Why do we choose grey and white so often?

Of the ten most ordered RAL colours at RAL-Shop, nine are white, grey or beige. That raises a question. RAL Classic contains 216 colours, including full reds, blues and greens. Why do we choose neutral so often? We see three explanations. They do not exclude each other.

1. The difference is small, so you have to see it

Among whites and light greys the differences are small. RAL 9010 and RAL 9016 look identical on a screen. Side by side on a window frame they differ. Whoever chooses such a colour needs a sample. With a full red that is less often the case. Part of our figures therefore does not say that people find white more attractive. It says that white is harder to choose.

2. In industry the colour is often already fixed

Many RAL colours are fixed in a specification or a house standard. Switch cabinets are RAL 7035. uPVC window frames are RAL 9016. Traffic signs follow the traffic colours. Nobody chooses here. The colour is checked, not chosen. That too explains part of the whites and greys in our list.

3. Neutral feels safe

That leaves a group that does choose, and still chooses neutral. A window frame can be any colour. So can a kitchen. Yet it usually ends up white, grey or anthracite.

This phenomenon has a name: chromophobia, the fear of colour. The art historian David Batchelor described it in 2000 in his book Chromophobia. In Western culture colour is often seen as superficial, feminine or childish. Neutral counts as serious and timeless. Whoever chooses a colour can be wrong. Whoever chooses grey is never wrong. That is the thinking.

We see this in practice. At a trade fair a manufacturer of household goods told us that visitors first walk to the coloured products. They then buy the white or grey version. The attraction of colour is there. The choice for colour does not follow.

What does that cost?

A neutral environment is not automatically a calm environment. Our research for healthcare shows that completely colourless environments, everything in white, grey and beige, are experienced by older people as monotonous, disorienting and gloomy. Even when the designer intended them as calm. An environment without chroma lacks vitality. That effect is felt more strongly by older people, but does not apply to them alone.

Neutral is therefore not neutral. It is a choice with an effect, like any other colour.

Learning to choose colour

Do you choose colours yourself for interiors, façades or products, and do you notice that you keep ending up with grey and white? Then the online course Chromofobie (Chromophobia, in Dutch) of the Nederlandse Kleurenschool is meant for you. In five modules you learn where the fear of colour comes from and how to apply colour step by step with more confidence. Technical colour knowledge is not required.

Online cursus Chromofobie – Nederlandse Kleurenschool

Sources: RAL-Shop sales figures; D. Batchelor, Chromophobia (Reaktion Books, 2000); M. Kotterink, Kleuren kiezen voor de gezondheidszorg (Choosing colours for healthcare) (Uitgeverij SNKI, 2026). See also: The best-selling RAL colours.