Coloring My World in a World Drained of Color

This is a topic I’ve been thinking about for a while, and I finally realized it deserved its own blog post. Does anyone else feel like we grew up in color but are now living in beige?

Personally, my home and my wardrobe don’t reflect that shift, but when I look around, I often feel like I’m in the minority.

And today gave me the perfect example.

I had an appointment with my ophthalmologist this morning. (I was blessed with “a good eye,” but not good eyes, if you know what I mean. Thanks to a history of retinal tears, I get the joy of yearly follow-ups.) I’m always the youngest person in the waiting room, but today I was also, without question, the brightest.

I walked in wearing a bright yellow coat layered over a multicolored blouse, a red sweater, and red flats. Almost immediately, an older gentleman looked up and said, “Beautiful coat.” I joked that I was trying to brighten up the dreary day, and he smiled and replied, “Well, you definitely brightened mine.” Another woman chimed in to say I was the most colorfully dressed person she’d seen come through all day.

Even my doctor commented, asking where I was going “all dressed up.” When I explained that I just like to dress colorfully, he asked what I do for a living. I told him I’m an interior designer, and he chuckled and said, “Well, that explains it.”

That comment stuck with me.

Has wearing color really become so unusual that it needs an explanation? So out of the norm that it feels like you need a reason—like a holiday, or even a profession—to justify it?

None of the comments were negative. Everyone was kind and complimentary.

But it made me pause.

Somewhere along the way, bold color shifted from being joyful and expressive to something that feels unusual, risky, or even a little eccentric.

I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, when color really did rule the world (hello, Rainbow Brite and The Color Kids, spreading color and kindness everywhere they went). And I don’t think that’s just nostalgia talking—the world truly was more colorful. Look at old photos of parking lots compared to today. Cars used to come in all kinds of colors; now they’re mostly black, gray, and white. Even McDonald’s has gone from bright reds and yellows and playful interiors to something sleek, modern, and monochromatic. I realized later that my red and yellow outfit was practically channeling the old version.

The same shift has happened inside our homes. The interiors of my childhood were filled with mauves, hunter greens, florals, and personality. Was all of it great? No. Was it memorable? Absolutely. I can vividly picture details from my Aunt Mary’s house and my Nanny and Pap Pap’s home, and I’m convinced it’s because of the personality, pattern, and color infused into those spaces.

Today, interiors often fall into one of two camps: an industrial look filled with concrete and metal, or a modern farmhouse palette of white, black, cream, and wood tones. Many people aim for what I tend to call the “Airbnb look”—spaces designed to appeal to everyone.

And that’s part of the problem.

So much of what we see now feels curated for resale, not for living. Homes are designed to be clean and calming, which is fine—but they can also feel a bit monotonous. I think we’ve come to associate color with risk or commitment, something we might “get sick of.” Neutrals feel safer and more flexible. They feel inoffensive.

When people talk about renovating, I often hear, “We need to think about resale.” Unless you’re flipping a property or moving in the near future, I don’t believe that should be the driving factor. Trends change. Styles cycle. What matters most is how your home makes you feel while you’re actually living in it.

I understand the hesitation. Black, white, gray, and beige are often seen as more elegant, more serious, and more respectable. That mindset has deeply influenced corporate culture—and it’s one of the reasons we see it everywhere.

But color doesn’t have to mean chaos.

It can be layered thoughtfully. It can be timeless when done well. And it can make spaces—and people—feel alive. That yellow coat didn’t just brighten my outfit; it sparked conversation and made people smile. It stood out in a sea of sameness.

It also seems that we often reserve color and playfulness for children’s spaces. Nurseries and bedrooms feel like the one place where people are willing to step outside their comfort zone with pattern, whimsy, and bold choices. Walk into a pediatrician’s office, a preschool, or the children’s section of a library and you’re almost guaranteed to experience playful design and joyful color. Think about the way those spaces make you feel. Why aren’t we more willing to let that joy spill into other areas of our homes?

Think about the reaction people had when the Home Alone house was renovated in such a sterile way. People were genuinely upset—yet many of us are still hesitant to bring character and color into our own homes. Sometimes it feels like we’re living in Pleasantville, but in reverse, slowly draining the world of color until everything feels flat.

We’ve all likely been taught somewhere along the way that color affects how we feel. There are countless studies on color psychology and mood, including Seasonal Affective Disorder (no coincidence that the acronym is SAD), which is more common during darker winter months. No wonder a bright yellow coat stood out on a gray January day! We also know that green spaces lower stress and cortisol levels—so why wouldn’t we want to bring some of that same energy into our homes and wardrobes? There’s even a term for it: dopamine dressing. I get an instant dopamine hit when I step into my closet to get dressed every day; it’s great!

So, to wrap this up, think back to what it felt like opening a brand-new box of crayons as a kid—that sense of possibility. That’s how decorating a home should feel. What can you create that reflects you, rather than what’s trending? You didn’t hesitate as a kid to color a horse purple. Who says you can’t choose something a little unexpected as an adult—like purple kitchen cabinets? Honestly, I think that sounds lovely, and I’m actually considering it.

Everything is cyclical. I have no doubt that color and maximalism will make a comeback, if they aren’t already. Maybe we can help it along a bit. Wear the colorful coat. Paint the room. Hang the wallpaper.

I know I am—and it gets noticed, in the best way. If you need me, I’ll be out and about spreading color and kindness in my corner of the world, channeling those Color Kids like a modern-day Rainbow Brite.

Maximalist Color or Classic White? My Outdoor Christmas Light Dilemma

The big debate in our home this holiday season is whether to put up colored or white outdoor lights. As many of you saw in my stories over the fall, we remodeled our front porch and no longer have railings. I’ve owned the same colored lights for close to 10 years now, and while once upon a time I was a white-light girl, that changed when my sister scored one of those can’t-pass-up Black Friday deals on the Phillips big-bulb colored lights and “sold” them to me.

Can we pause for a second to talk about how Black Friday used to be SO FUN? My sisters, mom, and I would wait up every year on Thanksgiving — falling asleep on the couch as we digested our meal — just to gear up to head out into the chaos around midnight. We’d stay up all night shopping, laughing, and scoring the best deals. Then we’d go get breakfast around 3–4am. It was the best. Black Friday just doesn’t hit the same anymore.

Anyway, I must not have been with her that year to score this amazing deal, but props to Tiff for thinking of her domesticated big sis trying to make her first house a home for the holidays. At the time, she wasn’t even a homeowner yet and couldn’t have cared less about Christmas lights. Now that she has a family and home of her own, she jokingly says she’ll buy them back. Haha!

So while I wouldn’t have chosen colored lights a decade ago, I’m always one to recognize a good deal — and over the years, I’ve grown to love them. Now that I've really settled into my design aesthetic as someone who loves color, they feel even more appropriate.

But back to the porch … and the fact that we no longer have railings. I usually wrap my lights around the railings, so I brought up to my family that I’m not quite sure how to approach decorating this year. Wrap the new pillars? How do I get from one pillar to the next without cords everywhere? Put them on the bushes? We don’t really have any substantial evergreen bushes. Put them in the trees? How would we even reach? Can my husband bring home a manlift? (He’s in the equipment business, after all.)

No, he says. He’d need a trailer — he doesn’t have a pull-behind manlift right now — and that sounds like a lot of trouble for Christmas lights. Honestly, I’m starting to see why people hire someone to hang their Christmas lights. Good grief.

In the midst of all this, my girls (10 and 13) chime in and announce that they want white lights this year. “They’re so aesthetic,” they say. “So preppy!” And suddenly I’m questioning everything. Should I make the switch? What do I do with the colored garland and wreath I spent a small fortune on? How much are Christmas lights these days anyway? What would I do with my amazing Black Friday lights that I’ve cherished all these years?

Not to mention — my neighbor across the street told me she really likes looking out her window every year and admiring my colored lights.

So yes, the full-on house debate is officially underway:
Nostalgic, warm, cozy, festive colored lights that fit my maximalist aesthetic?
or
Classic, elegant, Pinterest-worthy, minimalist-but-magical white lights?

You know what’s really elegant? Using the lights I already paid for. I might not have paid a lot (thank you, Black Friday deal from long ago), but they are paid for nonetheless.

Maybe we compromise and do a mix of both? Maybe we swap every other year? Colored outside, white inside? The possibilities are endless.

So tell me — are you Team White Lights or Team Colored Lights? I have a few more days to decide, and I’m going to ponder it a bit more. Maybe I’ll even check out the Black Friday deals this year and see if I can score another bargain.

At the end of the day, whether the lights are white, colored, blinking, twinkling, or a little tangled, it’s the tradition of putting them up together that matters most.