If you’re not familiar with the “sad, beige” trend that has entirely taken over my TikTok “For You” page, let me explain. This concept came about as minimalist motherhood influencers shared their lives online. They would often show their children’s rooms and toys and many of them featured neutrals and colorfree aesthetics. This led to a storm of criticism stating that these mothers had “sad, beige” babies who lived in a colorless world. This then evolved and expanded into almost every facet of life from “sad, beige” apartments to “sad, beige” outfits to now (to my dismay) “sad, beige” Christmas. My question: since when did beige mean sad?
As a huge fan of minimalism, beige has always been a comfort color for me. My entire bedroom (and frankly, my entire life) revolves around the colors of white, cream, beige, and gold. For me, this provides a sense of order and calmness in my life. Everything has a place and goes together in a seamless way. There’s no sudden pops of color encroaching on my peace and disrupting my carefully thought out decor. OCD? Maybe. Sad? No! At least not for me.
And by no means am I defending mothers with “sad, beige” babies. I understand that, according to child psychologists, babies need color in their lives as a means of mental stimulation. But that is entirely different from the idea of a “sad, beige” Christmas.
For me, Christmas decor is all about the snow, the gold accents, and the warmth of the lights (AKA white, gold, and beige). I totally get it that this doesn’t scream Christmas to everyone. Some people like those (god-awful) multi-colored lights or covering their trees in every eclectic ornament they can get their hands on. For some, Christmas means an explosion of color everywhere and anywhere. But that’s just not for me.
Videos keep popping up on my “For You” page featuring influencers decorating their houses in gorgeous displays of gold, white, and beige lights, trees, and decorations. And what does almost every comment say? “Sad, beige Christmas”, “this isn’t Christmas”, “I would hate if this was my house”. Well, you know what, I’m mad about it. Just because Christmas is beige doesn’t make it sad. Just because it isn’t Christmas to you doesn’t mean it’s not Christmas to someone else. And guess what? It’s not your house, so why do you care? Why hate on something that has nothing to do with you and clearly brings someone else joy?
Moral of the story, I love my “sad, beige” Christmas and no, I won’t apologize for it. To me it’s warm, pretty, light, and airy. Everyone has their individual tastes and preferences and it’s not cool to go around hating someone for their decor just because it’s not your style. You wouldn’t want someone to tell you that your colorful Christmas decorations that are bringing you joy are ugly, so why is it okay for you to do the same just because it’s beige? Stop yucking other people’s yums! Enjoy your Christmas and what it means to you, and don’t worry about other people’s Christmas and what it means to them. Ok, rant over.