Going Greige: Tips for Choosing This All-Around Neutral

Rough Linen Greige is the colour of natural linen...

dabm STOP BLENDING WORDS. THE CORRECT NAME FOR THIS COLOR WOULD BE TAUPE.

jannahopson Shades of greige have been first choice for me in the past two months. Easier for those shy of grey to move into a cooler shade than beige.

Vignette Design Taupe!

Feels Like Home 2 Me Great post, thank you for sharing this!

suewilmart Used two different shades of taupe in my traditional living & dining rooms.

Kate MacIsaac @dabm - that's a bit aggressive. The name is quite descriptive and playful. Thanks for this post!

decoratorhz Greige comes from the French word grege meaning raw, undyed, so it is a borrowed word just like khaki.
I love, love, love this ideabook!

heyitskim Mmmm - this is so refreshing! Our dining room is Sherwin Williams "Twilight Gray" above the chair rail and "Mulberry Silk" below....a creamy-dreamy mixture!!!

Great Post!

newmouse When I think of taupe, I think of a little purple or red tone to it. I love the colors presented here, but I often don't like paint shades called taupe because of the pink in it.

cervinkova Oh heavens.. @dabm.. your are aware that writing in caps on a public forum is equivalent to yelling at someone... it is considered rude...

love the post though.. just what i needed right now.. perfect timing :)

jillandmatt I always thought taupe had red or purple in it too, which I don't like. I just painted my kitchen and great room in "Relaxed Khaki" by SW. It turned out beautiful. It is a combo of beige and gray with a little green. It looks great with all of my other colors! I've had a difficult time finding a word to describe it. Greige is perfect!

suzanneb116 @dabm...Wow

I love this post, and personally love the quietness of greige/taupe. Most of my house is Porter Paint "Newport Tint" a quiet, taupe that really goes with everything and is found somewhere in almost every house in Nashville. It has a very slight undertone of green rather that the red or purple usually seen. Perfect!

LC Home Staging & Redesign I love the first pic and most of the others as well. I'm really loving oranges and rusts colors lately and I dream of a gray velour sofa.

Anna Baskin Lattimore Design Thanks for the ideabook! I am a fan of Sherwin Williams Tony Taupe and Virtual Taupe. Actually, every color on that chip is a keeper. They look great with all shades of turquoise, ochre, pink, rosy reds, black and white. Here is a photo of a client's dining room painted Virtual Taupe. We painted a pair of corner chairs in an antique white lacquer to update them.

karenspirit DABM I am with you--though I will refrain from all caps. Taupe has been my favorite color for decades--including explaining to a zillion students in my English classes that the word "rhymes with cope not cop". The idea that there is pink or purple in the word may come from another pronunciation challenged word, mauve. ;-)

debisue I've used various shades of gray on our walls for over 10 yrs. As mentioned, it goes great w/ everything. Red in L.R, Mustard in MBR, shades of beige and black in dining room. I use colors all over but the gray holds it all together!

CJ Sebert We just used a similar warm gray in our master bedroom and have received numerous compliments on it, Martha Stewart paint Mushroom. It has just a hint of green and we added copper accents. Doesn't matter what you call the color, we all seem to like it...

dancingfish Does anyone else change color favorites with every new ideabook??? Love the grays!!

mkidriss This is a great post. I have been wondering what nuetral colors to go with without looking too nuetral and unoriginal. I like a couple of these colors, one of which I am going to use in our large den. I wanted a beige, taupe color but something that was light. I always seem to see pictures of darker taupes. The last picture hit it on the nose; just perfect. I have white trim also that will just pop too, like the picture. Thanks for all your hard work to bring us this post. Well appreciated.

atonewithhim I love griege! Taupe, not so much... the pink undertones keep me away. Undertones NOT intentional pink found in mauve.
greige greige greige greige greige greige greige greige greige
stop getting your panties in a bunch because the word greige is used, if paint can be mixed so can their color descriptions.

Voyageurs47 Voyageurs 47 I am so in love with greige right now! My family/tv room is Shinto by Kwal Paints. I love it -- very cozy.

Kelly Porter Oh, dear! Didn't know I would start a 'color name' debate. @dabm, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. @atonewithhim, you made me LOL! I think this discussion validates my thinking that taupe is a color that can {but not always} have pink/mauve undertones. So, when you say 'griege' that eliminates the thoughts of pinkiness (if that's a word). Thanks for all of your comments and photos. I enjoy putting these color Ideabooks together for you!

Kelly

rozemarie Happy to be able to add "griege" to my color lexicon! So descriptive. I've had to say "gray with a brownish tinge," which just wasn't cutting it..

wandm Before even seeing the comments, I was thinking taupe also. Anyway, I am fascinated by the way the colors look in these pix. I have a chip of SW quiver tan and it looks cool and gray to me. But in the first shot, it looks very brownish, tannish and warm. Great stuff!

Clem Doyle Thanks for the ideabook Kelly. I have been looking for a honey beige color mentioned in a previous book but cannot find it. It looks like a rich milk coffee with a little drop of sunshine. I want it to compliment gold frames and dark timber in the entry hall. can any one suggest possible colours.

CAROLE MEYER I love grey.....and the first example was great with the warm drapes against the grey walls. I did dark metallic grey in our dining room and really love the contrast between the grey and the warm old pine and the leather chairs.....I love that look. Carole www.carolemeyerart.com P.S. this is the same room, but being an artist...the art gets changed quite often!!

Ellen T. I really Love this ideabook on Greige! When you say taupe many people are unsure what you mean (not everyone is an artist or designer, right?), but when you say Greige it clarifies the color instantly.

We're redoing our bedroom and I've been thinking of painting it a grey color, but just felt too unsure about finding something that would be warm, but not dark. Greige, i now see, is the solution! Thanks so much for the wonderful ideas!

missyme Five years ago I said all the public rooms in my house were Mud. I suppose Greige works just as well.

michella1616 I love these colors, and I am a big fan of Greige, and the word. I do think it is playful, and chould not be taken too seriously. I mean, really?? Taupe does have pink/red undertones, and greige should not, that is the difference between taupe and greige. At any rate, the most important fact here, is that we all (most, lol) agree that Greige is gorgeous!

bestex Try Tony Taupe 7038 by Sherwin Williams, perfect!

lindakroes Greige is not a " new " word.It has been used for years,just as the color " breen " !

brendaberry22 Love it! Looks like adults decorated it, not like some of the new trends of bright crayon colors which look like kids are taking
over the decorating.

ddem Wow, that tapestry beige BM OC-32 is gorgeous on the kitchen cabinets. Recently visited a show house where all the rooms were a variation of greige. Shenandoah Taupe BM, Tony Taupe SW, Cape Hatteras Sand BM, Ashley Gray BM etc. All flowed together beautifully. I am old enough to remember everyone painting their house taupe in the early '90's so am just a bit hesitant to go back. But back then, no one would put so many other vibrant colors with it, it was basically taupe with black, white and cream. This more gray beige gives many more options. Thanks for putting this ideabook together!

Anna Baskin Lattimore Design I am old enough to remember the taupes of the early 90's too. I think I called it "mushroom" in those days (just to add to the verbage confusion here). I love Benjamin Moore's Ashley Gray for those of you who want to incorporate some gray in your home but love warmer colors.Thanks for mentioning it in the previous comment.

Marissa Mace "Taupe" is so...........yesterday!! Gotta love the imagination of someone twho can come up with an entirely new word for a color my mother used way back when! And it sounds so wonderfully snooty, but in a fun way!

debisue I recently built a mid-century modern home and needed something that would go with any other color I chose, i.e., red, orange, even soft seafoam. I used Sherwin Williams 4614 on walls and a darker S.W. 0023 on trim. In one guest room I switched wall and woodwork so I stayed in same family but needed darker walls. Everyone loves the color but just can't figure it out..not gray, not taupe, etc.

yvette831 What are your thoughts on coastal grey BM color

rubyvy Greige is a portmanteau. Does this help with the debate? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau

Dura Supreme Cabinetry Adding some bright cookbooks, colorful flower arrangements and a few small colorful kitchen accessories really give some life to a neutral kitchen. Like this neutral kitchen design that was just featured in Alaska’s Best Kitchens Magazine as their grand prize winner for their latest Fall/Winter edition...