Beige But Not Boring
As the tabloids make millions of dollars from celebrity addictions, I make tens, sometimes even hundreds of smackers off my much less dangerous addiction, color. I use it any way I can whether it's a wallpapered ceiling, two or three accessories or a simple stripe on a pillow. A room without color makes me wanna stab myself in the knuckles with a dull, metal spork.
On Facebook, my uber stylist friend, Annette, once put me in my place after posting an update which spoke ill of the safest hue in the universe, beige. Her scolding remark "There is a place for every color" kinda sat with me for a few days after our little social media scuffle. The outcome? I don't necessarily despise beige when it's done in a less-expected, purposeful manner; however, I'm not gonna invite it into MY home just yet. My violet and charcoal spaces will probably sucker punch the B-word for trespassing too neutrally.
The following collection of images are, indeed, beige; however, they're not necessarily one-way-tickets to Snoreville or Boredomtown. Take a look, then leave many an opinionated comment below. I'm dying to see how others feel about beige...says the decorator dude with orange and white, chevron-painted floors.
On Facebook, my uber stylist friend, Annette, once put me in my place after posting an update which spoke ill of the safest hue in the universe, beige. Her scolding remark "There is a place for every color" kinda sat with me for a few days after our little social media scuffle. The outcome? I don't necessarily despise beige when it's done in a less-expected, purposeful manner; however, I'm not gonna invite it into MY home just yet. My violet and charcoal spaces will probably sucker punch the B-word for trespassing too neutrally.
The following collection of images are, indeed, beige; however, they're not necessarily one-way-tickets to Snoreville or Boredomtown. Take a look, then leave many an opinionated comment below. I'm dying to see how others feel about beige...says the decorator dude with orange and white, chevron-painted floors.
Two of my least favorite hues in the entire galaxy are beige and yellow. Instead of banging my head against a brick wall to escape being blinded by the beige, I kinda liked the dull-ish duo together here. The happy yellow lets the sunshine in on an otherwise not-really-doing-much-to-earn-its-keep beige backdrop. I like this so much that I will consider it "beige-tastic".
Okay, now I kinda get Annette's point. There IS a place for beige and that is in texture. This room seems rather sparse; however, the textures, all beige, really make it warm and inviting. It's kinda like they're earning their keep here with a part-time job.
Okay, okay, okay, I get it. It's great when contrasted against something dramatic. Dear designer of this space, thank you for making me like black/beige color schemes. For realz.
Again, okay, okay, I see some good things happening here. The beige totally helps bounce the natural light around softly AND allows the small bursts of plum to stand out. Again, it's earning its keep here and I like it. I like it a lot.
Yeah, so beige and cream wallcovering. I get it, I totally get it, and it's definitely introducing pattern here...safely. Safe isn't necessarily something that gets me going inspiration-wise BUT this room is super duper lovely and I think I would like to have tea in it and talk about politics. And by politics, I mean Kardashians and the entire 5th season of The Hills.
Again, beige through texture. Definitely good. Like Batman and Robin or The Captain and Tenille, these two make beautiful, crime-fighting interior design music together.
I will call this "Big Money Beige". It works AMAZINGLY here since the other elements are surely high-end all the way. When working with high-end furnishings, frames, artwork and accessories, beige always seems to go beautifully. But what about when you're broke and consider "high-end" anything over $59.99? Hell if I know, my wood floors are painted orange and I use fabrics under $30 per yard.
Dear beige, while it's proven you do great things for certain spaces, I still prefer your cousin, greige. Notice how the muted grey tones of the wallcovering add a little more pizazz to the whole neutral thing? Well, I do. In fact, I notice it so much that I chose greige grasscloth for my own living room. As for what it's paired with, let's just say that Welch's Grape Soda would blend in quite nicely.