This complex color isn?t a synonym for boring In some camps, beige is something of a bad word. A query to designers and the design-minded yielded responses such as: ?First of all, don?t call it beige? and ?beige needs a new name.? And yet, drop the bland connotations and you see that the color can be a complex, yet soothing backdrop.
So complex, in fact, it?s difficult to define. The dictionary describes it as a ?pale, sandy, yellowish-brown color.? But the color range can be better understood by looking at the synonyms that follow the listing: ?fawn, pale brown, buff, sand, sandy, oatmeal, khaki, coffee, cafe au lait, ecru...? Add to that the popularity of the gray-beige color dubbed ?greige? and the nearly, but not quite, white shade called ?off-white? and you are glimpsing the tip of the iceberg. ?Beige is a beautiful French word meaning the color of undyed wool,? says interior designer Sarah Reid of Small Victories Design. ?Sadly, the worst of American design tendencies got its grips on the word and now it means bland, bland, bland. It's like ordering the chicken on a menu: very safe.?
In order to get her clients to consider the hue, Reid uses almost any other moniker. ?I use the words biscuit, camel, or taupe mostly. If I suggest we use beige to a client they look at me like ?why did I hire you"? so I have to use synonyms and a lot of adjectives to get people to be open to it.?
But as William Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, "A rose by any other n...