Autumn Didn’t Get the Memo

Every autumn, nature seems to rebel against the world’s obsession with neutrals.

We fall in love with the warm scenery, admiring the very colors we’ve been removing from everything else. We take pictures, paint landscapes, and buy autumn decorations, almost as if we’re trying to bring back the warmth we’ve designed out of our homes.

Have you noticed how colorless everything has become?

Our cars are white, black, silver, and gray. Our kitchens are beige or greige. Our sofas are cream. Our walls are off-white. Even children’s bedrooms now come in coordinated neutral palettes! *sigh*

Where did all the colors go?

Remember when cars came in bright reds, yellows, and blues? When kitchens had warmth, buildings had character (don’t get me started on architecture; that’s a whole other post), and homes weren’t all variations of the same mood board?

Somewhere along the way, we’ve been convinced that neutral means sophisticated, beige is timeless, and gray is modern. Anything too colorful is a little too risky, apparently.

Maybe we’re afraid of standing out, of being judged for our choices, looking outdated, or choosing something that won’t match next year’s trends. A yellow sofa might be beautiful, but a cream one is safe.

So we choose safe.

And everyone else chooses safe.

And just like that, we’re wearing neutrals, driving gray cars past gray buildings, heading home to beige living rooms.

Social media certainly hasn’t helped. We’re constantly shown perfectly styled interiors, coordinated outfits, and carefully curated spaces, often by influencers who seem to ridiculously be experts in everything.

We’re told every day what good taste looks like, which makes me wonder whether we’ve forgotten to ask ourselves what we actually like. What is our taste?

When did personality become less important than aesthetics?

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate a neutral palette. And perhaps, in a world that’s already so noisy, we’re simply looking for calm.

But does calm have to mean colorless? Does modern have to mean monotonous?

I miss the boldness of older architecture and interiors that celebrated color. Patterned furniture, colorful kitchens, and clothes that stood out. Not everything was beautiful, of course, but things had character, personality, and individuality.

And that’s what I think we’re losing. Not just color, but the freedom to choose something different without worrying whether it’s fashionable, timeless, or Instagram-worthy.

Which brings me back to autumn.

Nature throws together orange, yellow, rust, red, and green, not giving a damn whether they belong in the same palette.

And we find it breathtaking.

It’s ironic how we travel miles to admire in nature the very thing we’ve been removing from our world.

Maybe it’s time we stopped playing it so safe.

A little more color. A little more personality. A little less greige.

Tags: autumncolorsneutralsworld