When it comes to painting rooms, gray is red-hot.
Benjamin Moore carries over 150 shades of gray, and Sherwin-Williams says that of their top 50 colors for interiors, 30 are grays.
“The trend toward gray started in Scandinavia, became big in the U.S. around six years ago, and is still on the rise,” says Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams.
Andrea Magno of Benjamin Moore says, “Gray is not going anywhere, and is still growing in popularity. It updates things instantly, and it’s evolving over time. And we’re seeing more gray cabinetry and more trim in gray now.”
Just 15 years ago, she says, “if you told someone you were going to paint your room gray, they would groan and say, ‘How depressing.’ Before about 2010, it was all about warm Tuscan colors. Since then, it’s really about cool modern grays, and not just for paint colors. Stone, marble, tile and wood have also gone a lot cooler.”