Lovers of pale neutrals unite! We’re closer to finishing our basement here at the Georgian, and I’m in the throes of choosing a wall color. You would think this would be the easiest part of the project as a consultant for paint color. However, each project presents challenges, and the idea of choosing the wrong hue for 1,000 square feet is daunting. I have yet to feel ready since we struggled to choose flooring. We finally selected it yesterday, so today I’ll determine the best neutral. Today’s collection of pale and lovely spaces will hopefully inspire and help with all of that!
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Texture as Color for Interiors With Pale Neutrals
I haven’t always kept the decorating understated and devoid of color. There was a bunch of experimentation with color (even bold color) in the 80s and 90s.
When we moved from our 1920s bungalow into a newly constructed spec home, I was obsessed with Restoration Hardware’s Silver Sage. That was a short chapter living with green before I turned to warmer, moody and muddy tones.
Within weeks I knew that direction was a big ol’ mistake too.
Finally, the quieter side of neutrals began to work magic on our spaces and my nervous system. Why?
In my new semi-rural setting, I found the beauty of the prairie and woodlands didn’t need any competition. Nature outdoors bloomed into sharper focus as colors quieted indoors.
Understated Color With Layers of Texture
I’m not sure I ever thought about the relationship of the setting and the structure before that move from the city to the country.
If you’re truly aimed at bringing the outside in, you don’t want clashing, competition, or a disconnect. Your choices inside will always be conversing with the setting.
Above: Antiques from Europe, reclaimed materials, fine art, plaster finishes, and Old World elegance cohere poetically in a timeless pale and neutral European kitchen with finishes by Segreto.
An alternative to the expense and labor of traditional Venetian plaster? An alternative material may also deliver the desired texture. Brooke and Steve Giannetti skimmed walls at Patina Farm with Kal-Kote.
No paint required and a pale creamy backdrop for daily living with maximum natural light.
Humble & Serene French Nordic Style
If today’s timeless ethereal European influenced collection does not float your boat, you may admire the eclectic French farmhouse in Toulouse we recently toured.
I tend not to post many vignette moments for inspiration because frankly, they often feel overly contrived and inconsistent with an unfussy composition.
But an assemblage of decorative objects or collected treasures can be helpful to notice how mixing textures and scale can be pleasing.
This vignette above with its quiet color and timeworn texture conveys humility and simplicity. New, shiny and saturated colorful things can’t always deliver those qualities.
Natural Textures & the Ethereal
Nature truly has no competition, and there are plenty of pale tones represented.
You also can’t argue with patina and aging natural materials.
Thank goodness there is a growing reverence for preserving the old and turning away from the disposable, the cheaply made, and the synthetic.
Younger generations are mindful of their carbon footprint and long to protect the planet.
Such mindful design does not come without a price. Incorporating repurposed pieces (whether it is old and valuable or not) is often expensive.
Such European country sensibility to re-use, repurpose, recycle, restore, and refinish thrills me.
A little less goes into a landfill. Living finishes bring a sense of soul to interiors and improve with age.
Functional Decor & Turning Away from Filler
In America’s corporate-happy, capitalist culture, at every corner we are wooed to replace, dispose, and acquire the new.
It is such a pervasive message on the daily that it takes great effort to make the generative or earth-honoring choices. Yet we can start with our decor!
When functional objects are also prized collections to bring into service daily?
These eyes never tire of collections of French stoneware, ironstone, terracotta, bowls, and multi-use receptacles in a neutral array of hues.
Age provides such delicious texture.
When Texture is Your Favorite Color
Stone is maybe my favorite source of natural, pale neutrals, but the possibilities for the range of warm and cool neutrals are endless.
Quiet whispers of elegant pale tones work harmoniously with rustic warmth.
Texture truly may be all the color needed.
A word of reminder: you will not arrested by the design police should you opt to NOT add that pop of color or *gasp* turn away from black accents.
There are still plenty of options for adding contrast or tension.
The important guiding principle is to create spaces that feel inviting to YOU, not the internet.
No exterior pressure should enter into your plans since the goal is always to enhance your mood and not your self-consciousness.
This can get tricky when you’re a blogger of interiors, but I have developed a thick skin for that gallery of voices with little constructive feedback. I’m not looking for accolades as my tastes and tolerances evolve…there are plenty of other sources of fulfillment!
How do I want my life to feel? How can I make choices that are a good fit for us right where we are?
These guiding questions are more helpful to my journey.
European Country Sophisticated Simplicity
Clutter and excess can be charming, but if it impedes daily living?
Spare can be luxurious.
Personally, I am too easily overwhelmed by the volume of colors, clutter, and stimulation. Safe is how I feel when the balance of neutrals is right. Psst. When did “safe” become such an embarrassing, un-American impulse to a segment of society?
Aged, Old World, Chalky European Texture
Plenty of brand new modern rooms with smooth, pristine, finishes feel flat, and it’s worth exploring why.
While we are all different, many of us feel a sense of comfort and wonder when a design feels balanced and interesting.
Somehow and maybe subconsciously, an “earned integrity” is conveyed when finishes are worn and scarred from time and use.
Texture is often the key!
These fantasy home examples show what is possible when the budget is massive. Saving the old thing can indeed be costly. Settling for new has a cost too.
There is no denying the power of the authentic whether we are talking interior design or personal integrity.
Are we drawn to the true, the pure, and the really real?
Are we in touch with what we want and what we value? Where are the disconnects?
Sometimes our deepest longings live in tension with our forward, public-facing choices.
These bigger questions about desire and authenticity are never far from my mind. Movement away from traces of imitation is ever that path of interest to me.
Old World Style & Newly Constructed Structures
Did I lose you in an ethereal haze of imperfectly articulated soulful musing? Forgive!
A mix of interiors with neutral color stories, textures, and soulful layering obviously ignites my creative imagination.
I suppose that for me, ethereal spaces offer a canvas to project longing. Not unlike fine art.
Are lovers of pale lovely European country spaces more likely to daydream?
Hahahaha. Maybe the objects and light with which we surround ourselves speak in subtle mysterious ways.
With a few exceptions, open-ended questions are always more helpful than formulaic design advice.
It’s YOU who is free to decide what awakens that pure sense of peaceful contentedness in your spirit.
Tap here for a primer for creating a rustic white European inspired look. For an incredible gallery of sophisticated interiors with artful finishes, GO HERE.
Soulful 1930s English Cottage
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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