Balboa Mist is a really light grey so I think you'll be okay. You're right you can bring color in with furniture, rugs, etc. Worst case, if you feel like it's too much grey, later on, you can repaint a few rooms since paint is one of the easiest and cheapest things to change. I say go for it.

Thank you!

Sure it’s possible to have to much grey. But it doesn’t sound like your doing that. Don’t know what your floor color is but guessing it’s not also grey. Are you doing your ceilings grey or white?

I think much depends on if the home has an open floor plan or not. Open plans by definition have to have continuity for the wall colors in order for the rooms to flow. You've got a bit more flexibility to introduce other colors in plans that are not open.

Now, that said, I'm a big fan of accent walls to break things up a bit. Pick a focal point wall, e.g. a fireplace wall, an entry wall, or a gallery wall to add another darker color. Since Balboa Mist leans in a taupe-y direction, I'd go with blue-greens or possibly dark lavenders.

@Idecor54 The flooring is a red oak (also 90's but we decided to keep it for now since we have a toddler and a dog!) and the ceilings are simply white by BM.

Yes, we have an open concept. It is a traditional circular layout (living room, dining room, kitchen, family room) are all connected with no doors. I'll definitely think about an accent wall!

Doesn’t sound like it’s too much grey to me. Sounds like a nice neutral with plans for colors that could flow from room to room.

Thank you!!

the clock *is* ticking on grey, but the new color hasnt ridden into town yet. if you are pleasing yourself, go ahead with balboa mist, it's my favorite grey. but the only color i'd paint everywhere is a variant of white, i think.

The red oak is a more timeless floor than a gray one and adds warmth to the space. To keep from having a home that looks stuck in 2015 in ten years, I suggest you try to combine the colors and styles you like while keeping some aspects of the original home. For example, along with keeping the floors, consider keeping any the interior doors wood if they are paneled wood doors. They will hold up better than white interior doors and wood paneled doors look good with white trim.

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I have a "wood and white" idea book which shows other pics combining wood and white. Working with some of the homes original features is less expensive and will lean to using more timeless and less trendy surfaces.

I have the "wood and white" style in my own home. I like how the white trim adds brightness but the wood doors and floors give warmth. I also can choose either when working on refreshing a space. My kitchen cabinets are wood, but my laundry room has white. I have 3 wood bath vanities, but the powder room is white.

Newer design pics I am seeing are moving back to warmer tones and colors and natural wood floors. The use of gray has decreased, though light grays and grays with green undertones are popular. The "black and white" picture look is fading fast - it was too extreme for most. However, you want to do your home in a style that makes you smile, not that is caught up in the trends of the moment, so spend time thinking about what you really like, not what is the current style.

Yes! We actually did decide to keep the wood doors in our home the original color. It looks fantastic in the pictures!! :)

I have been reading that gray's time is ticking for a few years now but I haven't been seeing it go anywhere.

Gray is a neutral. I use neutrals as a backdrop for other colors. I like to change my room colors to the seasons (pillows, throws, etc) and a neutral wall and flooring is ideal to change a look of a room without the time and expense. Too much neutral and it become boring and lacks character. Like the white on white on white kitchens.

thats the thing, B Sting. we may be bored of the grey, but no 'pat' replacement has arrived.

i just had 3 bedrooms 2 baths and the upstairs hall repainted; i went with a deep cream , a dry straw , palest blue , medium blue-green, and deep peacock. nary a grey in sight in this house. i do have a balboa mist master bedroom (vacation house) , it was done years ago, chosen from my BM fan deck, pre-houzz etc. not sure about balboa but its def the color of rhode island mist, which is how i picked it. it was my favorite of all the greys.

so, does that even count as picking a grey, if i did it innocently without knowing that grey was a thing at the time? no, i've never watched HGTV so i didnt learn it there, either.

well replacement is here actually-it's all sorts of whites. Folks are very much into white now. see it as very "fresh" lol

(I lived with white for years-to me it's a color than can be wonderful under many circumstances and wrong under others. As colors go.)

there are so many whites that some of them will be actually off whites or light greiges or very very light greens, or creams, or whatnot..depending on how cool or warm they are, and how they're tinted

people also shift back to warmer tones. and they like deep jewel tones-goes for years already, actually

but it all doesn't mean that if somebody loves gray (which has hundred of shades too)-he shouldn't go with it, and can't do so very successfully

yes there is such thing as too much gray

actually as I think of it it might be that any color can get too much

what colors signal to us? life.

in a very few situations, with no possibility of escape, even most prevalent in nature colors, most happy, most calming, most life signaling ones can start signifying the opposite

say blue of sky and sea-most natural, right?

but for example one gets stuck on a boat in an ocean. for a long time. in a lonely situation, more or less

my guess is-at some point he won't find these blues calming or happy or anything like that. He'll want change of scenery, pronto.

Even though these blues are complex and incredibly beautiful and everchanging and never just blues.

Same thing with white. If you live with snow it's one thing. If you're locked up in a white room-you'll get sensory deprivated after a while. Since things won't change around you like they normally do.

Now, in normal situation, like you, B Sting, describe, in a house with non-gray wood flooring, and different art, and furnishings, and textures, and some other paints -you get a normal situation. A life-signaling one. When your eye wants to travel-it travels)) It's not limited to one choice only, with no readily given possibility to escape.

Make sure you love the colors you choose, make sure they work with your house in your light, and between themselves, make sure it's the vibe you're going for-different people look for different vibe in their house as their prevalent one. You can always add or substract as you go, you'll feel it, the amount of color you need..vary your textures..listen to the house and yourself-and you'll see that it's not some stagnant relationship..it'll develop. Your home will be much more than your wall color. Like in life, usually -it'll be many things together. Don't worry..you'll be good. Congratulations on your new place, happy decorating..and sorry for my long musing, I really find this topic interesting-what do we find too much, when, and why.