From what I read, gray is on its way out...might be just summer and brighter colors are happier in the summer. My question is who cares what's "in"? Gray never was never will be a color in my world and I am sooo sick of looking at pictures posted here that appear black and white due to all the gray. I really do not get choosing to live in a grayed out world!!

In the Netherlands earth tones are already making a comeback (or have never left). More tan and wood to go with all that concrete grey and white. Charcoal/black and seablue/mossgreen to spice it up. Might be a climate thing, it can be quite dreary here.

Everything comes and goes. If you like something it will come around again (although hopefully avocado appliances won't -- BIG GRIN). I decorate to please myself not for what's trendy

I have never strayed from warm colors for almost 40yrs. I have never, and will never, use gray or greige. Don't be swayed by advertising, tv shows and what is readily available.

Gray is coming to an end. You will see a move from the stark white also. (White is a difficult color to decorate with - you really need to understand color.) Warm is returning but it is the undertone that changes. Beige with pink base is thankfully still gone. Your warm yellow beige can look on trend depending on the styling of the room. Less heavy wood work and opt for sleeker wood lines. Mixed metals. As long as you have the same beige undertone throughout the space with these furnishings your room will always look well styled. A well styled space is always preferred over one that is trending.

When everyone’s’ everything is available and dominates at Home Depot, the coasts have moved on. It will trickle inward, but streamlined warmth, wood, and other natural materials are what is just around the corner. Zen modern. Gray dropped like stone.

I was touring a house for sale and in one bedroom, the carpet was bright green/yellow. The realtor said, oh! Lime green from the ‘70’s. I said, if you call it, ‘citron’, it’s very trendy right now!

White and Cream; The New Trend Taking Over Your Neighbourhood

04/12/2019 - Maria Killam

The colour pendulum had to swing all the way back to white

"Because we’ve been adding colour to the white walls our parents or grandparents had for 30-40 years now.

The pendulum eventually had to come back to white because it felt the most current.

The brown trend came along (right after the sage green trend of the 90s which was earthy) and everything went even earthier, faux finished and very BROWN.

Then the grey trend arrived and we cooled it all down and added brighter, happier, cleaner colours.

Then.
. . halfway through the grey trend when the oval-back french chair
(upholstered in grey linen) trickled down to every nearby big box store
for the bargain price of around $199 (so much that I had even started
calling it the Parisian grey trend), the farmhouse/shiplap look started
to overtake it. And we know exactly who to blame for this

In
the last year, suddenly everyone I speak to (who is designing a new
build) is doing ‘the farmhouse look’ with black windows and a stark
white exterior."

It's easy to say use whatever colors you like. The problem is when you try to find things that coordinate.. What is trendy is what is more readily available. But Oriental carpets from Turkey - that would be amazing!

My question is who cares what's "in"? Gray never was never will be a color in my world and I am sooo sick of looking at pictures posted here that appear black and white due to all the gray. I really do not get choosing to live in a grayed out world!!

Yup, we live in the same world.

Gray is the sweatshirt I wear when I'm running. Not the color that makes me happy when I go into my kitchen.

I for one am pretty tired of all the gray. It is and always has been a nice exterior color, but I've never been into it for interiors. Too dreary. I don't think the popular grays are necessarily bad colors in and of themselves (like the pink undertone beiges of yore), just not for me or my house. I think if I lived in a gray-walled house, it would make my seasonal depression that much worse.

I'm a huge fan of warm, sunny colors in the realm of bones, cream, and butter. My house has an upstairs parlor with a bay window and southern exposure (we call it the sun room), and it's going to be a nice buttery gold because we want to augment the sunniness, not diminish it by adding cloud cover in the form of gray paint.

Cream is making a comeback as we speak.

I think the worst part of any trend is when people adopt it when it's not truly their style. As long as you stay true to what you love, the authenticity of your style will show in your home. Whatever you do, do it well, which in my opinion is what starts trends!

While even the most classically styled houses will have some elements of fashion in them, it is best to keep such elements to a minimum. The avocado green appliances your parents had no choice in buying for an example of a sad fashion trend remembered fondly by no one. Whether you choose a warm palette or a cool one should be totally independent of fashion. I loathe both the earth tones of the 70s and the battleship grays of yesterday. You can have a cool palette without looking like a victim of Home Depot's marketing department and you can choose a warm palette without looking like you are stuck in someone's faux Tuscan nightmare. The obsession people have with which shade of interior paint to put on the walls does not serve them well. Choose a plain old white and medium wood tones where applicable and have the furniture, art and textiles drive the look and feel of the house.

From a mass-marketing point of view- yes- gray is trending out and warm colors are coming back.

well said, Rita / Bring Back Sophie 4 Real

If you love a color why do you care if it is in unless you are selling in the next 10 mins. I happen to love grays and will always love them so wether they are in or not matters not to me. I collect art and that is where my colors are and I don’t care if those pieces go with my decor either.

tpliska said: It's easy to say use whatever colors you like. The problem is when you try to find things that coordinate.. What is trendy is what is more readily available.

So true!! I originally posed this question out of color frustration. We've have been having a devil of a time finding a warm toned, reasonably light, neutral carpet to cover the vinyl tiles in our basement rec room. The warm tones are evidently still so "out" that there are few carpet colors available that will coordinate with the paneling in this space.

It's "real" oak (veneer), not the old printed paneling everyone paints over. I think it was originally finished with a light whitewash kind of treatment in style at the time (the 70s), so it's a toned-down kind of oak finish. I suspect it has oxidized or ambered a bit over the years as many woods do; you can see the difference where a picture once hung in the first photo:

I have a small piece I carry around to the carpet stores (and I have been to about ten now), and it's crazy how most of the neutrals won't pair with it. Most are too gray or too pink. I've never been a beige person but this is ridiculous. Sigh.

A local store had some short loop in-stock carpet at a great price that we thought would be the solution -- soft undyed wool from sheep to whom color trends are irrelevant -- but sadly, it turned out to be unusable due to some lamination issues.

Now we are back to the drawing board.

Sure, we could go with a plain cream plush carpet like everybody slaps in their basements, but that goes against my practical nature. I want the pleasure of the carpeted floors in this space until we sell the house in about 3 years BUT I don't want the anxiety of trying to keep a nearly-white carpet unblemished. (Plus I never liked plush carpets due to the tracks.)

This project will be a big investment for us, well over $3K, so I want it to work well! The carpet should complement the wood like the setting for a gemstone (forgive this corny anology!). So I have been wondering how long it will be before warm tones are back in favor and we'll have more carpet color options.

Some people would perish the thought, but my living room is toasty brown, emphasis on toasty. I love it. It's rich, warm, and welcoming. It's like I'm in a giant frappuccino. :) I use creams, ivory, and touches of burnt orange to decorate. I personally love what I've created and no one has to live in it but me. As far as what's being in trend, I guess the grays just passed me right on by. Do what you love and you'll be happy with your home. If you do what's in trend, you will always be trying to fix something or something else won't "seem" quite right.

YIKES! Yellow and gold are out? Nobody told me.

What will this homeowner do?

Yeah, I didn't know yellow/gold was out until I embarked on this carpet odyssey and had so much difficulty finding a warm color to go with our paneling.

I like those paintings that person chose to go with yellow - I wouldn't have immediately though of that but it's so nice.

I love what Jan said above about heaviness being replaced by lightness......and colors; houses done in all one color that 'flows' through the house drives me crazy.....I chose one neutral white that works with existing flooring and cabinetry and decorate from there.....I love color and all of it in every room....does my home look 'correct' probably not, but I love it and others seem to like it to, or are too polite to say, What were you thinking!. lol so thank you for wisdom that brings comfort to my heart. And yes, I am lightening up, but because grey is so prevalent in mass produced design, each room has a tiny bit of grey in it be it a lamp shade, the leaves in a comforter, an art print, or throw pillow, or curtains.....if that is what is being shown at the moment you buy it or do custom which is very $$$$.

PS My living room sofa is done in a color called Conner Rose, a dusky coral, so yes warm colors are 'IN'.

Karenmo I hear you! Have you considered a tweed type carpet, low shag pile cut that is done in a multitude of yarn colors that come in different color families? Very economical by the way. My daughter put it in their new home five years ago and it wears so well with kids dogs, and having it cleaned.....it is really amazing and comes in many tones. That might be a choice?

Yes, I did consider that. It would have been a good choice if we had been able to find it but when I looked at that style, I was dismayed that very few included enough warm colors to work with our paneling. For example, instead of a cream with a caramel brown, it would be light colors with gray browns of some type. Arrrgh. It was also disappointing that so many of the neutral multicolored carpets were really high contrast color combinations that seem jarring to me -- what the salesman called the salt & pepper look. At least he was sympathetic to our frustration.....

Check out flor.com these are amazing carpet tiles, perfect for your application with loads of color combinations. I just put these in our Casita (concrete floor) and it turned out so great. Use it as my hubbies office. Let me get some photos for you.

Flo Mangan, thanks so much for suggesting Flor! I had alot of fun exploring their website, with so many useful geometric patterns that intrigued me. Not too many warm & light colors there tho, so I'd have to do more digging and sampling to find something that works with my paneling. But the price is steep -- for our 900 sq ft rec room the material alone would be over $5K, substantially more than nice WTW would cost, installed. Still, I will continue exploring the carpet tile option due to its remove & clean capability; so glad you brought this up Flo! It's a big stress reliever to think there's a way to go forward with a cream-type carpet without so much worry about keeping it pristine. If it exists.....

i think you should show examples of what you mean by warm. There are tons of warm tiles on flor and any carpet store has a million books/ samples to look through. Lowe’s or HD definitely are focused more on trends and have more limited selections.

Color me strange, but my homes pick the colors for me. I wait until its character reveals itself, and go from there. Personally, I would paint the walls, real oak or not. I would then use a throw rug(s). Especially if you plan on selling in three years. It would be easier for the buyer to envision what they would do, rather than picture $$ to replace a carpet. But that’s just me.

Not to highjack the thread, but Flo, those carpet tiles look great. I have been tempted to use Flor but I like non-latex rug pads underneath rugs for both comfort and protection of the hardwood floor (non-engineered). I was told that Flor won't work with rug pads. Did you use one?

This discussion of trends, grays, paint colors and current home fashion always interests me. Just like the yellow living room picture demonstrates, well-styled and personalized rooms always look great even if the color and case goods are not trending.

The reason we will cover the floors in our rec room before we sell the house is that the existing floor surface is the old vinyl asbestos tile (VAT) which are super durable and in good condition, but unattractive in a variety of ways. Adhering anything to VAT is not a good idea due to hassles down the line in removal, so we need a floating floor of some sort. We settled on the idea of carpet due to lower cost than luxury vinyl planking. And I should add that we want to do this carpet project now, rather than right before putting the house on the market so we can all enjoy the new carpeted version of our rec room. Now, I am totally OK going against trends in personal choices, aesthetic or otherwise (!), but the hassle I am experiencing is the marketing of carpet products. So often I think a carpet sample will be "warm" enough so surely should "go" with our paneling, but then when the two are together, all the warmth seems drained from the carpet sample and it has that gray tinge that seems to have overtaken everything these days, except the very lightest cream-colored carpets that seem totally impractical. Yuck. I am not sure how I could do a photo to show people what this is like (and maybe next time I get up my tolerance for another carpet store excursion, I will try), but trust me, this is exasperating! When it comes to whatever is on the market, we are simply at the mercy of the color trends, even in carpet! The only exception is paint -- we can still have custom mixed paint in whatever out of cycle color our hearts might desire. [Sorry for the rant!]

Its not that hard to find carpet to go with the paneling. Instead of a solid color look for something with variation in tone. I think what's throwing you off is a vast expanse of sameness next to the vast expanse of striped oak.

Virtually ALL inexpensive nylon ( any price point, really ) is going to take on a cooler/ less warm tone than the paneling. Why? Because nylon will not take dye as well as wool fibers. The answer is a "secondary thread" and tone in the broadloom,, and LIGHTER in several tones than the walls. Or even a pattern of sorts. You may have to step up in price point to be thrilled.

You see color by comparison...........so that is where you see the somewhat dulled and grayer/"dirtier" tone. You're not crazy .

My old favorite for this? Masland "Cartesian", long discontinued. The broadloom market has responded to the wood floor trend with MANY more patterns and textures ...all to be made into area rugs at your pleasure to be set upon a trend one can not ignore. Honestly? I'd do the LVP and buy a rug that can go with you. Fining the "love" here ? It is what it is. More $$$$ than you think it will take.

Or? You paint that paneling..........: ) Or select a deep tone, with plenty of contrast to those "oak" walls.. Navy comes to mind.

I would lower the price and let your buyers decide what floor they want. It looks like everything in that room needs replacement (floor, trim, grouted wall panelling, light switch covers, etc.), and you are just wasting your time and money on something that will be removed as soon as they enter the house after signing all the documents.

On my screen, the paneling has a pink-ness to it. I can see where that will be hard to coordinate. Not sure if it looks like that in person. If so, I suggest reading up in Maria Killam's blog where she has several posts about working around pink beige.

Here's one link, but there are more: https://www.mariakillam.com/pinkbeigesofa/

Anyone else read UK journo Kate Watson Smyth/Mad about the House? https://www.madaboutthehouse.com/ A couple days ago she wrote this about strong colour vs pale,warm neutrals. Note she isn't even bothering to much mention grey in the whole essay. (too passe) So it goes.

"Of course it doesn’t matter which side of the fence you sit on. I tend to perch on the top with a leg either side. We don’t need to fight about it as there is no right or wrong, but today I wanted to look at some of those restful neutrals. They’re not for everyone. But nor is all that colour. The key is to look at the rooms featured here and gauge your reaction.

Don’t look for opinions on taste but measure, instead, your heart rate. Is it relaxed or racing? Stimulated or stifled? Inspiring or irritating? That is always the key factor in determining the right colour for a room. The next step is to decide if the reaction you have had is the appropriate one for that room. No point setting the heart racing before you climb into bed to read your book and a sitting room meant for relaxing needs a colour scheme that evokes those feelings not one that’s going to energise you."

OP,I hope you find the shade and texture carpeting that you want. Since you mention resale,I would look for the best deal that makes the whole space work best. That gives the freshest feel. Don't let the paneling 'over-dictate'. For many potential buyers,that paneling will never be a selling point, so keep the focus on the room.

btw, on the flor carpet tiles (and I'm not selling these, just love them) we didn't use the back-disks for sticking to the floor. Didn't need them and we are renting, so our plan is to pick them up and move them with us when we move next. We didn't put any pad under them, that wouldn't work. there is a waterproof backing and we have seen a great result given the flooring under them was stick on vinyl tiles that were lifting and really ugly. So, we felt the investment was worth it. A rug just didn't work in the space. I would put a brighter blue combo with your paneling. It would tone the orangeness down and then on your real estate agreement, just indicate you will be removing the tiles. It will show a lot better, but keep your money and carpet for next home! if you just want a low cost covering, do a sisal or other grass woven series of rugs. Not crazy about them, but it would give a better look and "stage" up for resale. You could even stencil a boarder design on really inexpensive rugs. Available at World Market, Pier 1, Walmart, Target, etc.

Wouldn't removing the asbestos floor repay itself when selling the house?

Then you could have some new goodlooking stone pattern vinyl and rugs, for example.

But, carpet.. Personally, I'd pick a moss green with that paneling. Or a warm slate grey. Carbon. Not too light. Navy was a good suggestion. Teal or petrol even.

I’ve always loved golds and yellows. I don’t really care what’s trending. Grey would never work for me. I find it dismal.
Not a big fan of brown either but I love apples description of the room. Something about being enveloped in a Frappuccino? That’s great. Whatever color we pick we should love it as much as that! ; )

Funny that so many of you have mentioned some kind of blue or referenced others who do -- that's been my reflex all along with this room. Currently, the sofa and a couple of chairs are navy, with lots of wood grain/rattan furnishings, and pops of red. Heck, when we bought a ping pong table for the rec room, we even bought a blue one! But of course everyone says basement carpeting should be a light color....sisal would do that, so I will look into that, as well as shifting to some kind of blue. I'd be fine with a commercial typecarpet myself, but when we were focused on a light colored carpet, they all fell by the way. Plus DH thinks buyers will want something soft, and the commercial carpets are NOT soft.

Based on our earlier close call with that unique bargain carpet, which was wool, I know that the color in that fiber could work, but for the typical price for a wool carpet, we could do LVP, which was the thought we had when we left the carpet store today after our latest frustrating attempt to find a good carpet partner for the paneling. [Jan, since you mentioned Masland, did you detect their Woven Road (Carina) in the one photo?! That brush with carpet nirvana has probably spoiled me for any synthetic WTW!!]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and the moral support!

As for asbestos -- when it is bound up in the vinyl tiles that have integrity, that is no cracking, breaking, chipping, etc., then the advice is to leave the tiles in place rather than engage in any removal actions, which could release asbestos fibers into the environment and require extraordinary measures to reduce that exposure. While the vinyl asbestos tiles stay in place, a good practice to keep them from being damaged and releasing fibers is to cover the tiles, and floating floors are recommended -- carpeting or the click type plank floors, for example.

I guess I should be glad that we moved cross country before the gray and cool color trend(s) had started fading, otherwise it would have been more difficult to find what I wanted and like when decorating/painting/flooring a house. :p