The Switzerland Scheme

When people talk about color, the discussion always seems to circle around the rainbow: reds, blues, yellows… I blame our familiarity with Lucky Charms. I’ve recently become completely obsessed with neutrals, however, all starting with the purchase of a nail polish.

I honestly wouldn’t have looked twice at it if it hadn’t been for the name of the color: French Lingerie. I picked it up, looked at it,  thought, “Hey that’s nice”, and put it down. But seriously crew, I thought about it for days. I eventually went back on my lunch and bought it. Upon buying it, I immediately put it on and stared at my fingers for days. It’s a hypnotic flesh, beige-y hue, with tones of pink, yellow, gray, purple.

This got me thinking about neutrals. In any color composition, be it interiors, graphics, art, whatever, neutrals are our powerhouse. They quietly ground the scheme, standing, stoically pointing to the colors we’re supposed to be looking at. They slip and slide out of view, always redirecting your attention elsewhere, shifting the undertones you see when you finally manage to pin one down long enough.

And that is the magic of neutrals: subtlety, levels, trickery. Seriously, look for neutrals today. I bet it’s almost everything you look at on a daily basis, but never notice the color. Most everything you see is brown, beige, white, gray, but we never notice it. I for now say screw color, at least until another nail polish catches my eye.

--Becky!