I’m thinking about doing some redecorating this summer. Not the whole house, but a few of the rooms. Maybe the half bath, dining room to start with. We will have been here 20 years in May and most of the rooms have not been painted in at least 10 years. I’m not really into the whole “50 shades of grey” thing, but H will want something that looks “modern” if we update. What about it? Can I come in on the cusp of a new wave of color and light?
We painted our interior of our house two years ago. We chose colors WE liked. You know…the next owners can repaint if they don’t like our choices.
The main living areas on the main floor are a creamy off white with a very little yellow tinge in them. The half bath is an off white with a pink tinge. The mudroom is a color called desert sand…that’s what it looks like.
Bedrooms are all upstairs. Master is a light blue because I like light blue. Master bath is that desert sand color.
Son’s bedroom is the same blue as the master. DD’s bedroom is the same as the main living areas down stairs.
Extra room/Office is desert sand.
And the hall bathroom is a pale aqua.
We love it. And that’s what matters.
Believe it or not…the colors really are sort of neutral.
I had to look up “greige.”
Paint is the easiest thing to change. Paint your rooms whatever colors make you happy. If you decide to sell at some point, it’s no biggie to slap whatever the latest look is onto your walls.
When I lived abroad in a modern building, the apartment was painted a very light grey color with white ceiling (trimming). It made the rooms feel very cool/light, and it was a very nice back drop for paintings. I found it to be much better than white or cream color. When it is time to paint my apartment, it is the color I would go with.
Oh my…I learned that gray is not always gray. A year ago, I really wanted to paint one of the common areas gray. I hate to admit this… after 27 sample quarts and 3 complete paintings each time thinking “this is it”, ended up with Sherwin Williams Bungalow Beige. Not learning my lesson, six months later I went through the same exercise (only this time looking for griege) with the 2 story living room and ended up with a darker warm brown that makes me feel cozy.
My goodness, there are green grays and yellow grays and pink grays and dead body colored grays.
I think if you like gray and you wear gray, then you will be happy with gray.
I did read somewhere that Edgecombe gray by Benjamin Moore is quite popular.
Our house is painted “Coconut,” I think by Benjamin Moore. As we painted over peach covered walls, it looked very gray and made me a little nervous. Now that all the peach is gone, the walls just look an off white to me, with lighter cream trim. You would never walk in my home and describe our walls as gray. I really like it and would probably use it again.
Light, art, furniture, and window coverings can really influence how your paint colors are perceived by the eye.
@Kajon We redid our master bath last year. I went to Benjamin Moore with our tile, countertop and cabinet sample and picked out what was most definitely a greige color. Posted about it on Facebook and a friend asked what color. When I said “edgecomb gray” she said that a lot of people she knew had also used that color. So it clearly is a very popular color but I laugh that I picked it out without knowing it was a very popular color.
We started out looking for griege but ended up with a little blue in it which suited us perfectly.
As above posters have stated - go with the colors YOU like. Forget fashion- no one else has to live in your house, you do. Enjoy your surroundings. If you plan on certain colors check on the availability of compatible bed linens, towels, curtains et al- assuming those will need replacing.
Gray- if it makes you happy, soothes you… Likewise for blues, greens, beiges… (I dislike yellow and generally avoid it). We had gray tones in our last house and went with the tan ones for this one for a change. Likewise the blue/green bath/bedroom colors got reversed. That “next owner” can do their thing. We replaced far too much pink of various shades (cabinets, counters, wallpaper, floors) in this house- what were they thinking 30 years ago!!!
^lol, our half-bath still has the original dusty rose toilet, sink, towel bar and t-p holder. The walls are kind of mauve and we called it “the pink potty” for years. The floor used to be light grey but we had to replace it after a catastrophe 17 years ago. I’m thinking all the pink has to go.
And yes, our house will be 31 this year…
Lol on the pink potty. We have the “purple bathroom” in our house. House was built in 1965 and the master bath has purple wall tile, purple and white patterned floor tile, and a purple sink. There used to be a purple toilet but that had to be replaced. We keep saying we are going to redo the room but have somehow never gotten around to it.
Oh you can definitely be modern and have color! Confess I’m not a greige fan, more of a blue and green gal, and don’t see too many of my friends having it, except maybe in a new construction home. A half bath is a great place to dip your brush into some colors (haha maybe not a pink potty, although I do have fond memories of a pink bathroom growing up). Good luck 
wis75, I just had a millennium explain to me why their store suddenly had so much baby pink in it…
it is the signature color for their generation because “anyone can wear pink, right?”. 
Yes, Grey is on its way out according to the head designer of our large furniture store in the city. Saying that, I don’t think one should be held a skate by what’s in or out at the moment. I think you should take into account your wood color, or if it’s painted and overall like/dislike of a color. I like creams and beige. I’ll probably do those the rest of my life…and it will be fun the few years they are in style!
My suggestion is to choose your colors based on how long you plan to stay in the house. If you think you will be selling within 10 years make sure you paint neutral colors. Neutrals will ensure your house sells faster and will bring you more money. If not and you want to add color, go for it.
It is also important to make sure all of your colors have a flow from room to room. They can be different colors but need to compliment and coordinate each other.
There are many, many neutrals that are off the white shades to pull from. The best way to check them out is to compare them to a piece of true white trim and you will see the contrast. For inspiration look at some of Joanna Gaine’s work. Personally I like neutrals with paint and then add color to the room with accessories. This way you can change the color with the seasons or as your tastes and trends change.
A wonderful greige is Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. Another neutral i like is Sandstone by Behr. Many of the grays can appear blue or even lilac. One way to get color ideas to choose from is to Google “reviews of Benjamin Moore Grays”. (or try any brand of paint) You can often see reviews from designers or reviews from real people’s experiences. Choosing paint is challenging but it’s such a wonderful freshness added to any space.
^^^
We have revere pewter in out family room and love it. I just painted the hall in the same color and I am amazed how different it looks with the lack of light. It has a blue undertone ( almost aqua). It was painted on green and I think it is coming through. It looks great! We are doing a major renovation and I am tempted to use the same color throughout as it looks very different in each room.
My entire house, built in 1978, was covered in country blue and mauve wallpaper. I removed every bit of it and painted most of the house a cream color (yellow undertones) with some rooms an antique gold (tan). I had wallpaper in both bathrooms, the kitchen, formal dining, entry and living room. The only rooms without pink were the bedrooms. What were people thinking back then. LOL And I saw something on Facebook that said pink is coming back.
A popular “greige” in my area is Sherwin-Williams’ “Agreeable Gray.”
Did anyone else read the article on the backstory of the popular color Spalding Gray?
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/books/spalding-gray-the-color-its-a-long-story.html
@“Snowball City” Thanks! A wonderful article.
I’m in favor of painting your house the colors that YOU like, look good with your stuff, and make you happy. I can’t imagine living in a house painted some boring color for 10 years because maybe you’ll want to move some day.
That’s like putting plastic covers on the furniture or keeping the “good” china for some hypothetical guests.
If you want a new look, go for it, but only if it is something you really like. When we bought this house, it was covered in truly hideous cheap vinyl wall paper. I know tastes differ, but trust me on this. B-) I had all of the wall paper removed, and painted most of it. I had a William Morris paper put up in the large center hall, and the colors had to work with that. After 5 or 10 years, I realized that the colors were just too cold, especially in the winter. So I went from a BM slightly pink off white in the parlor to BMHC Princeton Gold: a saturated kind of Chinese gold/mustardyish color. (visible in avatar) Huge change! In the dining room I went from a BMHC color I love, Abingdon Putty, to a slightly warmer, more saturated color that balanced the new color across the hall, Henderson Buff. (It looks greener in the room.)
I’m very sensitive to resale, but even I think that’s silly. Paint is easy to change, and not that expensive. If one decides to sell and the real estate agent believes current paint colors are going to negatively impact the sale, it’s no big deal to paint it a neutral color. It really isn’t.