White, grey and beige! Many people see neutrals as "boring", but they're the only way to go. Bright colors are busy, stressful, and they make a house look like a two-year-old's playroom. And besides, brights are more likely to go out of style more quickly.

I love color, though I'm not crazy about your example up there with a mix of all high intensity colors. When I see rooms that are just about entirely beiges it just makes me depressed. I get the same feeling when I see all of the subdivision houses around here and all of the silver automobiles. I love nature and nature is color. Life is color. Office buildings are beige and grey and boring. Why live in an office? My kitchen has bright blue, green and white glass tiles on the backsplash. When we sell, someone else can put the neutral tile in. :)

Neutral is the way to go bring in pops of colors with art and pillows.

http://www.blindsdirectcanada.com/

Just a note: beige, gray, tan, white, black are also colors "in nature."

Boring colors of nature...relegated to dirt, cloudy days, dead leaves, etc. Black should always appear in some form in every room though.

Can go both ways! We have a really hard time picking.

Neutrals, beige, tan, brown, cream, with nothing to enliven them just make me so sad. Colour makes me smile! When I own my own home, the walls will be bright white with tons of brightly coloured art, or vivid colours themselves. Bright colours just make me happy, give me engery, and make life more interesting! But, as so many people stated, you do have to do them "right."

That is a very tough question. I LOVE color, but prefer to express it in furnishings and art. Therefore my walls and floors are somewhat neutral to not distract from the color focal points. To add loud color walls to artistic furnishings is a bit over the top for me.
So, how do I vote? Do I love color or not?

None of the photos express my preferences.

Check out this: http://www.bavaria.by/municipal-gallery-in-the-lenbachhaus-and-kunstbau-in-munich-bavaria
The art of the Blue Rider school is shown on rooms painted in vibrant, highly saturated colors. It's amazing and changed my view of how art work should be exhibited-- white wall galleries lost their allure after seeing this.

Like this???

https://www.google.com/search?q=Lenbachhaus+und+Kunstbau&hl=en&client=safari&tbo=d&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=FTgHUbaCM47O0QHcpYCAAw&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAA&biw=1059&bih=602#imgrc=hP8G27p044Da0M%3A%3BtfqtYKtN9BFGxM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.museen-in-muenchen.de%252Ffileadmin%252Fuser_upload%252Fmuseumscontent%252Flenbachhaus%252Fbildergalerie%252FLenbachhaus-07.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.museen-in-muenchen.de%252Findex.php%253Fid%253D79%3B312%3B247

Color please ! It doesn't have to be too much or too overwhelming, but beige is sooo boring ! I live in a cold country and color is the only trick to get me through the winter !

Studio NOO - that is funny, colour gets me through our hot summers, blues and greens to make the house feel cool.

I deleted my ramble and want to say that both are great options. It depends on your mood but for me even if you opt for a neutral pallet, there is always room for punches of bold color or what ever accent color reflects your mood or season.

Color used to be the only way for me, but as I am older I think it is more fun and affordable to add color as accents that you can easily change often.

khbiox2 - Color is very important in all of our designs. Yes, there is a place for beige sofas but there are lots of other choices. Here are just a few examples. Let me know if we can help you find that perfect sofa.

Over the years of entertaining guests in my home, which I have done with great regularity over the years, I have noticed that my first guest almost always goes to a chair in the living room. The second guest tends to follow suit and go for another chair. The point is that the sofa is NOT the most favored place for most people to sit. I tend to do the same thing when visiting in the home of friends.

Therefore, I have decided to opt for an eclectic arrangement of chairs in my sitting rooms. There is no wasted space or undesirable seating. There is no concern for finding a long wall or great open space to place a three seater. It is liberating for the decorator in me. I have much more flexibility in arrangements and can easily rearrange when I want to freshen the look of the room.

I don't believe I will ever purchase another sofa, and some of my friends are beginning to catch the vision for their own homes. I would like to think this may become a growing trend.

I liken this practical morph in decorating to the morph in bedroom furnishings in recent years to built in closet drawers and shelves and eliminating the albatross triple dressers and armoires in the sleeping area. We now have room for writing tables and reading nooks in the boudoir. Much more functional.

I like having the neutral base (not just beige..I am currently redecorating my dining room with chocolate brown) to bring out the richness of wood and to give me lots of options. For instance, I can have jewel tones in fall, greens and whites for Christmas to add a woodsy feel, more pastel colors in spring, and citrus colors in summer. I never get bored with my rooms and takes only a few minutes to change it up!

Winter is long and cold over here. I love colour white is nice and so is beige but for me they are rather boring and cold if used in a monochromatic way. Colours make people happy :)

I like the 'near neutrals' as Paul Anater calls them. Real colors, but soft and dusty, not bold or bright.

I really love both depending on what room or what the clients personality is!

It total depends on my clients. Their taste is the important consideration they are the ones living in the space.

I like color with neutral backdrops not all color on color. But I'm really sick of all neutral on neutral. I love texture as much as the next person but I am just sooo bored of grey especially, but even of oatmeal and beige and white and blahhh. These rooms are putting me to sleep. If God didn't create the world devoid of color, why would we try to create rooms that way?

As an artists, all colors are my friends :) A lot of different color combinations work perfectly if done right while neutrals can provide a background to play around with colors. I find that most people do enjoy colors at home, it is the intensity of color that may present a problem for some or not knowing how to coordinate multiple colors. And this is where you guys come in with your expert design ideas... Raisa

Even though I love color I'm in the process of remodeling my kitchen in black (countertops) and white (cabinets). The reason I did this is because I love color! Now I'm free to bring in any color I want and change my mind as often as I want. Since paintings of all styles and colors are commonly framed in black or white this tells me that these all-and-none "colors" work well with, compliment and even accentuate many other colors. For me they are the ultimate neutrals leaving boring beige far behind. However, left on their own without color to work their magic on they become sterile and cold. The eye is drawn to and follows color. Color warms and welcomes. Many happy memories are written in color. I've never heard anyone say, "My favorite toy as a child was my tan wagon" or "My beige-haired baby doll." Cream colored food on a cream plate leaves the soul wanting. I say don't worry about making color "mistakes"...if you really love something it will likely work in your home and more importantly, make you happy. Lynnmarie

I love the first and last one the middle one is too colorful. This is an awesome poll!

I love using wall color as a surprise- not just to guests who enter, but even myself for whom the cat has already been let out of the bag. If I am sitting in a room and feeling bored, I usually look around until my eye focuses on the accent wall. In my case, a deep, near navy back splash in the kitchen and a color resembling mango in the living room.

All colors are attractive in the right place at the right time. For children, food is made more appetizing by using lots of colors. But some colors are made by using harmful dyes which are poisonous. Yellow was banned in butter for this reason years ago. Colors are ok but please be aware of harmful dyes. Now, where is my prize please?

Or don't lick the paint??

Neutral need not be beige or gray…it should mean “calm”. BM healing aloe or purple haze are good examples.

Colour colour colour except foe masterbrm and bathrm

I appreciate both colour & neutrals, & the 'in-between'. What you have to be careful of though is that the colour energy we right for the space. For example, you might want your kitchen to Have a high energy colour, but possibly your bedroom would be best in a calm neutral. (Or a calm colour would work too, especially in the green-blue- mauve family)

Color-Commitment Phobia.
I grew up in a white-walled-house. Mom always said it would be a pain to repaint. She would redecorate seasonally with pops of color. So, the thought of being nailed-down to a colored wall- terrifies me. Now that I have a home of my own, I am thankful to have neutral color on the walls-( yes beige). This allows me a seasonal blank slate. Best of both worlds :)

Colorful flowers in the garden, green grass and trees, red and orange sunsets, turquoise seas in the Caribbean, purple mountains - nature is definitely not afraid of color, so why would humans be so? Seems so strange to me to have a phobia against something so integral to being a part of and perceiving the world we live in - or perhaps we are now used to gray cities, belching smokestacks, asphalt and cement.

I'm renovating my apartment right now and everyone has expressed concern that it's all gray and white, gray and white. With beige furniture. Oh but I'm not worried. I'm going to blow people's eyeballs out once my art goes up on the walls. I'm all about the neutral fixtures and colorful accessories.

Wow, Piff, can you post photos when it is all done?

olldroo - sure will. I plan on doing extensive before/after plus decorating advice posts. I really could not have done this project without houzz.

Is good design off white walls with a couple of colorful chairs and pillows?

Wow, MS that just sounds so easy and simplistic but unfortunately it also comes down to the aspect and lighting in the room (even white can look terrible with the wrong light), combinations of colours used, compatibility of patterns, proportion of furniture - it is the total picture that is important.

Personally, I can't live without color. Beige and light grey make me feel very depressed and I prefer to use white as an accent rather than the main color. My apartment's entrance is orange and yellow with white trim. My office is orange with a dark blue-violet wall. When I am at home, I spend most of my time in my office and I feel very happy and energized. My bedroom is a turquoise blue and is very soothing. In the Eclectic Farm House photo, even if there is a lot of color on the floor, there is way too much white on the walls for my taste. I much prefer the darker walls and the yellow sofa in the living room photo. I am truly a color addict. I don't follow trends when I decorate. The most important thing for me is how I feel and what makes me feel great is color, color, color. but that's just me...

There a many deep colors that become neutral when used on ceiling or walls

For economy, it's good to have classic or neutral colours on big investments like lounging sofas etc. then colour can be cheaply changed with paints, throw pillows and accessories.

@ MS Colors......... Personally, the first two photos do not appeal to me, but that bedroom is absolutely gorgeous!

Thanks for your compliment. Can win all of them.

Neutrals of course. Greige, Beige, Champagne, White, Black, Grey -- Love them all!

Trying to find a good mix.

MS Colors: I so agree that bold colours often read as neutrals when used correctly. I used a bold yellow (BM Dance de Soleil) throughout my 600 sq ft addition and, not only do I love it (it makes me want to dance!), but others also give me kudos. It goes with so many other colour schemes and has so much more life to it than beige, grey or greige.

I like both, but mostly i'm a beige/brown/neutral lover. I also love to add bright colors for some pop. But I stay away from neon and pastel colors. Well I mean for rooms/buildings.

Using these 3 examples - I'm definitely in the neutral camp. Perhaps with other offerings, I'd have a different opinion!

I love color! It can make a space feel bright, vivid, and cheerful. It adds a nice pop that makes people feel energetic and playful

I'm totally about color! I can never understand the appeal and obsession with drab neutrals like *ACK* beige....Don't get me started, although I will say I find them boring, depressing, and frankly; ugly. I do l like warm, rich earth tones; think cinnamon and spices, pumpkin pie, maple syrup,caramel, and honey, the golden brown of bread and pastry crusts, and autumn leaves. My only caveat with that farmhouse, which I did vote for, is all those patterns. Way too much in my book. I love the colors though. I love the houses in places like Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Mexico. All those beautiful colors.

All for a neutral palette with POPS of color here and there!