What do all-white rooms say about the world we live in? There’s a growing discussion of color in fashion and decor. Or, to be more specific, a discussion of chromophobia – the fear of color. The disorder is, according to many, very specific to Western culture.
If you are addicted to online real-estate browsing or you’ve looked at Airbnbs online, you know all about it. It’s called the neutral aesthetic, or the vanilla-girl aesthetic. It’s mostly white. Very white. White on white, in fact.
And it’s everywhere. White ceilings and walls, white furniture. The floor might even be painted white. It’s frosty, yet distinctly not Scandinavian. It’s paired with black or gray, if any color besides white is allowed.
It’s totally on trend for the majority of Americans who care about such things.
The Internet and home-design shows have ushered in the era of neutrals. Despite the Pantone Color of the Year continuing to skew toward deep, bold color (this year it’s Viva Magenta), neutrals are the accepted color of luxury and privilege in home décor and in fashion.
It’s so ubiquitous that there are even online parodies of children’s colorless fashions, recommending “sad, beige clothes for sad, beige children.”
It began with colonialism
An article in Psychology Today a couple of years ago (“There’s Nothing Neutral About Neutral Colors” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/making-sense/202006/there-s-nothing-neutral-about-neutral-colors) explored the historical origins of the rigid Western control of color. The preference for neutral, subdued tones is, according to historians, a trend that began with colonialism, and is, the article concluded, a powerful statement of someone’s perceived social, intellectual and racial status.
A recent article in Buzzfeed News (https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemcneal/beige-neutrals-trend-social-media) stated, “A spokesperson for the creator-driven shopping platform LTK told me that in the past month searchers looking for a neutral aesthetic” have shot up by 283 percent, with a 400 percent increase in searches for a vanilla-girl aesthetic.”
It was not always thus, particularly in the Hudson Valley and Catskills. Woodstock, the historic arts colony, was once particularly colorful. Even a decade ago, décor was still often inspired by the colors of Tibet and India. Before Kingston became fashionable, home décor there was anything but.
Now the most expensive homes in any Hudson Valley community all look very much the same.
Sean Scherer refers to it as “boring interiors for boring people.”
Scherer is an artist. He is also an author, educator, and owner of Kabinett & Kammer, a Delaware County shop he describes as a contemporary curiosity shop of antiques, natural wonders, and art. He calls himself a modernist, but to him that doesn’t mean spare and boring. He’s the man who helped create a one-of-a-kind home in a former firehouse for CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, replete with cherished family heirlooms, deep colors, and lots of books.
That’s the polar opposite of what most design sites tell you to do.
Scherer said a Nashville antiques dealer recently passed on a cabinet in his shop that she desperately wanted to buy. It was gray, with a hint of green. She said her clients wouldn’t buy anything that wasn’t pure white, black or gray. Their décor, she said, was white on white.
“European interiors or artists’ homes in this country,” Scherer said, “they’re filled with collections. Modernist artist Luis Barragan’s home in Mexico City has antiques in his modernist home, items collected over the years, or handed down from family. George Nakashima [furniture maker, architect and known as the Father of American Arts and Crafts] had a home filled with his collections. Even the modernists don’t live the way these people are living. They have the stuff of life in their homes.”
Scherer shook his head. “Too many people want their homes to look like what they see on social media, or TV shows. It looks so pretentious, even though they think it’s so casual and minimal. But I think it has an opposite effect. They’re creating spaces that have no relationship to the home or the region, and that’s one of the worst things you can do.”
It’s about context
Meg Lavalette is an interior designer. Lava Interiors has offices in New York City and Franklin, NY, and she also has a shop in Franklin. Lava Atelier is stocked with unusual furniture and accents she has found on overseas buying trips. Her portfolio includes some neutral rooms, but even those feature bold accents and layers of textures. She agrees that any home-design decisions need to start with the home and its location, rather than a one-look-fits-all approach.
“It’s all about personal style,” she said. “It’s about context. What’s the architecture? Where is the structure located? Who inhabits the space? Those are the points of reference to begin developing the design concept.”
Lavalette isn’t afraid of color, and says people more often make mistakes on the quality of items rather than the color.
“Color shouldn’t be scary. It should be liberating and fun. If you’re worried about making a mistake, start with a neutral base and then layer color on top, playing with saturation, application, hue, and any other variation to see what feels good to you. Discover what colors and tones speak to you. If you need guidance, look to your wardrobe and other items you’ve already collected.”
Scherer calls his personal style Old-World Layers, and employs an artist’s eye to create interesting vignettes from collected items. His new book, due next year from Vendome, will focus specifically on guidance to create your own home displays of beloved items.
His first book, “Kabinett & Kammer: Creating Authentic Interiors,” is in its third printing. Anthropologie is stocking it in its stores, he says, so “clearly someone’s into what I do.”
His inspiration has been the homes of other artists and collectors.
“If you look at the most interesting homes of collectors, it’s layered, it’s filled. They’ve filled the walls because they can’t stop collecting art. If you’re reflecting the self that you see online, it’s not you. You’re just copying someone else.”
Down with the rules
Scherer and Lavalette agree that some of the time-honored rules of home décor are nonsense.
“People think color or dark colors in a small space makes it smaller, which is not true,” Scherer said. “To me, nothing is more cold or makes a space less interesting, scale-wise, than white. As soon as you put a color in it, boom! – the space looks huge. Can’t have a big piece of furniture in a small room? A big piece of furniture actually makes the scale feel bigger everywhere.”
Lavalette also calls it a myth that dark, bold colors make a space smaller. She said it’s all a question of what you do with those colors.
“If you paint a room black and do nothing else with it, it’s going to be horribly strange, unless you’re wanting a cave vibe. Two of my favorite black rooms are Adam Levine’s bedroom by Mark Haddawy and Trey Laird’s library by Jeffrey Bilhuber. Playing devil’s advocate, black walls give the perception of more space because the visual limits aren’t as keenly perceived due to the depth from the deep hue.”
It’s not, Lavalette said, about the so-called rules. “Color doesn’t mean maximalism, and neutral doesn’t mean minimalism. Josh Young Design House is doing neutral maximalism in a captivating way right now. He has a look, and it’s layered, and very white, and mixes periods and styles.”
Scherer said social media is driving the trends right now, but he points out that the white-on-white look actually began in upscale hotels. “But if you look at boutique hotels now, they’re not white on white,” he said. “They’re layered. They’re wallpapered. They have color. But it’s going to take a lot longer for it to trickle down.”
For Scherer, the plain white interior says something about who we are right now.
“When I worked with Anderson Cooper, it was very clear that that was his home, and very personal to him. It was clearly someone’s personality, someone’s home,” Scherer said. “And that’s what I see missing in most interior-designer homes. I can appreciate them, but I never really feel like there’s a personality attached to the interior. I think it’s part of our boring culture, our sameness. It’s kind of a cultural flatness. I always say the best interiors don’t look like they’ve been ‘done,’ they look like they happened. You just need some authenticity. Everything’s looking very forced. You have to allow for things that don’t fit in.”
Are you looking to add a little color to your life? Scherer says it’s about color as well as texture. Keep your plain white sofa, he advised. But add velvet pillow with different hues of one color, and a beautiful throw in a nice color. Then throw a colorful kilim or a piece of art on the wall. You’ve changed the feeling of the space.
Meg Lavalette, an interior designer and owner of Lava Interiors, was named as a 2022 Interior Designer to Watch by First Dibs. She also owns Lava Atelier. She works in the tri-state area and offers virtual design services at https://www.lavainteriors.com/services.
Sean Scherer is an artist, educator, collector, decorator and author whose Delaware County shop Kabinett & Kammer serves as inspiration for clients around the globe. His work has been featured in House Beautiful, Country Living, and The New York Times, among other publications. His second book is due this year: https://kabinettandkammer.com
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