Synaesthesia: the unusual reason behind my love of neutral decor
I originally published this post back in 2018, but in recent weeks I’ve seen yet more Instagram and magazine pieces pushing the idea that neutral decor is bland and soulless. So, I feel it’s time to update and reshare it – and explain why I find the continuing ‘beige is boring’ narrative so frustrating. If you’ve spent any amount of time looking through this blog, you’ll have noticed that I’m always drawn towards calming, neutral hues. There are many reasons for this: they’re timeless and elegant, they create a versatile base that works with pretty much anything, and they help turn our homes into restful sanctuaries where we can unwind from the stresses and strains of our busy lives. But there’s another factor, too, and that’s a neurological condition called synaesthesia. If you haven’t heard of synaesthesia before, it’s where senses or cognitive pathways overlap, and the triggering of one leads to the involuntary triggering of another. It affects roughly one person in every ...