Switzerland opts for neutral and routinely ranks among the happiest countries in the world.
We buy a beige couch and slip into a slump.
“HGTV is making our homes boring and us sad,” reads the headline in The Washington Post. Well, we can think of maybe a couple other factors contributing to our American malaise, but there could be something to this study.
Researchers interviewed people who were renovating their homes and found that they were making décor decisions as if they themselves were under that HGTV microscope of aesthetic scrutiny. The homeowners were putting others’ opinions — judgy potential buyers, judgy houseguests, basically an entire judgy public — above their own, resulting in a systemic blah monotony of inoffensive neutral design, and a painful communal crushing of anything resembling individual personality.
Sheesh. That does sound boring and sad.
Of course, lots of people purposefully choose neutral design palettes as a personal expression because they find them interesting and cheery. And calm and comforting, and streamlined and modern, with plenty of opportunities for smaller pops of color. Or not!
But this time of year, especially — when atmospheric odds favor skies of gray (and hopefully no pops of smoke-flavored orange) — bold bursts of personality and color feel like an electrifying switch to the Travel Channel.
