To want to know, what is the new 'grey'?

[ForeverInADay]

Inspired shamelessly by a thread I just read BUT if painting whole houses grey (I am almost guilty of doing planning this) will soon be out of fashion, much as white and before that, magnolia - what do you think the new grey will be?!

I have over half a house left to paint but zero artistic flare! If I'm left to my own devices it will all go grey as I like my calm grey kitchen and living room. Now I think I may need saving from myself!

Help Mumsnet?!

Our hall has been mustard for well over 20 years, we paint it a slightly different shade every so often, if you stick to the same colour it only needs one coat, it's F&B Hay at the moment.

When I finally get my own house I’ll be going grey and purple 😊

Grey is so dated it’s back in again, it’s the Pantone colour of the year 2021, a proper mid grey though like jogging bottoms with no brown tones along with ‘illuminating’ (yellow). We had lots of grey in our last house but it was the greige trend, so lots of elephants breath/moles breath, creamy grey.

New house we’re white with grey/black kitchen and dark blue living room, kids rooms are turquoise and sea green. Dh wants to paint staircases grey. Tbh I like white, it goes with everything and I can’t be bothered to chose new colours, especially as downstairs house is open plan. I’m a designer but I’m done with it, along with everything mid-pandemic, it’s white or nothing (although it really shows the grime from kids, white stairs are no fun either).

I don't understand why people don't just use the colours they like or want in their homes. Why does so called fashion get a look in other than in maybe inspiring the uninspired?

I think also we can't just imagine that most people can choose any colour they like- most people, unless they are very wealthy and can have things made, have to choose from the decor available in the large stores, B & Q, B & M, or classier John Lewis, but it's still quite limited in terms of palate. There's still a lot of grey, mustard and pale pink about, plus the darker teal/navy stuff in the more expensive stores. It's quite hard to genuinely pick out any old thing when B and Q had (a couple of years back anyway) about 20 styles of grey curtains and a few others!

Teal

@RaininSummer

I don't understand why people don't just use the colours they like or want in their homes. Why does so called fashion get a look in other than in maybe inspiring the uninspired?

I haven’t liked the same things my entire life. I like things for a bit (years usually), then my tastes change or I see something and thing ‘Oh I really like that, I want it’. It isn’t indicative of an unstable personality disorder or anything. It’s perfectly normal to change your mind in life, or fancy a little change.

We're all influenced by fashion whether we admit it or not. I bet 99% of us have a white bathroom suite and neutral carpets or wooden flooring and a high percentage will have a white or cream kitchen. Those are fashions just as much as a feature wall of any colour or wallpaper or panelling or circular mirrors. Whereas our parents and grandparents has patterned flooring, colourful bathroom suites and wooden kitchens.

House decoration does date and while a small minority are serial decorators most people decorate once and live with that look until it's looking very shabby. It's fine to then repaint and reupholster or buy a new cushion to replace the one falling apart.

@JaninaDuszejko

We're all influenced by fashion whether we admit it or not. I bet 99% of us have a white bathroom suite and neutral carpets or wooden flooring and a high percentage will have a white or cream kitchen. Those are fashions just as much as a feature wall of any colour or wallpaper or panelling or circular mirrors. Whereas our parents and grandparents has patterned flooring, colourful bathroom suites and wooden kitchens.

House decoration does date and while a small minority are serial decorators most people decorate once and live with that look until it's looking very shabby. It's fine to then repaint and reupholster or buy a new cushion to replace the one falling apart.

Sadly, I have a very dated wooden kitchen. Unfortunately (for me) it’s excellent quality and looks good as new, albeit ‘2000’ new, so I can’t justify replacing it.

@TheOneWithTheBigNose just paint the cabinets. If it’s wood it should be easy.

I’m trying to decide between painting my kitchen cupboards white or grey and loosing my mind over it - likewise, the tiles?

IME choosing a colour for your house is so much more difficult than what is on trend, you have to think about the light, existing furniture and the other colours already in other rooms. There are also a million shades of teal and blue so you’d still have to pick the right one. If you’re not feeling very confident Farrow and Ball do an online session with one of their colour consultants for about £100 an hour (I’ve been thinking about this for my hallway as the light is really odd and as it’s the first place you go into I really want to get it right). It sounds like a lot of money but if it saves you having to spend on a decorator twice it would save you at least that. www.farrow-ball.com/colour-consultancy

@Bananabuddy3

I’m trying to decide between painting my kitchen cupboards white or grey and loosing my mind over it - likewise, the tiles?

I think grey looks better painted, a light dove grey. I would do white tiles.

[quote MinnieMous3]@TheOneWithTheBigNose just paint the cabinets. If it’s wood it should be easy.[/quote]
Yeah it’s on my to do list. Problem is the tiles need replacing too as they’re hideously dated, and the worktops match the tiles/cabinets, so it becomes a slightly bigger job. Will do if after replacing the awful (but again good quality) bathrooms and getting rid of the artex ceilings.

@NCkitchen

Ooooh I've been in to teal for YEARS, and just getting rid of it now.

Going for dark green, and sagey green now

but no idea if they are "on trend"

I’m guessing you haven’t read any of the posts on here saying greens are the new trend then?

@Backtoschool101

I plan a navy feature wall for my bedroom then rose gold accessories. Like a geometric styled side table with a rose gold frame and a velvet pink foot stool etc

Oh Backtoschool. There’s no hope for you is there.

@Ahbahbahbah

Mustard, teal and navy are all “on trend” right now which means in 5 years time they’ll be horribly dated.

Grey is honestly already dated.

My next house will be entirely magnolia and I don’t care :)

Gawwwd magnolia is worse than grey shudder white would be better!

Well I did a bit of a make over all through about 4 years ago and wanted grey all through ( F&B...cornforth white, worsted, ammonite) which was ok but felt like I struggled to inject colour with accessories so have just redecorated all through, again with F&B (leyland colour match) and gone with greens...mizzle, french grey....sulking room pink downstairs loo and elephants breath in kitchen. Love the lot. Finding the green warm and comforting and has lifted the grey carpets and suite. Greens go great with the oak furniture too. Not picked because of trends, just love green and never felt brave enough to do it. So glad I did!
Have added plants to rooms and now considering throws/cushions to tie in.

@UnconsideredTrifles

I was looking at paint in Wickes last week - apparently a sort of poo brown is the colour of 2021. Covers a multitude of sins with small children, I suppose...

😂😂

Magnolia had its day for about 20 years so I don’t think magnolia is the new trend at all, certainly not for paint. I remember being 18 moving in with my friend and ‘neutral magnolia’ was amazing. I’m now sick to the back teeth of it so my house won’t have it for the foreseeable. I imagine other people will also have sickened themselves.

Even if magazines etc try to make it ‘now in’, I think most adults that remember having magnolia walls, brown leather sofas etc will be sick to the back teeth of it so I don’t think it will be the ‘in colour’ at all.

I think white walls as a neutral base and then coloured everything else.

@missymousey

Since we can't actually go anywhere, I'm heading for full-on backpacker decor: Moroccan lanterns, kilim rugs, throws with bits of mirror glass sewn in. And sunshine yellow walls. I don't care if it's not in, I need it!

Sounds lovely! It’s always been my dream to have a yellow front door.

my whole house house is grey even my windows! (Previous owners) I quite like it and don’t plan to change it anytime soon

This is great news that the new grey neutral might be back to beiges. I never really embraced grey and always preferred warmer creams and beiges.
Not sure I agree that navy is replacing grey in the same way that grey sort of replaced magnolia - I think there’ll always need to be that staple neutral. No one would paint their whole house navy.... would they? 🤔

Greige

@Iwishiwereheather

Pretty certain it’s brown, beige and neutrals - Scandi with pampas grass kind of vibes.

Great, these are the colours of my house for 5 years, so it will be trendy at last!

Op, just go with what you like, I recently painted my sons bedroom very light lime yellow and its lovely