Don't love it. Never have.

Beige is my most disliked color ever

I agree with everything the article says except the ending where it says people have moved away from treating their house as a commodity that must be kept neutral for resale and so it can be changed on a whim. That notion is alive and well in GW culture.

I either read a diff. article or was asleep while reading. People are buying investment furniture??? In my area, we have too many Rooms to Go warehouses, loaded with cheap furniture and hoards of young families buying. They appear to like the notion of buying every 5 years, for the sake of newness. Poor quality is not an issue. In fact it is a relief, as much easier to discard, w/o feeling guilty that the item once belonged to Granny.

i do agree that as houses become assets, they are less personal, hence the beige. I’m writing this as I sit in a coral pink room that hasn’t seen paint since the 50s. What I wouldn’t give for a little beige, sigh.

Finally, I personally like beige because the dull/neutral background seems perfect for highlighting stuff. (Table, lamp, headboard, whatever). And as life gets more intricate in the 21st century, a little beige provides relief from so much stimuli.

I actually put them in the same category

It's difficult to be a beige person when your style is English country house and the walls are full of paintings and the shelves and flat surfaces with Chinese porcelain. I do admit to cream walls and gray rugs, although two rooms have terracotta red and soft green walls, respectively. The question of resale value didn't really occur to me because I cared very much about satisfying my personal taste. I do think many people don't agonize that much about decor, which is why you see so much clunky leather furniture grouped around a giant TV, with not much else going on. It's just a staging ground for family activities, and often there's so much associated clutter that you rarely notice what's underneath.

I hate beige. Probably due to the trauma of growing up in a house that was beige, beige as far as the eye could see, endless beige. Scarred me for life. ;)

I don't see people buying investment furniture here either (nyc or upstate ny.) I'm sure some are, but it's definitely not the norm.

I think the bottom line with the article, is that home improvement shows influenced decorating styles- regardless of the reasons. The economy may have played a role in what the first shows did, but there's always going to be a reason for why a particular style is in (or out.) So not sure how it's different from what goes today.

But, I also happen to love a light beige/greige color exactly for the reason bossyvossy said - it's as blank canvas. You can put anything up against it and it will look good and stand out, as opposed to having my wall color be the focus. I also appreciate it because it's just a calming color as opposed to a jarring color.

At the moment, I have this on top of my bedroom dresser in our weekend home. I love waking up to a bright, light colored room with some colorful accessories. Everything kept to a minimum though. It feels cleaner, less cluttered to me, exactly what I want for my home. That will always be my style, regardless of what comes next.

I would be very unhappy to live in my house without color and neither beige or gray fall into my color pallets. I don't care about resale; that will be an issue only for our sons. And luckily our home has tripled in value in the past ten years. Our home totally reflects our style, which to me is the whole point.

I'm not a fan of beige. Besides what the article says, which I mostly agree with, I blame the rise of open floor plans and diminished trims and moldings. Basically, you have to commit to one color for an enormous space, and it is generally true that the bigger the object or area, the more conservative people are in their color choices. Plus lack of trim an moldings doesn't give you a natural point to change colors. So beige has given way to gray, rather than blue or green.

I like calm beige/tan tones and always have. I also like solid, neutral clothing. But I do agree with cawaps about open floor plans and think the open concept and high ceilings have made homes less cozy. My mother's kitchen in our small little house was turquoise.

I liked the article even though I'm not sure the change the author is pointing out is actually happenning-but I don't know enough about that. Not enough reference, as after all, I'm not from here and couldn't witness everything that was going on until now..now I pay attention but I don't visit enough homes. I see whatever appears in media, books and magazines I read, and these very forums. And they all say a bit different things

I do agree about the open space and its influence on picking one main color thus feeling maybe more timid about it.

As for whether I wonder why I like beige, or hundred other colors? yes, sometimes I do wonder. It's interesting. Beige is the color of Jerusalem limestone, if to put it very simply..it works it way from being very light, almost white, to yellowed when very old..but that's my association, with these stones that are surprizingly warm to touch, even in winter

I do not love Tuscan thrend that was big here, at all-because it was mimicking the real deal of Meditteranean and its colors a bit imposingly and not very convincingly and not always naturally to houses that are all different and stand in different settings and landscapes and are different in style. Overall it's strange to me-this country is too huge to have one big trend going on, whatever it is. As in fashion, one can get inspired but then picks what flatters him-even more so one should pick for his house what's most natural and flattering for the house. Can't be "one size fits all". It's not a stadium..;)

Say when I was looking for condo in Hawaii for a short family vacation, several months ago, I was very surprized to see how many of them reminded condos in Orange County, CA where I live.

I'll be sincere and say that I chose a condo of course for its location and layout we needed, but how it looked came a very close second..)))

It's an island-something should signal "it's a tropical island where we are"

It's not a color, it's how it's being used, and why, and your inner "why" behind it, and all sorts of associations that come with it.

There very few colors I don't like, or rather do like but would use them very sparingly.

I'm able to pinpoint my reaction to beige because it's been many years since Jerusalem limestones became for me what they became, so I can try to think backwards and figure out my personal association. And because you asked..:)

BTW I love greige too I'll spare the explanation but it exists. And taupe, and tan, and off white and you name it.

I bet if one thinks long enough he'll guess why he likes this or that.

But sometimes it's cool to leave it at "gut reaction" too

I love "truer" colors too, a lot, as I grew up with them, and it's very natural to me to try and bring them all in. But the warm shades of each color will prevail. With some touches of cooler shades. Why? well, this I don't know yet:)

I love prints too, quite passionately.

I can admire many many different styles, yet I have only one home (a pity. lol) and yes there will be many colors and prints used, they'll creep in.

As for the main colors used? it will depend on what is the house and where it stands. I love figuring out what houses want, I think they have a huge say in the matter.

It's a totally different approach in other countries I lived toward resale etc, I understand it's rooted in many factors, and I'm still getting used to how it's here, not always successfully. Definitely an interesting subject.

My house is largely beige because I feel it makes sense with what I have at this point. Typing through this... I got married, moved out and into a house with DH in the mid 2000s and fell in love with all that that was popular at the time. All of which I dislike now. I think one of the reasons I was drawn to this style was simply because it was completely different than what I grew up with and I hadn't been exposed to a bunch of decorating styles or had ever stopped to think and study what I liked. I jumped on the first thing I saw when I started browsing online (or stores) and everything was 'tuscan'. I definitely had a crush. I feel like I've figured out largely what I like though am limited somewhat due to past purchases as well as funds. With the current gray trend, I often wonder how many young people fall into the category of just starting out and not having any decorating exposure. I wonder if they will kick themselves later from gray overload (like beige of yesterday) for how they used it. Any color can be good or bad. It's all in context.

I've never spent any time ever watching decorating shows on tv. I suppose that trickles over into blogs so I have seen it second hand.

I'm curious to see how much my style will bend in the future as the new trends come and go.

I like beige, always have. I also like cream, tan, taupe, charcoal, black and dark brown. Not coincidentally, those are also the colors I wear. To my eye, neutrals are calming not boring. They're a perfect foil for interesting things in a room -- rugs, pillows, art, flowers, furniture, the view. It's all personal preference, isn't it?

Enthusiasm for beige goes way back before HGTV. More than 100 years ago, Elsie de Wolfe supposedly said, "It's beige! My color!, " when she saw the Acropolis. In any case, she used a lot of beige and white along with light and ventilation to chip away at the heaviness of Victorian decor.

The writer of the linked article is fairly young, and IMO she has an axe to grind with beige colors. She certainly is not very knowledgeable about the history of this color spectrum. As Yogacat wrote, its popularity goes back way, way before HGTV.

And anyway, if HGTV is the subject, it hasn't been beige for years; it's been and still is gray, gray everywhere, walls&carpets&upholstery&cabinets, punctuated with white trim to alleviate what some consider the drabness. I watched a couple of HouseHunters today, and most all the homes were open concept and gray from the front door back to the kitchen.

I also love, not exactly beige itself, but the whole spectrum from ivory to chocolate as a backdrop for the jewel tones and pastels that I use in furnishings and accessories. I love the warmth and coziness of the effect.

I've not had a beige wall since the 1970s. The closest I've come is my current master bedroom wall color, which is a warm sand. In my previous house, the closes I came was with SW Ecru and Netsuke.

I am more drawn to cool colors, so I never use beige but have used grays for walls since I was able to pick my bedroom color at 8. As long as a house is not all one color through out and not all the furniture was purchased in a suite and as long as the rugs are oriental or colorful I like neutrals mixed in. It is when homes become so generic that I can not remember any thing about it after a visit that I dislike. I find this to be the case in many staged houses on the market. I wonder if this lack of indivuality makes a shopper forget the house altogether at times too as each house seems the same.

The article is not particularly scholarly or clear, but what I think the author is referring to beige as decorating, and not so much beige in decorating. These aren't really the same thing.

Beige as decorating is the idea that if everything is neutral or 'beige' (although I think 'tan' may be more descriptive in some instances) ---if it is all beige, it all goes together and that's good. It doesn't particularly matter that the beiges often don't really work together, all beige, all generic, all good.

There are ways to use beige or grey as the primary palette that work very well, but they are actually more difficult than using color, in terms of getting them right.

Sheeisback made a really pertinent, interesting point. We have lively brains, and we like something new, and we like visual...evidence? reminders? of changes in our lives. I grew up in one of those early 60s shoebox shaped houses. When I married, my now ex and I lived in a rental for a while. It was pretty awful! But when we bought, we bought a big white two-story house with a sun porch, a screened porch, and a tumbling- down carriage house. The house had been built in 1922. High ceilings, hardwood floors, built-in with glass doors, butler pantry, ceramic tile in the bathrooms, it was wonderful.

I guess i sort of agree with the article but with some additions:

- agree with the point above that open floor plans contribute to the rise in a "neutral" color. And rightly so. Open floor plans are not aesthetically pleasing when there's too much going on.

- I also attribute the rise in neutral colors to the introduction of the internet, pinterest and social media generally, and not necessarily the desire to make one's house "flip ready". Pre-1995, yeah, people decorated their houses as they saw fit. But the reality was (and is) that most people are not gifted decorators. The rise of the internet allowed people to start seeing a lot more home design inspirations, and sort through what they like and don't like. And what they can achieve and can't achieve. Beige (and grey) are a lot more approachable, easy and safe for 90% of people trying to pull off DIY decor. And when people started "liking" things on houzz and the like, those colors are a lot easier to like by a lot more people. The author's mom may have loved her chili art and salmon walls, but probably liked them less when she saw comparable things on the internet. In the end, i think most people want serene and calm in their house.

I’m beiged out. I had some beiges going on in my last house because of existing furniture and kitchen finishes. I also had greens and blues in other parts of the house where the color wasn’t dictated as much. Resale was also a consideration and I felt constrained by practicality for years.

in my new old house, I liked the clean pale blue walls in most of the first floor so much that I decided to decorate around the paint color. Some of my stuff already worked, other items were added. Will it last? Until I need a change of scenery.

Interesting. I agree with parts as far as hgtv influencing home decorating and design choices. I think they created or heavily pushed the "everyone must buy stainless steel appliances and granite if they want a modern kitchen that will sell easily" mentality of the early 2000s. But I also thinks it's the internet that caused a lot of homes to look similar. People tend to go with the opinion of the masses hence tons of people painting kitchen cabinets white even when white is not the best option for certain home styles. Type in "kitchen cabinet color" into houzz discussion search and read all of the "paint it white" answers and "I am painting my cabinets white..." questions. Maybe some people don't trust their own eye when it comes to design so they go with the most popular colors at the moment or choose all neutrals (I believe beige in article I really referring to neutrals) because it's safe. Of course lots of people love neutrals and/or white cabinets but I think there are quite a few who end up just going with it because it's safe and they know lots of people will like it.

Pink beige upholstery, with a yellow beige rug, and green beige walls, is pretty far from neutral and restful. Clashes with all beige beige, or all gray gray, are far worse than making a mistake with color. A not quite match in tones when you are attempting monochromatic is far more unsettling to the psyche than a room that uses contrasting or analogous colors as it’s basis.

Well done monochrome rooms are FAR harder to achieve. Many people simply do not have the color vision to pull them off. Or the knowledge as to how to combine neutrals successfully. You only have to view the daily questions on Houzz to see numerous questions about “why does my new gray sofa look pink in my room” to see that.

I just realized that I don't even know what "beige" is. So I googled it and I guess it's neutral light brown?

@Sophie Wheeler - lol.. luckily, I haven't see the various pink, yellow and green shades of beige done... lol. I agree, that doesn't sound neutral or restful at all.

I've encountered that with grey though. I needed a grey throw and every one I tried looked purple in my house. Don't even know how many I went through before I got the true grey I wanted- concrete color like my fireplace.

@Fori I consider anything off white, like the color of old lace to fall under beige, including greige.

Deja vu? I feel like this article has been discussed here in the past - it's from 2016.

Definitely an evergreen topic, I think..

I like beige apparel, but not I'm not crazy about beige living quarters.

I did an all beige + single-wood toned 4000 sq foot loft in design school. It was an industrial bldg. with three walls of all glass, and I based the concept on Farnsworth House. Cork floors, travertine, quartz, and all textiles and leather the identical shade of pale beige. The real apartment had skyline city views including several lit bridges and the conceptual couple had a contemporary art collection.

It was extremely difficult to pull this off with actual real samples of the materials. I spent hours in showrooms. And luckily there was no budget given the project.

When I was a young newlywed of 20 we bought our 1st house. I did not listen to my gut but went with beige to play it safe. The house looked like a freak-en dirty sand box. I hated it. Soooo boring. Never beige again. I did put in ivory carpet in the bedrooms of our present home this year, but only as the backdrop for the colors I have in the bedrooms and I like coastal colors and it reminds me of white sand. Greige to me looks like dirty gray.

I consider beige to be yes, very very light brown. like a bit of brown with a lot of white

brown is supposedly green plus red? thus contains yellow?

every brown will be a bit different i gues depending oon how much red or green in it?

old lace-can sometimes be cream, probably ivory/bone? a bit yellowed white?

(btw good reminder above about netsuke..I collect them so obviously I love the color..I highly prefer bone ones too. interestingly, as I've read, they're easier to be copied than wooden ones. I guess bones are more alike than wood..)

off white though-can have yellow/green in it but doesn't have to. thus won't be beige at all. off white in my understanding has white plus a bit of smth else that "dirties" the pure white. if it's white plus tiny bit of black-it will be off white but it will bear no resemblance to beige

I must say I still struggle to define many colors for myself. especially as paint for example is made differently from what I got when mixing gouache..))

I love murkier, muddier colors

but I love jewel tones too.

and very deep bright colors like scarlet

I agree neutrals seem safe..in reality though, they're not.

Like, not at all.

I have a pretty good sense of color so might be a bit easier for me, relatively speaking. yet it's hard. can be hours indeed, especially when choosing hard finishes

I really admire folks who can pull off neutrals in a way that'd stop you in your tracks. It's possible with neutrals and the feeling won't neccessarily be of restful. Not to me. But it will bring to mind some greatest artworks..it will make you contemplate..it can shake you and puzzle you and you'll gather yourself allover again. Nothing safe about it actually if you think about it. What's safe about shadows and light, travelling down the desert, looking in the night sky in the wilderness with stars so big they seem to be almost falling on you?

I'll tell you my opinion: nothing's safe about it. Nothing restful. Unless you're talking eternal rest lol

To Sophie's point, here is an experiment with Benjamin Moore's Color Visualizer showing a range of "beiges."