Todays gray trend reminds me of the sci-fi movies where every one wears gray jumpsuits and lives in gray boxes..

The Parade of Homes in central Ohio is showing million $ homes finished in complimentary grays,, delicate blues, soft whites. Soothing and easy to decorate.

Paint isn't a permanent home improvement, therefore we experiment every 3 years. Never boring here. Our house is a guy and girl home.

When I was young I wanted every room a different color and oh, yeah, I had a purple bedroom (that was my favorite at one time) and burnt orange kitchen/dining area. I've had every color except black over the years - (even let son paint his room hell red, when he moved out we had to Killz it). Now I'm old and getting ready for the big move so when we built this house we had every room painted with a light silvery blue color - matches the sky on a hazy day. So it's Heaven blue walls with white trims and kitchen and bathroom cabinets. I told everyone I was old and getting ready to go to heaven now. LOL! It also makes the world feel lighter and airier and easier to see things clearly. Anyway I still haven't tired of it and if I want color I can use accents for that.

My preference for my wall colors are light and neutral. The color can come in other ways. Colors would make the interior of my home too dark to suit me.

Sue

my whole house, except the bathroom is very pale green. I first used this color in the 90's, but then, only in my computer room.

My last house was painted in a grey, and I actually liked it, cause all accent colors popped...

this house had 3 colors on each wall, and except for the dining room, each wall was in a different combination, aka, top, bottom, and the painted chair rail.

I was never so happy than to do the green make over... even on the ceilings. Accent colors still pop... and my trip is white.

Moni

When we bought our city apartment for DH to live in during the week for work, all the walls were grey (which I know is trendy but feel is depressing unless there’s lots of white trim and light) with the exception of a puce “feature” wall in the master bedroom. We were in a hurry so the whole place was repainted in a weekend with Magnolia, a warm off white. Colours may change in the future when we get around to redoing the kitchen and recarpeting throughout.

Our main house has different colours, the living room is pretty much the reverse of the picture Annie Deighnaugh posted- pale blue walls, white trim, sand and taupe furniture. Kitchen is verdigris with white trim and granite colour laminate countertops. Bathroom is a stronger light blue, more a violet blue than sky blue, with white trim. DH’s room is spring green with white trim and my room is lemon yellow with Wedgwood blue and white trim. We built on an addition which has a great room, laundry and office and painted them all a warm sand colour with white trim, and the laundry has a strip of tiling in alternating light blue, dark blue, orange and mustard yellow. I do like colours. :-D

I would love to see some photos of these amazing rooms you are describing. I hope some of you will consider posting photos of your spaces!

Pink kitchen, orange powder room, aubergine library, burgandy dining room. Someone else mentioned a cornbread yellow room with brick trim. The list goes on. These rooms sound incredible!

Annie - I dont think I have ever seen your photos. Your powder room photo is not showing. That augergine wall is incredible. Love everything about it. Please post more!

Annie ....WOW! Love that! It pulls the purple out of the rug.

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Here's what I think of when people mention decorating with color. See below:

RED Accent walls, and pale grey carpet :

#1

Reddish floors and pale grey walls:

#2

Which do you like better? #1 or #2?

Sorry, I was having trouble with the PR picture ... it wouldn't post for me.

nicole, both are fine but it depends so much on how you fill the room.

Nicole - I like #2 better, not because of the color but because it is a more updated space. #1 is what I think of when decorating with color. #2 is not what comes to my mind. #2 could be decorating with color depending on the final furnishings.

Here's a pic of the rust in my kitchen...

Annie - I love that mirror. Did you purchase it that way or was the molding added later? The orange is fantastic, as are the light fixtures.

Love the rust. I once had that color on my dining room ceiling.

Here's the heather in my mud room/laundry room

The photo is one I took when we were in Provence. The funny thing is I had the everything in the room done long before I took the picture and then saw how well it went in the space.

My guest room.

For some reason, the pics are coming out very small...you can click them to enlarge.

Thanks ilikefriday! The chippendale mirror in the PR was bought by my mom at an auction from a reasonably famous family back in the 1960s...I did the antique gold finish on the mirror myself.

Annie - The size of the photos look normal to me. One thing that really draws me in with decor is mixing patterns. You have done that in your guest room. Love it! Indeed your home is full of color. Bold, rich colors. I wish we saw more of this on Houzz. It is very refreshing. You have done a fantastic job.

The Provence photo. Its funny how things like that come together over time. The photo was meant for that space.

See how clueless I am. I had no idea that was a Chippendale mirror. It looks fab. The mirror in my powder room is in a really tight space close to the wall but I want it to be more ornate then it is currently. I think I will try something with molding. Your photo has inspire me.

Thanks, ilikefriday...I think you'll enjoy your exploration of colors and patterns.

Here are some pics from my previous home, a 1940s Tudor-style cottage. Colors so bright, they almost knock your socks off. At the time these were taken, I was head-over-heels in love with Mexico and the more vibrant colors of the Southwest U.S. Artist Stephen Morath was my inspiration, and I still love his work. I eventually toned all of this down (sold much of my Mexican decor), and went towards more of an English cottage style, with the walls painted a soft sage throughout. My home now is a new, neo-eclectic style with Accessible Beige on all of the walls. I love the fresh feel of the neutral backdrop, but you can bet I still incorporate a lot of color in my artwork.

Anyway ... I loved this little house. It was truly my passion for a number of years.

ETA: As I've shared entirely too many times already, here's how we do color in our house now:

Ida - Love that dining room.

Nicole, I prefer #2, something a man and a woman can share..:)

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Accessible Beige is a very conforming wall color. Beige/gray easy to decorate.

Nicole's two versions of the room...I think it depends on the furnishings. Red is not everyone's cup of tea, but that room could be beautiful with certain furnishings. The blue version is more modern, clean and fresh. It is adaptable to most furnishings and good in a rental or in a home for sale.

" or in a home for sale. "

I don't consider it wise to repaint to sell unless the condition is plain ugly and damaged.

There are a few neighbors who repaint a house in VGC to sell and as soon as new owner comes in, the paint van shows up to create their own personal world of color.

A waste of resources by seller.

Anne, Love that heather color!!!

Years ago I bought a house and thought it had white walls. I kept coming home and thinking it was cloudy or headed toward stormy outside. It wasn't, it was the light grey walls making it feel that way. Never, ever any grey walls again, your wall color affects your mood and perceptions.

I actually don't like either the red/white room or the blue. I would repaint if it were mine. Grey is dreary to live with. I had it at one time and it looked like the color of sadness during the long winter. I re-painted in a light honey-beige.

Annie, I love that orange powder room! Y'know, I still think from time to time that I should paint mine, and then I sit down and focus on something else until that thought passes. But seeing your pretty walls again ... Hmmmmmmm ....

My walls have always been some shade of beige. I prefer the neutral backdrop as it allows my art to be the focal point. I love color and bring it in through my other décor.

"I don't consider it wise to repaint to sell "

A quick interior paint job is a common and inexpensive form of apple-polishing that's very common in my area. Especially if the place has odd colors. It's like planting annuals or cleaning up the yard, small efforts to make the property more attractive and so more desirable to buyers. Like washing a car before trying to sell it

I guess if an owner keeps their personal living quarters up to date and in good repair, including landscape maintenance, and cars detailed and clean, no last minute apple-polishing is needed.

Didn't I mention ugly and damaged? That also means, lack of interest until ready to sell.

Michael, maybe the real estate market is different in your area than in mine. Work, sometimes substantial, to dress up a property in a variety of ways before the listing becomes effective is very common here. Staging, moving out the owners' possessions and moving in rented pieces, has also become common.

I love all interiors as long as they are beautiful/interesting to me and convey the idea of the house, and personality of the owner

Knowing myself-it'll be lots of colors, sooner or later, in my own place

But. If I had. say. houses/rooms to experiment with. I'd love to try and do something very different from what I usually do-a neutral interior. Very organic feel, it probably would be. It's interesting to see whether I'd be able to. Doubtful. But self-restriction can lead to all sorts of new different freedoms..

as for what's back now, at least in terms of colors-I have it for ten years already-since I have again places to decorate, essentially. I don't stop loving a color, but I rather find a new one to love and sneak in.

The more colors one has the easier it is to sneak in a new one, or so I found

The paint/wall treatments will depend on the house. I prefer muted tones on walls, whether light or darker. And I prefer warmer shades of any color if it's big surface.

I also don't think it ever went away. Colors. Maybe it wasn't mainstream. And maybe only not here.

Location and culture play huge role in approach to colors. Light, vegetation(or lack thereof), landscape in general, climate, cultural associations..

Obviously, personal associations as well.

What others see as calming and restful might slowly drive me crazy. I'll start thinking all sorts of existential thoughts and stuff...))

When the next door neighbors were selling their house 2 years ago, they repainted totally inside and out. They also replace flooring that was aged. The house was actually in very good shape and was only about 15 years old. When the new people moved in, they immediately repainted the whole place, changed the flooring and even changed out the cabinets. I said then that the next time I move I'm not going to kill myself like I did the last time. I repainted all the rooms and put in new carpeting, not counting all the little crap I did. I might have gotten a little less for the house but probably not enough to break even for what I spent money wise and energy and time wise doing the work. BTW, I live in Central Florida so maybe it's different here.

I am the odd one out as I actually love Gray rooms and don't find them depressing. My main living areas have been Gray with white trim for about 10yrs or more and I never tire of it as I did with bolder colors. When it is time to repaint, I will stick to the Gray which to me is fresh and airy thanks to good natiural light from numerous windows. Also, it is so versatile and easy to decorate around.

IdaClaire, that blue in your dining room is stunning. It reminds me of all the deep saturated colors they use in art museums which really make the artwork pop.

Here for example is from the Wadsworth Athaneum

Color: Entry (lavender), LR (Blue), DR (green), kitchen (yellow). Our first house was an opportunity to add color after living in a new condo where we changed none of the slapped together builder finishes (creamy off white “orange peel” textured walls, no trim, except door trim and it was that medium brown stuff.

Now that we’ve been in this, our first house 21 years, built 1939, I’m craving white walls and simple trim without lots of detail. I want to paint the walls a calm white and remove the chair rail we lovingly installed, and replace the detailed base with a simple one. But I like color too. Sitting on indecision.

I wish the people who sold me this house had not felt the need to paint every wall. Here are some before and after:

kitchen before

kitchen after

bathroom before (ick)

after

guest room before

aaaand after

laundry room

laundry room after. That's the third bathroom in the back it was all brown too before I painted the top. If it were only me living here it would all be pink, but alas,I do try to compromise about such things....

I never did like the trend of baby poop or brown coloured walls. My walls in my living room, hallway and my bedroom are called Happy Blue - light blue but not baby blue with white ceilings. My kitchen is bright Meringue Pie yellow. My bathroom paint was custom mixed by my painter and has a touch of mauve, I want to paint it a brighter colour. My other bedroom is bright rose pink

I love color. I may have a gray/white kitchen, but most of my rooms are very colorful.

When we lived in LA, we lived in Hancock Park, an older, more traditional neighborhood. Most people had houses that could just as easily have been in St Louis or Greenwich. No longer. When I look at the real estate ads, they've done exactly what the Property Brothers did with Drew's Hancock Park house; down come the walls, everything looks on the inside just like a new subdivision house.

Walls will not be coming out, but I have told my children to never try to see the house as furnished. Young people don't own/like antiques anymore and it will be off-putting to them. They are to remove everything from the house, remove all the wallpaper except from a couple of bathrooms (it's a nice strie and makes the bathrooms look much better), paint the walls a neutral color, polish the floors and then list the house. I hope I'll be dead. But it's the way to sell the house.

I’m not a fan of either of the rooms Nicole posted. I don’t care for “feature walls” (with a few exceptions- I do like Annie’s) or large swaths of red, and I don’t think the grey walls go vey well with the floor.

If I was amylou I’d leave the chair rail as is, paint the top section in magnolia or a pale shade of whatever the bottom section was painted, and put the colour on the bottom section, rather than have very contrasting colours. (If she wanted a pink kitchen but her DH didn’t, painting the top half in a complimentary off white to the pink she has would be a good compromise as the overall effect would be “pink”.)

Amylou, that's the disadvantage of previous owners painting walls. Most are inept, careless and cheap.

Coleenoz,my original plan was to paint the bottom the color pink it is,leave the chair rail and paint the top a paler pink. It might still happen.

Michael, and the seller was so PROUD of the fact that the house had all new paint,and expected me to be grateful for it....

I am glad SO likes it. I like to see him happy which is why I didn't put up a fuss about the bedroom remaining that icky brown. And FWIW my pink countertop appliances and decor stand out against the boring brown walls on the actual cooking side of my kitchen. I still want it pink though. One day I will wear him down.

I guess it is better if the seller leaves the walls smooth, clean and painted. It gives you a better surface for your own paint.

Elizabeth, that's seldom true. If the seller does the painting DIY and fails to prep the walls, washing, patching, sanding, caulking gaps, etc., the new owner only inherits a poorly painted surface that may peel soon after taking possession. Who wants a coat of paint applied over pet hair, dust, and cooking oils?

A seller is better off presenting a clean, neat home and let the buyer decide on colors, paint quality and professional or DIY application.

As I mentioned earlier, if it's ugly, damaged and neglected......call in a pro.

• I guess I was too optimistic there in assuming the seller did a good job.

Love color!!! Even if it’s trending or not. Just finished a new build and my painter woefully told me that he used 28 different colors in the house. And even though he hated me for it, he loved how everything turned out.

Anglo and Annie I've never seen either of your homes and both are gorgeous. I love color! Plus I consider both homes to be timeless.

Here are a few photos of our new build house. Craftsman inspired.

Kitchen/dining area photo

Kitchen:

Friends' entryway:

Powder room bathroom:Master bedroom:

Stairwell:Guest bedroom:Guest bathroom:

michael, for some reason you're clinging tightly to your notions that contradict experiences many of us have. Buyers don't do scratch tests of painted walls or do bore holes to see what's there. Or ask what kind of paint was used and what prep was done. All the "prep to sell" efforts I've known are eyewash - work done to approve appearances.

Foyer:

Living room:

Guest bedroom reading nook: