Drowning in a sea of neutral?

last year

I just received an e-mail newsletter from the color consultant that changed the way I think about color. Her name is Gretchen Schauffler.

She taught me that picking colors for your home is centered around the colors that make your heart sing.

What she sent today says what I so often struggle to express:

Hello, My Friends!

I wanted to share a little about my Paint Practice, and the profound influence of color.

I had deep reservations when I decided to step back into color consulting. I wasn't sure if my worldview of color could be seen in the current climate, as in the misty haze of generic white and gray blanketing interior walls. That is until I decided to trust that my work didn't need to be seen as much as felt. My color consulting work has always been felt deeply in the hearts of my clients. The color experience, picking up a bucket of my paint, and wiping away their walls transformed their cardboard boxes into an expansive vibrational space, reflecting a deep sense of confidence and satisfaction.

Everyone else could feel it, too.

I have kept these stories in emails, comments, and texts. Which I went back and read this year. After much thought, meditation, and several color consultations I've done in the last couple of months, I realized that I help people have influence over their lives through color.

Real Influence

Influence is defined as, “the power or capacity to cause an effect in indirect or intangible ways”. But, an alternative definition is from late 14c., an astrological term, "streaming ethereal power from the stars when in certain positions, acting upon character or destiny of men".

When I looked up the root of the word "influence," I went from seeing color consulting beyond work and embracing it as my sacred duty. I decided to become, once again, the other alternative.

This is the deal: we can’t all look the same because we have our own character and destiny to self-express and manifest. When we don’t do this, it feels like a never-ending dissatisfaction.

The other alternative is to live in a state of colorful self-confidence and abundance, that feels meant to be, regardless of trends or circumstances based on who you are and your one-of-a-kind-life. This is what I offer.

The Truth About Trendy Colors

We try on trends like we try on clothes. We watch them come and go. We flow with the transitions of life and know change is inevitable.

However, there is something within each of us that is not easily subject to change.

There are colorful experiences and memories deeply rooted in our hearts that somehow became the unconditional colors we deeply love. When we see them, they feel like a connection rather than perfection.

They taste like home and smell like hope. We feel them all at once, with all our senses, because they are based on our personal lives, stories, and journeys. Everyone has a unique, colorful state of mind that stands the test of time.

Imagine having that feeling every time you walk in through your front door. You can seewhat I mean here✌️

Featured Answer

Allison0704

last year

I have always loved the same colors (blues, greens, copper). These are also the colors I have worn for decades. I am not afraid of using color or pattern. I had drapery made for our previous home, and boy do I miss them. New owner had them removed immediately (they were less than 3yrs old). At least they sold them.

In the kitchen, cabinets and wall paint color were the same. MBath was also this color. Feeders were outside these windows, so this was my nod to the birds.

LIving room was painted a soft green. Walls, trim, doors, ceiling the same color, as all of the room but the kitchen since it had beams. This drapery was my favorite.

MBR

The dining room fabric was blue ferns. One guest room had a dark blue plaid and the other was a tone on tone pattern with vines and birds. I hope they all found good homes and the new owners love them as much as I did.

The Jack & Jill bathroom, fun for the grandchildren and me.

I used a wall mural in the powder room.

We had three interested buyers - one was a low ball offer, one could not decide (don't think they liked the competition aspect) and the third was over asking. The interior is now a modern nightmare of black, white, beige and grey. The new Jack and Jill tile that DD2 says looks like a movie theater bathroom. Oh, the joys of IG so one could follow along. As DH says, at least the check cleared.

Now we are one of few that live at the beach and do not have a house furnished with white, white and more white. While our walls are white, the furnishings make it home. We just had the exterior painted from a warm grey to a blue-grey, and now feels more "me."

I am sure there will be a next house, and I plan to use extensive color and pattern again.

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Comments (106)

ShadyWillowFarm
last year
Experimenting with table decor for Thanksgiving. Blues look wonderful with wood.
Jilly
last year
Ruby, I find those rooms so beautiful.

Another bathroom of hers I have saved:

And this one is so simple and calm, and so lovely, to me. The textures are wonderful:
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rubyclaire
last year
Love those Jilly - will add that second site to my feed - thanks!
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
last year
Jilly, my first thought when I saw the third photo was "Thank goodness someone finally put the toilet lid down before taking the picture!" :-)
Jilly
last year
Cyn, I was glad of that, too. 😄
palimpsest
last year
I don't know that a lot of people would consider these brown rooms "neutral" because of their complexity and the wallcoverings, especially.
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freedomplace1
last year
last modified: last year
I don’t think that the mix on the neutral colors is the problem in this room staging.

imo, it’s the coffee tables and end table(s), for one thing. They are too rustic for the style of the seating pieces, and really do not relate to the style of the other wood pieces in the room, either. One of them would be bad - but having two of them is pushing the room over the edge. And the sharp rectangular angles are not lending any balance to the room. Oval shaped coffee tables that are not so matchy and/or something with less sharp corners would be much better. More fluid. Also, the grass arrangement in front of both mirrors AND on BOTH of the coffee tables is just too much. In addition, it does not pay to go cheap on lamps when staging - or to have lamps that look cheap. Lamps are a very important detail. And as Charles Eames said: “The details are not the details. They make the design.”

The chandelier is nice and works well, though. Don’t know if that is existing or also staged.
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palimpsest
last year
last modified: last year
This is a nineteenth c. house. The fixture is pre-existing, from the previous owner's colorful, traditional, fussy, interiors.

There are any number of things wrong with this staging, I think, but on the other hand, this is a $5M listing, and while it's probably not the most expensive type of staging, it is at least something designed to tap into the current state of local interior design so potential buyers can imagine themselves living here vs. High late 80s early 90s. (For good or bad. The current state is kind of banal really)

I dug up some befores. I think this house has been for sale for 8 years off and on.

I am not saying that the befores are preferable to the blank slate, but the befores at least had some personality

Here's that chandelier in the LR. I find this color combination very discordant. These shots are from a video and the color rendering is terrible. It was not quite this saturated. But there has to be some middle ground between bordello and depressing.
palimpsest
last year
While it is certainly not everyone's taste, this sea of white was done 43 years ago for Ralph Lauren by Angelo Donghia and it has remarkable staying power. It could have been done for some minimalist client last week. It's incredibly disciplined, and this photo is not some digitized version of what it really looks like. There are probably different paint shades on the ceiling and walls to get this flat white on every surface. I don't think we need to talk about practical things like keeping it clean, someone took care of that.
freedomplace1
last year
last modified: last year
Grand style on those first pics.

Some of what the stager did is good. The style of the seating pieces and the color combination is fine. Very nice throw pillow selection, also. The mirrors and cabinets flanking fireplace are ok, too. But those coffee tables and end tables alone, are taking about 4 million off the price of this house. They are totally wrong at any price - much less 5 million. jmo.
Jilly
last year
Asking the crowd: what is the definition and criteria for neutral?
palimpsest
last year
last modified: last year
I postulate that the term neutral is a relative.

I think this room is a neutral ground with some throw pillows in a different color. Navy blue goes with everything.

This is Jamie Drake.

This Drake room also uses blue as a neutral:
freedomplace1
last year
last modified: last year
I had a space similar to the Ralph Lauren space. Minimalistic and everything white. Shades of white. White sofa that still looked brand new when a neighbor bought it from me, when I moved. Her friends that moved the sofa downstairs to her apt kept saying that they could not believe the sofa was 12 years old! I kept a white sheet on it, when i was lounging around by myself. And my guests were always very careful and considerate of the white sofa and the other white pieces. I never asked anyone to be careful - but they just were. I remember on one occasion, I had an antique chair reupholstered; and the owner of the company came by to meet me and to pick up the chair, personally. I let him and his assistant in, and I stepped into another room to answer a call. When i came back to LR, the owner was sitting cross-legged on the wood floor !!! And his assistant was standing up!!! They didn’t want to sit on the white furniture. I was mortified; but at the same time really appreciated their consideration and courtesy. And he did a beautiful job on my chair. He was a master of his craft, and also a first class person.
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btydrvn
last year
I always wonder if it is possible to be “comfortable” in these rooms that are so cavernous….but with the “timeless” all white one..I would happily try..as long as the fabrics were “cleanable”..love the space and light..and the gigantic plants…the only thing I would add is some big gorgeous baskets to stash all the stuff I would need/use …while in the space
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mtnrdredux_gw
last year
In re the sea of white ...done 43 years ago for Ralph Lauren by Angelo Donghia.

It occurs to me that nothing time stamps a room like pattern and color.
btydrvn
last year
I could never relax in the OVERLY done ones…kinda gives me a headache just looking at them
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Kendrah
last year
The Ralph Lauren room is perfection. It is way too sterile and modern for my tastes, yet I still appreciate how you feel like you are in endless space - it lets my mind wander and daydreaming is my favorite activity in the world. Plus, who doesn't love a space that makes greenery pop like that? Jungle in a single pot.

I must say, it is nice to participate in a conversation that isn't just about slamming or over suggesting someone's actual house but pontificating on ideas about design. Thanks Jennifer Hogan for starting this conversation.
kl23
last year
I just find it frustrating that all-neutral is SO popular or common that it is way too difficult to find examples on Houzz of rooms that are not all neutral. The color-desiring deserve help too!

I also get a sense from some Houzz comments that some people associate neutrals with superiority not just preference. Some people talk about neutrals while also inferring they have lots of money to justify why they have all neutrals. Or they seem to think it is because they have a greater appreciation for design and art, as if all museums have all white walls. Those are the negatives. And maybe there are some people are afraid to veer from anything they see on Houzz or other sources if information. Maybe that is a thing as some have said here.

And maybe there are people who get stressed out in a colorful room. Those last people should definitely feel ok with all neutrals. Maybe they come home to their all beige and white house and say ahhhhh. Those people shouldn't feel attacked by my frustration with all neutrals. They are doing exactly what I would like to have a chance to do. They are being themselves.
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freedomplace1
last year
If you let other people’s choices determine your choices, your choices will be very limited.

And as far as “money” goes... the most expensive house in the world is Buckingham Palace. Do you really think that anybody there is going to let anybody here on this site tell them that they can’t use color inside (or outside) of the place ???
Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
@ Jilly

"Asking the crowd: what is the definition and criteria for neutral?"

Technically a chroma of zero (True Black, True Gray, True White) are the only true neutrals.

Low Chroma colors are defined as near neutral.

In the real world I include anything in the muted shades of beige and gray in my definition of neutrals:

Pink beige, yellow beige, green beige, greige (green gray/beige), green gray, blue gray, violet gray, taupe (Pink/purple gray/beige).

Where is the cutoff between yellow and yellow beige? I don't know that this can be defined.

We all have different levels of color acuity and we don't interpret colors individually. When we see something we are looking at our entire field of vision and seeing the whole thing. If everything else is true white a very light blue will look blue. If everything else is dark blue that same color will look white. So is it light blue or white? The block in the center is the same color in all 4 squares.

I know some people who consider blue and green 'Neutrals', but to me it is either color or it is neutral, and if I clearly see it as blue it is blue and that is a color. If I can't decide if it is blue or gray it is blue gray and a neutral.

That is just my view.
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
Hmm, that visual above is interesting, except to my eye, all of the blocks do look identical.
palimpsest
last year
I really don't think the issue is using neutral paint colors, it's the assumption that if a color is neutral it works with most, if not all other neutral colors.

Many people would mix anything on this list as if they were perfect companions for each other and then add their accent color. But if you really look, some of these just do not work well with each other.
palimpsest
last year
I think the color in the middle test is not working here because we are seeing it on a white background and seeing them all together. So sure, the square in the middle looks light blue to me everywhere, even when surrounded by another blue, because there is a white field about a quarter inch away.
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Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
last year
I have really enjoyed all the responses to my post.

I don't know that Gretchen is the answer to everyone's color dilemmas any more than I believe everyone should want a white on white home.

I have been helping others pick interior colors for over 25 years and much of what I initially learned I learned through Gretchen. I already had experience with paint, but it was creating art, not decorating. First thing I learned is walls are really big surfaces and a little color goes a long way when there is that much of it.

I am fascinated by color and color combinations. I love to read color psychology studies. I love color science and how our brains learn and interpret color.

I think it is interesting to see how color trends changed over my lifetime and how they relate to the economy and state of society. We use more color during times of economic security. I look at the powerful colors when society felt empowered to make change (anti-Vietnam War and Civil Rights movements). We gravitate toward neutrals as we feel less secure. With each major bust (Dot com bust, 911, housing bust) I watched us move to less and less color until we were using only gray. I loved seeing the movement to white. White is a color that signifies hope. Were we finally seeing hope?

Maybe part of my yearning for color in my world is based on that hope that the economy will grow strong and people will feel secure and adventurous and uninhibited.

Kendrah stated yesterday "Not sure why we associate colorfulness with self-confidence."

In my experience the use of color wasn't brave back in the 60s it just was, but most of society felt very secure. At other times when things were not great, but not frightening, we used some color, but the more conservative you were, the less color you wore. What is conservative in the non-political sense? Cautious, careful, safe.

I think that is why I associate colorfulness with confidence.
mtnrdredux_gw
last year
hope that the economy will grow strong

Umm, what? Sorry, I don't know who is convincing people that the economy is an issue.

This could be a treatise but let's start with the basics.

Far and away the most important thing to most people is that they have a job. Unemployment is at 3.8%.

The most important asset to the average American is their home. Up 5x since the data series began.

Lemme guess, someone is going to say ... but what about inflation?

Would it surprise you to know that wages are now growing faster than inflation?

That doesn't mean we can't want things to be even better. But this economy is pretty darn good and don't let anyone gaslight you into thinking it is not.
Paul F.
last year
Yes, the economy is fundamentally strong. My savings are finally making some interest! My house is worth more than ever. My 401k has totally recovered. I get that global pandemics increase inflation but I've personally heard from my suppliers and vendors over the last 2 years "I have no idea why our company is raising prices so much, we have no supply chain issues". I think there is a lot of opportunistic price gouging going on.
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Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
Anyone interested in seeing homes with lots of color should take a look at House and Garden UK. Some beautifully colorful and patterned rooms, also gorgeous neutrals.

https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/topic/houses
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
last modified: last year
If you want to read a great book on color, from a HUGELY entertaining and informative point of view?

Get "Mark Hampton on Decorating"

He is of course deceased, and father of Alexa Hampton who took over the firm and followed in his footsteps. I keep it bedside, and if unable to sleep, sometimes read a chapter or two to doze off. ......and enjoy a giggle.

A compilation of articles he wrote for House and Garden , the illustrations are not in your face photography, they're his amazing watercolor renderings. Over the top now, many are a bit history - Nancy Lancaster's infamous yellow room......Diana Vreeland's equally bold ( MANY would argue, tasteless ) red room, and his own colorful or neutral spaces referencing the often just as colorful, high society clients for whom they were done.

Not to wax endlessly on, but it's interesting to note:

This was written in 1999. Relative to today? The internet was in its infancy. Houzz? Pinterest? Didn't exist! Glossy shelter mags were thriving, mid Cen furniture could be plucked from a CURBSIDE ! There are some pros here, ( Diana B, myself, ) who'd tell you the arrival of a shelter mag in your mail was.....mmmmm? Put it this way: A sigh, a plastic bag enclosed clutch to the chest of "oh! oh! oh! goody goody goody!!! I will try not to peek inside just yet!" If a raging snow storm outside? Better yet and a feeling that was obviously shared . So many of us literally MOURNED the departure of Joanne Barwick from her editorial position at House Beautiful and it was never quite the same again. A total rag now, if you ask me, as are most given you get 400 ads to a single editorial shot. Some in black and white! Why bother with color printing when the entire room is shades of.........gray?

https://gardenhomeandparty.com/2010/09/06/a-trip-down-memory-lane-house-beautiful/

The only thing none of us stops are the hands of time. We can't shrink a flat earth, nor stop information and visuals that have no borders whatsoever, nor the speed at which they travel..

Color and style will always evolve - no different than the shoes in your closet, color trends come and go but with reinvention JUST enough to make one the darling of the moment and its "twin" ? Passe.

In the end? You can have whatever you want, WHENever you want. It may take more mixing, tweaking, digging, and customizing: ) To You. Yes, that may mean more KACHING $$. So...if you are hungering for a "so and so" floral glazed chintz at this moment, and you've clicked a mouse and your finger is numb? Keep clicking. My tip? Adjust that search to LINEN. Kaching: ) yet again.
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
If you really want a beautiful glazed chintz, google "Schumacher Pyne Hollyhock."

And YES, I do remember getting that plastic wrapped Traditional Home, House Beautiful, Classic American Homes (nee Colonial Homes) and having that EXACT same feeling! Just add a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. And no interruptions!
palimpsest
last year
If you really want a beautiful glazed chintz, google "Schumacher Pyne Hollyhock."

Here is Nancy Pyne in Cherryfields in the mid 1980s, with her chintz in the background. She said her family tried to talk her out of something so dated in 1962

She liked this fabric so much, she saved it after it started to split from age on one of the sofas. When she sold Cherryfields she used the Schumacher reissue of the fabric, which was developed from her English chintz that Albert Hadley used in the 1960s. It might be the sofa in the second photo, by the screen, that had to be reupholstered in something else. I read somewhere, I think, that one of the colorways was developed from the colors a piece of the originally white and grey fabric had oxidized into over the years--may or may not be accurate.

More pictures of Cherryfields
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
OMG palimpest............. I remember every single one of those images!
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PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
YES moi aussi!
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PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
I need to use that fabric once before I die😳
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
I vote for that! : )......maybe hurry up ? lol
Kendrah
last year
Diana, Jan, and Palimpsets, I could read your reminiscing all day long. So much to learn from what you three have seen and remember.

When my AD and Traditional Home arrive I have a moment of hope that I can cozy up and read and see something new. But it leaves within seconds. I have seen many of the AD articles online already so they are old news. Bummer and totally my fault. But all magazines have withered to a chaos of pics and captions like pintrest in print form. I have quit all of my subscriptions focus my online reading to AD and British sites.
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
last modified: last year
In this biz? Anything you ever put your hands on will eventually come back : ) at you.

Someone will put that house up for sale. You will say...."yup....I did some pale gray....mmmm and yeah it was indeed 12 years ago. But I think it truly depends how you use any color, how much, where, the light , all of it.

Client got an amazing photographer, it still looks like I left the driveway TEN minutes ago- and makes me realize, I should never take a picture of a darn thing.........I really should just walk away!

kudos to Mr. Milstein , who really did capture, the fab natural light.
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
Gorgeous, Jan! and yes professional photography makes a world of difference!
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JAN MOYER
last year
It sure does, Diana. The problem? Every finished project has a ten minute photographic window! : ( lol
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Jennifer Hogan
Original Author
last year
Those are some beautiful photos and pretty impressive design! Gorgeous!
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
I'm removing my own camera feature .......I am soooooo bad : (
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Paul F.
last year
So many walls, so little art.
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PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
Could be the big holes called windows? A wall unseen in the living room

Theres a den loaded with wonderful oils - an entire second floor -

No matter - no designer can force a cllient to buy , add … and its personal to every owner
Kendrah
last year
last modified: last year
For those of you who can soak all day in a bath of warm neutrals like me here is a new article I just read with great photos of a Rose Uniacke designed house. Pure heaven. Having great bones helps.

https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/gallery/a-17th-century-london-home-designed-by-rose-uniacke

Here's a little glimpse. I was about to look for a more colorful coverlet for a guest room I'm putting together but this is making me rethink it all. In these bedrooms it is not just the neutral but that it is all enveloped in the same color.
Paul F.
last year
Some could walk around that bedroom starkers and blend right in.
btydrvn
last year
All neutral is more appealing with all that natural light and beautiful views…
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btydrvn
last year
But for me..a pale aqua ceilings and a little splash of color in draperies and pillows would go a long way..another element that matters is how busy your life is ..and if home means rest and relax ?…or stimulation and inspiration ?
PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
Those Rose Uniacke rooms are wonderful. Reminds me of Mariette Gomez. So restful, but anything but boring. It takes a deft hand to make a neutral, monochromatic palette work.
PRO
JAN MOYER
last year
last modified: last year
There are always a few images that haunt you as dream space......for YEARS.

I'M IN HERE.......forever. Victoria Hagan....: )
Kendrah
last year
Diana, I had never heard of Mariette Gomez. Thanks for broadening my horizons. I really like some of her apartments with Art Deco wood paneling. Beautiful and relaxing spaces.
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PRO
Diana Bier Interiors, LLC
last year
She’s very talented. I have a couple of her books. I think her daughter has taken over the business-Gomez Associates
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