The #1 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.
Resist the Greige Nation
Posted by: • September 18, 2010
Resist the Greige Nation: Graveyard of the Atlantic 
Retro Renovation Best of 2010: 9 favorite mid century decorating stories 
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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!