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I recently posted a video on Instagram and Tiktok that the grey design trend is over. Before you get upset about this statement and @ me, this is not me who decided this. Just search the internet and you will see tons of articles about this. Trends naturally evolve. And that’s just that, they are trends. I mean, the industry has to have something new to constantly sell us. Let’s just review a few design trends through the decades:
1980s – glass block squares, mauve
1990s – white kitchens, forest green, polished brass
2000s- Tuscan browns and yellows, home offices with cabinetry galore, roosters
2010s- grey trend, farmhouse, shiplap
2020s- black and white, cognac colors, small square tiles
So does that mean the color grey is over?! No! Grey is a great neutral color and goes well with so many things. The grey color is never going away (and I will show you, has been around forever). In fact, I’m having some grey cabinets installed. But why am I have grey cabinets installed if I just said grey is over? BECAUSE I LIKE GREY! What is on the “outs” though is the grey monochromatic look – where literally every single thing in the room is grey with all surfaces grey. But if you like that, that is totally fine and totally okay to decorate in that style!
And that’s the whole point of this post. You should decorate your house with what you love!
But first, look! A room that is grey, way before our current trend.
Photo: Eric Sande source @rupert.dixon
Remember Pierre Deux? All of trends of the 2000s right here. And guess what? I like it a lot! But good luck finding fabrics. I WISH I stocked up on their toile before they went out of business. It is so hard to find good toile these days – they come in two color ways and its the same pattern.
I like to read the design magazines, follow Pinterest, read other blogs and social media accounts to be aware of the trends. I like watching how things evolve. It can be great inspiration; maybe you’ll see some things you like. But we all can’t go redoing our kitchens every 5 years to keep up with the trends. So it is very important, especially in big purchases, to make sure you really love it before investing a lot of money. If you are aware that you like the item because it is trendy, then perhaps choose a less costly way of incorporating the trend into your house. An example would be to use throw pillows to introduce the trendy color.
As you know, I love French country. It recently had it’s moment, and it’s ”over”. Remember Restoration Hardware had their big Entablature mirror? Oh how I loved this piece. It eventually went on clearance, and now it is gone. RIP RH Louis XIV and neoclassical inspired pieces. But does that fact that many popular box stores don’t carry that much French country anymore keep me from liking French country aesthetic? No!! I can find it online still (well, except Pierre Deux toile fabric)! Brown French antiques are cheaper right now since they are not popular, FYI.
Also, this is picture has a lot of grey everything that is ”over”, I like it a lot, except the light. I have liked it for at least a decade. I would add a pop of color somewhere… why? Because that’s what I like!
So I don’t decorate ”to keep up with the trends”. The reason is because I would not be decorating my house for myself. I’m the one that lives here after all, so I am the one that needs to like it. Home is where the heart is. So put your heart into your decorating and decorate with what you love. So if that means I’m keeping my furniture brown and riding through the paint-your-furniture trend, then so be it! My antique French armoire has been brown for 200 years and will be for another (200?) more.
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Such good thoughts! I inherited a house during the “grey” phase and bought some grey paint (thankfully only a gallon to start) to refresh the interior for resale. A mere 50 square feet in, I recognized that this was NOT a grey house and went back to white. And yes, no one makes toile as Pierre Deux did.
Author
Glad you went with what you like!
I used to live near Pierre Deux in Greenwich Village. The two Pierres lived ‘over the shop’ as it were, and were fun to talk to. When one of them died, I called it “Pierre Un.” Uh oh. I’m gonna get some comments about that, but no disrespect intended. I loved that place, and the French Country style they espoused. And you are 100% correct. The all-grey, all-white, all-neutral interior is dead, dead, DEAD! And good riddance to it. Banal, sterile, blah. It’s bad design. Boring (non)colours for boring people with no imagination. So happy that colour, pattern and texture are back, as well as brown furniture. I say “back”, but they never went out of style. Most of us with good sense kept our brown furniture, because it is classic. And I abhor the chalk-paint-wielding divas on YouTube ruining good furniture with their “upcycling.” Ugh. More bad design. As far as toiles, look on Etsy under Toile de Jouy – Direct from France by the yard. Ebay and Wayfair also have a nice selection. Waverly, Schumacher and Spoonflower make toiles. I even saw some at JoAnn Fabrics the other day. And yes – I have strong opinions and am not afraid to express them. I’ve got years and years of training and experience in the decorative arts, so it’s an informed opinion. Thanks for the good article!
Author
Oh lucky you to have been met the Pierres! Thanks for the tip to check out Etsy! I have done eBay before. I actually saw some at Calico Corners too – after I wrote this article of course! I like things “out of style” and would like to live in a Chateau in France complete with original antiques so that’s that. Thank you for your comment.