Are we losing colour? - YouLookFab Forum

Stagiaire Fash

Meh, beige babies, grey interiors, minimalism are all trends from the past decade or so. Coastal grandmas don’t wear brights or dye their hair, so they aren’t so colorful either. But all of that is very very recent, not a serious change in the world over the long term. When I think about it the world is becoming more or less colorful, my mind goes back at least a few centuries.

3 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I haven’t read it, but wanted to mention a trend here of some fast food chains switching from previously colorful signs and buildings to very neutral colored buildings and monotone signs. I believe this is partly due to restrictions in certain areas, but it has definitely changed the amount of color in the scenery for me.

3 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Our home continues to be very colourful!

3 years ago

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Stag I think that's what the majority of the article (& Tiktok) is focusing on - trends after the 90s. I didn't know about 'beige babies' though haha thanks for sending me down that internet rabbithole...

@chewy Yeah the article mentions how most fast food places look like Starbucks cafés now but I hadn't considered that might have been imposed on them - what sort of restrictions were you thinking? I know places with dimmer lighting & darker/ warmer colours tend to encourage people to linger (like a romantic dinner date) rather than just eat & go - I wonder if fast food places with such decor (like McD's) now prefer that too?

@Angie Haha ours too! To a certain extent, at least - restricted by renting! I know some find it calming, but I think I'd be bored to tears (instead of soothed) if everything in my house was 50 Shades of Greige

3 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Our house has a lot of color, too. Yes, we have brown and grey and white, but our artwork is very colorful. And our garden has lots of color, too.

3 years ago

Helena

Veteran

Hmmm, I think this is an interesting discussion point! I come back to the idea that the way we experience (or even define!) colour can be very different from person to person, sort of like how some of us have more minimalist vs more maximalist tendencies. I personally don't find neutrals soulless ... I find them soothing and comforting in a very busy and overstimulating world! I love to experience colour in nature, food, photography, on other people, and in small doses on my own choices. (I'll add that where I live, nature is pretty darn neutral, with grays, whites, browns and deep green dominating the landscape for a large part of the year.) I resonated a lot with this line: "we don't need a consumer good to be coloured to have a good life."

I DO think there can be some snobbery around neutrals; for example certain colours being considered garish (like the Nanny theme song: "She's the lady in red when everybody else is wearing tan") ... I don't like that. Similarly dismissing neutrals as "boring" as someone in the article does seems a little lazy to me (and also like someone's trying to sell more stuff, tbh).

Colours are colours! Bright, soft, dark light, cool, warm, hues, neutrals, invoking different moods for different people - but NOT good or bad. Horses for courses as Angie says

3 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Well, I don’t know. Certainly all the McDonald’s around town have been rebuilt less garish. But early 80s beige, the soot grey and black of Dickensian London, 90s industrial, medieval peasants. I rather think colour is a bit of a luxury that pops up for brief periods..

3 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Zaeobi- many of the cities in my area have explicit regulations about building colors and signage. ( much like a HOA might) They don’t want businesses to stand out too much because it makes the area look less upscale I guess?

3 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

We use a lot of colour in our decor. It goes against what is currently fashionable but I don't care. In fact, our house is filled with the colours I can't wear particularly well -- golds, warm orange tones in the wood, etc. That makes me happy because it feels inviting and lively.

3 years ago

Anonymous

I live in an older, bohemian neighborhood, and many of the house are painted quite colorfully (lots of artists live here). Due to the housing boom, a lot of the original houses are being torn down and replaced with bigger new ones in neutral color palettes. I’m worried my ‘hood is losing its exuberance, but we’ll see what the new owners do with all those grays, blacks, and creams…

3 years ago

phoebe

Active Member

I am not really seeing much of a change in real life and am thinking it might be the medium. Maybe visuals that will most often be viewed on the small screen of a phone look chaotic with too much color?

Maybe in this era of extreme caution, color is associated with extravagance and therefore "risky" for influencers?

3 years ago

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@JAileen
Good on you for sticking to what you like regardless of trends!
@Xtabay
Maybe your neighbourhood could make a pact to do the same thing, regardless of the neutral exteriors? I'm thinking everyone chooses a brightly coloured front door

@Suz
Nice tip on decorating your house with the colours you 'can't' usually wear - I'm hoping once I stop renting (move back home) I'll be able to paint my walls a lovely teal, since I won't have to worry about making sure it's the 'right' shade of teal if it's not on *me*

@Helena
Interesting point about our perception of colours vs neutrals - even Jenn's recent post of her version of brown demonstrates that (I myself use her brown shade as an orange *colour*, rather than as a 'true' neutral).
'Soothing' can be a great quality at the end of the day, when you want to relax instead of feel overstimulated at home! I don't find neutrals boring but I was always made to use them everywhere for the sake of resale value (I wasn't even allowed to paint the walls of my bedroom or hang up posters for this reason lol!) so I think part of my hearty embrace of non-neutrals might come from this rebellion But I do still see the importance of them - after all, the eye needs *somewhere* to rest (even in more 'energetic' looks)!

@rachylou
Your comment about medieval/ industrial/ Dickensian England made me smile - now that the weather is getting 'colder' here (about 16C but still lol) my first thought was that the grey skies (instead of the usual blue) remind me of home But that's a good thing - for me at least, haha!

@chewy
Oh, interesting - I'm not sure whether such rules even exist in HK (Feng Shui regulations usually apply at the architectural instead of decor level), considering the infamous chaos of Mong Kok's 'stacked' building signs & the endlessly light polluted skyline here!
What I'm intrigued by the most though is that it appears your cities' rationale around colour echoes @phoebe's comment but is directly opposed to @rachylou's comment (i.e. that a high-end 'luxury' look comes from a *lack* of colour, not an abundance of it!)

@phoebe
I hadn't considered the *scale* of screens specifically, but I've been looking into UD lately & can see how that would likely affect colour usage too!
Interesting that you see colour as carrying risk & extravagance though (see above, re: @Jenn VS @rachylou).

3 years ago

ophelia

Veteran

The article referring to someone as “a trained color psychologist “ made me laugh. That sounds like a blast; where can I get that degree? (However, being unable to appreciate the nuances & peacefulness of gray might indicate that she needs to spend some time in hyper-colored Florida.)

3 years ago

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

I'd like to study that degree too, @Ophelia! Maybe the role is an offshoot of art therapy?

I took this photo earlier today - I wonder how the building planners in @chewy's area would feel about this

This post has 1 photo. Photos uploaded by this member are only visible to other logged in members.

If you aren't a member, but would like to participate, please consider signing up. It only takes a minute and we'd love to have you.

3 years ago

Helena

Veteran

Zaeobi, this reminds me ... There's a highway that goes through Toronto and on the side of it there's a tunnel that was always painted with a rainbow; it was sort of an unofficial landmark. At some point the powers that be decided it was time to remove the rainbow and keep it plain ... There was a public outcry, and long story short, the rainbow won It's not Toronto with it imo!!

https://globalnews.ca/news/541.....ronto-dvp/

This post has 1 photo. Photos uploaded by this member are only visible to other logged in members.

If you aren't a member, but would like to participate, please consider signing up. It only takes a minute and we'd love to have you.

3 years ago

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Oh wow @Helena, that looks like a portal to a fun dimension - truly magical!

I'll have to add it to the to-see list if I ever visit Toronto - in the video, it looks like there's a path that leads up to it?

3 years ago

Helena

Veteran

Yes that highway is flanked by ravines with walking trails at parts ... I haven't walked there since I was a kid but I gather it's more frequented now It's definitely not your typical urban highway, rather scenic around it!

3 years ago

RobinF

Veteran

I think neutral is a trend and, like most trends, it will come and go. In interior design gray is definitely fading anyway (also I love gray and object to the idea that it might be "soulless" :)) but seems to be replaced with white - haha - even less of a color.

3 years ago

Olive Green

Veteran

I just loved New Mexican colours, like most newcomers. It was a struggle NOT to splash them out everywhere but pulled back a bit when saw how many newcomers had, pardon the phrase,’thrown up New Mexico” all over every single object. Woo, a lot.
Seems like we are starved for colour.
Our new, very modern house came with a lot of greyed colours, and one aqua wall, which we just left. Every single man who enters this house wants it. Pulled back design, minimal, and greyed everything. This SO reminds me of when my friends accused me of having gay guy taste back when that was largely defined by can lighting, grey carpet, and low furniture. Maybe the 90’s?
Also reminds me of a widow in her 80’s, telling me her first act of freedom and design rebellion after her design conscious DH died, was to but a huge, overstuffed sofa with pink and turquoise cabbage roses all over. We both looked over at it and snickered.

3 years ago

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@Helena
I was about to say - the scenery around the UK motorways is definitely less colourful than that! I'll bring my walking boots then

@RobinF
I have nothing against grey, but I like it warmer & with other pops of colour thrown in there. I think the key thing is adding some *texture*, to stop it from feeling too 'clinical'.
Yes, I suspect you're right - although I remember also reading somewhere that even white is on its way out now (apparently Millennial Pink will be replaced by 'GenZ Green', though I have yet to see it happen).

@Olive
I've never been to New Mexico but I can envision what you mean! I think the key thing is having some sort of a colour *scheme*, no matter which colours you choose (so it doesn't feel *too* chaotic).
Do the guys like the aqua wall or just the greyed decor in general? I'm lucky that I generally align with my DH when it comes to decorating (though he does sometimes object to my 'too shiny' clothing (lol), we've both already agreed on lots of dark brown & teal/ greens once we buy our own place ).

3 years ago

The Cat

Veteran

A while ago, Norwegian television showed streets where all buildings had recently been made grey (a sad sight!) and where small children were no longer able to find their own home as all houses looked the same.

In recent years, lots of houses in my own neighbourhood that used to be yellow, red or green, have been painted grey. Very boring.

Even I, who really like grey, think that for the past 20 years or more, there has ĺbeen far too much grey here in iScandinavia--in architecture, interior, fashion, and you name it ...

2 years ago

Olive Green

Veteran

Zaeobi, I think the guys are responding to a refreshing lack of colour and knick knacks, plain low furniture, and large, clean surfaces. I don’t think it is masculine so much as distinctly unfrilly. The style around here is all shabby chic and farmhouse decor, so it is different.
I occasionally need a colour antidepressant though! And add in the rustic components and large landscape paintings that my artist husband has painted, switching those around makes me happy.
I am not afraid of mandarin orange walls, or cobalt blue everywhere, so New Mexico was a lot of fun. I guess India softened me up for all the pinks and ochres, too. Why not colour?
We lived in a lot of PMQs, or permanent married quarters, where the damn rows of townhouses were so similar that all the kids did have nightmares about getting lost when they got off the school bus. Especially if you just transferred in.

2 years ago

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

@TheCat
That's sad to hear! Then again, I've heard that Einstein would regularly forget which house is his - so maybe it would happen with some folk regardless of the colour of the front door
It's interesting to hear that's what Scandinavian style really *is* like though - there's a lot of 'Scandi inspired' design here in HK (from decor to clothing) but it's hard to know what's genuinely or stereotypically taken from the culture (Japanese minimalism is popular here too).

@Olive
That makes sense - personally I can't stand too many knick knacks around the house (makes cleaning a mare!), whereas my mother-in-law feels like her place is 'empty' if she can see too many 'bare' flat surfaces. I'll admit I've never been one for the shabby/ farmhouse look (especially not in all shades of beige/ white/ straw like I often see online) but I know it's popular - especially for weddings!
True - it's likely my South Asian heritage affects my penchant for colour too (in clothing & decor alike)
I've only ever lived in flats as an adult (was in my parents' house as a kid), so the biggest thing is remembering my floor number (HK flats are notoriously high - my building has 50+ floors!)

2 years ago

Staysfit

Veteran

I have such a strong reaction to this topic! Three years ago a real estate agent looked at our house (which is not that old) and told me the colors are outdated and if I want to sell it, I need to paint the interior grey and repaint the exterior some sort of neutral. I refused! Not only did I refuse, I think I rebelled! LOL! I kept the interior a caramel tone (it’s a warm neutral) and it works with the granite counter tops, tile, fireplace, coordinates with the colors of the trees, leaves and grass outside and for me is happy. I told her grey would be sad and wrong and my current color is a neutral even if she thinks it’s the wrong neutral. If a new owner wants something different they can change it. (I’m not moving yet anyway so it is irrelevant, but she did not know that). I took it a step further when I added red walls to my study, and three new shades of rich blue and green to other rooms in the house. Then I painted the exterior a color called Rosemary (very dark green) and the trim is Mahogany and a golden beige. The only grey in my house is my hair and some of my clothing.

After painting my house exterior, I noticed that the neighbors across the street painted their house a deep barn red (no longer the builder bland beige) and down the street someone chose a deep navy! So maybe my rebellion against grey is starting a mini color rebellion in my neighborhood?! I see yellow doors and someone has bright lime green.

I hate when everything looks the same bland color and style. We should also comment on those crazy eight story modular buildings that seem to pop up everywhere and look identical. I once saw a documentary about them. They are apparently cheap and efficient…yet very boring…..

2 years ago

Anonymous

A lot of the restaurants I go to (excepting Indian and Mexican) are very neutral. I find it restful! The thing about neutrals is you can add different pops of color as the seasons change.
My house is beachy theme- with aqua walls. It cheers me up on grey days, but Really doesn't work when I decorate for Christmas!

2 years ago

April

Veteran

Like SF, I *hate* when an entire neighborhood looks the same. This is partly why I stayed in the eastern US when my entire family moved to Arizona 40 years ago.

People adore Arizona, but when I would visit there from West Philadelphia - home to many "painted lady" Victorians - I'd be stunned at how every house, yard, and even every interior was a sea of beiges and browns, maybe a touch of terracotta. And you all know I am a neutrals devotee when it comes to clothing.

That said, Helena's original comment also resonated with me. We do act like using wild colors is somehow a virtue. I would say that doing it beautifully is a *talent* and that the same is true for neutrals.

2 years ago

Category