Or is it the new lime green? Either way, the French and/or Euros are loving the grey baby furniture. First [on my radar, anyway] was Oeuf's lower-priced Sparrow collection, which came in other colors, but which debuted in Spring 2007 with a signature mushroomy grey. [Oeuf's co-founder and designer Sophie Demenge is French-New Yorkaise, so that counts double.]
Then in September of this year, the publicists at Kind + Jugend took this photo of a booth from an outfit called Schlockermann. There's no information about the line or the company; I'd emailed the address on the placeholder website a couple of times, no response. But the sweet combination of minimal lines and battleship grey finish overcome all the overstyled drapery and Pottery Barn accessorizing.
Mon Cabanon's French design blog was full of cribs as grey as the Parisian sky in December:
The August or September issue of Arts & Decoration had a nursery with a grey crib in it.
And a shop in Rouen called l'Atelier Charivari was so impatient with the new grey rollout, they've been refinishing vintage cribs themselves. [no CPSC in France, I guess.]
I'll grant that this massive, deco-looking crib is khaki, but even though they say this sleigh-like crib is taupe, it looks grey enough to me.
Not just cribs either--or vintage toddler beds. Everything in Rouen looks better, it seems with a fresh coat of grey, heather, or anthracite. like this old school desk from around 1900, or this great, old Marcel Gascoin table and chair set. [Though when the original patina's intact, it's worth keeping.]
I can't find it now, but I'm on a roll. Isn't there a French department store that repaints plain cribs in a rainbow of colors, plus grey?
Anyway, I heartily support this Gerhard Richter-loving, match-your-Honda grey nursery trend. If you already bought your nursery furniture, and it's not grey, don't worry; it's not too late to get a bucket of paint from the local Department of Transportation and go to town.
I thought of this post this afternoon when I was at the mall and some chi chi kids' clothing store had an entire window display dedicated to grey clothes!
Okaidi
Grey is undeniably chic and fashionable, but as the owner of a luxury kids' shop (even one in NYC), I can tell you that most folks out there aren't overly jazzed about putting their darling new angels in GREY, the color of dirt, bad weather, and polluted skies. Sorry to be a buzzkill here. Believe me, I love grey (and black) as much as, if not more than, the next person. But facts are facts. And no matter how much we wish it true, grey just isn't the next color for babies. Believe me, I've tried.
Well this room looks a bit grey overall but when yu use colors in the accessories, the linens, the curtains, the pillows, the wall color, it is so easy to flourish up a nursery with all kinds of colors.
A neutral color as grey will stand the test of time much longer. Easier and more economical to change a few pillow covers and wall color versus having to change the pink barbie crib when you realize that was a really bad choice. And it is a color that can be used for both genders as the real color sits in the accessories.
LOL, it's one of the reasons I think such X is the new Y! pronouncements are goofy at best; they're usually made by people who don't have to put their money down for a season's worth of grey inventory.
That said, I think we bought half our grey and black kids stuff from you. Grey is teh new orange--for blogger babies! Thanks!