In my mind, my home is full of color.

My Houzz · More Info

Idaclaire - just want to say Welcome Back!! While reading this thread I had been contemplating some of the lovely more colorful rooms/homes I recall being posted over the years, and felt a little sad as I thought of yours and how you have been absent...I had a double take and had to look at the date when I saw your post!!! Please stick around!!

I don't think one has to have a commitment of all neutral or all color. My home is not neutral anywhere by any means, but there is a more subdued effect in certain rooms by design; for example I appreciate in my own home having a calming more nature focused palette in my living room where I relax after work, but my kitchen is a bit more of a riot of color. It all flows well though as the wall color is related from room to room, and certain colors ebb and flow but in various doses and intensities. For me, I cannot decorate with each room in a vacuum as I view the whole as one organism. This is why the 'help me fix this room' questions are so challenging to me as they seldom seem to consider what is happening in adjacent areas or the impact on the rest.

I heart six, i would call your first room mostly neutral, even though there is some color in it. Your white on white room is the extreme. Ilikefriday’s rooms are colorful, so i guess any room will be somewhere on the spectrum of non-colorful to colorful. I would call this room neutral, but not colorless. I love this room.

Living rooms · More Info

Saypoint, yes!!!

Sabbath7-. Love, love, love the large artwork on your dresser. Your room in lovely.

Sabbath7 - Headed there right now. Love it!

When Ingrid first started this thread(which is a GREAT read btw), I immediately went to the idea of Restoration Hardware and the more "trendy" neutrals. I am also tired of it because it is just the regurgitation of the HGTV movement. I also think we do have some people popping in here who want a "quick fix" seeking help for a fast makeover for their homes. A lot of posts seem directed towards those desperate to transform their homes into trendy showplaces. However, most of us here are not that; we are aspiring decorators who long for homes that reflect who we are.

mom2sulu, you sure made a lot of assumptions regarding posters on this site in your previous post!

I think people pop in here because they don’t know how to achieve what they are looking for in their homes. I don’t know if I would call that a quick fix. They want help, and that’s one of the purposes of this forum. I learn a lot from observing while the more knowledgeable and insightful posters help someone who is stuck.

I know and I apologize if it offended you. I guess I am just saying that we all have our tastes and preferences. I think everyone here has a love/hate relationship with HGTV and we also have the desire for everyone to love our homes (which is why we emulate certain trends subconsciously.) I built a new home a few years ago and even though in my head it is my house and eclectic in some ways, it is also "on trend" too. LOL. I have also posted some quick fix posts. :) This thread may have created some "touchiness" but it is an interesting one which has created some thoughtfulness, and I am learning so much about people and their decorating styles. Three to four years ago there were a lot more posts like this one and I think that might be due to the conversion to Houzz from the Gardenweb. I guess I am nostalgic for the way it used to be regarding style and posts.

Saypoint, you are so right! I have learned so much from the knowledgeable as well! It is especially fun to watch Eam pick the perfect tile for a kitchen. I guess I should have clarified better about the "quick fix" comment. The majority are wonderful threads because the poster explains and goes into detail about their desires and such! But also over the last 6 months there have been a lot of threads with the poster listing just a sentence like, "Help me with this living room." and nothing else. Have you noticed that? It is weird.

OK, its not my issue or problem if someone wants to decorate in drab monotones, EXCEPT if you post in a public forum asking for opinions - then sorry, but I get to say what my opinion is.

Actually, Im to the point now where I just skip over the ones Im not interested in - I just wish there were two forums, one for COLOR and one for MONOTONE, because I waste a lot of time clicking and exiting out of ones that don't interest me.

Aside from that, I think color/style is very much a collective expression of the times (eg black and drab musty colors during Great Depression, neon bright colors in the 60s). I have to wonder what collective angst is being expressed by the preponderance of monotone mud colors - fear & insecurity? A lot of posters seem hung up on "resale" value andwhat other people think, even if they aren't planning on moving anytime soon.

OH and definitely theres a lot of commitment-phobia too, which is a real thing that extends into other areas of life, besides commiting to a paint color - recently on NPR there was discussion about a study about people now being far more likely to cancel appointments or bail out of get togethers at the last minute - it was astounding. I know Ive been having that problem in my life, where people either wont commit to specific times or places, or feel its ok to call or email at the last minute to reschedule. WAS VERY INTERESTING to find out that this is a real thing, and not just me! Its just infuriating to feel I have to hold some time open for something may, or may not, happen.

I think everyone here has a love/hate relationship with HGTV and we also have the desire for everyone to love our homes (which is why we emulate certain trends subconsciously.

If you said "some people" I might agree with you. You don't speak for "everyone."

I'm not about to read all 154 posts! But I agree, I'm tired of neutral rooms. I'm tired of them being touted on HGTV or in those magazines you see near the checkout lane. Fortunately, most of my friends put together homes with personality!

And an extensive use of gray is just... depressing. I like things that kick start my day, or help me wind down at night without feeling that other type of "down".

Decorators (typically), and many homeowners, do neutral thoughtfully, with a plan. They choose white walls because they want to highlight colorful art and furnishings, or they want a soothing palette of neutrals and will create interest with texture.

Not everyone has a plan when they choose neutral walls and neutral furniture. This is apparent is some of the posts here (usually from first-time posters), who post a picture of a room with neutral walls and neutral furniture and not a lot else, complaining that their room is boring and asking how they can add interest with a pop of color. Those are the rooms that seem trend-driven (at least the choice of each element in isolation was trend-driven, without a clear vision of how to make the room as a whole look "modern farmhouse" or whatever trend they were trying to emulate), or "safe choice"-driven. The first-time posters who become long-time posters do so because they start looking at rooms holistically rather than each piece in isolation.

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This thread reminded me of another thread from last year discussing a house with a mostly tone-on-tone off-white interior.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4378130/shades-of-bone-eggshell-cream-ivory-linen-and-ecru?n=21

Linelle, you are correct--lol! Maybe I should add that there are some of us here who are also aspiring to be more like you and others who have already arrived to a strong, steadfast opinion of who you are. We are on our way, but not there yet. :)

mom2sulu, it might have something to do with being too old to care that much. :)

I used to love HGTV. Then I hated it. Now I just don't care about it, haven't watched it in years. It wasn't really the style du jour they were feeding us, it was the predictable format of every show that annoyed me so much.

..I think everyone has one common preference in this thread-the desire for houses to reflect their inhabitants

how it'll be done-will depend. Bunin writes very differently from Bashevis Singer. Yet I love both Bunin and Bashevis Singer. A lot.

A great story is a great story. Everybody chooses how to compose theirs.

But what becomes very evident, from this indeed very interesting and inspiring thread-it's the story we look for..

(So inspiring that I did open a new thread that relates, in a way, to this one. Or is triggered by it, in any case)

That's what I miss - the story telling - more than color - in some of the flashy designs I see here and in the magazines.

Bingo. I think that's what defines a house with "color" or should we say character, versus one that is bland and colorless. As you mentioned, it's a combo not only of the things we love, but mixing of textures, and yes, maybe pops of color to create a room that is welcoming. I find even here on GW too many people are afraid of "making a mistake" so they stick with bland and do nothing to infuse their personalities into a room.

I didn't post a pic of my DH's study which is BM Wilmington Tan on the ceiling and SW Accessible Beige on the walls, so technically it's a beige room. However I think once the stained glass windows are put in on the three back windows, the rug is put in the rooms, pictures hung, DH gets all his baseball paraphernalia up in the bookcases, and some of his other treasures, it will look anything but blah.

But then again, DH and I are not afraid to showcase our personalities with what we love.

I think everyone has one common preference in this thread-the desire for houses to reflect their inhabitants

-aprilneverends

Absolutely this. More so than anything that can be said about monochromatic, neutral rooms, because yes, you can have tone on tone, as shown by someone above, that is done well and has personality, so color is not the whole story, just a proxy in the discussion.

Well, Oaktonmom if you are going to speak about assumptions.

People are busy with jobs and raising families.

Assumption:
People who spend time on decorating forums and decorating, aren't busy, don't have jobs and are not raising children.

They want to give their kids the best education.

Assumption:

People who spend money on furniture and decorating are stinting their kid's education by spending money on good furniture

They want to travel and spend their hard earned money on things that make their hearts sing.

Assumption:

People who spend money on decorating don't have to work hard to earn money.

They don’t give a hoot about whether the art in their home is from Home Goods or Kirkland’s or their area rugs are from Home Depot.

Hmm. Neither do people who have an interest decorating.

Home is where they hang their hats and feel comfortable.

Assumption:

Highly decorated houses must be uncomfortable. "Real people" don't live there.

If it means having a boring gray and brown living room because it’s easy to put together because they’ve seen it in a showroom, good for them.

Can't disagree with that, good for them. But still not sure why they would be offended by something the read in a decorating forum if it doesn't interest them.

They have better and more important things to spend their money on.

Assumptions:

People can't spend on both. People who spend time and money on decorating must be ignoring their families, travel, and their children's educations.

Does it seem like I am putting words in your mouth? Maybe I am just making assumptions I shouldn't make.

Ingrid's initial posts and the ones that followed made No value judgements about people who don't care if they live in brown or grey rooms bought all at once for convenience. The critique was about the rooms themselves. Your post judges behaviors and somehow seems to imply that people who don't care about decorating are somehow more "wholesome" and have "family values".

In my new home under construction, I am going with Redbud SW 6312 on an accent wall in the two-story dining room with partial matching on the tray ceiling.

I loved reading this thread, all 150 comments of it! Over the years, I have learned to look for inspiration in directions I already like pursuing (and if I stumble over new ones, so much the better). However, I have also learned to stick to my own 'aesthetic guns.' So, I love natural wood and I am not re-staining my honey oak floors a trendy dark stain or painting my natural maple cabinetry (both of which came with the house). At the same time, I love color, so after searching for ways to do it (thank you Houzz and all the people here who share photos generously), I figured out how to introduce it after we opened up the kitchen to the dining/living room area: we added a grey island, and tied all of the cabinets (all and new) together by getting the same black granite for the island as the one that was on the existing cabinets. Yes, the grey island seems to be trendy (unlike my honey oak floors), but I loved the deep rich grey that picks up on the bluish hues of my very dark grey linen sofa and arm chair, both of them purchased 5 years ago.

My kitchen was a sea of beige-- natural maple cabinetry, beige tile -- so I decided not to continue the honey oak floor into the kitchen (even though it was going to be broken by the grey island) and opted for 1 inch hex mosaic with a black border and a flower motif (really spaced out, not the busy type when you have the flower appearing every 10 inches). Strictly speaking, this floor does not go with my 1960 very boring, architecturally speaking, box of a split level (a total of 1200 sq. ft) house, but I really cannot be bothered by the inconsistency: I love the floor and how it works with the black granite and black hardware on the cabinets; I love the vintage flair it brings (my house is filled with antiques) and I am going to enjoy it (I will never be able to afford buying/restoring a vintage home, so this is the closest I can get to it).

When we bought the house it had just been repainted a creamy-yellowy shade of very pale beige (what I later learned was Navaho White by Benjamin Moore), which I hated, initially. However, it works so well with the bold colors I like: the golds, deep reds and blues of my upholstered furniture and oriental rugs. I am originally from Southern Europe (think Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, etc.) and people in that whole region use a lot of bold color agains snow white walls (both internal and external). So, that I like, it works for me.

Venetta, I hope you start a new post and show some pics of your home!

Thank you! I would love to do that...the renovation that I mentioned is not fully finished yet (it has been dragging for 3 months now -- I want to scream! -- no one's fault: the usual setbacks, e.g. asbestos under two sheets of linoleum, tiling problems... you name it) I would love to post pictures once it looks presentable.

lol, yeah...okay, you figgered it all out.

Getting to the popcorn moment took quite awhile but here it is.

Thank you to all for the thoughtful conversation. I haven't posted my opinion but it has been very interesting reading.

My opinion: I don't like gray. I like beige. I don't like white upholstery. I hate pink except for pink flowers (although I'm not terribly fond of most of those either). Do you care what I like or dislike? I certainly hope not. I do like good design no matter what color it is (except pink). There are quite a few talented (amateur and pro) designers here and I hope others learn from them.

Palimpsest is one of the most knowledgeable and genuinely helpful people on this forum. He is always willing to share his in-depth educated knowledge of home decor. Thank you Pal, for all your thoughtful posts and for sharing your design background with us.

I wish I could like this comment 1000 times ^^^^ We are so fortunate to have Palimpsest's thoughtful and informed posts.

Rose that was hilarious!

Pal is invaluable. We are extremely lucky to have him sharing his time and thoughts with us.

This is from the guidelines for the Hot Topics forum (mostly politics) but I think it applies here as well.

You may challenge another's point of view or opinion, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully, without insult and personal attack.

For those who may be confused: There was a post just before pal's latest one that he was responding to. It has been deleted - by the poster presumably.

If I am not mistaken, oaktonmom's last post is missing. It may have been flagged by others, deleted by oaktonmom or removed by the moderators.

Some of the previous comments may not make sense because her comment is missing.

edited to add - roses, we were posting at the same time :)

I for one am grateful for all the time pal devotes to the GW forums, because pal has been one of my main sources of education on design, interior as well exterior. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to say thank you for your mention in another thread of the book "The Old Way of Seeing" by Jonathan Hale (1994). I bought a secondhand copy, but my builder husband swiped it from me partway through. While it's about architecture, much of the book could be applied to interiors as well as exteriors, and it’s a fascination combination of design, culture, history, and politics. You can easily change "room" for "building" in many sentences. From which,

The difference between our age and the past is in our way of seeing. Everywhere in the buildings of the past is relationship among parts: contrast, tension, balance. Compare the buildings of today and we see no such patterns. We see fragmentation, mismatched systems, uncertainty. This disintegration tends to produce not ugliness so much as dullness, and an impression of unreality.

The principles that underlie harmonious design are found everywhere and in every time before our own; they are the historic norm. They are the same in the 18th-century houses of Newburyport, MA, in the buildings of old Japan, in Italian villages, in the cathedrals of France, in the ruins of the Yucatan. The same kinds of patterns organize Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House and Michelangelo's Capitol. The disharmony we see around us is the exception. …

Democracy won’t tolerate superior talent, says Tocqueville; give the masses power and you can expect a second-rate culture. But it is not talent that has fled this democracy. It is the old magic, the voices of the gods. Dull normality becomes the standard, the blanched expression of the average mind. Emerson calls it degradation. But America resigns itself to Tocqueville’s view: the price of freedom is not eternal vigilance, but mediocrity.

first becky, i have to say, that is just so sad, i can not will not believe it. are we not just transferring the responsibility from the experts to the people? and was it not always that way prior to this day and age where they teach it?

I have to say that i also appreciate pal, i have never known a sexual preference how strange? lol

for those that would enjoy a summer romp and being creative we started a new active story, all are welcome

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5300362/journey-through-50-shades-of-houzz

are we not just transferring the responsibility from the experts to the people?

Hale's thesis is that everybody, not just experts (or professionals), used to have an innate understanding of good proportion and good design. They didn't need anyone to tell them. He feels that this has been lost, to a great extent, even by the professionals. I think he goes as far as saying that culturally we are starting to prefer things that are ill-proportioned and -designed because they meet certain symbolic criteria. (For example the amorphously shaped double-height, vaulted ceiling great room.)

My last house had one of those double-height, vaulted ceiling great rooms. You are right about it how it meets a symbolic criteria. I was young and it was my first house. I was in love with the size and scale of that room since I was coming from an 800 square foot basement condo. The first year I LOVED that room and then reality set in--it was a pain in the butt to decorate!!

pal you missed the second half, it was always that way til recently. My understanding is that most of the great tours of europe by the wealthy of last 200 years was the newly wed homeowners buying things for their homes.

havingfun, even more than just the wealthy who went on European tours, (and probably did have houses that were designed by architects, at least from a patternbook, Hale points out that Vernacular dwellings and the simplest forms of houses built in the United States by early settlers and by homesteaders as they moved west had good proportions. We knew by some instinct how to build something that had a good relationship to the human scale. He feels, if I remember correctly that this started to break down with the Victorian architects who started combining lot of influences and building particularly to impress. He is even critical of Colonial Revival (If I remember correctly) as often ill-proportioned as compared to the "real thing", and these are houses we consider very charming today compared to a lot of newer stuff.

He is even critical of Colonial Revival (If I remember correctly) as often ill-proportioned as compared to the "real thing",

Yes, and I think a few of his examples there weakened his argument, frankly, although on the whole I agreed with his general thesis.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread, even if it did stray from the OP intent on the first post. (That is how conversations go anyway.) I did miss the remark that was deleted (how dare I go out of town) and that might be a good thing.

I did realize what I object to about the rooms I call dull in the magazines and on TV, was not the color or lack of it, it was the lack of interesting personal items.

hhmmm, must be one of my bad times at voicing my opinions anyway what i am trying to say is that i totally agree with you pal. there will always be those who do not get it, but that is ok too.

now today i saw the lady on pbs who designs remodels of homes, her own when out of fodder and she did the one thing so often aggravates me. she redid her dining room in gray and then just had to buy a dining room cabinet full of turquoise china so it would match. Don't you buy china cause you love it? i know they used to have it through generations, no?

Turning china into an accessory like that cheapens it a bit- kinda like buying books by the yard for your shelves.

To me, that's like buying books as decor, not as things to be read. (That said, I do have a few pieces of china inherited from my great grandmother that I keep in the china cabinet I also inherited from her. I've never dared use the china - it's well over a 100 years old - so it's earned its place in a display case).

oh, i understand that jmm. please understand not what i meant. her daughter reminded her right on the show that dad would not be happy not using the giant say she already has.

ok thinking about out of the box. did you all see the designer room on rachel ray today? i would have loved to present it as a dilemma. they paint the room a rich dark green-a very pure green. everything in the room is graphic black and white. I do not know if i am brave enough, but , maybe is cool.

https://www.rachaelrayshow.com/lifestyle/27066_christmas_room_makeunder/

I realize this is an old article and a question that is now dated yet neutral still are staying and it still will have staying power.

Pop it with rugs, paterns, pillows, wall art, window coverings and accents. For God sakes why chase the flavor of the month wall paint? Most home buyers won't see your eye for decor. But a neutral pallete gives them choices to build upon for theirs.

You  cnt throw a cat when it comes to average buyers  preference