We are just back from “Market” and the one trend that kept popping up in almost every showroom at this season was gray. “Market”, as designers refer to it, is the High Point Market that takes place in High Point, North Carolina twice a year, spring and fall, April and October to be exact. The High Point Market is the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world, bringing more than 75,000 people to High Point every six months.
This year was no disappointment and although in past years when a color like Tangerine Tango was hot it was mainly an accent in many showrooms, this year gray was featured in full force and as the leading role, not just a supporting role.
Gray rooms were everywhere. Not just walls but full rooms with gray furniture, rugs, artwork and accessories, and many of them. One would have thought that gray was on its way out since it has been popular for some time with the fabric companies, and it is not new to us in our projects, but based on this market it is still going very strong.
Market previews and introductions are usually indicators of new products to come. Many of the new items won’t be available for six months! So, based on this forward leaning indicator of what’s to come, it seems gray will be big for quite some time. Only the next market will ultimately tell us if it dies in 2015 and gets knocked off its pedestal by the next big trend, but right now the color is hot, hot, hot!
So how does one apply this to their own space? Well we have been doing gray rooms for a while, mostly paler grays that are easy to mix with other colors. But we are also completing a gray kitchen which we think is really stunning.
Whether a rug, a pillow, a lamp shade or accessories, you can definitely add gray to almost any space because it is such a neutral color and unlike black it does not dominate anything around it. Gray is the new beige, a cool neutral instead of a warm neutral but ever so versatile in ones home. Next time you are looking for an accent consider a little bit of gray, or to really embrace the latest trend go ahead and paint the room. You can always change the accent colors later as everything goes with gray. Because it is such a neutral it should last quite a while, unlike more saturated bold colors which lose people’s interest quickly.
Shop a few of our favorite gray pieces in our shop!
