Are you kidding me. Read more.
A top commenting rule on the blog is, “No one can be made to feel bad for their choices.” So I am breaking my own rule and will probably regret it. However, I can no longer contain my rant against “greige” — that drab, virtually colorless, gray-green-brown-beige — that has begun to permeate the contemporary interior design world. Above: from Restoration Hardware. This is their second season, at least, deep into the doo doo (pun intended) of greige. I know times are really tough, and that a somber mood, on many occasions, is called for. But, this palette (can you even call the absence of color a palette?) … makes me depressed. I encourage the secret society of people who plan the “hot colors” for years forward to, instead, consider promoting a palette that reminds us to smile… that lifts us up… that gives us some hope! We Americans are an optimistic, extroverted, hard-working bunch, and we’ll pull out of this malaise. We are Not a Greige Nation. Oh and one more thing: Please remember that the Marketing Machine wants to convince you to throw out everything you bought five years ago for whatever is new today. Train your own eye, surround yourself with what makes You happy, and ignore what any trend pundits — including me-ish — say.
I couldn’t agree more! “Greige” represents the absence of joy to me. I snipped the last few paragraphs from an article about greige makeup. I love the way they try to sell this unfortunate color palette….a cadaver indeed.
” Why the sudden greige fever? Priti Nails founder Kim D’Amato, who painted greige on fingernails at Tommy Hilfiger, Carlos Miele and Devi Kroell, thinks it complements a season of clothing that emphasized womanly curves. “With the comeback of the more shapely female, something about [the color] says ‘femme fatale,’” D’Amato says.
Of course, applied too liberally, greige can become a little too fatale. When makeup artist James Kaliardos painted the hue all around the eyes and skipped the mascara at Rodarte, his goal was to make the models look like sculpture. “It’s a stone face,” says Kaliardos. He wasn’t kidding—a woman made up like that on the street might seem in need of a blood pressure check.
According to Tim Quinn, director of creative artistry at Giorgio Armani Beauty, “The shade works well in spring because we tend to put more pinks and raspberries on our cheeks and lips. And you have to play up the lash line with liner and mascara to create a separation between the eye and the eyelid when you wear greige.” Otherwise, he warns, “you can end up looking like a cadaver.”
I agree with you. And it’s not like they’re using greige to set off colors like red or orange – everything’s greige! By the way, just glancing at the Atomic Age Wallpapers on your sidebar has already made my day.
I guess you have to decorate like this after you rip out your period kitchen and install granite & stainless steel. It’s very unimaginative, IMHO.
Funny! I too saw the Restoration Hardware catalog a while back and thought, “Geez…this is weird/bland” and I’m usually a sucker for catalog decor.
Do you think the person who had the nerve to put something green in some of the dining tableaux got fired?
This reminds me of Miss Havisham’s house in Great Expectations. all it needs is an old wedding cake and cobwebs.
In the late 80′s grey was big. I had a grey tweed sofa and loveseat from the Scandinavian Gallery, black Conran’s parsons tables and grey walls. After barely surviving a Northeast Winter in all that gloom I repainted in a bright cheery yellow and felt much better.
Amen, Sister. In a small office or library, maybe, but large rooms or a whole house? No thanks.
BTW, had the opportunity to visit a Restoration furniture supplier overseas. Unless you really need the brand or the style and don’t have someone nearby that can make furniture, you’re overpaying, IMO.
We came across the Griege in a big way when we were looking for bathroom tile. When I mentioned I wanted retro colored tile everyone was telling me “Oh you can just go to the tile store and find tons of it”. Wrong. It was beige, bland, blah everywhere. I came across the Retro Renovation website in my attempt to find color for my bath.
I “personally” can’t understand the appeal of the Greige but I think there are a lot of people out there who are scared of color. I see it on online boards all the time. I’m doing my bit to make the world a bit more colorful with my mint green and cobalt blue bathroom. In the meantime, here’s hoping this trend is short lived!
I keep looking for a pale, frail woman in that picture, a la Edward Gorey. She probably fainted and is under the table.
Long live Burnt Orange……………………………………….
Especially when matched with moss greens, blues and brown!
Oh man! I am a “Burnt Orange” fan too. My mom used it in our late 50s living room on the couch upholstery. I adored that slubby textured fabric. Combined with peacock blue, gold, and olive green accents. Blonde wood paneling. Brown wool carpet.
Thought I’d bring that palate to my backyard lanai, and spray paint the old aluminum chairs, and replace the straps. But alas, no burnt orange spray paint to be found right now. Lots of greige tho!
I am so glad that you posted this. Griege does not make you smile. The more color the better. A little griege is okay. Purple is my color, love it to death.
I like the Scandinavian approach, clean white walls and colourful textiles mixed with warm wood tones. Fill your space with things that make you happy, dont decorate for resale value………………….
I used to love Restoration Hardware – but no longer with the greige theme. As for the femme fatale – where’s the “jungle red” nail polish that they used to wear? As you all know, I’m addicted to the cherry red accents.
Although my hallway is a tan-oatmealy color, it’s not greige and it allows my framed cherry label artwork to stand out.
I remember seeing these non-colors in a Martha Stewart magazine a couple years ago showcasing her new kitchen. Ugh. Very institutional looking. Maybe if we ignore this trend, it will go away.
This is too funny! My husband and I were on a lunch date just yesterday, at the the mall. We were waiting for California Pizza Kitchen to open up and decided to stroll through Restoration Hardware. I almost lost my appetite. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Bo-ring.
There was NOTHING in the store that appealed to me. It reminded my of how dull The Gap used to be with nothing but light blue and beige. This is even worse. Such a nasty color.
On top of that, the store was trying to set a cultured, haughty, upscale, exclusive mood by playing foreign-language “musak” — which was also — somehow — greige.
Blech. I had to make an emergency trip to Macy’s houseware department to stand in the middle of the Fiesta ware display.
Didn’t Restoration Hardware used to have some fun stuff? It seems to me that they have been getting steadily more dull.
You’re so funny; I go in the door at the mall where Macy’s displays the Fiesta just to get a little dose of color therapy too.
I could not agree with you more Pam!!! Here in our real estate office (when it’s just us agents) we joke about “greige” too. It seems to be what people pick when they can’t make up their mind or want to play it safe. Now it looks like marketing is playing into that fear and trying make people feel like their indecision is actually “good taste”. Oh please people. We must stop them now. I did indeed paint my countertops Holiday Turquoise (which lightened and yellowed a bit with 4 coats of poly. on top but it’s perfect) and it makes me so happy everytime I see it. I’m the one who got your great suggestions for my kitchen and it’s almost done. Can’t wait to show you all. Personally, I thank God for color in our world and look at fabric and wallpaper just for the fun of seeing colors and patterns. Sure am glad His favorite color wasn’t greige. And is anyone else tired of grey, black, white, and the occasional red cars?
I was recently looking for a new car and was shocked at the lack of color choices out there! I have a 14 year old civic hatch back in bright bright teal and *love* it! So sad to only see gray, navy, or maroon cars being made now.
Bungalow Bill…..I would have gladly moved into that grey livingroom…but would have brought a Calder silkscreen and a huge vase of forsythia with me…
Pam….I try to understand your rule and I have also read some NASTY remarks mde by others… I think the issue is the INTENT of the writer.
I like the greige…not a whole house of it.
I find extroverts tend toward quiet backrounds and quiet “normal” people go wild with the colors.
Your house is not greige, Gavine!
I have to say I liked the color all through summer. But in NJ between January and April the sky is grey, the trees are grey, the shrubs are grey, the grass is grey, and the streets are grey from road salt. It was an eGREIGEous amount of grey. I did have touches of yellow ( Memphis was big then), but enough was enough and I needed color by Spring. Monotones become monotonous. You’re more than welcome to come over with the Calder silkscreen though!
Gavin, and Miss Pam, I just found RR today via Maison21-and I never miss a day without visiting my favorite, “Greige” blog. I grew up in the ’60s, and so much I see on RR is what I remember, and hold dear. However, my parent’s 1957 home had builders’ gray tub surround tile, shades of gray floor tile and blue fixtures. It drove my mom crazy, along with the gray walls in the house. Oddly, my parents never replaced the blue & gray scheme, and the house was sold 2 years ago, along with a plethora of eagles, paneling, layers of vinyl under carpeting. I personally love gray/beige because all accent colors come alive in the room, and it unifies a myriad of mis-matched furnishings. So, if I linger, and clutch my pearls at RR, it’s all good: I grew up breathing plastics! XO
I can’t live in a house without COLOR! I suppose my style is not “sophisticated”, but it is cheerful & makes me smile. I despise how “masculine” decor has become (although, I’m not overly fond of frou-frou fluffy decor either). I’m in the lousy position now of searching for a bigger house & I hate it. I currently live in a 1954 Ranch with original hardwood floors, original bath tiles…I love this little house and I am such a depressed client going to these homes that are covered in beige and granite, marble…all the renovated stuff I hate…and these houses are from the 50s-60s so it looks so out of place.
Have you seen the old Bob Hope movie, “Bachelor in Paradise”? I’ve always loved it (& it was recently on t.v.) for the fact that it shows the Valley (which is where I live) and the new housing development of 1961. If you haven’t seen it you gotta rent it…I love how Bob Hope sees the Modern new house for the first time and says, “Pink?” and the real estate lady says, “it’s not pink, it’s California Coral.”
The poster above mentioned the same dull drab colors of cars…I always think that. Except for the occassional yellow VW, it’s like a blur of silvergrey, black, white (I’m sorry to say my other half bought our cars and they are grey…I always wanted an aqua colored car!)
hee-hee, reading the post by jkaye just made me laugh out loud.
The only good thing about greige is it fades away when you go wild with your colorful artwork, textiles and accessories. My bedroom walls are kind of greigy, but there are gorgeous oak dressers, beautiful woodland paintings and wonderful bright quilts and pillows to liven things up.
That Restoration Hardware picture looks the way my house did one morning when my toddler son went wild chasing the dog with the fireplace broom full of ashes. Ashes were everywhere and it did look just like that picture. I thought something was wrong with my eyes. So much for five extra minutes of sleep that morning.
I feel exactly the same way. It is a great backdrop for COLOR.
The newest Restoration Hardware catalog is hideous, but greige does have its place…used correctly it can set off bright colors beautifully. I have already used the color in my 1950s home in all three bedrooms to give the house a non-white neutral palette when I first moved in.
Greige doesn’t go with everything though. My kitchen has white vinyl floors and sea-foam green countertops and greige would look ridiculous! So I chose a cheerful lemony-yellow color.
I think greige goes best with turquoise, teal greens, bright pinks, and red. That’s just my opinion though. Doing a whole house in greige would be incredibly boring.
I like grey as a wall color, but it has to be offset with a brighter accent colors or the room becomes, as Pam says “depressing”. The bedrooms in my 1940 house originally had wallpaper with a grey background. The wallpaper worked because the grey was offset by brightly colored flowers, and the wood trim that was painted white. Judging by period advertising featuring rooms with similar color schemes, I’m sure the orginal owner’s linens also had some color to offset the grey.
It’s too funny that you posted this, Pam – I also get the Restoration Hardware emails an dI’ve been thinking about that awful current color scheme too lately, whenever one shows up.
I really used to like RH – one of their first stores was at Tysons Corner in Northern Virginia, where I grew up. They always had interesting small gifts in addition to the expensive stuff. I still like some of their lighting fixtures.
But lately, most of it looks really vulgar to me. There’s something ugly about much of their stuff – I think mostly because of its scale. Everything is so hugely oversized – the furniture, the lamps, the accessories, all of it. It looks like they trained a grow ray on it – too long. I suppose you need big stuff for a big house, but when I see their bathroom layouts, well, their bathroom is about the size of my living room!
And the less said about that awful color scheme, the better. But you know what? Did you check out the recent Oval Office redo? Same thing! Sprayed with greige. The commander-in-chief and I are going to have to agree to disagree on that one.
I need to clarify: I don’t h*** the color. I am reacting to when it’s used on Every Possible Surface or to excess with the absence of other colors. As other readers have mentioned – matched with the right, more colorful accents, it can be simply lovely. I actually love a bathroom that features 4″ grey ceramic tile half way up the wall — then compemented with a wallpaper featuring pink or coral or even blue….
I must say, I love it… for a period movie set.
Ha, I have a whole house painted greige (actually RL’s Cobblestone which sounds a bit sexier). I love it. I find it soothing and get tons of compliments on it. Having said that, I accessorize with tons of color. I lean toward Autumn tones—dark brown, red, autumn orange, teal, gold and lime and every variation of those colors. Trust me, it all works. I have very contemporary style but love the warm colors. The walls set everything off beautifully.
Grace, your home sounds gorgeous. I want to emphasize: I don’t h*** the color per se, it’s the idea of it used with no other colors at all…like in the RH catalog…
I completely agree with not liking greige as it was presented in the latest Restoration Hardware catalog; it was downright depressing!!!
Some of RH’s stuff in the past has been beautiful but this catalog looked like Mountain Lodge meets Martha Stewart on a bad hair day. FAIL!
I received that catalog and thought “what?” It is the most depressing furniture/decor I’ve seen in ages!
The Restoration Hardware vignette above manages to be both greige and boring AND overly busy and fussy at the same time. Occasionally I see spaces done with just shades of white or cream or beige and it actually looks restful and soothing, or cosy, even if it’s not to my taste. But the above is not restful, nor is it stimulating in an energizing way. It’s just greige and busy.
Now, I am about to paint an entire room dove grey or warm tan, something I never thought I would do, but that’s because I’m taking the palette from some fifties pottery (Laurel of California Seaside) and the neutral walls will really make the other colors–aqua, chartreuse, coral pink, and brown–pop.
I couldn’t agree more. When I got this catalog in the mail I thought it was a joke.Page after page after page of dull clay — it just goes to show how stupid people can be when they try to outdo everyone else with “good taste.” It’s like those horrible “home stagers” on HGTV who act outraged if people have color on their walls and pots and pans and toys and family photos in the house. We aren’t mannequins standing around on a stage. Retro style is great because it’s for living!
Lynn-O-Matic: Your room sounds totally lovely.
I’ll definitely send pix of it–and our other projects–when we’re done!
I found a few things in the clearance section I somewhat liked but otherwise everything down to the towels WAS greige. I used to like browsing RH, hopefully this color passes.
A little greige might work for me but only as a backdrop to bring all of my obnoxiously colored doodads together.
You know me: I’m somewhere over the rainbow over here. I like very neutral window trim so that it frames the outdoors rather than distracts from it — mine is a very pale platinum gray. But my doors are bright red and the floors are yellow ochre and so no, no monochrome of any kind for me really.
The Renovation Hardware photo looks kind of like a faded old sepia photographic print. Get some Photoshop work going on it, add some splashes of real color and it would look ok…maybe.
I can’t stand these sage colors that everyone is going after! But I love a warm gray… it’s so soothing. The feature walls in my living room is painted a warm gray that has a tiny, tiny touch of green in it. It brings solidity and a strong feel to the room. It’s the color of stone. It looks great with my black fireplace and red oak flooring. I might add a touch of red velvet to the room!
it looks like it’s been left out in the rain!!!!!
Between this, the Tuscany look, and “cottage-izing” everything, it’s enough to make me reach for the vomit bag.
Brings to mind “The Banger Sisters” and Susan Sarandon’s line: “I’m the same color as the DMV!” Dullsville!!
Thank you!!!
I was hoping the book would be a big failure and RH would move on, but to the contrary, at the Las Vegas Furniture Show this summer I saw a whole herd of Greige (perfect word btw) knock offs. I think some of the goods were even coming from the sme factory. uggh. Combine with the trend of washes linen faux french vintage sack fabric on everything from bedding to sofas, it’s like a San Fancisco summer foggy gray drizzly cold yuck. (btw I live San Fran, but u have to admit it’s butt cold in July).
But the saddest part of the RH books are their juxtaposition of iconic modern furniture in equally subdued colors. FREE the MID-MODERN Furniture from your Greige prison RH!!!!
I discovered your site (love it!) while looking for information on Youngstown Kitchens and The Mullins Mfg Corp (after listening to an NPR story about a 1926 kitchen in Frankfurt Germany, which was taken apart and reconstructed at MoMA in NY). Thank you so much for this post! I’ve never quite understood the appeal of Restoration Hardware, though I did find one of my absolute favorite heavy chenille throws there – which put me on their mailing list. When the “greige” catalog arrived at my house a few days ago, I thought at first that I had received a defective catalog that had escaped the printer’s notice. Then I realized that the washed out look was intentional. Who wants to live in a world without color??? I ditched the catalog and decided I would never buy another thing from RH — no matter how comforting and fuzzy their chenille may be. LONG LIVE DEEP, BLOOD RED (especially for lipstick)!
I agree Pam, greige everywhere is depressing and ugly! Grey mixed with pink is pretty, but like you said, all over- yuk!
I am redecorating now (40s/50s) with pink, teal, aqua, chartruese and black accents, all taken from my 40s tropical zomba drapes/fabric I just bought, and I LOVE all the bright color, makes me happy!
Greige reminds me of the Disney kids show Imagination Movers. Their neighbor, Mr. Nit Knots greige office, his clothing, the pictures on the wall, right down to the paper clips and chewing gum is greige boring. But his helper, Nina brightens things up in her colorful outfits! I would turn greige if someone was to replace my circa ’57 “Primrose Skylark” formica( yellow w/ boomarangs) counter tops out of my original ’50′s kitchen. No granite counters in my house!!
When I first saw the new Restoration Hardware catalog and when I saw my hometown’s Restoration Hardware store renovated, I was immediately disappointed—and I’m a professional interior space designer. This disappointment was not because I necessarily think that greige is bad. As disturbing as RH’s shift in color is its shift in direction: very European. Again not that European is necessarily bad. It’s just that I used to look to RH for colors, accessories and gifts that had a mid-century, American and fun feel. This new stuff aims—and misses, as far as I’m concerned—at being so conventionally sophisticated, serious and elitist. Even if it hit that mark, who’d want it to? Unfortunately, I now have all the less reason to shop RH. Thank goodness my town has a Crate and Barrel.
Yes, Bux, I’ve continued to think about this all weekend and the word “elitist” came to my mind, as well. Actually, when you look thru the RH catalog, it’s very ironic: The colors are “somber” ala today’s economy, but the size, the scale, the prices, the faux-old-European-style-on-steroids: Pretentious and yet another form of conspicuous consumption. Alas.
The color of a corpse on CSI!
Yeah, this isn’t good at all. Very negative. Looks like a house with volcanic ash all over it, YUK! Life is in color – this looks like all these post-apocolyptic movies where it’s always cloudy, and everyones’ clothes are gray.
Pam and all commenters, THANK YOU!
Now I know what “color” my 1926 stucco bungalow was painted by the people who bought it from me. It began life a cheery pumpkin color and was still that color when I sold it 7 years ago. I moved only a mile away so I go by it almost every day. Not a good thing.
The first thing they did was remove the beautifully made french windows that enclosed the porch — one of the main reasons I bought the house. Then, they got rid of a 4-color paint scheme (pumpkin, dark and light grey on the foundation, and white on the wood trim), and replaced it with two: white for accent on wood and concrete trim, with a color I could not name on the body of the house. Was it tan? Was it green? Was it grey? Now, without a doubt I know it is GREIGE. Luckily over the 7 years the glaring white trim, on concrete elements, has gotten a bit dirty so is not as bad as it was, but the greige remains.
My trouble with these sorts of colors, and especially gray and beige, is that they suck up light. We’ve got pale gray walls in our living room, for instance, I haven’t had a chance to repaint them, and for half the year or so it’s like the fog and drizzle has moved right in.
Then, too, after many years of living in rented apartments that were only ever painted in these sorts of colors – and ‘greige’ was very popular among landlords – what it says to me isn’t ‘restful’ or ‘sober’ or what-have-you but ‘cheap.’ And often as not ‘grubby,’ and wow, do these colors show every scuff.
That’s a terribly boring palette with nowhere for the eye to rest and refresh itself. It reminds me of the white-on-white-on-white palettes of the “cottage” style that was so popular 10 years ago …. all too monochromatic and no balance between stimulation and rest. The walls in my home are a light tan unifying the entire interior except for my pale apple green kitchen. My garden-inspired colors of yellow, green, blue, and pinky/coral look wonderful against a neutral wall, and to my never-ending delight, my paint-by-numbers artwork looks terrific on this wall color! I like color!!
We have a big peeve going now with the harsh-looking black or very dark brown furniture everywhere that does not look the least bit inviting or comfortable but is showing up way too often … maybe a revolt against all that white of a few years ago.
Anyway, my 2 cents’ worth, and thank you, Pam, for standing up to the greige onslaught!! It’s boring!
d.
I saw that catalog recently and had the same thought, YUCK! I think people need to see interesting examples of how to make things more colorful, not how to live in a world of weimeranger-colored upholstery!
I was commenting the other day about the absence of color during the past 10 years or so. It seems that the trend has been mostly gray and beige. Most interior finishes such as walls, kitchens and bathrooms are all neutral tones and very beige. Appliances have to be “modern” and stainless steel, gray. You look at the siding whether stucco or vinyl in housing developments and shopping centers, beige. Car colors for the most part are varying shades of gray and beige. The mind set is on re-saleability as in, “When we sell this house”, “When we trade in this car”. It’s made people afraid of color and color trends and it seems that “greige” was the logical next step in a decidedly color-fear-full society.
When I bought my 1952 house 2 years ago, all the rooms were painted beige. They remain that color because my husband said it was better for resale value. I went along with that til this week, and I had just had it!! Now there are paint sample chips taped to every wall in the house- I’m adding color!! Why should I have to live in this bland wasteland because if and when I decide to sell, it might “appeal” to more people. I can always repaint. And if you choose to go greige, for heaven’s sake, throw in a red pillow or something for some pop!
I got that catalog recently and said “BLEH!” I *like* color. We just painted our (formerly white–the entire house was white when we moved in) living room and dining room. The living room is Benjamin Moore’s Blue Jean, a nice medium blue, and the stair hall, which goes up from the living room in this Cape, is Harbor Fog, the lightest color on the card with Blue Jean. And after many testers, our dining room is now BM’s Lemon Souffle, a very nice light yellow, perfect for a dining room/kitchen. We tried hard to avoid Easter egg colors, but I needed COLOR in my house. OK, I bought tan couches, but that’s so I can change the walls, curtains, and pillows when I want and they will go with any color.Haven’t done curtains yet as we’re having new windows put in. You’ll hate me but I’m taking down the pinch pleats in the dining room–they’re hideous 80s fabric though, not earlier stuff. I assume the former owner had pinch pleats made because that’s what she had before, but they wore out after 30 years. The living room curtains–and they’re definitely curtains, not drapes–aren’t a bad pattern and color, but they’re literally falling to pieces, they may be the originals from 1954.
Greige has NO place in the mid-century home! I love my pink bathroom as well as my robin’s egg blue bathroom. I think Turquoise is my fave cheery color in my home.
I actually enjoy visiting Restoration Hardware; it’s always a great place to look at older hardware and get great ideas. However, have you scrolled through the Restoration Hardware “Design Gallery”? It’s totally devoid of color. I thought the point of Restoration Hardware is “restoration” [to what is old]. I don’t recall older styles ever lacking color on this scale.
Anyway, as a person who loves color, I dislike this greige trend.
I agree in theory, however, I do think that the “greige” theme has it’s place in mid century design – just look at some of the sets for the film Auntie Mame. I especially like it when used as a foundation with pops of color for accent, pops that can be changed out seasonally, for instance.
hey, Brini, nice to hear from you!
Who remembers Beverly Cleary’s “Fifteen” ? I adored that book when I was a kid. It was about a late-fifties era teenage girl who periodically had to babysit for a very, very stylish couple with a near-sadistic little girl.Cleary’s description of the home interior of these highbrowed, high powered jet setters was that it was very spare & nearly everything was beige…a place to feel anything but warm and welcome. BTW, Restor. Hardware has been hyping beige and muted, quiet-to-the-point-of-somnolence colors for years. You know: washed-out moss, washed-out pale blue-gray, washed-out gold…I think the raciest color they’ve ever screwed up the courage to to put out there was washed-out burgundy. The cover of R.H.’s latest catalog is not so much somnolent as it is sepulchral. As Fearless Retro Leader points out: Who needs this? I was disturbed by the redecorating of the Oval Office for the same reason – drab doesn’t begin to say it. I think we owe it to ourselves and our fellow citizens to hum “Keep On The Sunny Side” while we bring back aquamarine countertops and slather our walls with daffodil yellow. So take *that* Color Deniers! Think we don’t know what you’re really up to?
perhaps we should blame it on all the vampires.
You’re so right! Beige depresses me, too–that and an entirely white home. My goal is to have so much color in my house that an all-white room comes across as a color choice. And if you want to see my mid-century modern rental property, including a saved pink bathroom, go to http://www.blanshouse.com. I bought the house as an estate and much of the furniture there came with it, but now I’m supplementing it with more mid-century estate finds. And this from a girl who grew up in a Victorian house and hated the mid-century stuff that was new when she was growing up. Thank you, Pam!
You’re welcome, Janice. I looked at your rental property – very nice. But put that toilet seat down, dearie. Bad bad $$$ feng shui.
That’s strange, I’ve never thought of Restoration Hardware as carrying a Mid-Century Modern style. It always looked Victorian to Craftsman to me. Am I missing something?
Deb, I think they’ve always had a mix…
A friend and I stopped in there last night. We had been talking about depression anyway so the store fit the discussion. Blah- it is all so blah. We went to Pottery Barn next. Both of us stopped in the doorway to say, “Oh now, this is so much more welcoming”. Restoration Hardware is… the color of dark concrete. Just so blah!
The thing I like about this color actually, is it makes colorful art really pop off the walls. So we don’t necessarily need more peppy wall colors, we need more art! (IMO, of course).
I love lots of color. I like to have a cheerful place to wake up in. Greige seems in keeping with the political trend of going back to the WORST of the mid century – not the best and brightest.
I figure everything is cyclical. The catalogs come out every season, but nobody really runs out and updates their entire home to Renovation Hardware, Pottery Barn, or Crate and Barrell’s style edicts.
Okay, I would be there with C&B if I could. Most of us have one couch for most of our adult lives (mine is purple), and I find pillows at Goodwill, consignment and garage/estate sales and mix it up every few years. I’m a person who wears mostly black, taupe, and white, but my house pops with color!! 
For my taste, griege gives me the blahs! I prefer the bright colors of the lighting and accessories of Rejuvenations. This year for their mid century modern era collection, they feature flare orange, solar yellow and neptune blue (which appears more aqua). Their deco collection features color too. I guess I come by it “honest”. I grew up in a mcm house that was a hodge podge of colors – green tile floors, green crackle & chrome kitchen table , yellow refrigerator, gold, chartreuse, brown, red & blonde furniture, pink bathroom
…. For me, color creates a positive mood, interest and a dash of excitement when used appropriately.
My pet peeve is all of the new “McMansions” going up and all the new homes being built in our area…..these people all think that their new homes are swell, but those of us with the MidCentury Modern gene, think these homes all look sort of “cookie cutter”. And then, they all decorate the interiors in this Tuscany, wine thing, with drab and depressing (and predictable) colors. Boring….yawn. It’s like the theme song to “Weeds”…..”little boxes made of ticky tac, and they all look the same”………
I hate to point this out … but isn’t your photo holding the martini glass in greige tones?!
haha amy, this is kinda why i said i could regret this rant… it kind of opens a pandora’s box. you are right in that this particular photo definitely is “neutral” not to mention high-falutin mid-century modern rather than our beloved mid-century modest…what can i say, it sure was fun to get dressed up and have erica take this nice picture of me looking so glamarama. my living room/dining room interior for sure has what i’d call a neutral backdrop, with lots of texture. i added the grasscloth on the walls – it’s what i would call ivory, and tends more toward the yellow than i had intended… i liked it because it was neutral but also with texture — i have two distinct spaces that need to be tied together, along with lots of artwork and pinchpleats, and the room gets pounded by sun from the west. the colonial trim is linen, but i had all the yellow stripped out when we formulated it. my furniture has color, but it’s subdued except for the bright orange velour chairs. i bring in color with pillows, throws, lamps, accessories and art. i would not call it greige — altogether, these elements combine to give the room a “sparkly” feel — it’s really quite nice, hard to capture in a photo…. and again — i want to clarify i don’t have a problem with any color per se — it’s the idea that the palette would dominate as in “greige nation” — interiors that some readers in these comments have described as “sepuchral” and “apocalyptic.” ok. so now that all that’s said. maybe i am wrong. maybe i just have “installation shock.” that rejection that happens when something is so new to your eye you just can’t comprehend. people, just decorate with the colors you love! ignore anything anyone says about what’s beautiful or what’s not — make up your own mind — create the interiors that sing to you
Wow, I must be really out of it, I have never heard of the word “griege”, but I sure will remember it now. I remember in the 70′s when beiges were in style, it was better than the gold and avacado green that I was used to, but it never did fit me. Give me color!!
Pretty sure Malvina Reynolds cries inside when anyone quotes Little Boxes to praise the little pink and mint green houses of our beloved Mid-C, Lynne.
Just saying.
I’ve become hopelessly addicted to orange: vibrant, active, and bold. It’s the antithesis of vapid Greige and has infinite variations.
My god, they’ve even grieged out their BABIES product lines — now that is really going too far!
http://www.rhbabyandchild.com/rhbc/catalog/category/index.jsp?categoryId=rhbc_cat101002&navAction=jump&link=Furnishings
Don’t we use bright colors for babies in order to stimulate their little brains?
oh my
My guess? The designer has no children. But if (s)he does, either (s)he loves his/her babies enough to give them the life, energy & pleasure of colors at home, or (s)he wants them to sleep soundly – a lot.
That nursery makes me want to weep with the tears of a hormonal post-partum woman.
Living in the Seattle area, where the sky is greige much of the year, this color scheme would never fly with me. When it’s cloudy, raining, blowing sidways, and just plain old nasty outside, I love coming home to my butter yellow kitchen, aqua bathroom, tri-green living and dining room, and daffodil yellow bedroom. My sewing room/ office/ tv room is taupe but it’s because I didn’t want anything competing with the vibrant fabrics of my quilting and bright art and accents. I think people that go with too much neutral are afraid to develop their style and taste. Put it out there, people! As Steven Stills said, ‘Let your freak flag fly’!!
I have a 1954 wide line, side by side split and we just painted one bathroom flamingo pink(old color blue/gree) and the other a turquoise (old color creamish). The rest of my house will be getting a new color this winter, to paint over the coco sand. I can not stand the earthtones!!!!
I painted every room of my house a different bright color. I especially use a lot of bright yellow. I live in an artsy neighborhood where people are not afraid to express themselves. When we first moved, it took almost a year fir use to find a house to buy. There were so many “fix and flipped” mid-century homes that someone had erased every last bit of character from. Slathered in a coat if greige paint inside and out, architectural details removed, all new beige plumbing fixtures, out of the box particle board cabinets, beige tile, greige carpet; they had no individuality at all. I love mid-century, but when stripped down and remodeled like cheap McMansions, these houses are boring and depressing. It was the bright colors and the quirky modern designs that made these houses special. Otherwise, it’s easy to mistake them for tick tacky. We finally bought a raw place that hadn’t been fixed up yet and I was able to choose my colors and designs. I had a ball with it.
Malvina Reynolds’ “Little Boxes” is still relevant today, except for color. Instead of “there’s a pink one and a green one and a blue one and a yellow one,” today it is more like “there’s a grey one and a beige one and greige one and another one.” “…and they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.” Color gives us individuality. People used to make the best out of tract housing by using different paint colors. People find the idea of Levittown suburbia to be scary, but could you imagine if every identical house was painted the same color greige. There are subdivisions basically like that going up everyday. I’m not sure why people are more scared than ever to think outside the little box.
Mid-century modern/space age encompassed many colors. They were bright pastels and primaries. Of all the colors, the gray palette was NOT used, except for, perhaps, in counter tops. So I think it’s safe to say that this is one movement that will never take hold. I always love those folks who have to be revisionists and reinventionists.
Thank you for your site and thank you for this rant! It’s nice to know I’m not insane! Every design show/home improvement program and Real Estate flipper on HGTV insists on neutral colors and now everyone is following suit. Those colors are meant to be inoffensive as in boring, bland and devoid of personality. Unless you’re selling in the next 3 months for the love of Russel Wright paint your surroundings in colors that speak to YOU! My kitchen is lipstick red (soon to be turquoise) and the rest of my apt. is purple! It’s my space and it makes me happy. PS. I’ve converted my DH to a lover of all things 1920s to early 1960s. We haven’t bought a “new” item in years!
When we moved into our 1957 ranch 4 yrs.ago, the previous owners had everything in the house painted white or beige, & the kitchen had beige appliances, beige countertop, & beige walls. We have finally done away with all that beige this year with the Formica Atomic Turf countertop, daffodil yellow walls & tile backsplash. I have added white appliances & accent pieces in aqua, turquoise, & pink. Thank you Retro Renovation for your inspiration to those of us who now know better, & to those out there who have yet to learn.
THIS! Thank you! When we bought our 1941 ranch house 2 years ago everything was painted blah-blah greige. Even the curtains were greige! First thing we did: painted our bedroom a cheery yellow. I don’t know how people can stand to be surrounded by bland neutrals.
Hey – just to let you know – “greige” is an actual color….see below from the Good Housekeeping Good Hints (about fall nail polish colors) – at least some other colors were mentioned as well:
“Greige” (Gray and Beige)
Although this hybrid color made its debut last fall, the surface of its popularity was barely scratched. Used on the Tracy Reese F/W runway, this hue channels the super-soft and lush fabrics worn in the show.
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Fedora, $7; mass retailers
Lets hope it doesn’t catch on -
Greige = neutral and neutral seems boring to me. I follow real estate listings and it breaks my heart when I see an older home with character listed as needing “updating” and then see the same home bought and resold neutralized and advertised as completely remodeled with granite everywhere and listed at a huge markup. All that beautiful old tile in a landfill somewhere. I like color, my kitchen is green, my living room is creamy orange and my bathroom is pink. I love it and I think I will pass on the greiging trend.
EWWWWWWWW Greige and AHHHH new word of the day. I promise, no, I SWEAR to you I will never use GREIGE. I have escaped it so far mostly because it doesn’t match 1950′s turquoise anyway.
Give me color, or give me death….
I concur with your colorful statement!
Yes, you have to be careful to guard against the marketing machine. Updating is costly and sometimes it’s not necessary. Home should be HOME. A trend is too flighty … Mix some in, but don’t let a trend consume you.