September 15, 2010

gray vs grey

picture via and via

Decorating with the color gray is huge right now. You can't open a magazine or click on a blog without seeing this color taking over like gangbusters. Being a Northwest Washington native, I am a little reluctant to jump on the gray train since most of our winter/spring days are filled with this ominous color. It can bring a sister's mood down I can't lie. On the flip side, however, I can see the lovely-ness in gray. Beige is boring and can totally disappear or hide things. For example, I moved my beige couches into a beige/white-ish living room last October. I pushed those couches to an L-shape corner and forgot all about them. This weekend I decided I needed a mulligan. But, I also wanted to make the fireplace a focus, move my desk under the big windows, keep the dogs from barking at every single passer-by and make room for a tree in anticipation of the pending holiday. Once moved, a friend commented (Hi Amy!) about not remembering the couches even being in the room. The blah of our tone on tone color scheme made the furniture totally disappear. Not that it was a scheme. The color on these walls were inherited. I can understand the shift from boring tans and creams to splashing gray on the walls. People want something new and fresh without making huge bold color statements.

My recent Real Simple magazine came complete with an article on decorating with gray, tips on choosing the right shade and using pops of different colors to provoke specific moods.

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