When I'm designing, I usually start with black and white, then fold in color where it seems appropriate. The monochrome design of Gmail gives me the impression that the designers didn't bother to finish the job.
Agreed. The icon buttons would have been fine had they colorized them in some manner. It's a lot easier to distinguish in that manner. I find myself confusing the "archive" and "move to" buttons far too often when working quickly.
