Interior designers work with color, design trends

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What's hot? Gray walls.

What's not? Formal living rooms. Seriously. .

Those are just two of the 2013 home design ins and outs spotted at the Parade of Homes, which starts Friday, as well as on HGTV, cococozy.com, Pinterest and in decorating magazines.

Some trends work here. Some are snubbed big time.

The Parade of Homes is a perfect time for home-design daydreamers to tour the newest offerings by local builders as they pick up the latest interior design and home layout trends and mentally redecorate their own homes or plan for the future.

Gray is supposed to be a hot color and has been for several years. Even the 2013 Southern Living Idea House has a peaceful gray master suite. We're not talking battleship gray here. Instead, think heavenly, a soft cashmere gray. Here's the twist: It's the thing in multimillion-dollar New York lofts and big Southern homes, but in Colorado Springs, not so much.

Housing trends are like other trends that often start on the East and West Coasts and take awhile to get here, said Terri Mitchell of Interior Enhancing LLC. Mitchell is one of the designers featured at this year's Parade of Homes.

"We've heard for two years or more that gray is the new neutral. You know how many I've done? None."

White, off-white, almond, beige and natural shades are a yes, she said.
Interior designer Christy Cassidy says that as a California girl she does like gray - but make it platinum. Cassidy, another featured Parade designer, sees a lot of the blues, sea greens and purples that go with it.

"I might use a taupey gray carpet, oak floor with a gray wash, maybe a beachy thing with a cooler effect or kitchen cabinets that are bisque with a rub ... shabby chic. This cool, natural stuff is in."

A trendy color in this year's design magazines is emerald green, but both Mitchell and Cassidy caution restraint when using such a strong color.

The key for colors and trends is the lifestyle of that client, Mitchell said. Maybe she'll add touches of persimmon, tangerine, the oranges and the spring greens as pops of color paired with mustard yellow, caramel and off-white. Or she brings in the greenish teal shades.

If someone wants new, bright colors but doesn't want a persimmon-colored wall, sh