<story><title>Why is everything so ugly?</title><url>https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-44/the-intellectual-situation/why-is-everything-so-ugly/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jszymborski</author><text>I just wanted to echo the gray frustration here. I went to buy vinyl flooring (I can&amp;#x27;t afford hardwood) and the sheer amount of inexplicably &amp;quot;grey wood&amp;quot; planks was staggering. Why! Like, it&amp;#x27;s as if some alien only saw wood in an episode of I Love Lucy and wanted to replicate it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>latency-guy2</author><text>I firmly dislike cherrywood, anything that is more red than brown is absolute shit to me. My parents loved it, thought it was the pinnacle of wealth.&lt;p&gt;Now you might be questioning why I dislike cherrywood. The answer doesn&amp;#x27;t actually matter though, I dislike it. Most importantly, I am not the only one.&lt;p&gt;I like vinyl, because I spent a few weeks of my life (probably at most a few hours total actual wall clock hours on it) replacing flooring in a couple of rooms through a few houses. The beginning, and the rest of my answer here though, also does not matter. It only matters that I like it and will pay money for it over wood. I am also, not the only one.&lt;p&gt;Gray is used for many reasons in new builds, its a neutral color, and because many builders build a house&amp;#x2F;apartment, THEN sell to customers. Very few customers buy a plot of land, contract an architect, make customizations, and then build the building. It comes with the realization that people will substitute out the things they want on their own, not requiring someone else figure out everything they like and being creative all on their behalf for $0.</text></comment>
<story><title>Why is everything so ugly?</title><url>https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-44/the-intellectual-situation/why-is-everything-so-ugly/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>jszymborski</author><text>I just wanted to echo the gray frustration here. I went to buy vinyl flooring (I can&amp;#x27;t afford hardwood) and the sheer amount of inexplicably &amp;quot;grey wood&amp;quot; planks was staggering. Why! Like, it&amp;#x27;s as if some alien only saw wood in an episode of I Love Lucy and wanted to replicate it.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ToucanLoucan</author><text>I blame house flippers honestly. They buy up houses that are in rough shape on the cheap, then renovate strictly to sell, not for personal taste. The incentives at play are to shoot for a very dull, milquetoast instagram-ish aesthetic that anyone can sort of get along with, so you won&amp;#x27;t lose people for not liking whatever hardwood or paint colors you picked.</text></comment>