I’m having my home interior painted and have decided on some pretty bold colours. I have a green lounge room, a candy pink bedroom, a yellow room, a red room and a hot pink hallway.
My painter remarked that when he went to buy the candy pink paint that the retailer commented: “That’s a beautiful colour for a little girl’s bedroom.”
The painter replied: “This is a big little girl.”
So there are some pretty strong assumptions related to colours. I get this, but it’s got me questioning: Why do some colours become unsuitable as we age?
Further, a colleague asked me about my colours at a work morning tea and I told him. The whole table was silent in response. I commented lightly: “They’re not for everyone.”
Someone responded, jokingly: ”You picked up on that, did you?”
It didn’t really bother me because I was not at all surprised by this reaction. I consider them to be beige people. Ok, actually they’re blue - but you get the drift. They’re blue because awhile back I noted that virtually every poster they presented was in a nice navy blue background. It didn’t have to be, it could have been any colour….So there’s a uniformity there, dare I say, a conformity. And safety.
So back to beige people. I think most of the people I know and interact with are nice beige people. I feel like there’s a bit of prejudice against coloured people.
My painter remarked that when he went to buy the candy pink paint that the retailer commented: “That’s a beautiful colour for a little girl’s bedroom.”
The painter replied: “This is a big little girl.”
So there are some pretty strong assumptions related to colours. I get this, but it’s got me questioning: Why do some colours become unsuitable as we age?
Further, a colleague asked me about my colours at a work morning tea and I told him. The whole table was silent in response. I commented lightly: “They’re not for everyone.”
Someone responded, jokingly: ”You picked up on that, did you?”
It didn’t really bother me because I was not at all surprised by this reaction. I consider them to be beige people. Ok, actually they’re blue - but you get the drift. They’re blue because awhile back I noted that virtually every poster they presented was in a nice navy blue background. It didn’t have to be, it could have been any colour….So there’s a uniformity there, dare I say, a conformity. And safety.
So back to beige people. I think most of the people I know and interact with are nice beige people. I feel like there’s a bit of prejudice against coloured people.
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Australia
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 12:53 AMOh I hear you! We decorated in nice 70's retro colours, choc brown shagpile carpet, orange kitchen, green tiles.......
people always walk in and say, this is um, different!
Sometimes it is nice to be the person whose life is full of colour, at least it is never dull. -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 2:08 AM>full of colour<
That's it!
Love your combo. A friend has a purple kitchen. It's beautiful. -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 5:38 AM<<I consider them to be beige peopel>>
How Billy Connelly of you :)
All three of us so far are Aussie.. that's different ! And what are we talking about - "coloured people" hahahhahaa.. !
Now.. Colours.. I once went to a house where someone said "Come and See my Purple Room".. and I thought - oh shit... so I went in and had a look.. and it was a wonderful room.. people of taste, intelligence and imagination do wonderful things with colour in their homes and cloths.. they make us beige people look boring - but that just makes me appreciate the brave and bold coloured people even more !
Amanda - can I see you kitchen and bathroom.. can I ? huh ? And as for brown shag carpet a friend was going to rip it out for rental and I tried unsuccessfully to talk her out of that expense.. but before she could order the new carpet third prospective tenant who looked at it said - cool - BROWN SHAG ! So if there is one thing that clearly varies in life - it is taste.. -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 5:39 AM(and as an aside - check out the time stamps on those posts - or is that a bug at my end ?) -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 5:46 AMThere is a picture of Coby in my album with a bird on his shoulder........ in the background you can see my new retro kitchen!
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 10:58 PM>>they make us beige people look boring - but that just makes me appreciate the brave and bold coloured people even more ! <<
Bloke, great to hear from ya. I think I was once a beige person. Then, years ago, I share housed with a professional artist and hung with the crowd. She really inspired me to experiment with colour, so I feel like I understand where beigers are coming from.
Taste does vary and that’s fantastic. That’s why too much beige is a bad thing.
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 9:16 AMColor often is a reflection of function. Simply because someone opts for a more sedate palette not because they are "afraid" of color but rather because certain elements of the design are meant as a focus.
For example. Last time I painted a whole house the owner opted for a very sedate pallet of greys. Once done it was far from ordinary because she is an art collector and bold colors would make it very difficult to display and change out pieces in her collection.
Personally I also tend toward milder colors mostly earth tones. I tend to like the rich organic feel they provide. It also is much more challenging to make them work in a cohesive manner in my opinion. When I work on canvass I have no such restrictions and will tend toward a very bright palette. Like the art collector I worked for the more sedate palette on the walls shows my art better and make it the focus.
Finally many bold or bright colors create a sense of chaos or tension in some spaces. The old "Nice to visit but I wouldn't want to live there" syndrome. This creates a disconcerting feeling. Not a feeling of relaxation.
As to age I don't think some colors are set to one age or another. I worked in a paint department for a couple years and you learn real quick to ask what their project is before making assumptions.
Just for the record. I also find "Builder's Beige" to be uninspired and am not advocating the settling for it. But they is a huge ocean of options between Hot pink and Builder's Beige.
JSIn
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 9:25 AMI was thinking about explaining this last night, but that is a lot of work.
An easier way about the psychology of colors in and out of advertising is
www.bharatbhasha.com/psychol...hp/22036
www.wisegeek.com/what-are-...tising.htm
www.stanford.edu/class/lin...colors.htm
I don't care much for beige. It's supposed to give a warming, homestead feel.
I think it is drab.
I don't oppose bright colors, but they do distract me from other things.
Betcha.....
.....I get too bouncy if I am surrounded in bright colors. -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 10:16 AMI was just thinking about this yesterday! In my office the other two women wear very dull colors and are very right-wing, conservative, life-time locals, etc. The accountant wears earth tones, very dull ones -- exactly like the accountant before her. (And I find that extremely noteworthy.) Me? I go either tropical (in summer) or jewel-tones with black (winter). And I feel that my colors actually irritate the drab ones. (Which at this point is something I don't mind doing at all.) The colors I spend my time in are extremely important to me, and I can only choose them on the morning of the day itself, to match the vibe of the actual time. My boss -- even speedier and more eclectic than I -- wears a very strange assortment of clothes, usually baggy shorts at most times of year, and faded pale Hawaiian shirts, and gives the impression that if he has clothes on at all, that's accidental. The drab ones can barely disguise their contempt for both of us.
You would think that this color fetish I have would extend to my house. But there I'm so very conscious always of "resale value" -- never having felt I would stay in this house for long, though it's going on 6 years already. So there I just go for the warmest and lightest earth tones I can find, rose-peachy beiges and light browns - because I want it to be warm and welcoming, not drab in any way, but not too far off the "all beige" demands of the real estate market here. It doesn't matter too much anyway, because there's tons of color inside from all my art slathering every wall, and outside from all the flowering plants.
I actually own brown and olive-drab clothes but the only time I can bring myself to put them on is if I'm gardening or painting or working on the house outside.
I feel that because of my colors, and being rather blonde, people don't consider me professional or intelligent or competent. I know the drab ones don't. But the thing is, I know, and my boss knows, that I can run rings around the drabs all day every day. So tant pis! -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 11:47 AMAh...color (make that colour for you downunder dwellers). I have a love/hate relationship with color in that what I actually *like* are often colors I can't wear due to my own coloring (pale to nearly translucent skin, auburn hair and blue-gray eyes). It doesn't stop me from decorating my house in bold colors though. I have an absolute love for deep, jewel tones and my living room and bedroom are full of crimson's, cobalt blues, all manner of greens and even some funky golds (metallic and flat). My attic is very deep purple and the carpeting throughout my basement is also dark-ish purple.
I've been trying to figure out how to paint my kitchen for years now. I spend more waking ime in my kitchen than any other room in my house so this is a big decision. Currently it's this gawdawful ugly mushroom color (that's beige, but I was trying to spin it a little more colorfully). I need a pallette that is both comforting and inviting while also being energizing and inspiring. I would love to hear some suggestions from all you colorful people!
Oh, and my house was built in the mid-1930's and the kitchen has arched doorways and the original beveled cabinets and real brick here and there. I'd like to keep the brick (traditional deep terracotta color) but find colors that compliment it but not match it.
-K -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 4:37 PMyellow is my absolute favorite kitchen color. i would kill for a yellow kitchen. -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 4:47 PMI was going to suggest yellow too. The right shade should work well with the brick - if it's a period kitchen sometimes it can be fun to go with tone associated with that era and do a retro kinda thing. -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 5:20 PMYeah with ginham curtains and tea towels (or what ever it is that you Americans call tea towels - hehe). Matching aprons, oven mits. Way cool -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 7:09 PMThanks but I dunno guys...sounds a bit June Cleaver-ish to me. I'll think on it.
-K
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 11:05 PMKryssa, I think you need to look inside your heart and ask yourself what you’d really, really love to put on those walls. And try it. And if it doesn’t work, try something else! Fulfil your innermost colour desires.
Yellow is lovely. Sunny. I’m putting a bright yellow and white trim in my study/spareroom.
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Re: Coloured People
Thu, May 22, 2008 - 4:50 AM<<Ah...color (make that colour for you downunder dwellers). >>
Teehee.. we put the "You" into colour :)
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 11:04 PMLily,
>>The drab ones can barely disguise their contempt for both of us.<<
LMAO. I know what you mean.
>>So there I just go for the warmest and lightest earth tones I can find, rose-peachy beiges and light browns - because I want it to be warm and welcoming, not drab in any way, but not too far off the "all beige" demands of the real estate market here.<<
I was conscious of resale for many years and, yep, neutral colors are the preference here also. It’s fantastic to finally feel free to do what I want. For years I’ve lived here and never really felt the house reflected me. Now, especially living alone, I don't have to compromise on anything. I could write another post on colour and compromise.
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 11:00 PMBetcha, I’m gonna check out the links. Thanks. I’ve been thinking a lot about psychology and colour.
>>.....I get too bouncy if I am surrounded in bright colors.<<
I think I need the boost.
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 10:59 PMJsin,
Interesting to read your professional perspective.
>Color often is a reflection of function. Simply because someone opts for a more sedate palette not because they are "afraid" of color but rather because certain elements of the design are meant as a focus.<
Afraid of colour?
Definitely other motivations than just fear in relation to colour.
I was thinking more that people are afraid of being ‘different’. In the case of the ‘blue’ posters they are meant primarily to inform, but you have the option of exercising varying degrees of creativity in the process. Blue’s worked in the past and it will work in the future. It’s safe, not risky.
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 10:07 AMLiving in South California I can attest to few simple fact from my perspective....
i actually have panick attacts when I drive in to the rabbit warrens...I mean houseing developments in the suburbs.
the mile upon mile of unbroken white, off-white, cream, eggshell, beige, tan, ivory, bone, the lack of color actual drains me and hurts mentally.
I can't live in places where the walls are all white and will immediately paint at least one major wall to bring a color energy back into my space.
this is my main living room wall.
people.tribe.net/cnhn/phot...f820de8a8d
and I use beige people as a term as well :)
taz
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 11:01 PM
>>the mile upon mile of unbroken white, off-white, cream, eggshell, beige, tan, ivory, bone, the lack of color actual drains me and hurts mentally. <<
Taz
I had my house exterior painted last year (and that’s a story in itself). I went driving around looking at the other homes and, yep: white, off-white, cream, eggshell, beige, tan, ivory, bone. It was broken, though, by some really fabulous combinations. I think it’s ’difference’ that I really cherish.
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 8:21 PMMy bathroom is Pepto-Bismal pink, or maybe bubblegum pink, and I really like it.
I want to paint my bedroom red, but I'm not sure if it would drive me nuts or not. I'll have to check out those links up top.
I have a friend who painted her kitchen a bright orangy-yellow, almost like egg yolk yellow (actually the walls are mostly covered by the cabinets, which are painted white, but what wall is left is yellow), and it really lights up when the sun shines in there in the morning. It's nice. -
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Re: Coloured People
Wed, May 21, 2008 - 11:10 PMSA - I could go pink in the bathroom. That’s next year. maybe a soft green. Decisions, decisions ... Red can be an energising colour but, if you think about it, when your wanting to sleep the room is dark anyway! -
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Re: Coloured People
Thu, May 22, 2008 - 1:16 PMOnce my old roommates and I decided to paint our bathroom, a soft green. Well, I wasn't around for the beginning of the painting endeavor, but I came home to find two of my roommates had begun the project and abandoned it about two-thirds of the way through when they realized the color was that of crappy toothpaste. They had begun drinking and I joined in and we decided that since we were going to have to paint over it anyway, that it was time to go crazy on the walls. We grabbed paint and paint pens and tagged all over the walls. It was a blast!
A week or so later we painted it dark blue. It was a great bathroom color. -
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Re: Coloured People
Thu, May 22, 2008 - 1:37 PMi have warm off-white walls... and feel no need to make them
bright colours - i have enough bright coloured fabrics, artwork,
and accessories that i feel most comfortable with the room
itself a neutral shade.
that said, i also wear a lot of black, white, or earth tones, and
don't consider myself a 'beige person'. -
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Re: Coloured People
Fri, May 23, 2008 - 2:59 AMNicole, With all that art and colour surrounding you, I can believe you are not a beige person. Good on u for defending your walls. U know I didn’t intend for this thread to become a Home Makeover chat, though it’s cool that it did.
I get the ‘I want to display my art’ logic, but seriously I lived with an artist and we displayed her work on emerald green walls. I also got the idea to put red on my dining room years ago when I saw it beautifully sheeting the walls of a local gallery. So maybe it’s like the poster blue I’ve been talking about - sure it works, but so do other colours. It reminds me a bit of the logic determining flower pots. (It’s not such a stretch). It’s held that the flower, the true artwork, is best displayed in a neutral earthy pot. Crap to that. I put a heritage red on my flower tubs. (I call it pink, but, again, another story).
So I guess what I’ve been trying to work towards is more a cry for diversity (express yourself) rather than an either/or, that is crap, this is great scenario. Beige is a colour - IMO an over-used one that has more to do in many instances with safety, compromise, resale, lack of inspiration etc rather than the true an ultimate realisation of your colour desires.
Whatever makes u happy. I mean that. -
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Re: Coloured People
Mon, May 26, 2008 - 1:20 PMtheres always that classic question - whats your favorite color ? when i answer honestly (at first) i say BROWN. yup, dark wood brown. when i get the strange looks - ill then switch it up to either of my second-favorites of BLACK or PURPLE. if they are still not convinced, ill go with ORANGE. theyd have to keep asking for alternatives for a long time before i would come back with one of the standards of red or blue.... lol
i can see the appeal of beige - my car is this metallic-tan color which is basically beige, but i like to think of it as brown. of course ive got fake-zebra seat covers to add some semblance of non-beige to it. my previous car was actually a nice dark brown with light brown leather interior. the car before that had bright blue shag covers - that was awesome.. i dont know, the whole wood-brown color scheme makes me feel secure...
when i bought my house from the family that lived here before - the daughters room was a bright-light-pink with white accents. i had to leave it as is cuz it was perfect. guests now come over and sleep in the "pink room". ive got orange and yellow tiles in the bathroom and kitchen. but the beddings are all either brown or black (or sometimes denim blue). i guess, at heart, i really am a beige person. sigh...
so a question to the "coloured people" - whats your favorite color ? is it something you have an answer for ? or does it change depending upon some factor or another ? -
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Re: Coloured People
Mon, May 26, 2008 - 6:06 PMHi harold, this pseudo-perve into people's homes (and cars!) is great. It's becoming a bit of a Town and Country. I love a snoop around.
I don't really have a favourite colour, though I tend to prefer bright colours. They flatter me. I can't abide pastels and this may reflect the fact that they don't suit my own colouring. (So maybe we are genetically predisposed to some colours?) Before painting the lounge (now emerald green) it was a light sky blue. I didn't feel comfortable with it and considered it a very cold colour for a room I use mainly to relax. Looking at the colour links supplied earlier I saw that this colour can be depressing and that was certainly how I experienced it. Having people over I felt uncomfortable because the room just wasn't me. I certainly don't think you should try and be something you are not.
It can change upon some factor...I fell in love with an orange rose years ago. It was a true orange which is quite rare in roses (I've since come to learn). Exquisite. I could just stare at it. Flowers, too, are very important to me and I have planted dozens of bulbs this year and other spring flowering plants. Mostly bold, bright colours... Not sure why I'm going on about flowers. I just know that their bright colours and beautiful forms really uplift me. It's related somehow...I know I have a ongoing dilemma about switching to a neat, uniform, manicured, low maintenance garden from the high maintenance, riotous diversity of colour and plants I now have.
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Re: Coloured People
Fri, May 23, 2008 - 12:50 AMMammoth, Appreciate the benefit of your experience. The current bathroom is actually trimmed in dark blue, so it would be too close for me to the old scheme....it's as much about change as anything else.
Luv to hear you going crazy. What fun!
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