Around 5-10 years ago, gray became a huge trend in interior design, particularly in paint color. For decades, beige dominated the suburban household walls but as gray became more popular, beige’s dominance waned. With the rise in popularity of HGTV shows like Fixer Upper with Chip & Joanna Gaines, farmhouse chic, with its grey, blue, green, and white color palette started showing up in nearly every home in America. Because gray has been dominating the decor scene for several years now the question has been posed by many. “Is gray going away?” The short answer is “no”, and here’s why...
Gray is a neutral.
Neutrals can be paired with almost any color and play a supporting role in design. While you may have a whole room painted gray, gray is typically not the dominant color in the space. It creates a neutral backdrop for more vibrant colors to take center stage. This is one of the major reasons gray isn’t going anywhere in the foreseeable future. Bold colors can be trendy, but neutrals will always be around.
Gray is versatile.
Gray has the ability to adapt to almost any home. By changing the warmth of the color you can use it in a modern home or a vintage/classic setting. Many new home builders and industry experts use a combination of beige and gray, typically called “greige”, to design welcoming, inviting, comfortable spaces. Interior designers and decorators also love using cooler, lighter shades of gray with white accents to create a crisp, modern feel. With so much versatility it’s little wonder it’s used so often and gained so much popularity
Gray can go very right… or very wrong.
One of the downsides of gray is the difficulty in choosing the right shade for the space. Many shades tend to have a blue or cool undertone which can make the color feel dark, cold and uninviting. Grays with warmer undertones tend to make a room feel more relaxed, casual and cozy. It’s extremely easy to choose the wrong shade of gray.
There are plenty of color/design experts to help you choose the right tone but if you’re on a tight budget, then purchasing multiple samples and painting large swatches on multiple walls will help to reduce the chances of picking a color you don’t want. Most national hardware stores sell samples for around $2-3 per samples and those samples are typically enough to cover enough to put a swatch on more than one wall. By painting samples on several walls you can see what the color will look like in different parts of the room or home and at different times of the day because light plays a huge part in how the color will look in your home.
In the world of colors, versatility equates to longevity. If you paint a neutral like gray you can change your decor, style, and accent colors multiple times without the expense or hassle of repainting. I, for one, am happy gray is the neutral of choice for so many. It lets a designer’s imagination run wild and creates a world of possibility for the DIY decorator.
