Hardwood Floors April/May 2019

By Emily Morrow Finkell

Whether it’s the Color Marketing Group (CMG), Pantone, Elle Décor, or House Beautiful, fashion and interior designers, design editors, and homeowners are still loving grey. It is making gradual changes and is nding new ways of entering spaces, either by undertones of other colors or by partnering with vibrant hues or extremely light neutrals. But no doubt about it, grey is still strong. Personal expression is going to be driving the trends – while they seem to be going in every di erent direction, the personalized element is the common thread. My own home has always been the best petri dish for anything going on in design, and I’ll admit that my paint colors have been grey since 2006 or 2007, starting with my Revere Pewter at both my former and my current homes. From the front door, which is Bear Creek, to our living and keeping rooms, which are Wrought Iron, Chelsea Grey, and Revere Pewter. What I love about grey is what the rest of the world loves about grey: it is so easy and looks smart. Whether your metallic nishes are oil-rubbed bronze, nickel, or the newest brushed gold, grey simply works. I know we will reach a day when we are ready to pitch it all out for something that is inconceivable today. I do remember when grey felt old and tired and we were drawn to warm colors like Hepplewhite Ivory and Adams Gold, circa the 1990s. INHALE AND RELEASE I think the best way to encapsulate our new color trends discussion is to start at the end of 2018, where we began to see and feel “Inhale and Release” fromCMG, a creamy white associated with deepmeditative cleansing breaths tominimize stress as well as open up smaller spaces, visually expanding them. Who wouldn’t love that?White isn't the only option for a small space. CITY GREY en we turned the calendar page and lept right into 2019 and discovered a new grey, City Grey, an internationally acclaimed dark neutral that is very dark, 70 percent black. Darker shades can play up the size and make it feel cozier. Dark colors blend and blur lines and corners much the same way they do in fashion and a er practically everything that surrounds it. While we may have felt the “ahhhh” of the “Inhale and Release” in December, that was just to get us through the end of the year and ease us into the urban vibe and faster pace of 2019 with City Grey.

All photos courtesy of Emily Morrow Finkell.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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