I was in Target yesterday and in the dollar section was a rose gold (ie, pink) spider. But I think it was just a really cheap failure at copper. You know, copper = orange = Halloween. Plus it was an ugly thing, disco ball head (no eyes or anything) and thick wire body.
For those of us who cook in our kitchens, all that stuff on the open shelving is going to get dirty and greasy (especially by the stove) and the marble is going to get stained and etched. Cupboards, laminate and a big hardwood cutting board are what we need.
I am SO HAPPY to hear that the Open Shelving concept is IMPRACTICAL! OMG, my biggest pet peeve is watching all of these TV renovation shows and no kitchen escaped having these shelves installed. Biggest WASTE ever! And all I could see was how FILTHY with dust and grease the dishes and cups would get!
Dang it's really refreshing to hear someone say, "Champagne taste on a beer budget...just buy the beer. That's okay. you don't have to fake it." I've never been into style fads because I don't have the money to keep up 😂 I want my home to look timeless, but I also want it to look like me and reflect my personality.
About eight years ago, I was renovating my old house, and at that time gray plank flooring was super hot. Going through flooring and got very close to putting it in and a very very smart lady at the flooring store said “this is a very pointed choice…. May I suggest you go with some thing a little more neutral? So I ended up going with a light beige wood finish. That’s very timeless. Thank God for that lady.
Someone tried to tell me that when I was buying wood grain ceramic tiles and I pointed out that she had no fucking idea what the rest of my house color scheme was, and that beige made me want to vomit, but grey was a nice backdrop to the art that my daughter creates and maybe she should stop trying to tell customers their taste was bad.
@@llamalluvvClearly there are exceptions and picking grey for a specific reason is perfectly valid. But those of us in a design consultation role have a duty to advise clients of dumb choices. We are all swimming in a cesspit of ugly consumerist junk and just because an option exists, doesn’t mean it should.
Yes, I have? There are a lot of very poorly maintained public forest spaces because as a society we prioritize arming the police like they're fighting the Terminator over maintaining our public lands.
Go to a beach, edge of tree line, desert, areas with birch or cedar. There is a lot of grey wood! Only browns are found in living trees or freshly dead! Yes there can be a hint of green brown in the grey. But, I would argue that some grey shades are very much a weathered wood natural color!😊
I have newly diagnosed cancer and today started out the worst, painful ever. Later now, I am distracting myself on UA-cam and came across this episode. I haven’t laughed so hard in forever. Maybe because great minds think alike😂😂😂. You made my day.
Wishing you all the best with your health and recovery! Laughter is a great medicine too... and medical science has gotten ever better with treatments. Bonne santé from Ireland.
I went house hunting recently and 70% of the renovated homes that I went into had gray plank flooring. It was such an eye roll. I finally found a house with original hardwood and jumped for joy.
Every house we looked at had cheap kitchen and bathroom renos. Heartbreakingly, many had ripped out the original solid wood cupboards and replaced them with bottom of the range laminate. Eventually we found an old house with a bit of Formica in the wet areas and solid wood cabinets. Bless the hearts of every owner since 1968 when the house had its one and only facelift.
It was in the house that I purchased four years ago and immediately had it torn up and went with something that coordinated with the “ancient floors” in my 1846 Cape Cod style home.
I'd suggest that was is truly Vampiric is the dark red woods for flooring, unless you have abundant windows with natural light coming in, they suck every bit of light out of a space. Unfortunately, that's what I inherited when we bought our home, cherry hardwood floors and very little in natural light. So, I have to either change them (expensive) or sand them down and restain them (less expensive).
Yup, most people actually use their kitchen and it's not just for display! The way some of my cabinets get overtime, ooof my house would like horrid with open shelves s
75 years ago they got rid of open shelving in favor of cabinets. Everybody was sick of the dust and clutter. Why do we have to relive all these lessons??
My parents started a reno in 2019 and my mom HATED the grey flooring (and trim) - poor woman - everything was grey then….but she stuck to her ideas and found some nice warm slate & wood flooring. Thank goodness and timeless - good job mom.
My good friend, her mom was renovating her house and everyone told her to do black and white (this was 10 years ago) she went with cherry cabinets and beige walls. She sold her home rather quickly… the couple who bought it, renovated to black and white. Lol. Oh well, she got it sold anyway
@@cjhoward409a friend painstakingly stripped the ornate wooden doors and architraves in her lovely Edwardian villa, then had to sell for reasons. She went back to collect some mail shortly after and the new owners had already painted every wooden surface with gloss black paint! Their prerogative, but such a shame.
nothing is truly timeless, just 5 years ago, those warm floors were considered outdated. Trends are moving way too fast these days to get us to spend our money and never be satisfied. It's exhausting.
My budget is not even beer. It's tap water. My adhesive backsplash attests to that. I know it's a garbage choice but it has brightened up a truly dingy space and made wiping down the walls much easier. This house has made me look forward to being a renter again. lol
Tap water here, too. Keep at it. II've been 20 years in my modest house and finally finished replacing all the vinyl flooring and ancient carpet with LVP, an oak floor in the kitchen and new carpet in the bedrooms. I did a lot of the work myself and paid for it with various windfalls and savings from a part time job. New floors, fresh paint and some nice fabric touches can make a cottage into your own castle.
I bought Moroccan clay and finished that with black olive oil soap to coat my kitchen walls. no backsplash needed, easy to clean and water resistant. 225 bucks better than anything else... lastly very very very easy care.
I never embraced the gray trend. When I was selling my former home, my realtor tried to get me to paint the walls light gray. Nope - I painted them a warm beige that showed off my stained woodwork. My house sold in 48 hours with multiple offers. I just installed new flooring in my entire house and went with a medium oak - not too light or dark. I LOVE my floors! I will never embrace the return of brass, no matter the finish, patina, or "brushed" finish. I "adulted" in the 80's where brass was everything. Not going there again, no matter what the trends say. Brushed nickel is my favorite finish, and that's my story and I'm sticking to it! 🤣
When we bought our retirement home the walls in the kitchen, dining room and living room were prison grey. Lovely wood ceilings, that looked grey. First thing I painted all the walls pale yellow. Those ceiling came to light with a golden glow. Golden oak.
I like brass, but I prefer brushed brass. Not into the natural patina on brass, either. (I do get what you mean about things looking cheap, but chrome is what gives me that feel the most.)
“Have you ever walked into a forest & thought, wow, this is really dated? NO!” I LOVE that analogy! Spot on! And I really like the educational & informational content in this video. I find it very helpful & it’s needed b/c some of us views are making decisions right now or in the near future & we appreciate the heads up! Thank you.
I have a well cared for laminate that looks like laminate. Replacing the countertops with quartz would make my old cheap cabinets look worse by contrast. Replacing the cabinets would make the appliances appear dated. Best just to embrace the laminate and watch another Nick video.
Love your comment! I have granite countertops, which apparently are now dated. They're just so practical! I love to cook, and I've never had a stain or a chip.
I once had butcher block countertops and loved the look. This was in a 1920 Colonial Revival home in 2003 Seattle with almost all original features. I know the all wood cabinets were original. They were painted a mint green which really looked lovely with the butcher block. Oh, I loved that house. Batchelder fireplace surround, plaster walls, thick Pacific Northwest millwork and picture rails, glass doorknobs, black and pink and penny tiles bathroom, original wood windows. All of it very well cared for by previous owners. All this to say, butcher block countertops are the bomb. Consider them! And embrace the colors of years gone by. No need to follow the herd.
I put select 4" walnut end grain butcher block on one of the islands in my kitchen. The rest of my countertop surfaces are Silestone quartz in Calcutta gold with the exception of my stand alone hutch which has side grain walnut. It turned out really pretty and I love the versatility of having more than one type of countertop. End grain is amazing for rolling out dough. Plus I can cut on it and it is self healing. Although I honestly can't bring myself to do it. ;)
Butcher block is my dream kitchen countertop. But real butcher block, not a slab of wood altho that would come in second. And I’m not babying it or sanding out cuts & burns etc. It’s going to have a gorgeous finish in a couple yrs of real use, unlike most kitchens as no one cooks anymore!! I WILL use cutting boards for ease of cleaning n hygiene.
Being concerned about style choices of whatever becoming "dated" should only arise if you think you will be selling your home. If you live in your forever home - then you just be you - and decorate and style it in whatever way makes you happiest. Don't worry about what other people may think of your choices, especially long-off future buyers who may only come into the picture after you are gone.
Your taking the time to address affordability and what people may already have in their homes make your videos stand out. Encouraging people to aspire to having a beautiful environment within THEIR means and that suits their lifestyle is beautiful.
I love that about his videos too. He gives a lot of options in all kinds of price points. He also gives you things to really think about. Like if there’s something really important to you maybe that is where you focus your budget and get something more expensive if it’s expensive because of the exceptional quality. This has been helpful while I am trying to start brainstorming a kitchen renovation; what is something that shouldn’t be compromised on, what is something that I could use a less expensive option and also what do I want because I love it not because someone in the future might like or not like it.
Kudos to Nick for boldly driving a stake through the cold grey heart of the grey flooring vampire. Truly, its time has come and gone and now there are so many "tastefully renovated" kitchen, etc. burdened with the awful flooring.
I love my gray flooring in my family room. The deck leads from the garden. Big dog and paws…and dirt and mud. It stops me from having to wash the floor every other day.
I love your closing remarks in this video, we work hard for our money and it is absolutely not worth trying to fake it to keep up with trends of the ultra-wealthy and out of touch. Our homes are made for living in!
I held my breath through your whole video. I am so relieved I have zero of these in my home. It’s like getting perfect on a pop quiz. Needless to say my home is definitely not perfect; but I made it through this one unscathed! 😂
We installed expensive, warm-toned, variegated koa flooring throughout our house ten years ago-it was definitely a splurge. Best decision. It is still so beautiful and never fails to elicit compliments. And getting rid of carpet completely was such a relief!!
Thank you for saying it’s OK to use laminate if it’s in your budget. I wanted quartz countertops so badly. But I just could not justify it. So I did laminate countertops. It’s OK. For my house in my neighborhood it works. And most importantly it worked for my budget. I’ve had people kind of give me a hard time, but those are people that are not in my tax bracket. I updated my whole house, it’s only 690 ft.² :-) but still it was expensive. And I do have champagne taste and beer budget. I could’ve easily spent four times the amount of money that I did. But I like my house. I would not change 98% of what I did. And I will live with the other 2%.
Quartz, granite, and all the other natural stones are *wildly* overrated, IMHO. Laminate is just fine. I have *IKEA* laminate in faux concrete and people complement it all the time, it looks fabulous. Did my whole kitchen for $300.
good on you! it's important to understand how much to spend based on the neighborhood, etc...we are looking for a house now...soooo many flipped houses that are over priced...
My kitchen and both bathrooms have the original 20+ year old laminate countertops. They're in pristine condition, look fine, and are easy to maintain. I can't begin to justify changing them, even if I had unlimited budget. Which I don't.
My husband & I are having a house built. We chose gray flooring, all white cabinets, black hardware, stainless steel appliances & sparkly light fixtures. We had people tell us that we will get tired of gray, black, white & silver but we both have always liked that so I don't see that changing. We didn't want to pick things that other people might like 10 or 15+ years down the road, we picked what we prefer because we are gonna be the ones seeing it all day everyday. Both of us hated how our old house had warm hardwood flooring but we got so many compliments on it.
You have "always liked it" because it has been in style for so long you can't remember when new floors weren't gray. People say, "Your tastes change." But they change because people confuse what is trending with their tastes saying things like, "I only like cool colors" or "I only like furniture with legs." Those are things that have been trending forever. Many decorators can't even tell where their tastes starts and the trends leave off.
Love your informative videos filled with clever, real life, design sense! Refreshing to see a Canadian designer. Adore your sense of humour throughout all your videos!! 🙌
I used to love investing in home improvements without hesitation, but with inflation biting into my savings, I've had to take a step back and be more strategic. While those past projects seemed worth it, the reality is that recovering those costs has been challenging. Now, I'm much more focused on long-term value. It’s made me rethink what’s really worth the investment especially when so many trendy upgrades lose their appeal quickly and end up adding little to no lasting value
I’m nearing retirement myself, and I had similar concerns. I started investing later than most, and just relying on ETF compounding wasn’t cutting it for me either. After working with a financial advisor, I managed to restructure my investments and am now on track to retire with around $4 million. If I hadn’t sought advice, I doubt I’d be as confident in my plan right now
I usually steer clear of recommending specific people because financial needs are so personal. But I can say that working with Emily Ava Milligan has made a world of difference for me. I noticed her strategies are tailored to fit personal goals and make sense for different needs. It might be worth exploring to see if her approach resonates with you
I see so much gray flooring in real estate listings that are the most lifeless flips possible. And of course it's paired with all white with black touches/farmhouse design.
I’ve always loved warmer colors simply because they are welcoming, cozy and have so many possibilities. Grey and white is…grey and white. Warm woods are so numerous. I was so happy to see the greys fad in popularity, though I had never introduced them into my home. Classics are always stylish and beautiful. The fact that gorgeous, historical homes are always stunning should tell us a lot. Solid brass is beautiful and the patina is lovely. The 1980s brass plated look is definitely not a good look. Love your content, and delivery. Great video.
I have heard, numerous times, that granite is outdated. We recently updated our kitchen and I chose granite. What was interesting to me was that the marble my friends chose, looks almost identical to my granite! Yes, I had to source the particular granite I wanted, but it’s beautiful and looks just like marble? I was concerned about the care of marble vs granite and since we were also doing the backsplash with it, the cost was a bit lower. I Love my kitchen!
My husband tried to pick out gray floor planks and I put my foot down! No no no! I wish I could have won on the paint color but one day he will come home from work and find me repainting the entire house 😊
We chose a beautiful gray with a blue green undertone a decade ago when we moved into our house. My husband came home to a green wall one day because I was going bonkers without color 😂
Literally every person I know that put in gray plank flooring hates it now. They absolutely detest it. I hated it always, and I did not put it in when I redid my floors. There was no way I was going to put gray flooring in, but at the time it was actually hard to find stuff that wasn’t great.
This is funny, I had the same experience with my husband too. Although I’m the one that chose revere pewter for the walls, I had only 24 hours to pick a color and I had experience with this one and knew it was pretty and also a warm grey…probably change it up in a few years
Grey is natural though. It's in stones. And even wood you see naturally grayed out bark on certain trees and it looks beautiful. You also see warm reddish hues and golden hues in nature all the time.
I did open shelving in my kitchen and I love it. It opened up the tiny space a ton, I’m a minimalist, they’re only holding daily use items, a few small plants and two pieces of art. Dust isn’t a big deal, nor is grease. Just saying this for anyone who likes open shelving, it isn’t always a disaster.
You have a good sense of humor! I absolutely loved your comment about trends and wealthy people with their chefs! I had one woman in my mother's group (with a moderately famous husband) years ago who had each of us bring an item to share with the playgroup when she hosted at her home. I brought a homemade pie and the ingredients for real whipped cream. I asked to use her mixer and she stared blankly at me. I realized she never used her kitchen and had no idea if she even had a mixer. I whipped the cream with a fork (she couldn't find a whisk either). That was an experience. I subscribed for the advice and because your sense of humor really aligns with mine. Great video!
I think Nick is overdue for a "roasts" of viewers rooms video! I wanted to get in on one too but not ready. They're actually the gentlest of his videos. He will tease a little and then tell you what to do to fix it. Most common mistakes are wrong size rug, lighting and too heavy on theme rooms.
Thank you for saying it about the gray. I’ve never understood why people wanted so much gray in their homes. The difficult thing is that since it is such a popular trend, it can be easy to find gray and difficult to find other tones.
My SO legit likes things in gray and without much input from design trends styled his home rather gray back when I met him. Sometimes it comes from an authentic place. Thankfully, he's not a baby about it and appreciates natural materials too, so we're able to compromise and use stone or walnut-tone in a lot of places where he'd normally go for gray wood-effect.
5 years ago, the cold grey/blue was all that they sold, on a budget. I brought a piece home and it made my expensive grass cloth look dirty, and very yellow. I searched high and low to find a grey with mostly of brown tones. Finally, I got mine for cheap because nobody else wanted it. It wouldn't sell. I was so lucky, I could also tell it was a trend since it was selling so fast, it was already dated. Everybody knows that is is vinyl plank so I didn't want a fancy cherry or walnut, that would have been going over the top. I got something very destressed and rustic. That suits my crappy house the most.
I like grey :( I like goth style, but I don't want to make my rooms look smaller, and so grey COULD be a really good compromise to keep things from getting too too dark... Except for the stupid trend making it look like a house flipper thing
Grey is legit but it can be cold. I think used properly it can be very sophisticated, but people felt very safe using it. Overusing it. My frigging car is grey.
I did warm gray wood flooring in 2022 and don’t regret it at all. It allows a colour pallette of gray/black/white to which any saturated colour can be added for vibrancy (eg red, cobalt blue). After 50 years of brown-based colour pallettes and earth tones I’m just done - tan this, rust that, forest green this… The gray decor samples in the video have no vibrant colour to set them off so of course they’re lifeless.
We did the same, except ours is a gothic revival with green and blue pops. It's gives this feel of calm cloudy castle on the mountain. The vibe is so cold its warm but it's because the warm tones In a general cool color.
My walls are Sherwin Williams Greek Villa, a warm beautiful white and my floor tiles are 1’x2’ warm gray porcelain. One day I’ll have hardwood flooring but for now I bought a 100% wool cream rug which covers almost the entire living room. Then I bought a leather sofa in cognac brown and have some incredible walnut and teak furniture from the 1960s. I painted my interior doors SW Tricorn Black which is a real WOW factor. I also painted my 12’ tray ceiling black. Accent chairs are neutral. I brought color in through wall art and vases, a couple of pillows and throws. And don’t forget to add a bit of greenery in every room. I also believe one should have a mirror in every room. It creates more light and don’t forget to have it reflect something beautiful. You don’t want to put a large floor mirror in your master bedroom on a wall across from your bathroom. 😊
I love your advice on open shelving. Open shelving is meant to be used with restraint and for display. A few open shelves are nice as a compliment to good and thoughtful cabinets and pantry.
Our house was a show home we purchased from its prior owner. It was the tail end of the grey/ greige trend and white kitchens. Our home was a breath of fresh air with warm brown porcelain tile floors, cream walls, tumbled marble backsplash, dark espresso cabinets and darker granite countertops. I was grateful that it was warm, felt like home the minute we walked in. We made an offer five minutes after walking through and it was the best decision ever.
We were renovating our new home in 2018 and I was thinking about the grey flooring (because it was a big change from what had been there before, which was quite dark and heavy) and the guy selling it actually discouraged us, saying it was “on the way out”. I’ve got to applaud him for that, since he could have just kept quiet and got it out of his inventory, after all…..
This video is perfect for me. I’m currently tearing out 2,000 sq ft of GRAY luxury vinyl planks and installing solid maple hardwoods. It’s a dream come true. I won’t ever go back to gray anything. Flooring, paint or decor. I’m so over it. Also, just started my kitchen reno. Of course the plans had open shelving galore but decided (with my husbands urging) to pair back on the open shelving and do something a bit different. I remember when I bought this house I thought the floors were so nice, back then we were all sick of oak and beige 😂 Totally agree on splurging to get real brass. Genuine brass can be polished up and made to look brand new again. It’s just worth it.
I don’t hate gray flooring. It has a beachy, driftwood vibe or aged barn-siding look. I think the key is decorating the rest of the space with color and warmth. Kind of like the gray cashmere dress I have- i add a colorful scarf and it looks great.
Grey floors can clash with warm colors so you gotta be careful with that. One choice always locks you into others. If the gray has blue undertones, it can look really nice with peach. If the gray has lilac undertones it can look pretty with light yellow. If the undertones are green (like khaki) a modern grown up pink will be gorgeous.
There's no such thing as an ugly color. My friends' grey kitchen floors looks great. It all depends on how you use it. I wouldn't paint my walls bright magenta, but a magenta scarf over a long grey coat and boots would be quite striking! It's not the 'what', it's the 'how'.
The problem with grey is that when you were young and your first apartments were all old with yellowy white walls and 70s appliances, you walk into an empty apartment that's all cool-toned and it feels so clean and new. For the record, I agree, but even as someone who doesn't like grey floors, the millennial in me still gets it.
In the club grey, but I do follow the rule: everything material should be what they look like. Hard work to get concrete flooring for the millenial effect, but, after all, polished concrete IS timeless and perfect with floor heating
Someone finally said it! YES! Coming from living in "the hood", clean gray floors, even if fake, would've been a HUGE upgrade for us. Because all I'd had growing up were usually tiled floors (yes, tile even in the bedrooms) or tan carpet. I still can't hate gray floors just becsuse I know what it's like to grow up with the same, worn out thing over and over. I have brown "wood" laminate floors in my current apartment and that alone made me think it was luxurious, because I've never had anything at all even close to wood floors. I'm not attacking Nick or any interior designer here, though.
I work for an iron and steel retailer and have to look at the various shades of gray for eight-plus hours a day. That doesn't really bother me too much but I would rather not come home to it.
Ive made a lot of mistakes (married in 1983 and could not live without my burgandy bathroom suite in my new bungalow❤😅😅😅), but 41 years later i stick to most of the decorating "rules" Nick discusses in other videos. Absolutely love your channel Nick❤
@@andreabradley5837 And then came the yellow sunflowers on a royal blue background! Even today I can’t stand geese and sunflowers in any way aside from the actual thing, outside, being natural.
I have to agree with you on the grey flooring. I've lived in my RV for 6ish years and even though it was a more modern RV, it still had a lot of brown in it. And not the good brown...like the everything is muddy, blah, poopy brown. So in direct contrast to this, when I began the renovation, I put grey vinyl planks in (hear me out). It instantly brightened up the space, and made it look way less dated than before. Fast forward to today when I've painted everything (if you know RVs, you know everything is MDF and so some thick coats of paint is actually better so as to help with waterproofing), I changed out all the hardware, and I''ve added curtains and new furniture - so basically a gut job. Here's the thing...I wouldn't make the grey choice again. I think I did a good job of picking out paint, trim, hardware, and curtain colors to compliment the grey floors, however, it wasn't easy. And it wasn't until after I'd done it that I wished I went with a more natural, warmer vinyl color. But I wasn't going to spend another $1000 on floors again when I am selling the RV. I am moving into a house soon and I chose a warm vinyl during that reno :) Mistakes are ok, just learn from them! ha
The very back of my kitchen had no top cabinets. So I put up shelves and the entire wall is dishes, mostly from Europe, and they are serving dishes, side dishes. Etc. They are there to look at, rarely is one used. When I do, I wash it. This is my coffee bar and I put hooks to hang my coffee and tea cups and mugs. I hand picked every one of dishes and it brings me joy.
I was with a retired navy man and Gray was no option. He said he seen enough of that in the 22 years of being in the Navy so we went with the more natural bees and tans creams very much into the natural nature colors.
Well, I have grey flooring in my kitchen, which I love, and a white living room with black hardware which I love. Makes me happy. That’s all that matters.
I agree! So happy you are happy! I am too!❤My grey flooring soothes me. We put grey flooring in our guesthouse too and most of our guests walk in and sigh! To me, grey is soothing, not boring or lifeless
If you love it, that’s all that matters! I love color…I thrive on it and it makes me smile everytime I walk into my living room. When you get that feeling, you know you have chose the right color.
I love my grey floors. I had medium dark wood and hated it so much. My house is so much brighter now with a nice coastal vibe. Everything goes with grey too so it’s easy to add colour.
“Nature is always beautiful.” I love that. I actually apply that principle to a lot of things in my life. That’s how I approach fabric, hair color, makeup… It’s a great north star.
We did our flooring in natural light toned, wide plank, engineered hardwood. Cabinets in warm grey with brushed nickel hardware, white quartz countertops with subtle grey veining and backsplash in real glass tile. NO open shelving. Very happy with the results.
I cried tears of joy when I moved from my old apartment with LVP to my new place with cork floors!! We had the same furniture but it instantly felt so much cozier ❤️
Lucky you. Cork is practical; cosy to walk on, dampens noise, things don’t break if you drop them on cork. If I replace my floors, it will be with cork.
We put in cork flooring in our kitchen 15 years ago because I have autoimmune arthritis and love to bake. The cork is amazing when you are on your feet cooking/baking for hours! ❤❤❤ my cork floors. A bougie neighbor came over and asked not so subtly if I thought about replacing them 🙄 Everyone else loves them
I am so over grey. I’m in the process of looking for a new home and the majority have grey floors and walls. I just can’t do that, I’ll have to tear out the brand new flooring when I find the right house. Please get the memo out, it’s done! Love you Nick 💕💖💕
@@monkeygraborange. A work friend invited a group of us over to see her just completed kitchen renovation. All the upper cabinets were ripped out, and there was some shelving and dimensional tile there instead. I followed a coworker’s gaze to a fly cavorting around on the open shelf of dinner & salad plates, and immediately wanted to go home & give my upper cabinets a big hug.
I'm glad you actually mentioned laminate countertops! Everyone seems to forget those but materials have come a LONG way and there are a lot of really NICE looking patterns to choose from. I'm a "rock hound" but I don't want granite/stone countertops. I don't want the maintenance! I'd go with quartz if i was going to spend a lot of money because you don't have to seal them every year.
I am with you! I love laminate for its affordability & durability and I love some of the Beautoful patterns and finishes. I would never want the maintenance. Also whatever you buy will be outdated eventually so why spend so much in the first place?
Light neutral wood. Our first home was definitely neutral leaning cool toned. When we moved, I wanted neutral leaning warm. I’m so glad I went with my gut. Years in and it gives this natural feeling. Paint is far easier to change than flooring! Design with what YOU like, since trends change so much faster now. But, totally agree that wood floors should look like wood 🙂
You are my hero! I have been the rage machine against gray from the start because of all the problems you mentioned. For me, it isn't just confined to flooring. It is dull and lifeless as paint, ceramics, and "wood."
Agreed. I've been looking online at houses lately, and if I see even a glimpse of that ghastly gray laminate I hit the Back button so fast it breaks the sound barrier. It's ice-cold and fake and you can hear the ticky-tacky sound of it under your feet just looking at the pictures.
Right there with you. It suits the cool undertones of my family’s complexion too. And anything with color or warmth stand out like jewel tones. Gray really works for us.
Pick out the things you love because you love them, not because they are on trend. Then you won't care if it's the current craze or not. Gray is a timeless neutral. It may be a passing trend, but will still always be a valid choice.
Yes, you can find beautiful pictures of gray and cream being used together going back to ancient Rome, also later in French chateaus. You see grays with whites in nature too: at the beach, in the mountains, in the bark of trees, on the water, and in the sky. It is a timeless color; but like any other “neutral,” it needs to be used mindfully with other colors that will harmonize with it. As for myself, I was thrilled when high quality LVT suddenly made grey floors accessible to the masses without needing to afford stone or carefully aged wood. We installed warm gray LVT floors and paired them with very simple/modern cream trim/walls, and all cream/light beige furniture, except for a teak mid-century modern dining set, which matches the granite in our kitchen…and an outrageous amount of plants. There is even a low teak buffet behind the couch with a veritable wall of plants on it, to separate the living and dining rooms in their larger open space. We never tire of the plants; they add so much life and color. The artwork is mostly of nature or made out of natural objects in one way or another, and adds warmth, color, interest. We easily change the pillows, throws, and flower bouquets with the seasons. They all look good against the gray and cream, the way plant-greens and flowers look against bark and clouds. The master suite (the gray floor continues into it) is painted a soft navy with cream trim, and cream furniture again (and wardrobe and lamps: if I want to ignore it, I make it cream). We layered this with a large soft navy/soft blue/beige oriental carpet, but then predominantly moderately-saturated green and blue art for pops of color that still look like they “belong.” The dark bedroom feels luxurious and cozy. The dark bathroom looks larger, since the wall looks like it recedes further away from the vanity, and it makes the whites look extra bright and clean (white towels, beige marble floor). I love coming home from a bustling city which feels “hot and loud” to me, into a serene, soft, cozy, “cool and quiet” space…that is still filled with life and sunlight. The living areas look great with every season’s flowers. I don’t think I’ll be sick of it anytime soon.
So grateful for grey floors & white. Last house was a lovingly renovated, 100yo “salt box” - yes, in the PNW. 800sqft of clean, white cabinets, island, wainscoting, bathroom, countertop, walls. Kitchen trimmed in a saturated, robin’s egg blue and grey floors… Everything brought in was varieties of natural wood, teal greens, pops of red. So grateful to have had such a cozy cottage for the winters. Thank YOU for creating this lovely space for us to gather. You're a fantastic host!
I built a reproduction colonel saltbox in NH in the early 80's. I was just stunning. I lived in there for 5 years. Then I went to see a model home over million. Very well done and all high finishes. Well... I say sadly I sold my saltbox and built a million-dollar home next door to that one. Worst thing I ever did. I miss my saltbox and my husband does too. I am now retired and live in a ranch home with a bonus room above the garage. I am much happier now. We still talk about our saltbox.
Thank you thank you and bless you because I just hired someone to redo my bathroom and I picked a grey-ish floor, and I don’t love it, but those were the samples that were being told to me that would look the best and I didn’t think so but I’m a pushover. So thank you, I’m going warm. 💖💖💖
First time viewer here; I chuckled, because we just spent $18K to renovate a bathroom. I chose a product call "Wet Walls" for the walk-in shower, and they are fake marble block. I love it. The floor is a wood dark grey laminate - again, I love it. The cabinet is "beach wood grey" and I picked out these beautiful drawer pulls made of glass that look like seashells. Reminds me of a beach house - and we're in IL cornfields. I love it. Painted the walls a light lavender (hubby hates it) and I couldn't be happier. As for the kitchen, we renovated it in 2010, and chose a laminate roll0out flooring that is freakin' awesome to this day from Menards - that people swear is stone/slate when they come in. The floors were wonky in this 1887 house, so it made sense because it's very forgiving if the floor isn't perfectly flat in areas. Our cabinets are high ends Schrock cabinets I bought on a clearance sale at their factory - a very dark wood - and I love it. I wanted to do laminate to save $$, but I also wanted a huge island. The countertop portions would've been cheap, but when you added the cost for an island size piece of laminate it came out to the same cost as a granite company I found that does 1/2" granite. The granite looks amazing, and will definitely sell this house better whenever we move. If not - I've enjoyed it for 14 years and have at least 5 or 6 more before we'd consider moving!
Grey flooring and open shelving are rampant in the houses in the Pittsburgh area on Zillow. When I was looking for LVP flooring back in 2021, it was so difficult to find non-grey LVP. I am forever grateful to Cali Floors for having oak-like LVP back and saving me from the sea of gray LVP. When I see open shelving in an otherwise lovely kitchen, I think cheap. It makes me mad because it makes no sense, as storage is paramount in the kitchen. There can never be enough cabinet doors and hidden storage for me!
I renovated my kitchen. I love it. It white cabinets matte black hardware grey floor and marble quartz. What can I say I am a HGTV fixer upper kid, and I did my own fixer upper and I wouldn't have it any other way. ❤ And a least where I live I am 🙈 more of the farmhouse style everywhere.
I feel so validated! To this list, I would add vessel sinks, patterned brick backsplash tile (gag me with a spoon!), and right now - I would avoid the that huge stone slabs/ printed porcelain in the kitchen and bathroom - this will look dated in a minute! The all-gray look repels me personally, and the black fixtures - a sure give-away to the year you built or updated. I totally agree that if you can't afford a nice countertop, then go with nice laminate - my parents have laminate and looks great if done right.
Go with neutral classics for your higher priced finishes, I alway recommend to my clients that countertops, backsplashes and bathroom tile are the least often changed out so a neutral classic makes the most financial sense. Not to mention for resale value, it can be the easiest for someone to ‘live with’ even if it wouldn’t be their first choice.
I love real brass myself.40 years on, my brain continues to love a brown/cream/blue/gold palette, with pops of black, rust, red. I decorate for life. I enjoy long-term quality.
5:44 We installed a grey plank vinyl floor in our condos. We knew it would be dated so we made sure the pallette, cabinets, counters, trim, bathroom tile, backsplash and accents made sense. We also updated the sills and left the red fireplace brick. It turned out lovely.
I moved my short wall cabinets by the sink up to the ceiling and added stainless steel floating shelves underneath. Increased my storage space and added some visual interest. On the shelves, I put some items I use every day and some sentimental items that mean a lot to me. Love the layout.
We bought a house that had gray lvp last year. I couldn't handle it anymore, so we started ripping out. Under it is hardwood floors that match out woodwork. I have no idea why they covered it up.
I had a honey solid oak kitchen and put in all black hardware and faucet and I paired that with Fantasy Brown Marble (which has black in it) and it was stunning!
I believe it! I have warm, honey colored wood cabinets, black hardware, dark almost black flecked countertops and light hardwood floors. It looks great.
I want to personally thank you especially when you said if you have champagne taste but on a beer budget that is my situation 1000% as much as I love marble and quartz we can only afford in our kitchen laminate and I found some that actually looks like marble for a fraction of the cost of the real McCoy. I have never been a huge fan of black and white kitchens, but I did like the white cabinets with the chrome finishes. I thought that was absolutely beautiful.. thank you for your input. I know many of us really take it to heart because we want our homes to reflect who we are.
-A door is magical! Better than the wheel IMO. -What's the difference between fake brass and fake gold? -As a fellow Pacific Northwesterner, have you not looked outside? Nature is gray. 😊 -Natural marble isn't all black and white and nether is laminate😊 We adore your snarkiness and wisdom, you do you🤩
Also, if you can't afford the kind of countertop you want, put in a laminate that will last you awhile and save up. I think countertops are easier to upgrade/change than your flooring.
@@margaretschaufele6502 This is a good point. A saw this in a home, they put a fake black soapstone looking type laminite and it looked real., so it wasn't a cheaper downgrade by any means Then when they had a bit more money they upgraded.
Amen, brother. I'm with you 5 for 5. Given the current popularity of quartz countertops right now i thought you were going to say granite was dated, but now i can feel confident in my new granite countertop which i love because it is NATURAL as well as interesting.
Which quartz emulate marble best? Many of us love marble but can't afford to have marble but love the love of marble. White kitchen cabinets with carrara marble countertops and a wood floor is a timeless look.
As a landscape photographer, over the years I have noted the the colors of nature never clash. Nick is right.
This - I couldn’t agree more.
Great presentation! Fully agree on every single point. Please keep us informed.
It’s so strange. One can put the same colors in a room and they look terrible together. Maybe it’s the green?
Nature literally has every color! But I love color so I'm fine agreeing all colors are good :)
depends on the filter with is used for the photography
"Rose Gold, may she rest in peace..." You are timeless. This made my day. Thank you.
I was in Target yesterday and in the dollar section was a rose gold (ie, pink) spider. But I think it was just a really cheap failure at copper. You know, copper = orange = Halloween. Plus it was an ugly thing, disco ball head (no eyes or anything) and thick wire body.
@@TeriUktena I had a rose gold iPhone a few years ago :-)
also black and white skunk houses
Agreed--I let out a yelp at that one, hahahah!
Hahah, I was going to say the same thing!
For those of us who cook in our kitchens, all that stuff on the open shelving is going to get dirty and greasy (especially by the stove) and the marble is going to get stained and etched. Cupboards, laminate and a big hardwood cutting board are what we need.
You got it.
Preach!
Agree completely 👍🏻👍🏻
Amen! I’m so tired of show kitchens.
Agree with what you've said, but I've got granite countertops, and they are soooo durable. I cook and entertain all the time.
I am SO HAPPY to hear that the Open Shelving concept is IMPRACTICAL! OMG, my biggest pet peeve is watching all of these TV renovation shows and no kitchen escaped having these shelves installed. Biggest WASTE ever! And all I could see was how FILTHY with dust and grease the dishes and cups would get!
Let alone all dishes require rewashing if a fly gets in your house, GROSS!
I use my kitchen hard, and this trend has made me cringe from day 1.
@@SwimminWitDaFishies open shelving is for people who don't actually cook
I have done it for 60 years and I need more than pretty open shelving
Is it just for the kitchen or for the living room too?
Those are show kitchens. Nobody cooks in them...they dine out.
Dang it's really refreshing to hear someone say, "Champagne taste on a beer budget...just buy the beer. That's okay. you don't have to fake it." I've never been into style fads because I don't have the money to keep up 😂 I want my home to look timeless, but I also want it to look like me and reflect my personality.
About eight years ago, I was renovating my old house, and at that time gray plank flooring was super hot. Going through flooring and got very close to putting it in and a very very smart lady at the flooring store said “this is a very pointed choice…. May I suggest you go with some thing a little more neutral? So I ended up going with a light beige wood finish. That’s very timeless. Thank God for that lady.
Someone tried to tell me that when I was buying wood grain ceramic tiles and I pointed out that she had no fucking idea what the rest of my house color scheme was, and that beige made me want to vomit, but grey was a nice backdrop to the art that my daughter creates and maybe she should stop trying to tell customers their taste was bad.
I have been avoiding gray since 2011. It reminds me of a battleship.
With decor it’s always hard not to look dated .every 10 years you have to do some refresh in order not to look dated
@@llamalluvvClearly there are exceptions and picking grey for a specific reason is perfectly valid.
But those of us in a design consultation role have a duty to advise clients of dumb choices.
We are all swimming in a cesspit of ugly consumerist junk and just because an option exists, doesn’t mean it should.
@llamalluvv I'll tell you then- your taste is bad.
"They're going to listen to people they shouldn't, i.e., not me." Oh the humility, Nick 😂😂😂
“Have you ever walked into a forest and said ‘wow this is really looking dated’ - No you haven’t!” 😂😂😂😂
That’s funny I read this comment EXACTLY when he was saying it
This is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard him say! 😮
Except I hate green and brown. The forest is fine outside, but I don’t want to live in it.
Yes, I have? There are a lot of very poorly maintained public forest spaces because as a society we prioritize arming the police like they're fighting the Terminator over maintaining our public lands.
Go to a beach, edge of tree line, desert, areas with birch or cedar. There is a lot of grey wood! Only browns are found in living trees or freshly dead! Yes there can be a hint of green brown in the grey. But, I would argue that some grey shades are very much a weathered wood natural color!😊
I have newly diagnosed cancer and today started out the worst, painful ever. Later now, I am distracting myself on UA-cam and came across this episode. I haven’t laughed so hard in forever. Maybe because great minds think alike😂😂😂. You made my day.
🙏🏼🫶🏼 praying for healing and good health
Wishing you all the best with your health and recovery! Laughter is a great medicine too... and medical science has gotten ever better with treatments. Bonne santé from Ireland.
Hope you're doing ok.
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾May you receive the Blessings of healing. Live, Laugh, Give Love 💕
Laughter is great medicine! Best of luck to you 🙏❤️
Actual farm wife here. I've never in 50+ years have seen a farmhouse that looks like the farmhouse look! 😂
I went house hunting recently and 70% of the renovated homes that I went into had gray plank flooring. It was such an eye roll. I finally found a house with original hardwood and jumped for joy.
Every house flipper is using greys. I guess they haven’t gotten the memo yet. 😊
Every house we looked at had cheap kitchen and bathroom renos. Heartbreakingly, many had ripped out the original solid wood cupboards and replaced them with bottom of the range laminate.
Eventually we found an old house with a bit of Formica in the wet areas and solid wood cabinets. Bless the hearts of every owner since 1968 when the house had its one and only facelift.
It was in the house that I purchased four years ago and immediately had it torn up and went with something that coordinated with the “ancient floors” in my 1846 Cape Cod style home.
@@pressme71nz mine was original too. I had thought about replacing the formica but it’s easy to clean and in perfect condition. It’s staying!
@@pressme71nzyes, agree and it’s nice that as a home buyer when people prefer the plastic over the wood. Less competition for quality stuff.
I came for the design advice and stayed for the side slitting humor. 😆😂🤣 💕
Love his sense of humor! Whit and intellect.
Yes! OMG - no one ever “eh, Lake Louise is looking so 2017” - literally LOL!
Let’s be honest this is why we all are here!!
"Just like a lot of the metals are timeless. I mean, except for rose gold, may she rest in peace."
lol
@@ashfordj81 lol
Wise words: 1) "Nature is timeless." 2) "If you have a beer budget, buy beer!" Love it, as always.
“Get what you can afford and be proud of it. You worked hard for that money and the renovation” 😭
Or grab a Miller High Life, "The Champagne of Beers"
Buy good beer!
Lol
I agree with the grey flooring. It always sucks the life out of a room, it's truly VAMPIRIC.
I'd suggest that was is truly Vampiric is the dark red woods for flooring, unless you have abundant windows with natural light coming in, they suck every bit of light out of a space. Unfortunately, that's what I inherited when we bought our home, cherry hardwood floors and very little in natural light. So, I have to either change them (expensive) or sand them down and restain them (less expensive).
You had me at “open shelving.” Bless you. I hate it so much.
Yup, most people actually use their kitchen and it's not just for display! The way some of my cabinets get overtime, ooof my house would like horrid with open shelves s
Anyone who owns cats knows that open shelving encourages destructiveness and then you still have to dust all the time!
75 years ago they got rid of open shelving in favor of cabinets. Everybody was sick of the dust and clutter. Why do we have to relive all these lessons??
My parents started a reno in 2019 and my mom HATED the grey flooring (and trim) - poor woman - everything was grey then….but she stuck to her ideas and found some nice warm slate & wood flooring. Thank goodness and timeless - good job mom.
I love that you are praising your mom. Beautiful!
My good friend, her mom was renovating her house and everyone told her to do black and white (this was 10 years ago) she went with cherry cabinets and beige walls. She sold her home rather quickly… the couple who bought it, renovated to black and white. Lol. Oh well, she got it sold anyway
@@cjhoward409a friend painstakingly stripped the ornate wooden doors and architraves in her lovely Edwardian villa, then had to sell for reasons.
She went back to collect some mail shortly after and the new owners had already painted every wooden surface with gloss black paint!
Their prerogative, but such a shame.
nothing is truly timeless, just 5 years ago, those warm floors were considered outdated. Trends are moving way too fast these days to get us to spend our money and never be satisfied. It's exhausting.
My budget is not even beer. It's tap water. My adhesive backsplash attests to that. I know it's a garbage choice but it has brightened up a truly dingy space and made wiping down the walls much easier. This house has made me look forward to being a renter again. lol
Tap water here, too. Keep at it. II've been 20 years in my modest house and finally finished replacing all the vinyl flooring and ancient carpet with LVP, an oak floor in the kitchen and new carpet in the bedrooms. I did a lot of the work myself and paid for it with various windfalls and savings from a part time job. New floors, fresh paint and some nice fabric touches can make a cottage into your own castle.
Decorate for you, not because some desgner said it's dated. Thats what we did. I don't do keep up with the joneses
It’s fine! If you like it that’s all that matters! Sometimes we just don’t have the dough but we need a change. And it’s really ok.
I bought Moroccan clay and finished that with black olive oil soap to coat my kitchen walls. no backsplash needed, easy to clean and water resistant. 225 bucks better than anything else... lastly very very very easy care.
“Contrast- needs to be treated with care”
I never embraced the gray trend. When I was selling my former home, my realtor tried to get me to paint the walls light gray. Nope - I painted them a warm beige that showed off my stained woodwork. My house sold in 48 hours with multiple offers. I just installed new flooring in my entire house and went with a medium oak - not too light or dark. I LOVE my floors! I will never embrace the return of brass, no matter the finish, patina, or "brushed" finish. I "adulted" in the 80's where brass was everything. Not going there again, no matter what the trends say. Brushed nickel is my favorite finish, and that's my story and I'm sticking to it! 🤣
Yay for brushed nickel! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
thank you!
When we bought our retirement home the walls in the kitchen, dining room and living room were prison grey. Lovely wood ceilings, that looked grey. First thing I painted all the walls pale yellow. Those ceiling came to light with a golden glow. Golden oak.
Omg the 80s brass scarred me. The current brass looks so cheap but it’s not nearly as obnoxious.
I like brass, but I prefer brushed brass. Not into the natural patina on brass, either. (I do get what you mean about things looking cheap, but chrome is what gives me that feel the most.)
Every color, style and finish will one day look dated. Don't chase trends. Pick what you love and would be happy to see every day.
“Have you ever walked into a forest & thought, wow, this is really dated? NO!” I LOVE that analogy! Spot on! And I really like the educational & informational content in this video. I find it very helpful & it’s needed b/c some of us views are making decisions right now or in the near future & we appreciate the heads up! Thank you.
I have a well cared for laminate that looks like laminate. Replacing the countertops with quartz would make my old cheap cabinets look worse by contrast. Replacing the cabinets would make the appliances appear dated. Best just to embrace the laminate and watch another Nick video.
😂😂😂
yeah it's all about context in so many interior design cases. I still agree with what Nick says 99% of the time tho
@@reebeeable lol
Love your comment! I have granite countertops, which apparently are now dated. They're just so practical! I love to cook, and I've never had a stain or a chip.
Good thinking @reebeeable I can tell you've made a logical study of the room.
I once had butcher block countertops and loved the look. This was in a 1920 Colonial Revival home in 2003 Seattle with almost all original features. I know the all wood cabinets were original. They were painted a mint green which really looked lovely with the butcher block. Oh, I loved that house. Batchelder fireplace surround, plaster walls, thick Pacific Northwest millwork and picture rails, glass doorknobs, black and pink and penny tiles bathroom, original wood windows. All of it very well cared for by previous owners. All this to say, butcher block countertops are the bomb. Consider them! And embrace the colors of years gone by. No need to follow the herd.
I put select 4" walnut end grain butcher block on one of the islands in my kitchen. The rest of my countertop surfaces are Silestone quartz in Calcutta gold with the exception of my stand alone hutch which has side grain walnut. It turned out really pretty and I love the versatility of having more than one type of countertop. End grain is amazing for rolling out dough. Plus I can cut on it and it is self healing. Although I honestly can't bring myself to do it. ;)
@@pippadawg7037 Sounds gorgeous. I did not cut on mine either. 😃 Why do that when you can use a cutting board?
Sounds like my kind of home
Butcher block is my dream kitchen countertop. But real butcher block, not a slab of wood altho that would come in second. And I’m not babying it or sanding out cuts & burns etc. It’s going to have a gorgeous finish in a couple yrs of real use, unlike most kitchens as no one cooks anymore!!
I WILL use cutting boards for ease of cleaning n hygiene.
@@Cherrysmith2809n easily wash said cutting board compared to a counter! Lol
I'm loving the sarcasm about the open shelving. Doors what a concept lol
They're magical!
I never realised sassy interior design videos were something I needed in my life, but dang I laughed so hard at those comments 😂
All I can see is all the dust and grease that is going to cover everything on open shelving.
The best thing to do is to decorate our homes in the way and style we like it, with the furniture and colors we choose, regardless of useless trends.
Being concerned about style choices of whatever becoming "dated" should only arise if you think you will be selling your home. If you live in your forever home - then you just be you - and decorate and style it in whatever way makes you happiest. Don't worry about what other people may think of your choices, especially long-off future buyers who may only come into the picture after you are gone.
Your taking the time to address affordability and what people may already have in their homes make your videos stand out. Encouraging people to aspire to having a beautiful environment within THEIR means and that suits their lifestyle is beautiful.
I love that about his videos too. He gives a lot of options in all kinds of price points. He also gives you things to really think about. Like if there’s something really important to you maybe that is where you focus your budget and get something more expensive if it’s expensive because of the exceptional quality. This has been helpful while I am trying to start brainstorming a kitchen renovation; what is something that shouldn’t be compromised on, what is something that I could use a less expensive option and also what do I want because I love it not because someone in the future might like or not like it.
Kudos to Nick for boldly driving a stake through the cold grey heart of the grey flooring vampire. Truly, its time has come and gone and now there are so many "tastefully renovated" kitchen, etc. burdened with the awful flooring.
Awful flooring and brass fixtures. As a teen in the 80’s, I’ve always hated brass. I can’t believe it’s back as a trend.
I love my gray flooring in my family room. The deck leads from the garden. Big dog and paws…and dirt and mud. It stops me from having to wash the floor every other day.
Haha, my husband insisted we get some "surf gray" which is a brownish gray. I wanted a more oaky tan. He won. I put big rugs on it.
I love your closing remarks in this video, we work hard for our money and it is absolutely not worth trying to fake it to keep up with trends of the ultra-wealthy and out of touch. Our homes are made for living in!
Amen
@@SpecificallyAngelina it’s either you want a home to live in or a museum with dust collectors and be dusting and polishing all the time .
I held my breath through your whole video. I am so relieved I have zero of these in my home. It’s like getting perfect on a pop quiz.
Needless to say my home is definitely not perfect; but I made it through this one unscathed! 😂
I’m just here to say, I’m in love with my open shelving! It can work for the right people in the right spaces!
We installed expensive, warm-toned, variegated koa flooring throughout our house ten years ago-it was definitely a splurge. Best decision. It is still so beautiful and never fails to elicit compliments. And getting rid of carpet completely was such a relief!!
I’ve been working on my husband for YEARS, trying to get him on board with replacing the carpet with hardwood. 😢😫
Thank you for saying it’s OK to use laminate if it’s in your budget. I wanted quartz countertops so badly. But I just could not justify it. So I did laminate countertops. It’s OK. For my house in my neighborhood it works. And most importantly it worked for my budget. I’ve had people kind of give me a hard time, but those are people that are not in my tax bracket. I updated my whole house, it’s only 690 ft.² :-) but still it was expensive. And I do have champagne taste and beer budget. I could’ve easily spent four times the amount of money that I did. But I like my house. I would not change 98% of what I did. And I will live with the other 2%.
Nothing like living within your means. Let's hear it for beer budgets and good taste.
Quartz, granite, and all the other natural stones are *wildly* overrated, IMHO. Laminate is just fine. I have *IKEA* laminate in faux concrete and people complement it all the time, it looks fabulous. Did my whole kitchen for $300.
I have beautiful laminate counters. Can't tell unless you look very close it looks like granite. And it is sturdy too. ❤
good on you! it's important to understand how much to spend based on the neighborhood, etc...we are looking for a house now...soooo many flipped houses that are over priced...
My kitchen and both bathrooms have the original 20+ year old laminate countertops. They're in pristine condition, look fine, and are easy to maintain. I can't begin to justify changing them, even if I had unlimited budget. Which I don't.
My husband & I are having a house built. We chose gray flooring, all white cabinets, black hardware, stainless steel appliances & sparkly light fixtures. We had people tell us that we will get tired of gray, black, white & silver but we both have always liked that so I don't see that changing. We didn't want to pick things that other people might like 10 or 15+ years down the road, we picked what we prefer because we are gonna be the ones seeing it all day everyday. Both of us hated how our old house had warm hardwood flooring but we got so many compliments on it.
I think the problem is that look is now what cheap house flippers use in every house.
The key is you have to live with it. Do what you love, you can't lose.
You have "always liked it" because it has been in style for so long you can't remember when new floors weren't gray. People say, "Your tastes change." But they change because people confuse what is trending with their tastes saying things like, "I only like cool colors" or "I only like furniture with legs." Those are things that have been trending forever. Many decorators can't even tell where their tastes starts and the trends leave off.
@@blessedq02 Oh you can lose. I have seen people lose because they don't know what they love from what is trending. They mistake one for the other.
Exactly! You go with what you like. This is all good advice if you’re looking for this advice.
Love your informative videos filled with clever, real life, design sense! Refreshing to see a Canadian designer.
Adore your sense of humour throughout all your videos!! 🙌
I used to love investing in home improvements without hesitation, but with inflation biting into my savings, I've had to take a step back and be more strategic. While those past projects seemed worth it, the reality is that recovering those costs has been challenging. Now, I'm much more focused on long-term value. It’s made me rethink what’s really worth the investment especially when so many trendy upgrades lose their appeal quickly and end up adding little to no lasting value
I’m nearing retirement myself, and I had similar concerns. I started investing later than most, and just relying on ETF compounding wasn’t cutting it for me either. After working with a financial advisor, I managed to restructure my investments and am now on track to retire with around $4 million. If I hadn’t sought advice, I doubt I’d be as confident in my plan right now
I’m trying to figure out the best approach for my portfolio. How did you find your advisor? I feel like I need that kind of guidance
I usually steer clear of recommending specific people because financial needs are so personal. But I can say that working with Emily Ava Milligan has made a world of difference for me. I noticed her strategies are tailored to fit personal goals and make sense for different needs. It might be worth exploring to see if her approach resonates with you
Thanks for that. I did a quick search and found her page. I was able to email so I sent over a few questions to get more info. Appreciate you sharing
“Lake Louis is looking so 2017” 😂😂😂 That’s so funny.
I ❤love Nickisims, priceless.
When he said that I rolled 😂
same!!! ❤
Louise?
@@Moluccan56it’s a famous lake in banf national park
I have a marble countertop in my powder room because marble requires more maintenance. I used quartz in the kitchen because it’s hard wearing.
I see so much gray flooring in real estate listings that are the most lifeless flips possible. And of course it's paired with all white with black touches/farmhouse design.
yes. Now when I see grey flooring, I immediately suspect the house is a Flip
The worst is when I see the gray floor in a kitchen and then the brown wood floors everywhere else. It’s jarring and looks weird.
I’ve always loved warmer colors simply because they are welcoming, cozy and have so many possibilities. Grey and white is…grey and white. Warm woods are so numerous. I was so happy to see the greys fad in popularity, though I had never introduced them into my home. Classics are always stylish and beautiful. The fact that gorgeous, historical homes are always stunning should tell us a lot. Solid brass is beautiful and the patina is lovely. The 1980s brass plated look is definitely not a good look. Love your content, and delivery. Great video.
I have heard, numerous times, that granite is outdated. We recently updated our kitchen and I chose granite. What was interesting to me was that the marble my friends chose, looks almost identical to my granite! Yes, I had to source the particular granite I wanted, but it’s beautiful and looks just like marble? I was concerned about the care of marble vs granite and since we were also doing the backsplash with it, the cost was a bit lower. I Love my kitchen!
Agree, brass is timeless. It may go off trend from time to time but it NEVER goes out of style.
Polished yellow brass was very dated and still is. Unlacquered brass is a whole other ballgame, and is beautiful.
My husband tried to pick out gray floor planks and I put my foot down! No no no! I wish I could have won on the paint color but one day he will come home from work and find me repainting the entire house 😊
We chose a beautiful gray with a blue green undertone a decade ago when we moved into our house. My husband came home to a green wall one day because I was going bonkers without color 😂
Literally every person I know that put in gray plank flooring hates it now. They absolutely detest it. I hated it always, and I did not put it in when I redid my floors. There was no way I was going to put gray flooring in, but at the time it was actually hard to find stuff that wasn’t great.
@@nogames8982 They should explore painting the floors if they hate it. Painted floors can be so chic if done correctly.
This is funny, I had the same experience with my husband too. Although I’m the one that chose revere pewter for the walls, I had only 24 hours to pick a color and I had experience with this one and knew it was pretty and also a warm grey…probably change it up in a few years
@@monkeygraborange if it’s wood floors, they can paint it. Not sure if you can paint vinyl flooring.
Love the reference to lake and forest, stay natural. Greys and yellowing are last stages of deterioration. Useful guidelines, as always! Thanks Nick.
They're still beautiful though
Grey is natural though. It's in stones. And even wood you see naturally grayed out bark on certain trees and it looks beautiful. You also see warm reddish hues and golden hues in nature all the time.
I did open shelving in my kitchen and I love it. It opened up the tiny space a ton, I’m a minimalist, they’re only holding daily use items, a few small plants and two pieces of art. Dust isn’t a big deal, nor is grease. Just saying this for anyone who likes open shelving, it isn’t always a disaster.
You have a good sense of humor! I absolutely loved your comment about trends and wealthy people with their chefs! I had one woman in my mother's group (with a moderately famous husband) years ago who had each of us bring an item to share with the playgroup when she hosted at her home. I brought a homemade pie and the ingredients for real whipped cream. I asked to use her mixer and she stared blankly at me. I realized she never used her kitchen and had no idea if she even had a mixer. I whipped the cream with a fork (she couldn't find a whisk either). That was an experience. I subscribed for the advice and because your sense of humor really aligns with mine. Great video!
I wish you had episodes called “is my room ugly?” Or “what should I do?” because ohmygod, I would love to ask some questions! ❤❤❤
IS my room ugly?? I can take it. I swear I can !😆😟
I think Nick is overdue for a "roasts" of viewers rooms video! I wanted to get in on one too but not ready. They're actually the gentlest of his videos. He will tease a little and then tell you what to do to fix it. Most common mistakes are wrong size rug, lighting and too heavy on theme rooms.
Send your photos to Nick, it might encourage him to make another roast video.
Me too !
@@Fac725 He does. Read the replies.
Thank you for saying it about the gray. I’ve never understood why people wanted so much gray in their homes. The difficult thing is that since it is such a popular trend, it can be easy to find gray and difficult to find other tones.
You can find gray in all the thrift stores where it's being ditched.
My SO legit likes things in gray and without much input from design trends styled his home rather gray back when I met him. Sometimes it comes from an authentic place. Thankfully, he's not a baby about it and appreciates natural materials too, so we're able to compromise and use stone or walnut-tone in a lot of places where he'd normally go for gray wood-effect.
5 years ago, the cold grey/blue was all that they sold, on a budget. I brought a piece home and it made my expensive grass cloth look dirty, and very yellow. I searched high and low to find a grey with mostly of brown tones. Finally, I got mine for cheap because nobody else wanted it. It wouldn't sell. I was so lucky, I could also tell it was a trend since it was selling so fast, it was already dated.
Everybody knows that is is vinyl plank so I didn't want a fancy cherry or walnut, that would have been going over the top. I got something very destressed and rustic. That suits my crappy house the most.
I like grey :( I like goth style, but I don't want to make my rooms look smaller, and so grey COULD be a really good compromise to keep things from getting too too dark... Except for the stupid trend making it look like a house flipper thing
Grey is legit but it can be cold. I think used properly it can be very sophisticated, but people felt very safe using it. Overusing it. My frigging car is grey.
I did warm gray wood flooring in 2022 and don’t regret it at all. It allows a colour pallette of gray/black/white to which any saturated colour can be added for vibrancy (eg red, cobalt blue). After 50 years of brown-based colour pallettes and earth tones I’m just done - tan this, rust that, forest green this…
The gray decor samples in the video have no vibrant colour to set them off so of course they’re lifeless.
We did the same, except ours is a gothic revival with green and blue pops. It's gives this feel of calm cloudy castle on the mountain. The vibe is so cold its warm but it's because the warm tones In a general cool color.
@@Nochefairy The thing I like is that if I get tired of red or whatever colour I’m using , I can completely rotate it out with a different one
@@Nochefairyhuh?
I mean, it’s been two years lol
My walls are Sherwin Williams Greek Villa, a warm beautiful white and my floor tiles are 1’x2’ warm gray porcelain. One day I’ll have hardwood flooring but for now I bought a 100% wool cream rug which covers almost the entire living room. Then I bought a leather sofa in cognac brown and have some incredible walnut and teak furniture from the 1960s. I painted my interior doors SW Tricorn Black which is a real WOW factor. I also painted my 12’ tray ceiling black. Accent chairs are neutral. I brought color in through wall art and vases, a couple of pillows and throws. And don’t forget to add a bit of greenery in every room. I also believe one should have a mirror in every room. It creates more light and don’t forget to have it reflect something beautiful. You don’t want to put a large floor mirror in your master bedroom on a wall across from your bathroom. 😊
I love your advice on open shelving. Open shelving is meant to be used with restraint and for display. A few open shelves are nice as a compliment to good and thoughtful cabinets and pantry.
Our house was a show home we purchased from its prior owner. It was the tail end of the grey/ greige trend and white kitchens. Our home was a breath of fresh air with warm brown porcelain tile floors, cream walls, tumbled marble backsplash, dark espresso cabinets and darker granite countertops. I was grateful that it was warm, felt like home the minute we walked in. We made an offer five minutes after walking through and it was the best decision ever.
Appreciate that Nick is aways mindful of real-world limited budgets. I've had a laminate kitchen counter for 23 years and it still looks beautiful.
We were renovating our new home in 2018 and I was thinking about the grey flooring (because it was a big change from what had been there before, which was quite dark and heavy) and the guy selling it actually discouraged us, saying it was “on the way out”. I’ve got to applaud him for that, since he could have just kept quiet and got it out of his inventory, after all…..
I assure you he won’t have had any trouble getting rid of it, grey vinyl planks have become the new landlord special 😬
I love how we are going back to the basics and curating our homes. I think we are all trended out!
This video is perfect for me. I’m currently tearing out 2,000 sq ft of GRAY luxury vinyl planks and installing solid maple hardwoods. It’s a dream come true. I won’t ever go back to gray anything. Flooring, paint or decor. I’m so over it. Also, just started my kitchen reno. Of course the plans had open shelving galore but decided (with my husbands urging) to pair back on the open shelving and do something a bit different. I remember when I bought this house I thought the floors were so nice, back then we were all sick of oak and beige 😂
Totally agree on splurging to get real brass. Genuine brass can be polished up and made to look brand new again. It’s just worth it.
How can u be sick of oak?
I will be forever perplexed by that. And that will be the only furniture, floor or cabinetry I will ever buy.
@@YeshuaKingMessiah I should have worded that better. Sick of that weird, orange, 90’s oak STAIN. Oak itself is amazing 😍
@@GEOMETRICINK yeah it got a little orangey for awhile didnt it lol
Im so glad I never followed any of these trends when we were redoing our kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.
I don’t hate gray flooring. It has a beachy, driftwood vibe or aged barn-siding look. I think the key is decorating the rest of the space with color and warmth. Kind of like the gray cashmere dress I have- i add a colorful scarf and it looks great.
Very true ☺️
Grey floors can clash with warm colors so you gotta be careful with that. One choice always locks you into others. If the gray has blue undertones, it can look really nice with peach. If the gray has lilac undertones it can look pretty with light yellow. If the undertones are green (like khaki) a modern grown up pink will be gorgeous.
You’re talking too fast
The right shade can be very soothing and serve as the base for the rest of your design. I love a warm greige, not a cool pure gray.
There's no such thing as an ugly color. My friends' grey kitchen floors looks great. It all depends on how you use it. I wouldn't paint my walls bright magenta, but a magenta scarf over a long grey coat and boots would be quite striking! It's not the 'what', it's the 'how'.
The problem with grey is that when you were young and your first apartments were all old with yellowy white walls and 70s appliances, you walk into an empty apartment that's all cool-toned and it feels so clean and new.
For the record, I agree, but even as someone who doesn't like grey floors, the millennial in me still gets it.
@@R3LF13 my entire childhood home was sponsored by the color brown. I have gray floors now.
In the club grey, but I do follow the rule: everything material should be what they look like. Hard work to get concrete flooring for the millenial effect, but, after all, polished concrete IS timeless and perfect with floor heating
@@utubia6200 - I don't think Nick would criticize gray, concrete, floors. It's the fake gray wood that he doesn't like.
Someone finally said it! YES! Coming from living in "the hood", clean gray floors, even if fake, would've been a HUGE upgrade for us. Because all I'd had growing up were usually tiled floors (yes, tile even in the bedrooms) or tan carpet. I still can't hate gray floors just becsuse I know what it's like to grow up with the same, worn out thing over and over. I have brown "wood" laminate floors in my current apartment and that alone made me think it was luxurious, because I've never had anything at all even close to wood floors. I'm not attacking Nick or any interior designer here, though.
I work for an iron and steel retailer and have to look at the various shades of gray for eight-plus hours a day. That doesn't really bother me too much but I would rather not come home to it.
Ive made a lot of mistakes (married in 1983 and could not live without my burgandy bathroom suite in my new bungalow❤😅😅😅), but 41 years later i stick to most of the decorating "rules" Nick discusses in other videos. Absolutely love your channel Nick❤
Yes. Mid 80's burgandy, forest green, Mission furniture everywhere. Then came the geese with the blue ribbons around their necks.
@@andreabradley5837 I loved those geese lololol xx
@@andreabradley5837
And then came the yellow sunflowers on a royal blue background!
Even today I can’t stand geese and sunflowers in any way aside from the actual thing, outside, being natural.
Mauve....ughh
@@andreabradley5837oh mission furniture is my JAM (my 1stborn is 41 too lol)
Renovated in 2019, gray engineered hardwood throughout my home. It is everything you said.
I love how you give advice without cutting down others choices. You’re very nice. Thanks.
I have to agree with you on the grey flooring. I've lived in my RV for 6ish years and even though it was a more modern RV, it still had a lot of brown in it. And not the good brown...like the everything is muddy, blah, poopy brown. So in direct contrast to this, when I began the renovation, I put grey vinyl planks in (hear me out).
It instantly brightened up the space, and made it look way less dated than before. Fast forward to today when I've painted everything (if you know RVs, you know everything is MDF and so some thick coats of paint is actually better so as to help with waterproofing), I changed out all the hardware, and I''ve added curtains and new furniture - so basically a gut job.
Here's the thing...I wouldn't make the grey choice again. I think I did a good job of picking out paint, trim, hardware, and curtain colors to compliment the grey floors, however, it wasn't easy. And it wasn't until after I'd done it that I wished I went with a more natural, warmer vinyl color. But I wasn't going to spend another $1000 on floors again when I am selling the RV. I am moving into a house soon and I chose a warm vinyl during that reno :)
Mistakes are ok, just learn from them! ha
$1K on flooring for a camper!?!
There’s only 5sq’ of floor space! How did u spend $1K??
You laid down gold leaf over top?
The very back of my kitchen had no top cabinets. So I put up shelves and the entire wall is dishes, mostly from Europe, and they are serving dishes, side dishes. Etc. They are there to look at, rarely is one used. When I do, I wash it. This is my coffee bar and I put hooks to hang my coffee and tea cups and mugs. I hand picked every one of dishes and it brings me joy.
That is a great use of open shelves, and what the designers are going for, but don't always have that extra space. Enjoy!
"a magical thing called a door" 😂 Yes! I've been waiting for that trend to CALM DOWN.
I was with a retired navy man and Gray was no option. He said he seen enough of that in the 22 years of being in the Navy so we went with the more natural bees and tans creams very much into the natural nature colors.
I bought quartz countertops with very little veining. Very subtle. Love it. Caesarstone frosty carrina.
Well, I have grey flooring in my kitchen, which I love, and a white living room with black hardware which I love. Makes me happy. That’s all that matters.
I agree! So happy you are happy! I am too!❤My grey flooring soothes me. We put grey flooring in our guesthouse too and most of our guests walk in and sigh!
To me, grey is soothing, not boring or lifeless
If you love it, that’s all that matters! I love color…I thrive on it and it makes me smile everytime I walk into my living room. When you get that feeling, you know you have chose the right color.
I do not hate grey either. I think it can be overdone, but I think grey feels warm and soothing. Glad you are doing what makes you happy!
I agree. My best friend is severely sight impaired and she needs high contrast, so we went with black and white with the grey wood flooring.
I love my grey floors. I had medium dark wood and hated it so much. My house is so much brighter now with a nice coastal vibe. Everything goes with grey too so it’s easy to add colour.
Grey looks great with bright contrast colors. I have grey floors in kitchen with yellow and white cabinets. Looks great.
Relaxed Saturday morning coffee with Nick… this is therapy! ☕️
Yes! ☕🛋️ Happy Saturday
Yes! ☕🛋️ Happy Saturday
Right?! He's a dopamine hit!
“Nature is always beautiful.”
I love that. I actually apply that principle to a lot of things in my life. That’s how I approach fabric, hair color, makeup… It’s a great north star.
We did our flooring in natural light toned, wide plank, engineered hardwood. Cabinets in warm grey with brushed nickel hardware, white quartz countertops with subtle grey veining and backsplash in real glass tile. NO open shelving. Very happy with the results.
I cried tears of joy when I moved from my old apartment with LVP to my new place with cork floors!! We had the same furniture but it instantly felt so much cozier ❤️
Lucky you. Cork is practical; cosy to walk on, dampens noise, things don’t break if you drop them on cork. If I replace my floors, it will be with cork.
Lucky you ❤ cork floors ! I wanted to put cork floors during convid but theu were way to expensive and not much choice at the time 😞
From 🇫🇷
Ohhhhh cork
Now that sounds wonderful
What’s it sealed with?
We put in cork flooring in our kitchen 15 years ago because I have autoimmune arthritis and love to bake. The cork is amazing when you are on your feet cooking/baking for hours! ❤❤❤ my cork floors. A bougie neighbor came over and asked not so subtly if I thought about replacing them 🙄 Everyone else loves them
I am so over grey. I’m in the process of looking for a new home and the majority have grey floors and walls. I just can’t do that, I’ll have to tear out the brand new flooring when I find the right house. Please get the memo out, it’s done!
Love you Nick 💕💖💕
I detest Grey floors...ho hum. No open shelving...dust collectors. Your sarcasm is most enjoyable. Keep it up!!
Can you _imagine_ having to dust your dishes?? Thank you, no.
@@monkeygraborange. A work friend invited a group of us over to see her just completed kitchen renovation. All the upper cabinets were ripped out, and there was some shelving and dimensional tile there instead. I followed a coworker’s gaze to a fly cavorting around on the open shelf of dinner & salad plates, and immediately wanted to go home & give my upper cabinets a big hug.
Grey concrete floors in an industrial loft brightened with art: yes please! Grey fake-wood laminate floors in a boring décor: ick.
I'm glad you actually mentioned laminate countertops! Everyone seems to forget those but materials have come a LONG way and there are a lot of really NICE looking patterns to choose from. I'm a "rock hound" but I don't want granite/stone countertops. I don't want the maintenance! I'd go with quartz if i was going to spend a lot of money because you don't have to seal them every year.
I am with you! I love laminate for its affordability & durability and I love some of the Beautoful patterns and finishes. I would never want the maintenance. Also whatever you buy will be outdated eventually so why spend so much in the first place?
Light neutral wood. Our first home was definitely neutral leaning cool toned. When we moved, I wanted neutral leaning warm. I’m so glad I went with my gut. Years in and it gives this natural feeling. Paint is far easier to change than flooring! Design with what YOU like, since trends change so much faster now. But, totally agree that wood floors should look like wood 🙂
You are my hero! I have been the rage machine against gray from the start because of all the problems you mentioned. For me, it isn't just confined to flooring. It is dull and lifeless as paint, ceramics, and "wood."
Agreed. I've been looking online at houses lately, and if I see even a glimpse of that ghastly gray laminate I hit the Back button so fast it breaks the sound barrier. It's ice-cold and fake and you can hear the ticky-tacky sound of it under your feet just looking at the pictures.
I like my gray floors and i like gray. Its my home . That is the beauty of individuality.
Obviously but he's just saying that like those ivy wall stencils from the 90's it will place your home in a very particular period of time.
Right there with you. It suits the cool undertones of my family’s complexion too. And anything with color or warmth stand out like jewel tones. Gray really works for us.
Pick out the things you love because you love them, not because they are on trend. Then you won't care if it's the current craze or not. Gray is a timeless neutral. It may be a passing trend, but will still always be a valid choice.
Yes, you can find beautiful pictures of gray and cream being used together going back to ancient Rome, also later in French chateaus.
You see grays with whites in nature too: at the beach, in the mountains, in the bark of trees, on the water, and in the sky. It is a timeless color; but like any other “neutral,” it needs to be used mindfully with other colors that will harmonize with it.
As for myself, I was thrilled when high quality LVT suddenly made grey floors accessible to the masses without needing to afford stone or carefully aged wood.
We installed warm gray LVT floors and paired them with very simple/modern cream trim/walls, and all cream/light beige furniture, except for a teak mid-century modern dining set, which matches the granite in our kitchen…and an outrageous amount of plants. There is even a low teak buffet behind the couch with a veritable wall of plants on it, to separate the living and dining rooms in their larger open space. We never tire of the plants; they add so much life and color. The artwork is mostly of nature or made out of natural objects in one way or another, and adds warmth, color, interest. We easily change the pillows, throws, and flower bouquets with the seasons. They all look good against the gray and cream, the way plant-greens and flowers look against bark and clouds.
The master suite (the gray floor continues into it) is painted a soft navy with cream trim, and cream furniture again (and wardrobe and lamps: if I want to ignore it, I make it cream). We layered this with a large soft navy/soft blue/beige oriental carpet, but then predominantly moderately-saturated green and blue art for pops of color that still look like they “belong.” The dark bedroom feels luxurious and cozy. The dark bathroom looks larger, since the wall looks like it recedes further away from the vanity, and it makes the whites look extra bright and clean (white towels, beige marble floor).
I love coming home from a bustling city which feels “hot and loud” to me, into a serene, soft, cozy, “cool and quiet” space…that is still filled with life and sunlight. The living areas look great with every season’s flowers. I don’t think I’ll be sick of it anytime soon.
@Jennith777, I love your description 😊
So grateful for grey floors & white. Last house was a lovingly renovated, 100yo “salt box” - yes, in the PNW. 800sqft of clean, white cabinets, island, wainscoting, bathroom, countertop, walls. Kitchen trimmed in a saturated, robin’s egg blue and grey floors… Everything brought in was varieties of natural wood, teal greens, pops of red. So grateful to have had such a cozy cottage for the winters.
Thank YOU for creating this lovely space for us to gather. You're a fantastic host!
I built a reproduction colonel saltbox in NH in the early 80's. I was just stunning. I lived in there for 5 years. Then I went to see a model home over million. Very well done and all high finishes. Well... I say sadly I sold my saltbox and built a million-dollar home next door to that one. Worst thing I ever did. I miss my saltbox and my husband does too. I am now retired and live in a ranch home with a bonus room above the garage. I am much happier now. We still talk about our saltbox.
Thank you thank you and bless you because I just hired someone to redo my bathroom and I picked a grey-ish floor, and I don’t love it, but those were the samples that were being told to me that would look the best and I didn’t think so but I’m a pushover. So thank you, I’m going warm. 💖💖💖
First time viewer here; I chuckled, because we just spent $18K to renovate a bathroom. I chose a product call "Wet Walls" for the walk-in shower, and they are fake marble block. I love it. The floor is a wood dark grey laminate - again, I love it. The cabinet is "beach wood grey" and I picked out these beautiful drawer pulls made of glass that look like seashells. Reminds me of a beach house - and we're in IL cornfields. I love it. Painted the walls a light lavender (hubby hates it) and I couldn't be happier. As for the kitchen, we renovated it in 2010, and chose a laminate roll0out flooring that is freakin' awesome to this day from Menards - that people swear is stone/slate when they come in. The floors were wonky in this 1887 house, so it made sense because it's very forgiving if the floor isn't perfectly flat in areas. Our cabinets are high ends Schrock cabinets I bought on a clearance sale at their factory - a very dark wood - and I love it. I wanted to do laminate to save $$, but I also wanted a huge island. The countertop portions would've been cheap, but when you added the cost for an island size piece of laminate it came out to the same cost as a granite company I found that does 1/2" granite. The granite looks amazing, and will definitely sell this house better whenever we move. If not - I've enjoyed it for 14 years and have at least 5 or 6 more before we'd consider moving!
Can you all more about your glass draw pulls that look like seashells? Thanks
I went with plain white quartz countertops. I figured it would stand the test of time, since im older and probably won't be remodeling anymore.😮😉
I agree with you about grey floors. The flippers in my area still use grey floors, grey walls and white trim. Very lifeless☹️
Grey flooring and open shelving are rampant in the houses in the Pittsburgh area on Zillow. When I was looking for LVP flooring back in 2021, it was so difficult to find non-grey LVP. I am forever grateful to Cali Floors for having oak-like LVP back and saving me from the sea of gray LVP. When I see open shelving in an otherwise lovely kitchen, I think cheap. It makes me mad because it makes no sense, as storage is paramount in the kitchen. There can never be enough cabinet doors and hidden storage for me!
That’s because you were raised right! 👍
Thankfully we are moving on from Grey out in the PNW. We come indoors to escape the grey!
I renovated my kitchen. I love it. It white cabinets matte black hardware grey floor and marble quartz. What can I say I am a HGTV fixer upper kid, and I did my own fixer upper and I wouldn't have it any other way. ❤ And a least where I live I am 🙈 more of the farmhouse style everywhere.
I feel so validated! To this list, I would add vessel sinks, patterned brick backsplash tile (gag me with a spoon!), and right now - I would avoid the that huge stone slabs/ printed porcelain in the kitchen and bathroom - this will look dated in a minute! The all-gray look repels me personally, and the black fixtures - a sure give-away to the year you built or updated. I totally agree that if you can't afford a nice countertop, then go with nice laminate - my parents have laminate and looks great if done right.
Nick, agree 100%. The only place where grey floors look sort of OK, in my opinion, is an actual seaside location.
Oh can “beachy” go back to beach areas??
Otherwise it just looks trashy
Sry
It does
Unless you can afford to redecorate your house every 2 years, there will always be something outdated 😂
There are classics that are always beautiful and will keep cycling through.
@@georgiabelle5176 Rental property warrants good quality over everything imo.
natural oak florring will always be timeless
Yeah that's why you should stick to timeless design
Go with neutral classics for your higher priced finishes, I alway recommend to my clients that countertops, backsplashes and bathroom tile are the least often changed out so a neutral classic makes the most financial sense. Not to mention for resale value, it can be the easiest for someone to ‘live with’ even if it wouldn’t be their first choice.
I love real brass myself.40 years on, my brain continues to love a brown/cream/blue/gold palette, with pops of black, rust, red. I decorate for life. I enjoy long-term quality.
5:44 We installed a grey plank vinyl floor in our condos. We knew it would be dated so we made sure the pallette, cabinets, counters, trim, bathroom tile, backsplash and accents made sense. We also updated the sills and left the red fireplace brick. It turned out lovely.
Yes and rugs!!
I moved my short wall cabinets by the sink up to the ceiling and added stainless steel floating shelves underneath. Increased my storage space and added some visual interest. On the shelves, I put some items I use every day and some sentimental items that mean a lot to me. Love the layout.
lots of these things are now 'Flipper's Specials' since the fixtures/flooring/ whatever are on the blow-out sale section at the Home Depot
😂😂😂 Hmmm, Lake Louise, it’s looking a little like 2017. 😂😂😂 I’m crying. Keep up the amazing job, Nick!!!
We bought a house that had gray lvp last year. I couldn't handle it anymore, so we started ripping out. Under it is hardwood floors that match out woodwork. I have no idea why they covered it up.
How fortunate!
😂🤦🏻♀️
Wooooow ! Lucky you !
No! Who would DO that?
I had a honey solid oak kitchen and put in all black hardware and faucet and I paired that with Fantasy Brown Marble (which has black in it) and it was stunning!
I believe it! I have warm, honey colored wood cabinets, black hardware, dark almost black flecked countertops and light hardwood floors. It looks great.
I want to personally thank you especially when you said if you have champagne taste but on a beer budget that is my situation 1000% as much as I love marble and quartz we can only afford in our kitchen laminate and I found some that actually looks like marble for a fraction of the cost of the real McCoy. I have never been a huge fan of black and white kitchens, but I did like the white cabinets with the chrome finishes. I thought that was absolutely beautiful.. thank you for your input. I know many of us really take it to heart because we want our homes to reflect who we are.
-A door is magical! Better than the wheel IMO.
-What's the difference between fake brass and fake gold?
-As a fellow Pacific Northwesterner, have you not looked outside? Nature is gray. 😊
-Natural marble isn't all black and white and nether is laminate😊
We adore your snarkiness and wisdom, you do you🤩
There are grey rocks, but not grey wood except for old fences.
Not in Florida.
I love you, Nick. You crack me up something awful 😂 I really enjoy how brutally honest you are.
"Embrace your beer budget", the Gospel according to Nick. Love.
Also, if you can't afford the kind of countertop you want, put in a laminate that will last you awhile and save up. I think countertops are easier to upgrade/change than your flooring.
@@margaretschaufele6502 This is a good point. A saw this in a home, they put a fake black soapstone looking type laminite and it looked real., so it wasn't a cheaper downgrade by any means Then when they had a bit more money they upgraded.
Amen, brother. I'm with you 5 for 5. Given the current popularity of quartz countertops right now i thought you were going to say granite was dated, but now i can feel confident in my new granite countertop which i love because it is NATURAL as well as interesting.
Which quartz emulate marble best? Many of us love marble but can't afford to have marble but love the love of marble. White kitchen cabinets with carrara marble countertops and a wood floor is a timeless look.
Aurea stone looks the most like marble.