would be too much. One bedroom has teal blue on the walls and that's quite nice.

seayork2020 · 27/08/2020 08:51

I don't like grey, I don't even like my stainless steel (whatever it is made of) fridge or kettle but practical and best buy at the time let alone decor and i hate new build grey houses

I am not commenting on others liking grey i just dont like it personally

Mypathtriedtokillme · 27/08/2020 08:51

10 years ago when 1st married and moving into our 1st home, we painted our house 90 shades of blah. (beige, greys, creams etc)
But at the time we didn’t really know what we liked.
I find all grey (soft finishing included) is a bit soulless.

Now? Loads of bold or bright colours.
Our kids picked their room colour and we chose the shades.
One is a mid purple and the other is a dusky pink while our bedroom is now a sunny yellow.

It’s only paint you can always change it.

Stripping paint off wood work is the fucking worst but painting walls is kinda relaxing.
I say that as someone who thought it would be a good idea to strip the skirting boards of all its chipped many layers of lead paint. It was a shit idea about a billion km in but too late to stop.

TwentyViginti · 27/08/2020 08:58

@CyberNan

are you having a laugh...? that house is stunning.

I think its more unreasonable that you have a "nosy" at other peoples homes when you don't have a serious intent.

get a life and stop snooping into other peoples living rooms.

Don't be so fucking ridiculous. Those pics are in the public domain.
Emeraldshamrock · 27/08/2020 09:05

AIBU to think that the MN obsession with hating on grey is more dull than grey itself? Yanbu 🤣

The80sweregreat · 27/08/2020 09:06

Our old dining room had fake dark wooden beams as the previous owner liked the ' cottage look'
They were taken down within weeks and it really opened out the room. Why people like them ( or real ones) I've no idea but we're all different.
The previous owner probably wouldn't like the house as we have it now as it much more modern / open looking.
I admit that new houses are very bland ; before I even look at the photos online I know how it will look!

TwentyViginti · 27/08/2020 09:06

@MistressMounthaven

The Sunday Times Home pull out had rooms resembling a junk shop so I suspect we are getting ready for a change in style. With a Covid winter approaching I would think the fashion will become more bright and cheery.
Much more to my taste! colour, pattern and cosiness.
Menora · 27/08/2020 09:08

Not everyone likes dark and moody colours, however ‘opulent’ people think this looks in a modern house it doesn’t work for me. A period house - probably looks a lot better. You also have to be good at decorating and painting to pull it off otherwise it can look a bit shoddy.

not everyone wants to live in a house that has bright colours in it. I had to paint over all the walls in my house that had dark blues and greens and a bright yellow as it was like living in a dingy tacky cave, also it was all over the ceiling and radiators. I’ve painted it all white and it’s so much brighter, airy and uplifting. Then I can have items of colour in pictures and soft furnishings.

There are plenty of other neutral colours people like apart from grey, and paired with white they make rooms look lighter and airy. This is why it is ‘trendy’ as dark colours are hard to get rid of from a house buying perspective and make rooms look smaller. I kind of think if you have a new build house that has the interior from the movie Dracula it looks odd and weird, these houses are small already and making rooms look smaller and dark if you are trying to sell it can often go against you. If you are selling your house and someone is looking at 30 feet of navy blue paint they don’t like that would take 7 coats of white to get rid of it might put you off. that’s probably why people might paint it white/grey prior to selling.

WanderingMilly · 27/08/2020 09:11

Absolutely gorgeous house, so beautiful, wish I could afford it!
The colours are a bit samey, I like greys with a little more pale blue in them (more Scandi style), less white and lots of splashes of colour in the furnishings, curtain fabrics, pictures and so on. But that's fairly cosmetic....

MagentaRocks · 27/08/2020 09:14

Another 'I don't like grey' thread. People have different tastes. I like grey. We have just decorated. White walls and grey or white furniture. We have given it some colour with blue accessories. If i decide on a whim to have a different colour scheme I can just change the accessories and it will give it a new look.

Yesterdayforgotten · 27/08/2020 09:17

Grey fine but needs splash of colour and I wouldn’t have it downstairs but okay in a bedroom.

The80sweregreat · 27/08/2020 09:17

It is a beautiful house. Anyone lucky enough to buy it could give it a lift in some of the more dull rooms with some coloured paint etc but mostly it's very nice. I'd have to win the lottery to buy it , but its not bad!

Menora · 27/08/2020 09:19

Looking at that house in the OP, some of the ceilings are low in the bedrooms. Probably why they have left it light. It gives the illusion of being huge (already large) with huge airy light rooms. It’s for sale - anyone who wants to buy it can paint it, have their own colours in it. It’s pretty standard to sell a house in neutral as you are displaying the property, not selling the decor. If anyone took from this listing that the house is ‘boring’ when it overlooks a Royal Park, is Grade II listed, it has a beautiful exterior, 8 bedrooms and everything in it is brand spanking new then I think you are just being facetious. It’s got 1 grey kitchen island, grey soft furnishings and very pale grey bathroom wall. Everything else is white or cream and I’m sure is a nice blank canvas for whatever the next owner wants to do to it instead of trying to undo something gastly

FudgeBrownie2019 · 27/08/2020 09:19

@DotTheCaddy

AIBU to think that the MN obsession with hating on grey is more dull than grey itself?
YANBU at all! So much condescension "only very dull, uninspired people paint their homes grey". Only very dull, uninspiring people give a massive shit about strangers homes.

Nowhere in our house is grey, simply because it's not for me. Others can fill their boots with it.

Elbels · 27/08/2020 09:22

We have low ceilings and only one room downstairs (tiny house). Having a warm light grey means that it feels much lighter in here than a louder colour. I've accessorised with a rug, cushions and plants.

My PiL would think this house is boring, I think theirs is clashing, too busy and dark. Horses for courses innit!

AriesTheRam · 27/08/2020 09:28

Ours is grey and pale pink.Not for everyone but certainly not dull imo.

AIBU to think grey decor is so dull?
Cocomarine · 27/08/2020 09:31

@DotTheCaddy

AIBU to think that the MN obsession with hating on grey is more dull than grey itself?
Grin yep!

I opened this with my usual smile to myself. Still living with the grey I painted 7 years ago, still liking it.

I also have wallpaper in my house that the decorator said, “you’re brave” and the shop said, “we wondered if anyone would ever choose this.” All visitors comment on it - multicoloured, bright, in your face, unusual.

Of course, my grey is “dull” whereas the wallpaper is “you’re so imaginative”... and yet - both are chosen by seeing someone else use them on Houzz 🤷🏻‍♀️

Choose what you like, and get over judging other people for what they like.

autumnhare · 27/08/2020 09:35

Surely the whole point of decorating your own home is making it your own taste and what you like. And given that everyone is so different we're not all going to like each others taste. I personally like a minimal home with muted/neutral colours (white, very light green and yes SHOCK HORROR! I have a very light grey in my bedroom) because it makes me feel calm and relaxed when I'm at home. Would certainly not sneer at anyone who had different taste as me.

Similarly, I really like to dress colourfully but would never say someone is 'boring' or 'uninspired' for wearing a more neutral palette 🤔

If someone's home is grey top to bottom but it makes them happy then crack right on I say! Doesn't impact me at all.

Plussizejumpsuit · 27/08/2020 09:41

@NachoNachoMan it isn't for me. But I suspect a lot of the dislike is a class thing. Like Mrs Hinch is thought of as tack because she is working class. However it's really tacky of you to post a link to someone's home online and talk trask about it. We have these threads all the time. Yes it's boring just move on and decorate your home how you want.

mrshonda · 27/08/2020 09:41

The house I rent at the moment was completely mid grey when I moved in. Fortunately the landlady said I could redecorate with anything neutral or pale. Much as I like grey, there can be too much of a good thing. Before I repainted, it was like living on a bloody battleship.

Laiste · 27/08/2020 09:41

That house! I mean ..... 6 and a half million £ and all the rooms look the bloody same!

With your average house where every room generally has to serve multiple purposes and are lived in all day every day (ie living room is also for games/TV/reading/eating sometimes) then it makes sense to have something very neutral. But in a big fuck off house like the one in the link there's no excuse for that looking stunning and very individual at least in a few of the rooms!

Serendipity79 · 27/08/2020 09:44

I love grey, my house is various shades of it. It is personal taste that's all. I don't consider myself as following any kind of trend, or being a terribly boring person, or any of the other weird and horrid comments about grey on here. I find it a relaxing colour and I'm quite a minimalist as well in terms of furniture and clutter.

My friend has a passion for colour, and her house is decorated accordingly. I love her to bits but going for a cuppa and moving from brightly painted room to another brightly painted room and avoiding all the "stuff" she tends to collect gives me a headache! But I wouldn't go on the internet and slate her for it, she's just a lovely person with a passion for yellow!

When you're selling a house, neutral can be much better because people can visualise their own stamp on a place. If I went into a house that had bright colours, all I would think about is how much it would cost me to redecorate immediately and how many coats of paint it would take to put it to my own taste. With white/grey/beige you're looking at 1, maybe 2 coats and you don't have to do it all straight away - a house painted canary yellow? at least 2 or 3 coats and I'd have to do it immediately.

Alltheprettyseahorses · 27/08/2020 09:50

I thinks it's a gorgeous house and would move in now (if only). I wouldn't paint rooms grey myself but if people like it and it makes them happy, it's great. I did see a PP say pale, Regency colours would be better - Regency colours would have been bright, almost dayglow (only slight exaggeration) rather than the faded shades we see today, which only look like that because the pigment has gone.

For the next big interiors trend, my money's on full-on, lush Arts & Crafts styling with the associated deep forest colours, patterns, heavy fabrics and dark wood.

The80sweregreat · 27/08/2020 09:57

I like pink but dh and my children wouldn't like it and we all have to agree as we all have to live here so we compromise a lot.
The teal blue we have is ok : a bit dark for my taste , but it's not my bedroom!
It's hard getting a balance sometimes.
The duck egg blue we painted on over magnolia during lockdown looks more light green , but it's fine , just not how I expected it to look.

Swipe left for the next trending thread