Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Six approaches for dealing with Too Much Beige

The Cozy Minimalist method gave me the assignment of going to Pinterest to collect inspiration. I have some issues with Pinterest, but I did it, and I found some repeating themes in the rooms I liked.

Those themes, though, didn't readily transfer to the room that I have to work with, so I went back a second time, and searched for specific solutions to its specific decorating problems:  way too much beige, and way too much 1980s.

Possible solutions for the beige:

1.  Bury it under paint or Stuff.

2.  Use white for almost everything else in the room.

3.  Use neutrals for the rest of the room, and use a variety of textures and patterns to add interest.

4.  Treat the beige as a pastel, and use a lot of other pastels in the room.

5.  Think of the beige as some kind of coffee or chocolate flavor, and use other food-related browns for the rest of the room.

6.  Treat the beige as a neutral background, for "pops" of color, or art, or high-quality furniture to stand out against.


These can for the most part be combined; in my living room, I am burying most of the beige carpet under rugs, and treating the dark beige walls as a backdrop for art, furniture, and colorful textiles.

I can't do the second option; far too much unpainted woodwork and wood furniture. Number 5 would give me a depressingly brown room.

As for the heavy 1980s vibe, including the black-and-brass fireplace front, I am just living with it, but I'm trying to incorporate a few newer and more modern things into the room.

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