Green Is The New Grey, Surprising Illusions, & The Risk Of Being Agreeable
Color is a funny thing. The most frequent question people online ask about photos of my design projects is "What color is that wall?" As if you just painted your room that color you'd instantly have the same mood. It doesn't work that way. There’s a lot more going on to create the mood that you’re reacting to.
The Case for Ditching Agreeable Gray
Color isn’t only for materials. Here we used LED lighting to wash a hallway in a soft glow of color that can change the mood with the push of a button.
People are also afraid.
Homeowners don’t want to be repaint after going too far off ‘normal’. Sellers want the house to sell fast. Flippers know what worked in the previous house, or what some other flipper did. So they do the same. And so the trend multiplies.
Some realtors playing interior designer default to telling clients to paint their walls Shewing Williams 7029 aka "Agreeable Gray" because it appeals to both people who prefer browns and blacks. Remember how wearing black and brown together was a high crime? You can pull it off with boldness, but agreeableness just has you standing in the middle of the road, waiting to be squashed like a bug. Pick a side.
Color theory is relative; to other colors but also to the lighting and space. I guess the perceived appeal of agreeable gray is that the gray and beige people see what they want to see in it. It sounds harmless; a low risk option to get the job done. The risk is having your home blend into the swarm of others’ low risk paint jobs. At the end of the day, buyers Joe and Mary can’t differentiate the interior of one house from another because they just toured four houses with the same color palate and their brains are fried. And if that’s where you’re living every day, is blandness what you’re really after? It isn’t the same as moderate or understated.
Color Illusions
The “blue” square and the ‘red’ square are the same color. Illustration by James Gurney.
Take a look at these two images. The white arrows point to what seem to be a cyan and red square, but they are the same color. The environment around you completely changes how you perceive color.
There is more trickery in this video than the optical illusion of the cubes. Included here to mess with your mind.
Green is the New Grey
“I’m glad to help write the eulogy to greyed out interiors. ”
Back to green! Elysian Magazine featured our Zigzag Bathroom Addition in their 2022 summer edition as part of a gorgeous spread called “Green is the New Grey” by Christy Neilson. Forward looking architects and interior designers aren’t looking to follow trends, but design writers see what is happening in the zeitgeist and collect these ideas together. I guess that is a long way of defining a trend. Our project started in 2013 and most architecture projects take a year or two from sketch to finished photos, and longer till you see them in a magazine. Sometimes the zeitgeist is a long thread that builds up. In any case, I’m glad to help write the eulogy to greyed out interiors.
We aren't living in a vacuum and neither are the colors we choose. Good design is felt subconsciously (when it is right it just FEELS right). When in doubt, hire an architect or interior designer for a color consultation. A design professional can absorb the vibe of the space, work with existing elements that aren't going to be updated, and offer ideas that will flow. And if it flows, people won't get hung up about color. And when people aren't hung up about this or that, you’ll live in a space that feels harmonious. Isn’t that a better scenario than safe and grey?
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Extra Credit Reading
Here’s some books that author Christy Nielson recommended. I have not read these yet but am about to dive in. Full disclosure: I make a small commission from any purchase you may make by following these referral links.
