I’m weird, but I like colors and real wood tones. It just kind of hurts me to see literally everyone it seems, live in this ‘aesthetic’ where everything is pure white walls and grey fake wood floors. And how this scheme has taken over every home, office, and retail space.
I guess it’s the equivalent of how all 80% cars are gray scale now? (black, white, or a gray/silver shade). Why has color become so ‘offensive’ the past decade?
It’s so bad that I’ve had folks tell me my blue car is ‘weird’. and my home, which is wood trimmed/floored with maple stained wood, and off-white tints in each room, is ‘gross’. My bedroom’s are robin’s egg blue, and my kitchen and living room are an off white yellow. I love it, especially at night when I use the low-temp lighting and it’s warm instead of HARSH. Folks keep telling me how ‘old’ it looks and that i need to repaint everything BRIGHT white and then put that shitty grey flooring over everything. I hate them.
ugh. My condo shared halls and such had this nice yellow and brown fall colors scheme and the board redid it with this white/blue/grey doctors office vibe. went from homey and warm feeling to sterile feel.
As someone who is not a fan of this decorating style, I came across the term “Millenial Grey” it’s a fun thing to read up on to get a handle on why this seems to be the prevailing decorating style. I dislike that it is another thing being put at the feet of an already put upon generation when the reality is, it’s economically more viable to corporate interests and the algorithm.
Yea it’s just the most neutral color, thus the most safe for investment for renting out or selling.
I definitely feel the same. For years I had watched hone renovation shows with my mom and they looked nice but at the end they started to feel all soulless. Stumbled into this one home reno show several years back that was totally different. I was practically in awe…colors, wood tones, reasonably priced remodels! Idk if the show is still like that or not, but it really felt like a breath of fresh air.
I’m a Millennial, so I get that this stuff has been trending with people my age for the past decade or so, but I’ve just not been into it either.
Needed to buy a car several years ago and I went out of my way to try to find a car with a COLOR. It was a bit more of a hassle, but I’m glad I did.
Needed to buy a car several years ago and I went out of my way to try to find a car with a COLOR. It was a bit more of a hassle, but I’m glad I did.
I’m at a point where I’d take the mustard yellow Prius. At least it’s got a colour. And don’t get me started on the “we forgot to paint it” primer base colours.
K-economy baby. FWIW I work in residential design/construction and have noticed that more clients than before are inquiring about stained trims, colored walls, and natural materials. Very few are able to afford the cost difference. We specifically try to seek out first time buyers and people looking for “affordable” (still too much) houses, so these aesthetic details are usually the first to go, especially when it’s between that and a whole bedroom, for example.
Exactly. Making it look good, while not doing the standard whites or muted pastels using standard trims is expensive.
You can sometimes find an old home that has a bunch of that done well, but to keep it affordable, it probably looks bad and needed a sand and refinish 30 years ago, which puts a ton of buyers off as they are buying a very visible, labor-intensive project.
When housing stops being a commodity.
Hear hear! I love temp-adjustable bulbs (e.g. Philips hue) for that very reason. We don’t go above 4500-5000k in this house for a reason. Nice neutral light and a pleasing accent wall in the living room and bedroom. It’s your house, you have to live in it, make it how you like!
all of us who want things to have a personality just have to force others to accept it, if it becomes sufficiently normalized people will stop thinking it’s weird.
Yes Cheryl, looking old is the point, old homes were comfy.
I think it’s already been out of fashion for a while, but it takes a while for that to be noticeable. Although landlords will probably keep painting over outlets with white paint until the end of time.
i can only think of 2 benefits, i got vinyl laminate floor with wood tone, when it gets deep scratches the material underneath is gray, if the floor was same color would be less evident, and when your floors and walls are neutral color, your furniture can be any color and no worries about matching
I was told by multiple real estate agents to paint my old house white and gray inside and out to have it sell well. I ignored it and kept the colors, wood, and brick. And it sold just fine.
The reno industry just needs to move the goalposts. Around 2012, acoustic ceilings got labelled “popcorn ceiling” and they all have to be removed, along with carpets, now we have echoing houses.
Popcorn ceilings were awful and collected dust and were difficult to clean.
Open concepts have nothing to break up sound and those are all the rage. I would love doors I can close between rooms, but my house is small enough I don’t have rooms to close off.
I just want to personally thank you for not painting the brick because it makes my eye twitch every time I see it
The pressure for cars and houses to have neutral colors is because it makes it easier to sell and resell. People tend to have far more resistance to paying for something with bold colors they don’t want than neutral tones like grey/white/beige.
Anyone will buy a neutral color. Not everyone wants a bright blue or yellow or red car, and if you make everything neutral then color won’t turn anyone away. This also applies to used cars.
For houses it is like a blank canvas for the next owner. It is easy to paint over for those that want color, but those that don’t will just keep it so their things can stand out.
I can’t imagine buying something with the mindset wrapped around what someone else in the future might think it’s worth. If I’m buying it, I might as well like it. This is such a sad way to view the world.
The mindset is that the person will like it well enough, maybe not as much as their first choice, but they will still like it. Making the decision entirely on resale over personal choice is pretty sad.
Like if someone plans on being in a house for only 2 or 3 years then it might not be worth finding a house with preferred colors or repainting and being able to sell it quickly when moving means they will probably want to keep it neutral.
I would prefer a colorful truck, but they didn’t sell the one I bought in bright colors so I got a grey and it still looks pretty good. I plan on keeping it indefinitely and when I have money to burn or the paint wears and needs redone I will go with a color I want because I don’t have any plans to sell it.
There are other things like light neutral colors for rooms makes them feel bigger or how light color paints on cars show less dirt, but treating high price items as commodities you will sell in the not distant future is what leads to salespeople promoting the mindset.
If your friends call your taste weird, gross, or old, then perhaps it’s time to expand your social circle and move towards less shitty friends .
Even if my friends’ house/car/wardrobe isn’t to my taste, I’m not rude enough to tell them that. Because really, it’s for them to like, not me.
Buy (/wrap) your car the color you want and decorate your home however you want. If someone says it’s “gross” you kick them out of your home and your life, they are assholes.
My wife and I tend to keep floor and walls neutral because our things are super bright colors. We have a bright teal couch, a mustard yellow accent chair and an ungodly amount of colorful wall decorations.
We still managed a bright purple accent wall in the bedroom, and even bright red cabinets in a previous house, but we find it hard to coordinate when we throw color in “permanent” places
I painted my walls the color I liked 🤷
