What is the new grey?

[SausageAndCash]

I moved into my house a little while ago and am thinking about redecorating.

It is a mid terrace, with the lounge and dining room knocked through, open plan to hall. natural light from the kitchen at the rear (morning sun) and front room windows (afternoon sun) . So mid section darker.

It is currently a very pale grey throughout the front room and dining area. White in the kitchen. Works quite well. But grey is causing much shudderment on MN!

My sofa is teal (Zinc) , furniture tending to mid century. Nothing flowery.

What is the new grey?

Instead of worrying about the next big thing , why not paint your home in the colour you like yourself . Buy lots of tester pots and see which one fits the room best .

@maybee was about to say the same. Choose a colour you like, whether it’s magnolia, grey, or another colour.

I really don't understand why you would do this. If someone said bright orange is the new grey but you hate it would you still paint your house that colour?

I live in the same style of house. We chose a warm white, semi gloss to bounce the light. I think it was Dulux. It looks fresh and light.

I think grey causes a shudder because that was the only colour used, and everything was tonal grey. We have pale grey in some rooms but you wouldn’t notice as we also have colour alongside it. Pale grey will look lovely with your teal sofa, but then so would a very pale lemon if you wanted something different.

Maybe the OP is asking what the next big colour it so she can avoid it!

Stop searching for the new grey and focus on your own preferences. The reason grey is so ridiculed now is because so many people do not have an original thought in their head, they don't think 'what do I like?' they think 'what colour do other people think I shoudl paint the inside of my own home?'.

FWIW the new grey is dusky pink/putty I believe, at least in kitchens/bathrooms and fashion accessories.

I am doing my bedroom blue, because blue is a colour I feel like painting my beroom.

Thank you for the warm white and lemon suggestions.

I have been thinking about white throughout, but it can look less good in darker areas. A chalky smudgy pale lemon could work.

Mostly I am just curious about what has replaced grey as a go to colour. The ‘tonal’ thing makes sense.

Yes, had not thought of that! If so, OP I apologise!

Grey is fine! What matters is whether or not you like it. Easy to splash colour around too. Personally I’m a fan of orange…

Sulking Room Pink. It’s in every middle-class interiors magazine alongside Crittall style doors and odd-shaped vases.

I've got a teal sofa and painted my walls the palest turquoise. They look white but aren't, iyswim, and IMO it looks great

Chalky ‘calamine’ pinks seem popular with all types of green. In your position I’d probably want an ochre or wallpapered wall

I think you need to work with the light in those rooms and it's impossible to tell what will work even from a theoretical perspective. I loved F&B Light blue in my east facing bathroom - it's warm, a bit green...leans towards French Grey - I thought it would be perfect in my east-facing living room but there it looks cold and icy, no warmth at all. I'm wanting something restful, a pale, warm background on the walls, some rusts possibly from wood or pottery and greenery from plants and maybe some art work. I think the lighter shades are harder to get right, they seem to take on more colour from their surroundings so it's trial and error.

I read op's Q as asking what the new neutral was, so hardly likely to be bright orange

For me I've been using softer whites.

You all sound so good with colour.

The grey is looking Ok in the evening sun, but a bit dead and gloomy in the middle section of the space.

I have looked up Sulking Room Pink now. Won’t be using that!

Perhaps liking F&B Borrowed Light blue.

Get a couple of sample pots and try it at different points in the room and at different heights. Put the samples in the same order (we do alphabetical) and look at them in a couple of days.

Don’t forget about the impact that lights can have and that you can change your lights. We have a pale grey in our living room (with a dark mustard feature wall, so we break all MN rules) with a teal sofa. Our living room is two rooms with the front half being lighter and the back half darker. In the front half we have cool lights which make the grey lighter, brighter and more white. In the back half of the living room we have warm light and it makes the grey a bit more purple, it’s kind of a Parma violet colour. I’ve not described it very well but I think it works quite well and works well to create two spaces (one half is my desk and the other half is the couch and TV) whilst still looking cohesive.

Thank you, that’s helpful.

LOL, once the tester pot patches are up, I have to do it!

Honestly, I just love white because it never dates, is so easy to touch up and cheap to just get someone in to refresh - I get it repainted every year downstairs and every two upstairs. I have a fair bit of art so I use that to add interest and colour.

You get it painted every year?! Is that because of marks? We’ve lived here for 8 years and there are rooms we haven’t repainted yet and im now wondering if that’s really awful 😳

I don't know what the new grey is but I think the main thing to avoid is just "all grey" rather than grey itself, if that's why you're asking.

All my rooms are different colours from pale to dark to bright, I just choose colours I like. Two rooms have grey walls but nothing else is grey so they don't feel like "grey" rooms and you don't really notice the colour of the walls tbh.

I love white too - but the front of my house is north-facing and white is just bloody awful, feels cold and grim.

Exactly the same style of house here and we went for Dulux Almond White throughout the entire downstairs, stairs and landing. It is fresh and gorgeous. It was the same grey as yours before but looks way better now

I hope there’s never a”new” grey. Go with what suits your home and tastes.

personally, I started by doing all the skirtings, doors and frames in a soft white (they were all different wood shades, so that helped giving a cohesive look.

I then chose a neutral colour (in my case, Portland Stone from Little Green), but varied it by their “depth” options in different rooms, plus added some accent colour in a few rooms. It means that everything looks crisp and clean. And I can add “flavour” with curtains, bed linen etc.

My view has always been if you’re not planning on selling anytime soon, just go with whatever you want, don’t worry about trends. It’s your home - go with what you love!