Always paint your walls beige

This bit of wisdom goes along with what I wrote about wearing argyle.  Just like argyle has been classic and timeless, so have off-white walls.  Color trends come and go, but beige, taupe and off-white walls and white wood work never go out of style.   When I was very young, it was so trendy to have a kitchen with harvest gold or avocado green appliances.  Thank goodness that trend came and went!  But when appliances were first introduced, they were white.  and you still can't go wrong with white appliances (although stainless steel and black are still "neutral").  When I first moved into our current home 24 years ago, the color trend was steel blue and mauve.  I wanted it so bad, but I had so many navy's and rust, I couldn't afford to make the change.

The first house we bought together after getting married included all white woodwork.  If you wanted the "stain package", you had to pay extra.  (That was because the 6 panel doors didn't have to be real wood to be white, but the stain package required all real wood doors and trim.).  So when we were building our second home 4 years later, they offered the stain package as a standard.  We had the choice of white or stain.  Why wouldn't I choose the stain package when it was an "extra" in the first house?  So I picked the stain package because it seemed to be a better "deal".  But what I didn't realize is that stained wood work comes and goes.  It wasn't much after our purchase of the new home that stained woodwork was OUT and white was IN (although white has never been out).  We have now lived in our home 24 years.  The walls that were originally painted off white, were soon covered with a grasscloth wallpaper.  When that went out, I painted over the grass cloth with a dark green.  I recently decided that the house needed to be updated, and I wanted to make changes that would be "timeless" and help me to sell the house when the time came.  Guess what?  I had to pay a lot of money to strip that painted wallpaper, repair the walls and paint them back to beige.  And I got rid of the blue furniture, the gold furniture, and any furniture with "color" and decorated in various forms of off-white, beige and a touch of black.  I can almost guarantee that these pieces will be "timeless".  If I need to update, I can do it with colored accessories and pillows.  When my oldest daughter bought her first home, she bought off-white couches and put them in a room with bright pillows and a colorful rug.  When that color palate changes, she just needs to pitch the accessories, and buy new accessories in the newest trendy color.  But what is the name of her favorite paint color in her house??  Natural!  How timeless is that?