. . . And now that you mention it, when we bought ours in the spring of 1969, ORANGE definitely was the color of the year.

. . . And guess what's back.

But the middle class was thriving in the 60s through the 80s and has been on a steady decline ever since, so I am not sure that the correlation between color and economics is valid. If it were we should be using what was popular in 1920 right now as that was the last time that we had such economic disparity and so many people stuggling to make ends meet.

Hi, Jennifer . . . You may be right — but that's not the case according to recent polls, which show that most people sampled were much more confident about the direction the economy is finally moving. Low wages for a big segment of the population is still a problem, but another report in the past few weeks also stated that incomes are starting to rising as new jobs in technical fields are opening up.

I'm not a statistician, but based on those studies it sounds to me like grey will be around for a while as long as confidence in the economy continues. But as my now deceased father-ni-law (who designed and constructed home furnishings) was quick to remind us: when it comes to both furniture and fashions, just stick around for a while, because eventually what's old usually becomes new again." Maybe the return of "orange" is an example.

I'm never on trend. When everyone had beige and beige I had white and deep green. Now everyone is moving to grey and sage green and I have a great purple based taupe, burgundy and a variety of blue greens. I just paint what feels good to me.

I work as a statistical analyst and I don't listen to the polls or the stats that are published because I know how we lie with statistics and skew answers to fit the proposed outcome. Look around and listen. The small .orgs aren't getting any donations. No one has money to spare for charitable work. When people are comfortable and doing well they love and help one another. When people are afraid they lash out and look for someone to blame. I see prejudice and hatred throughout the news and in conversation. I look back at the 70s and my crowd as a teenager and it was a great mixed lot of every creed and color. I still have that mixed lot of friends, but I went to a 70th birthday party for a black friend and there were 100 people there and I was one of the only white faces in the crowd. This weekend I am attending a birthday party for the 2 year old grandchild of one of my white friends. I'm willing to bet there won't be a black face in the crowd. Lunchroom tables are as separate as the days of segregation. At one of our last corporate meetings one of the VPs teased me about my getting to know everyone and having conversation with the security guards and lunch ladies. He didn't know anything about the people who serve him. To me this is why our world is grey.

I share your feelings about the way the world has changed, Jenifer . . . but your comments also made me stop and think of what got us to this point. For example, just last weekend I attended a meeting in our community led by spiritual leaders of different faiths looking for ways to bring millennials back into their respective flocks. Listening to the conversation felt like deja vu. It reminded me of both a weekend seminar I attended as a professional group worker in the early 1960s where the topic of discussion was how to help parents and teens bridge the intergenerational gap in values, goals, etc. and my father-in-law's mantra about the renewable life cycle of material things (like furniture an fashions).

In some ways those underlying differences still exist; but I also believe that to some extent we and our parents before us, have nurtured them by encouraging our kids to set high goals and work hard to achieve them. Most of the kids that I grew up with who followed that advice did indeed live grander lifestyles than our parents. . . .And our kids did even better than that. . . . Until things started to change.

I don't know about you, but lately it feels to me like the pace at which the world is changing has been speeding out of control. Just thinking about all the changes since I was a young adult (from the latest industrial revolution that gave us more conveniences at the cost of many workers' livelihood . . . new technology that brought us not only a host of digital devices and reservations for trips to Mars . ..new communication tools that initially raised our hopes for the future with the Arab Spring, but now has us wondering what that future holds for us when those same tools are used for global outreach to potential terrorists etc. ) . . . almost makes me dizzy.

So while I share Barbara's sentiments about people who cry hardship while finding the means to enjoy all the modcons that go with today's living . . . I also think that in some cases, as parents, we are to blame for giving our kids that sense of entitlement by our own examples and the false sense of security in which we tried to raise them.

It's not surprising that for some, the offer of a job that pays a minimum wage is insulting — so why not wait it out for a more lucrative one, envy those that have it all, and apply for government aid in the meantime? On the other hand . . . while the job market is opening up with good wages for those who qualify— anyone who lacks the skills need not apply. Again, maybe if our generation had acknowledged the fact that not every child is interested in a white collar job for life, more of today's struggling adults would have been steered to a trade that they not only enjoy, but pays well enough to afford some of those same perks.

It might not solve all the problems we face today, but evening the playing field locally and around the world, might replace that fear and envy that keeps people apart.

As for the trustworthiness of polls and stats, while I agree that the results sometimes are misleading, I think that's often because the survey itself is poorly structured or worded . . . or in some cases, participants are not properly screened. Still, depending on the confidence level (as well as what information the survey sponsor was hoping to glean) the results can reflect trends. As for the sense that the economy is improving, if millennials with cell phones weren't invited to participate and only those of us brought up by parents who believed the key to success was hard work , maybe that explains the optimism.

Our economy as a whole is recovering, but not for all.
If we compare the gap between rich and poor in different eras we find the same struggles and societal problems whenever that gap gets too large. Crime increases, hatred increases, depression and mental illness and suicide rates increase. Gang participation rates increase. The Itialian, Jewish and Polish Mofias were born when the immigrants worked the sweat shops and were treated like scum. The Crips and the Bloods were born prior to the civil rights movement and were protective gangs to stop the tourment of their neighborhoods. The first recorded gangs were the Highway Robbers in England when the Class society excluded those not born into wealth from any hope. The most notorious gang was the government organized German SS. We have the same economic gap today as was present in Germany prior to the Holocaust. Our government recognized and changed our economic structure when the Coal miners organized and began to fight back against the company towns and the oppression. Germany took a different route and embraced hatred and envy.

I think we have a choice, but people have to recognize the symptoms and pressure the government to do the right thing for the middle class and stop bowing to the richest of the rich. Not the 1 % but the top 0.01% that truly control the government and media.

Cant wait till grey is gone so sick of it need more colour around its dull and gloomy go bright dont follow the trend do your own thing

Just dropped in on Houzz and found that this topic is an old one with lots of ladies on soapboxes including myself. About grey or gray. After half- reading the book...because everyone else was and raving, I looked at grey or gray with new vision...of course there are fifty shades that can claim that name and its not a colour but made of many...and in that vein I'll call it Legion ( like the demon from the Bible who said that this was his name because ,,,"we are many". Along those lines...I really dislike any hue that is indeterminate and has no guts... so "Legion" for home decor is something I abhor. I've tried to see what the trend sees and what trend followers see..but Nope...its definitely an insulr to all the little colour perceptor rods in my eyes...don't care what pro argument anybody puts up. Betcha one day the greybies will be repainting with a vengance having endured the subtle assault on their senses for far too long and don't know why they feel DAAAA! Decorators and so called colour specialists who have been educated at the school of brainwashing will rattle out all the appropriate PANTONE guff against which we poor home makers eventually do fall foul. The final result is....we repaint to suit ourselves and make ourselves feel happy. Be on trend if you are intent on appealing to trendy buyers...otherwise do your own thing, its your home! Grey/gray is exactly that..."grey"...as in soulless and nondescript and depressing like a big grey cloud. Its a great excuse for when the so-called professional colour men have mixed themselves into oblivion and do not know how to invent any more colours....so just add a spot of anything to white with a dob of black (which is not "the absence of colour" iit is proclaimed to be... but an even more insidious version of "many" mixted to mud) and there, VIOLA' the latest trend of....here's a gag..." subtle, alluring shades of shimmering elegance"! Are you going to fall for that? We may as well all put our intelligent heads and eyes that see rainbows in a hessian bag to filter out the beauty we were meant to enjoy!

David Attenborough stated that many animals see colours that we can only imagine and that we cannot possibly imagine...Colour was meant to serve a very specific purpose in this world and has enormous impact on the human psyche....especially when it is being mistreated. Sadly many of our psyches have been well and truly beaten to a pulp where colour is concerned...somewhat like the Fable of The King's invisible suit....we accept what we are told is there and so to conform to the mob we shut down our own perception.

That's my rant for today...all abour Gray/grey.

A worker who mixes paints at the local hardware store told me grey was popular due to subconscious reasons due to the book Fifty Shades of Gray. OMG! I said that my 82 yo mother had read it and still wanted yellow/gold cushions, thank goodness her subconscious was not accessed. I am attracted to some of the concrete type shades in floor tiles, they look fab.

To woollemi What an interesting thought... an informed paint-mixer person...(tongue in cheek here). expounding the science of the effects of colour on the psyche...can't believe what some people try to put across! LOVE it, and had to have a laugh, that your octogenarian (wise person) Mum's subconscious was not influenced by "Fifty Shades".

This is an OLD thread! Since I am always attracted by any discussion on colour...came to comment only to find that I've said it all at great ( and probably boring) lengths before. I am, at the moment, enjoying some psychological recreation at my own expense envisaging a long line of readers of this thread ( especially of my ravings) in a psychiatrist's waiting room...( with GREY decor).. all lolling about in various stages of consciousness and depression!

I believe I've done the GREY argument from every angle and, despite getting quite bored re-reading the products of my psyche from 12 months ago...I'm still of the same opinion. have to thank you wollemi....THAT'S what I wanted! Somebody to suggest a colour that would complement a scheme evolving in my head...Yellow/Gold!!! YAY! Thanks to your Mum!

I still like GREYs for functionality...great believer in using colour for purpose and effect. There are more than FIFTY shades of Grey and for me the interest lies in the component colours. "Grey", in my opinion, would be better named "Sneaky" or maybe, because it is not one colour but many...as "Legion"...harking back to the demon in the parable who, when asked his name, replied: "I am Legion...for we are many" ! I think that's a bit of fun.

Anyway...thanks to your psychologically unassailable and steadfast Mum...I'm having visions in my mind of beautiful variations of Yellow.Gold...can't wait!. Since my house is all VJ hoop pine interior and almost 100 yrs old, I've decided that some of the walls are going to imitate Buckingham Palace and be brocaded...in...Yellow Gold! Bet there's no such fabric for sale...That'd be right.

To Barbara...yikes! On another thread I asked you how your build was going.....I feel thoroughly intimidated by the enormity of your dream and more by your realisation of it! Obviously you are a big thinker and have the grit and determination to bring it to reality. Congratulations! I feel exhausted just looking at it and can feel my legs disappear from under me imagining trying to get from one end to the other! I'd be thoroughly daubted by such a project...of course having lived in some pretty enormous places in my youth, I suppose there's a skerric of "never doing that again" floating around in my head. I bet it will be magnificent....and I'm glad its your dream and not mine! Amazing! Are you going to paint any room....GREY?

Robin,

Ha-ha you gest about me using grey I'm sure, knowing my previous thoughts on HATING, I repeat HATING grey in any of the 50 shades apparently available!!! ha-ha

Alas I have frozen up on my previous thoughts of a green room and a brown room etc...I'm back to the dreaded hog bristle for now ha-ha

Thanks for your best wishes, much appreciated!!

Roof is on finally back in April last year, plumbing is in, electrical is in progress.

Bad hay season so no money to spend, so we wait for another year but we're happy with life as we have good health and I hope you are in good health too at present.

Cheers,

Barbara

@ Luke Buckle, how about starting a run on another colour...something controversial...there seems to be inspiration in controversy. Mmm?

@ brabara....sorry to hear about the bad hay season putting a halt to the work.....My Neapolitan Mastiff here, Jupiter, has taken posession of a large bale of mulching grass that he has hollowed out and where he keeps his 'finds' and 'loot'.....I'm sure he'd be willing to let you have it....if it would help the building of the.... 'new jerusalem along' ! Now I'll probably get into hot water for being irreverent! At least I'm definite about my likes and dislikes rather than being...."neither hot nor cold...." and ending up resembling...weeeell...we know what luke warm accomplishes when the gag reflexes work....sorry about that...must be the mad weather here.

Wanted to go and buy one of those great new pressure Cooker/Slow Cookers this morning...but its such a GREY day I didn't make it. Wanted to look at a new clothes dryer as well..but guess what....the model I want is only available in.....brushed stainless steel...yik!.

I know everyone likes grey i don't. it depresses me and and when it is on the ceiling it is like a storm cloud over my head. one designer said if you would not wear it dont paint with it since it surrounds you when walls are that colour. i use a yellow/ pink based beige looks great and makes me feel happy. i look healthy with it as a backdrop and everyone who visits feels happier after being in my rooms

to suancol......a 'yellow/pink based beige'?

Having trouble trying to get my head around that colour and 'seeing' it in my mind's eye, suancol! If one had to mix it up....could it also be described as a...pinky beige with some yellow in it... or a yellowy beige with some pink in it? Or is it a pre-mixed colour that can be bought off the shelf so has an actual brand name? I'm very curious! From what I've learnt about colour..and what comes from mixing this with that...I've learnt that BEIGE, like GREY, is one of those indefinite hues that can be a combination of several colours.,,,its not a colour in itself...

I was looking at a designr's page where many of the bedrooms featured were in Grey and I was surprised that I really liked some of them...so serene and pearly soft....then it dawned on me, Photography combined with Photoshopping is very clever today. I bet if I painted a my bedroom exactly in those grey colours it would resemble a tomb...probably because of the amount or quality of light coming into the room. So not a fan of grey for interior decor, nor a fan of beige...whatever hue these are. Not crazy about all white interiors either where the colour interest comes from..."pops" of this or that.

Really not a fan of grey at all ... I just feel cold, miserable and bored

Like you, dreamhomechicc, just grey made of white and any muddy colours is, cold and miserable. Cannot comprehend why this trend is popular...but then with most people they rely on "those who know best" to be trendy. Fortunately trends are just that...fashionable for a while...and they do not suit every interior, then they are superceeded by something else. I do what I like and try to keep it in tune with the age of my old fashioned house.

Grey is natural colour and a great base on which to build. I love a grey deck or floor or outdoor wall. Add colour with other items to dress the house.

Could you imagine an elephant or a dolphin being a bright colour? They uplift our spirits and they are grey!

I LOVE grey! Living at home my room walls were DoveTail Grey and now that I'm in my own place, my partner and I have a grey lounge, dark grey marble table and grey bed linen. It's natural, calming and relaxing to come home to.

I also agree with @Gallifrey, grey is a great base on which to build!

Roslagsgatan 23 · More Info

https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/how-many-houzzers-hate-all-shades-of-grey-as-much-as-i-do-dsvw-vd~5548576

Read an interesting study on the neuroscience of color and found out that we see less color and more gray when we are depressed.

Dopamine is a neuroreactor that contributes to the way the rods and cones in our eyes work. The higher the levels of dopamine the more reactive our rods and cones are to light, allowing us to see colors vividly. When the levels drop we have a gray day or have the blues because we see more bluish gray tones.

So gray may not make you feel depressed, but depression will make you see gray and we may associate gray with the feeling of depression because there is a authentic connection between the two,

Another study showed that a rat who lived in a black environment (As opposed to Red, Green or Blue) had offspring with lower seritonum and dopamine levels and those levels continued to be low through adulthood. The offspring showed less ambition, energy, more depessed behaviors than those who's mothers were in other color environments during pregnancy. The Red offspring showed higher levels of aggression, and to a lesser extent so did blue. The most emotionally healthy offspring were from the mother who was kept in a green environment throughout pregnancy.

@Jennifer Hogan

Interesting information

Sometimes for humans at least, I think we learn to associate colours to feelings, that is to say that we have somehow accepted either in school or general conversation that feeling depressed = grey, black or muted tones.

Without trying to say that the scientific research is anything but correct, I think in society you could find really happy rounded people who live with these colours and love them and can't imagine brighter more supposedly happy colours.

Years ago, 1990 when my mum built a new home, all the pastel colours were the rage and I was told that yellow was warm and blue was cool but niether colour made me personally feel the difference.

The whole lounge/kitchen/dining was blue and I loved it, my room was pink and mums room was lavender and incidentally the trim throughout was grey!!

I live in part of Australia with frequently grey skies, grey, basalt stone and long winters. I am not depressed, but do find grey oppressive and a constant reminder of the grey skies of winter associated with the cold. We even get grey skies and chilly temperatures at the height of summer very often. I went to a primary school with grey uniforms. I am a fan of white or cream walls. I'd even go hot pink feature walls before grey. And I do include lots of greens in furnishings, backsplashes and similar. Green is the colour of growth! I also love vivid blues, purples, oranges, reds, yellows, lemons and golds. Mostly I wish people would be brave enough to be much more individual in their colour choices for decorating, instead of blindly following fashion trends and not creating a style of their own!