The Rise of the Sad Beige Aesthetic

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The "sad beige aesthetic" is on the rise in upper-class interior decor and children's clothing. From minimalistic nurseries to monochromatic children's fashion, the sad beige trend is taking over, but is there a dark side to this trend?
Intro 00:00
The Adoption of Beige 02:47
Play Rooms 04:16
Play Rooms (Continued) 07:05
Sad Beige Parents 08:05
Conclusion 09:47

[@RobertTolppi]

Offset your carbon footprint on Wren: www.wren.co/start/roberttolppi The first 100 people who sign up will have 10 extra trees planted in their name!

[@plursocks]

I'm not saying this to bash Wren or anyone who contributes it. We do need to do something to tackle the climate crisis and it's great to contribute to local initiatives. But as someone in environmental science, the science behind carbon offsetting is shaky at best and pushing forward this idea can bring the unintended consequence of not reducing the amount of carbon you use every day. For example, we still don't know how much planting trees offsets carbon and whether the amount of carbon offset changes throughout the tree's lifetime. So yes, please help local initiatives and try to avoid producing more pollution. But don't break out your calculators...just do as much as you can.

[@sillycookie]

It's good to be conscious about being eco friendly, and I know you need money, but we need to hold big corporations for destroying the environment accountable, not the average person. Like, compared to the monstrous waste corporations dump into the air and sea, each individual's "carbon footprint" is absolutely miniscule.

[@leerylifeform]

Carbon offsetting is bullshit not unlike the practice of purchasing indulgences.

[@killianbrooks9652]

I took the wren questionair and noticed the questions asked seem very class coded. I'm poor as all get out, and I filled it out as close to accurate as I could and got a score of 3.9 tons of a carbon footprint. They had no options for dumpster diving for food, no pet options other than dogs or cats (I have 4 chickens),no options for carpooling,no options for eating bugs or foraging or gardening.. That aside I can't afford to pay for food most of the time let alone to offset my carbon footprint and I'm sad that they don't have anything on the site about volunteering/direct action opritunities. No hate to you,love you're channel and enjoyed the video this is just my review of the wren thing.

[@AKA253]

There’s a family who has a very “gothic” style house had a video about their young daughter and her “day in the life”. Black rooms, dark decor, and the baby’s playroom is full of bright colors and toys. The family keeps their aesthetic and their child develops an understanding and appreciation for color and exciting new things.

[@sprnkles]

The baby is also asked if she likes color and screams “NO!!” as loudly as she can. 😭😭😭

[@CrowCoded]

@@sprnkles I find this so cute and funny oml

[@deadfr0g]

I see a red door And I want it painted black No colors anymore I want them to turn black

[@kittykittybangbang9367]

link?

[@bananawitchcraft]

As a goth, I've noticed that goths in general tend to be pretty considerate about that. Maybe it's because, as people with unorthodox fashion sense, we really appreciate having autonomy in our own stylistic choices. Some of us have had to deal with being on the receiving end of parents controlling how we look.

[@B34rHands]

do these ppl not know that babies need high-contrast colors and variety around them? their eyes are still developing and their eye sight will suffer if they’re not being introduced to more colors of varying shades and contrasts. it’s the reason a lot of baby toys/ decor feature black and white detailings

[@pissbaby6849]

I mean shit I didn't!! Child psychology/physiology/development classes should be necessary for everyone.

[@starsINSPACE]

I think people know kids are attracted to "garish" colors, but they think of it as a marketing ploy. Like, every little kid has picked some colorful toy up and cried until their parents get it. So their parents associate colorfulness with companies trying to make kids beg for a product. They don't always remember children are attracted to the colors for a developmental need/reason.

[@srorrim]

Hm. Interesting

[@Bee-uy2cn]

When their eyes are in the newborn stage yes and honestly note cards and a book are enough, past that it is thought that multiple colors are overstimulating. There are multiple studies saying bright colors are overstimulating and multiple studies saying they are necessary. Bright colors are just the american aesthetic to be honest. Bright colors are eye catching and drive mood and emotions, also look at the advertisements here, all bright colors to grab attention. Look at places like sweden and other nordic countries, they do not have crazy bright, busy, toys. They are very simple with muted colors. Either way there is no difinitive study on whether muted HOME colors are bad. It might be muted in the home but if baby is going to day care, to family/ friends and or outside enough those colors are enough to engance development.

[@JamieHumeCreative]

I'm one of those people who has the extra cone type. I was not raised with a lot of intense colour. I'm just fine. So, too much of the wrong colour intensity and patterns can have strong effects on my brain that I do not appreciate. I did not have a lot of brightly coloured toys and our home aesthetic was Danish Modern. I still prefer it but also love Medieval tapestries, castles and ancient herb gardens. I preferred my plane blocks, connect sticks and disks all made of wood. Some were solid primary colours, but a lot were not.. I see a lot of variation and I can't hepl but think people are missing a lot of the wonders of subtlety in life. Gie me sticks, leaves, stones, driftwood and so forth and I will give you imagination.

[@marnenotmarnie259]

imagine ignoring your child's developmental needs just to keep your aesthetic intact

[@acciousername6776]

It's just unfathomable

[@bananawitchcraft]

Of course they aren't thinking about what the baby wants when they buy toys for the baby. They weren't thinking about what the baby would want when they _had_ the baby. They just condemned that kid to a lifetime on planet Earth in the 21st century. In too many cases, the baby is an accessory for the parent.

[@IsomerMashups]

There are some parents who have kids exclusively to parade them around. I can believe it.

[@marnenotmarnie259]

@@IsomerMashups it's really sad how common that is. i wish people would put more thought into it before having kids. they understand that it's a big decision, but they only ever seem to consider how that decision will affect them. not the baby (who does have interests and a personality), which they forget will grow into a kid (with even more interests and personality), and then into an adult (who now has to deal with life and all the things that come with it, but isn't well equipped for independence because they didn't get proper support or care).

[@marnenotmarnie259]

sorry for the paragraph lol, i guess i care about this subject a lot

[@Stella-dw2wp]

I’m 20, and was a Montessori baby. But back in those years, “Montessori” wasn’t as capitalized on as it is now. All of the toys and learning tools were nice primary colors. My parents owned so many books written by Maria Montessori detailing how to accurately use her program. Montessori was made for socioeconomically disadvantaged kids, now whatever version of “Montessori” is around now is for sad beige rich families

[@mimi-fm7hz]

I’m a bit younger but had a Montessori inspired upbringing and I remember wooden toys with bright rainbow stains and a lot of the naturalistic style with actual colors. I still remember them from when I was around 6 because they were so fun to play with

[@ThatGirlJD]

I'm old enough to be your mother and I went to a nursery school/preschool that incorporated the Montessori method, we had colors, lots of them everywhere. I'm so glad the prison aesthetic wasn't en vogue when I was a child. At least the colorful stuff is still affordable. And as far as the "crunchy moms" they can just use natural nontoxic paint and dyes for their kids toys, decor and clothing. There is no reason to do this to a child.

[@cjboyo]

I went to a montessori preschool! It was fantastic

[@twigwigsoso]

i went to a Montessori school you went outside so much places with so much color, we had like plain wooden toys as well but we also had colorful ones- A ton of colorful puzzles, I wasn't raised Montessori but the schools was really beneficial

[@faithfm1]

I was in a Montessori school too and there were lots of colors and textures of the learning tools.

[@sabaducia]

Maybe it's because I'm a millennial, but every friends' baby born between 2010 and now lives this sad aesthetic. I don't think it's new, but it is tragic.

[@heatheranddenerale]

Yea, I’m Gen X and my two kids born after 2010 had/have a lot of color in their rooms and clothes. I think it’s because I’m both old and not rich.

[@seana806]

I am thankful I didn’t grow up with the sad beige aesthetic though I grew up with the southwestern aesthetic of the 90’s in the early 2000’s. Sometimes I with there was more blue, turquoise, pink, red, yellow, and many other vibrant colors that were around in the 50’s and 60’s since those colors put me in a optimistic mood while beige, white, and grey put me in a sad and drab mood. The sad beige aesthetic isn’t only around in homes, but sadly is around in most of today’s cars since they too have gotten quite boring and bland as of late.

[@Gingerm0nster]

I blame Kim Kardashian. Her house is sad beige central

[@big_ph1sh]

yeah millennials and gen z grew up with the internet and wanting to match an aesthetic

[@artvulture456]

Idk what kind of lives yall are living, every kid born after 2010 I know lives in a house full of trash

[@ascl24]

"Rainbows aren't the colors of gentley used toilet paper" I CAN'T

[@ariw9405]

Some parents are more concerned with their own decor than their child’s development or happiness. I had this conversation with a friend. Her registry had zero color on it. Everything was beige and wood. I asked her if she was going for the straight jacket chic look. So sad to see marketing yet again win to the detriment of child development.

[@frances9975]

Were you able to change her mind slightly?

[@solala1312]

"straight jacket look" made me laugh! I can tell you though that the socks are bright colors in psychwards.

[@ThatGirlJD]

@@solala1312 Most hospitals have color coded socks.

[@liviwaslost]

@@ThatGirlJDI had yellow socks when I went in for surgery.

[@60oh]

ohgodohgod my childhood room was EXACTLY like this!! Im an older millennial and it wasnt a trend back then though. My mother is an OCD cleaner and hates colours with passion, says she cannot see if something's dirty if its not white or black. My childhood room & furniture were LITERALLY 100% BEIGE, the first photo in this video gave me such intense emotional reaction!! Other kids envied my beautiful room, but i loved going to theirs, seeing real toys, colorful pictures and walls, patterned blankets..... i always say i grew up in a sterile museum devoid of colour. No I didnt love it, no it didnt make me feel peaceful at all. It made me nervous because i was always afraid i would stain or ruin it. And my mother is abusive so she screamed at me even if i spilled half spoon of water onto the fucking white carpet. I understand aesthetics,minimalism and all that, but I truly believe parents need to understand that children are SEPARATE PEOPLE as in they do not necessarily will have the same taste as they do. the real joy of parenthood is in discovering what your child likes and who they grow up to be, not making a clone of yourself with the most perfect, neat surrounding and clothes.....

[@Acehigh-Jenkins]

I really hope your life now it’s a riot of the colour you so richly deserved! And I totally get the controlling mum. I could choose how to decorate my own room. As long as I chose floral wallpaper a 40 year old woman would love as it had to go with my dead grandmothers floral bedspread which I inherited (also chosen by my mother).

[@random_d00d]

That sounds like a horrific environment to grow up in and I really hope you are okay with now. Absolutely terrible how your mom took it out on you like that and I hope she seeks help for her condition

[@MilkandCookies92]

My mother was sort of similar especially when it came to Christmas. She's always been obsessed with the color gold and any gold tones and that's pretty much how our house always looked including the Christmas tree. I remember one year when I was little I wanted to put cute ornaments on it and different color lights but she said no and reacted very negatively about it. That really affected me in a bad way so I kinda know how you feel.

[@Kii-si-cumin]

I kinda had a room like that, but pink with lots of contrast.

[@suviainen91]

Totally agree. My baby wasn't interested her gift toys from adults at all (beige, white, soft baby pink). Colorful rubbish instead was the best thing ever, moms old sock, kitchen tools, old shampoo bottle with dry macaroni inside was the most valuable toy. That shampoo bottle was so precious that she even had a fight about it with neighbours same age baby boy. (the boy also got his very own shampoo botle later)

[@callerunknown]

Love the shampoo bottle with macaroni, that's a genius idea

[@athena6832]

😂😂 so happy the baby boy got his own.

[@Kii-si-cumin]

LOL😂

[@Vickyeverythingelsewastaken]

I am not even on Tiktok but I'm German and SadBeigeLady crossed over into a running gag here. We enter a "modern" restaurant or gentrified street and somebody starts talking in English, but with an exaggerated accent, complaining about the sad design. Bless her for this meme!

[@Volundur9567]

At least it might get people to stop trying to do away with the Schrank.

[@cthudo]

This is not about color, or being drab, it's about being able to afford consistency. When you're poor, EVERYTHING you buy is full of logos, branding, corporate color schemes. When you're rich, you can afford to have a theme, such as minimalism. Philosophically, this is about being able to afford to have less stuff around, to have less distractions and impositions. This lifestyle has now filtered down to the middle class who are always looking up the financial hierarchy for inspiration, often times without grasping the underlying concepts. It's about the aesthetics of leading a privileged, minimalist life - without the privilege of actually being able to do so.

[@sharpaycutie2]

You can still find affordable colorful stuff Anaya where they may not be logo heavy but they’re still cute

[@dieselotte]

I always loved how some 1970s kids clothing was in ALL of the colors! Red, green, orange, yellow... Some Stripes? Yes! A Patch? Sure! Playful paterns? Ooooh!

[@2okaycola]

Same

[@sierramobley8962]

i had a baby last year, at my shower my aunt was like “i’m sorry everything is so bland and pastel but i just can’t find any baby toys or clothes with actual, real color anymore! everything’s so damn beige and boring” and i had to tell her how sadbeige is a whole thing nowadays 😭 it’s so depressing 😭

[@curlybrace314]

I'm reminded of how the spice trade made all sorts of ingredients in spices common and cheap. This led to peasants and commoners using them, and then all of a sudden the upper class and royalty stopped using them in order to set themselves apart. They saw their unseasoned cooking as somehow superior and more civilized. The same thing happened with colors I bet. Certain dyes and techniques were expensive, and so those colors were seen as the colors of royalty. But now that basically anything can be any color, rich folks want to distinguish themselves by not having any color. And with that comes ridiculous attitudes of superiority.

[@Terri_MacKay]

For a very little while, I played an online home decorating game (don't remember the name of it) where you decorated a room, then the game put it up against the same room decorated by someone else, and people voted on which room looked better. My colourful rooms consistently lost to bland boring beige rooms. Just to see what would happened, I decorated a room in the most awful boring beige palette, a room that I would never want to spend 30 seconds in, and the game put it up against a colourful room that was clearly better and more interesting than mine. I won the poll by a landslide. I didn't even try, I just picked every beige option the game gave me. I don't know what people have against colour. As for wanting to make their homes more Insta-worthy, I would much rather look at photos with colour. Yes, I've seen some beautiful beige rooms, but rooms decorated with colour can also be beautiful, serene, and stylish (which I assume is what they're going for with the beige asthetic).

[@nirvana-owo]

i played the exact same thing!! i had ti delete the app bc i was so mad about my colorful room i worked hard in would lose to boring plan white rooms 😭

[@Terri_MacKay]

@@nirvana-owo Exactly!! And I really don't know what's worse, the all white rooms or the all beige rooms. Either way, all I can think when I see white or beige rooms is, "Does anyone ever do anything in these rooms? How do you actually live a day-to-day life in rooms like this and still have them remain pristinely white/beige?" Are these rooms just for show, and somewhere else in the house is the "real" living room where people eat while sitting on the furniture, where kids jump on the furniture to play, where they binge Netflix show over the weekend while subsisting on junk food?? That has to be the answer, because there's no way any of those things are happening in the white/beige rooms.

[@cilina8105]

What's the name of this game??

[@Terri_MacKay]

@@cilina8105 I'm sorry, I don't even remember. It came up in an ad a couple years ago while I was playing another game, and it looked like something relaxing...just have some fun decorating rooms. I'm sure if you go to the Google Play store, you'll find similar games.

[@NeyamStar]

Damn

[@beth2721]

this vid dropping along w mina le’s yesterday…. Yep we are taking down the sad beige community today!!!!

[@vitamineater23]

hello similar content consumer

[@tired_mom]

I know! I just came from her video 😂 I was thinking what a coincidence!

[@BeeGeeTee]

I watched that too!

[@acciousername6776]

Ah, I've found my people

[@roxulerz]

I hope so! we’re planning for a baby and I’m hoping the rise of the “sad beige baby” will peek so I don’t fall into the SBB trap!

[@zoehicks880]

I used to work at Joann Fabrics for a few years and the amount of drab colors like GRAY people bought for their nurseries astounded me. I always judged the people who did this, doesn’t every parent know that babies like contrast/color? It really is like they don’t care at all about what is actually visually appealing for the baby.

[@a.sarnelli]

Would you please do a video on Rae Dunn and how tacky, useless, unnecessary writing is ruining home decor? Not to get conspiratorial, but I think the peddlers of the sad beige aesthetic and Rae Dunn are in cahoots and are trying to destroy society, one household at a time.

[@FeralFelineFriend]

Yeeeeess! Holy carp, I used to work at tj maxx and my co workers and I would be screamed at for not having boring a$$ rae dunn. My one co worker was chewed out because he asked the customer to describe the rae dunn product.

[@Freshmarketflesh]

It’s weird that these sad beige moms are the same moms that attack goth moms that have a bit darker nursery but still have colors because goth is not just black

[@taythemay4451]

You're not lying about those decoration groups. I was in one for maximalism decor, and the bullying and toxic attitude were so bad it made me start questioning everything.

[@thekalenichannel1812]

@@shrimpscampin lol, the idea that male groups don't do this is hilarious. I spent a lot of time in male dominated fandom spaces and they're shit shows. I actually find the women's spaces more civil

[@Stettafire]

​@@thekalenichannel1812Agreed. I saw one male group that hounded a guy because he posted a pic of his studio apartment (a studio, hardly a luxurious lifestyle) and then the comments were all attacking him because he had an expensive gaming chair. Said he was "bragging" like dudes a) What is the point of posting aethetic design spaces if not for a touch of bragging rights? 2) Since when was having one single expensive item such an object of villifocation? These people are toxic and idiotic

[@AnnamarieForcino]

i have also seen the rise of the beige aesthetic for a while but i could never put into words why i had a problem with it, so thank you for articulating your points so well. personally i think the beige aesthetic can be tasteful, if done right. but the way many parents go about it is very sad and dull. another excellent video, my friend!

[@jordanlynn389]

I’m 23 years old today and my parents were really into Montessori method. I even went to a Montessori school until grade 3. They didn’t teach me division because I could’ve memorize my 8 times tables. And I mostly remember just having to parent myself and get all my own stuff from a young age.

[@emilwandel]

Yes they help you to help yourself. Make you selfsufficient. It is simply not rue what he said about Montessori.

[@mynameisreallycool1]

Montessori or not, I knew a lot of kids who were raised like this growing up. I feel like a lot of the parents who raised our generation took the whole "Kids need to teach themselves so they can be self-sufficient" thing too far by thinking that it just meant that they shouldn't teach us anything at all and not be held responsible, and it caused many of us to struggle academically or not know certain skills as adults (as we can clearly see today). A lot of gen x parents basically missed the point and just used it as an excuse to be lazy and make us basically raise ourselves without showing us how to do anything or explaining, then they blame their kids for having a hard time rather than their grown selves, or they blame us for not thinking to teach ourselves skills that most kids wouldn't even think we'd have to know as adults, as if children are supposed to understand the importance of these things but not the adults raising us. I understand that you should let your kids figure SOME things on their own, but I think that you need to find a balance between letting your kids figure things out themselves so they can gain confidence and also actually helping and teaching them. Not everything can just be taught to yourself. That's why we have schools and parents around. They're supposed to prepare us for adulthood. I don't think that having our parents not teach or show us anything makes us self-sufficient. Far from it. It made us unconfident, afraid to ask for help, and clueless. You need both to create actual self-sufficient kids. The most self-sufficient people I know were raised with parents who actually made an effort to pay attention to them and help them learn new skills, THEN left them to try the skills out by themselves.

[@83croissant]

It looks wealthy to have pale interiors because it shows you can afford a cleaning service

[@Volundur9567]

Ironically, bold color was once a way to show wealth.

[@karligilbert2991]

Neuroscientist here, there are so many studies that have shown how deprivating it can be to children who are living in an essentially all white environments, think medical sterile facility. There's a ton of research on environmental enrichment and color, especially for infants and toddlers and babies, is basically essential for thriving and proper development, especially in the visual cortices and processing development.

[@a.walters123]

My 10 year old daughter has insisted on everything brown, beige and “aesthetic”. I can see how the trend can be appealing *to a degree* in an adult room… not a baby’s room.

[@ellabiddy4741]

My concern for this trend is moreso with the influencer parents that are doing it. If the children are exposed to enough of the outside world they’ll see a good amount of color. But the types of parents that tend to do this are influencers that live life through their Instagram feeds. I read an AITA or relationship advice post from a dad who has a daughter with a sad beige baby mom and how he described their life basically boiled down to the mom only looking at her kid through her phone screen and the Instagram and how it looked was all that mattered. It was one of those “and she’ll wonder why her kid doesn’t talk to her anymore when she’s 18” kinda posts. The goth baby lady on tiktok is a perfect example that you can have your aesthetic but a good environment for the baby too. They have a goth nursery (which seems great for sleeping since it’s so dark) and a beautiful rainbow playroom

[@elvingearmasterirma7241]

While I want to go for a full gothic victorian house with minimal patterns and muted colours because of my sensory issues, if I somehow end up with children you bet your behind their room is gonna be full of colours. Patterns. Etc. Because they need it to develop fully.

[@songs_and_sketches]

4:02 and even Hawkins lab had a rainbow room💀💀💀

[@everest5718]

The worst part is that I’ve seen nurseries and playrooms which fit an aesthetic but is still good for children - they use green and yellow and blue which are natural colours and keep all the toys and items which don’t match the theme in bins so they can be put away and taken out again easily.

[@alexxander966]

Meanwhile I'm sitting in my rainbow themed vibrant purple room as a full grown adult because I need visual stimulation to feel motivated to do anything. Most of the stuff in my room is marketed to kids, but idgaf

[@icedbergamot]

Mina Le also did a really good video on this as well! I highly recommend watching hers too

[@Billibab]

Yes!!! A great pairing, glad their uploads happened in similar timing!

[@ruzzelladrian907]

Reminds me of the Nanny Diaries where the mom, Mrs. X, setup a birthday party for her son, but the problem was that it was drab. French clowns and everything black & white. The son was hated the clowns and ran away. And Mrs. X just said, “Don’t be afraid. They’re French clowns.” ☺️ The clowns looked ghoulish.

[@marcdc6809]

I think you hit the crux of the matter when you mentioned that 'the masses' gets colourful stuff from Walmart, that means if you want to be recognised as rich you need to go for something different... they want to stand out, no matter what.

[@MintyFrills]

I think a lot of people are avoiding plastic for their children, both for sustainability and safety. Doesn't mean it needs to be beige, but a lot of natural material baby stuff isn't either.

[@gogglespisano24]

There are plenty of sustainable and safe items that are colorful. Those baby gyms for example: the Nordstrom one is mostly plastic. The Walmart one is soft fabric.

[@turtledink5675]

The irony is that Montessori teachings talk about how toys should be visually appealing in the sense that they need to be colorful so that kids will want to use them

[@cloama]

Your script for this one is excellent. Very succinct and biting and informative. I love the focus on the wealthy keeping a low profile. It’s a point not often brought up in these discussions. I’m a Montessori ECE teacher and these beige rooms are not part of the method. It’s purely aesthetic. These people are making things up.

[@joeblaster8770]

I wonder what it looks like if you had Jack Kirby paint a play room for a kid.

[@KattReen]

Yeah, agreed that this is indeed a spin on the scandinavian aesthetic that has been around for a while. The aesthetic is popular for a reason though. When done well, a room will feel a lot more bright, spacious and fresh. I don't think understated and utilitarian is necessarily the same thing as ugly or boring and I think there is probably a lot of benefit to not have a lot of pattern and color, since less stimulus makes your home more restful. Colors and patterns are fun, but it can quickly get overwhelming. Only having one tone on everything everywhere in your home is quite the choice though. Even if you're ride or die for beige having lighter and darker shades of the same color will do a lot. But I'm not the one who's going to live there, so I'm honestly not that invested. Not sure if I understand the dunk on people(women) that wear predominantly "sad" beige clothes. I wear predominantly mingled grey sweats. You can feel however you want about that, but I don't think it's a man's business, or my responsibility to dress in a way that pleases other people.

[@katfoster845]

I haven't seen a single beige room that feels bright, spacious and fresh. It feels ugly, cold and boring. It doesn't feel restful, it puts me on edge. I'm afraid to do anything for fear of making a mess. Colour and pattern is essential to have something that's not a bland, boring, generic space. I think it is sad and boring to wear only neutrals.

[@KattReen]

@@katfoster845 I was mostly referring to the scandinavian aesthetic it's derived from, where you get a lot of white, earth tones, wood, stainless steel, AND beige etc but it's still a bit understated and very deliberate when any kind of pattern or color is happening. Less is more basically. You're right that a beige color scheme feels more stuffy. It's still a very lo-fi way to decorate a home though, and I think a lot of people actually do find that kind of stuff quite pleasing. Life has enough excitement as it is, I think it's good for a home to feel like an oasis. To some people, that is what this beige decorating scheme is. The examples in the video aren't particularly gracious, and there are plenty of images when you google "beige room" that look quite nice even if I'll admit I don't think it's for me either. Most people that like this stuff will use it as their main color scheme and break it off with wood, white, colored pillows etc. I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a truly 100% beige room in the wild. I understand not liking beige, but it IS in fact ok to like it as well, and there is no good reason to demonize "the kind of people that like beige" as some group that is mostly pseudo sciency crunchy moms, to justify calling the clothes they wear and their home sad and boring. That is quite a rude put-down for no good reason, in my opinion(edit: this was directed at the sentiment in the video, not you, sorry for not making that clear on my first try). Idk if Robert came up with this notion himself, but if he did, it comes across to me as if he's trying to reinvent a kind of basic bitch trope that it's ok to tear down this time around because she is a bit older, wealthy and believes in pseudoscience. I think it's still a bit misogynistic when people see a woman being disagreeable in some manner as a pass to really zone in on the way she presents herself to the world. It's fine that you don't like neutrals, but other people enjoy things that are subtle. Calling someone elses color preferences and clothes "sad and boring" is at best kind of childish. I suggest you try to remember this interaction for the next time some stranger decides to give you some unsolicited negative critique on how you're presenting yourself. If there's anything that's sad or boring about any of this, it's the need to tear other people down over something that probably couldn't matter less.

[@k.b.7856]

@@KattReen im not sure if you watched the video at all, but Robert very clearly states he is talking about moms that dress their babies in all beige and buy their children beige toys and accessories (of which are very expensive and have a sort of “beige tax”, so rich people and people who want to seem rich would pay making it a luxury item) which is very sad and boring. as an adult you can live in shades of colour as your brain has developed but as a baby you physically need colour for your brain and eyesight to develop it’s not for aesthetic, as well as Robert brings up another good point that montessori teaching encourages (expensive) beige toys and accessories for babies and toddlers and makes parents feel if they’re not spending an arm and a leg for their child to live a beige life they’re doing something wrong bc that’s the language they used in the montessori information; this being where the “crunchy” mom implications come from as montessori isn’t a method that has been used or named for a whole century so there is no officials studies done therefor when you google montessori literally anything (including misinformation as robert pointed out) pops up bc there is no official playbook for this method and people are gullible when it comes to their kids

[@k.b.7856]

like overall i don’t think the dunk is on people in general enjoying the color beige but more so people who subject their children to it, as well as pointing out the fact that beige used to be a poor colour but is now seen as a indicator for wealth but that’s just pointing out fact as Robert used Jeff Bezo’s apartment as an example and it’s pretty plain in comparison to someone “poor”

[@Billibab]

@@k.b.7856 WELL SAID! Great response

[@IsThatEtchas]

Montessori shouldn't be grey. It prioritises natural materials (like wood) because it lasts longer mostly. Montessori also prioritises toys where kids have to use their imagination/make up their own games instead of being passive. But the toys etc themselves really shouldn't be greige. Melissa&Doug, Grimms, play silks, are all bright and colourful. There's also nothing wrong with the Wallmart baby gym, most Montessori parents have something similar. If your kids play room and toys etc are grey and beige, seems like you're saying it's "montessori" to justify your terrible aesthetic taste.

[@m00nrac00n]

The Horror of having a baby for the aesthetic and self-affirming of social class. I think this current version is very millenial, children as a accessoires to the perfect family/lifestyle instagram account. Millenials are the peak customer base for this age-wise right about now, they grew into Social Media: The peak market of media-anxiety driven consumerism of events and fashion has passed, now it is family and housing. Millenials as a whole enter the "starting a family" age and its same old same old, the popular kids from highschool now ditch the party + travel content for the "perfect family illusion" and prestine housing. Values change with age, but this seems more about "ticking boxes". The Zoellafication of recreating on social media what you consumed as a teenager. I feel like GenZ as social media natives are mostly freed from this, as they see it as "cheugy" and the internet as post-ironic. But the older millenials still seem to actually take the "social media credit" somewhat serious.

[@jensendsflowers]

Woah.. profound. Much to think about!

[@ms_taree7335]

Beigeflation is my new favorite word. Thank you very much~ :-)

[@callerunknown]

This was a great video, I loved how you addressed the rampant classism of this trend and the ideas fueling it. Kids need color, they need LOTS of sensory experiences. Its crucial for their physical and intellectually development. On the topic of stupid expensive furniture, I was doing an assignment for child development where we had to find the most and least expensive of various baby products and one item was a crib. The most expensive was a plexiglass contraption that looked more like a research prison than a baby's sleeping area. I saw that trend in many other products on the higher end, the class divide is very real

[@raydgreenwald7788]

When I was a kid, my sister and I had these hand carved wooden blocks that I have no idea who made them. We loved them and eventually my dad donated them to a family friend with young children

[@lovelinuswing]

I love colourful things! My kid also like rainbows and unicorns. Natural is colourful, if you go outside you see all different colours( unless here at winter in Canada, so much snow😂). We are blessed to be able to see this colourful world, let us embrace it 🥰🌺🌹💐🍀🌲🌏🌈🌤️☃️🦧🦞🐝🐞🦑🌽🥕🥭

[@danielamarxxuach]

the way my ears perked up when you mentioned montessori haha. from daycare to grade 6 i was in a montessori school and the environment was far from drab and glum. everything was bursting with color except for the walls and floors which were all light neutrals, but even the walls had lots of paintings and posters. idk what non-professionals in that field think a montessori “aesthetic” should be, but the premise that upper middle class people have appropriated montessori as a term to describe their lack of taste and consideration for children’s rooms is appalling :/

[@2okaycola]

Agreed

[@Badassmotherhugger]

Montessori schools main objectives are basically to provide a safe environment for children to pretty much work things out on their own, and foster a child's ability to regulate their own feelings with gentle guidance. Teachers try to interfere as little as possible with the natural process of learning, because children learn through play anyway. For example, Children are internalizing math and physics while building a house out of blocks... it's pretty cool, actually. Some of those Montessori, Reggio Amelia, Waldorf - type hippie schools don't focus enough on teaching kids to read, and some don't even think a child should be reading before the age of 10. Different strokes for different folks! The only similarity between this sad baby room thing and hippie schools is that they prefer wood over plastic. Hippie preschools want a lot of natural materials, and really simple objects that the children can decide for themselves how to play with. I worked in many preschools that were pretty heavy on the hippie shit (I love hippie shit). I can tell you that kids want whatever object is easiest to make a play gun out of lol. 100% a kid would rather have shiny plastic every time ha ha. Anyhow, if that were truly a Montessori themed room, there would be paint everywhere and a live tree growing through the middle of the room with baskets of home made crayons and wooden dolls. There would be plenty of play doh making supplies and graham crackers, also

[@hannahgendron7094]

I will say that of all my childhood toys the thing that probably got the most mileage was my dad's old (unpainted) wooden block set. However, the other things we used when playing with those blocks were colorful animals and random bright things we used to decorate our structures. If we hadn't had those vivid, detailed objects to use as well, the blocks would have held little interest, and I feel like that sums up the problem here - you can give a kid a blank canvas, but if you don't also give them paint, they won't find any joy in it, nor will they learn to be creative. And on the issue of "natural-ness"? Toxin-free toys can be as vibrant and engaging as anything plastic, but these moms would rather buy a plastic toy and spray paint it grey than give their kid an organic cotton, vegetable dyed toy because it wouldn't fit the look. Or they go in the other direction and decide to bring polio back.

[@2okaycola]

Lmao

[@VMKjelly]

A couple things I wanted to bring up. 1) The White American centric view of the origin of this trend. While many cultures LOVE color, when it comes to personal objects a neutral “nature” look is preferred and can even be a source of cultural pride. I see it most in Korean and Japanese interiors but I also remember receiving beige toys from my Tico relatives. Pura Vida. 2) Like the gifts my relatives would bring, there was also color and customization. When something is a blank canvas, it can because essentially anything you want it to be. Whether you are literally coloring them yourself or allowing your kiddos to project whatever they want on the object. Or better yet they go play outside or craft something themselves. Also as an adult its much easier to style beige with other colorful pieces. 3) Personally I don’t find it helpful to point out anti-vaxxers, mlmers, and the like without bringing up the nuance of these groups becoming this way due to predatory practices from grifters and alt right. So every rich mommy blogger, there is an army of people being sold a way to their dream lives” through consumerism. 4) idk I like beige and neutral colors. I grew up being told to be proud of my heritage as all these things people used to do because they were poor were actually really valuable and great. Though I still have many older relatives that shun the beige because they were taught that it was shameful. Not that im happy with the way capitalism steals shit, it does help these living people see how their ways have always been valuable.

[@suds7753]

I get what you're saying but that's not really the point. there is nothing sad or wrong about wanting a neutral beige home or neutral beige clothes. the problem comes when they start forcing their babies to live this way, and are willing to deprive their kids of color (even tho kids need color to develop) simply for the sake of looking cute and having a nice aesthetic. it shows what their priorities are

[@chloep4500]

@@suds7753 I think what the commenter said above and what's said in the video ar both valid and coexist. I completely agree with the way this "beige aesthetic" can be problematic from what Robert is saying but I can"t deny that it's also prevalent in some other cultures (notably in Asia) and hasn't been an issue for babies? I think it's intention more than color psychology

[@liofotiafan9460]

ive seen some tradicional japanese homes, and while yes, theres a lot of neutral colors, beije and light brown, etc, theres also a lot of color in toys, some appliances and objects, plants, etc. its not carefully selected to be as beije as possible, like thats being talked about in this video

[@liofotiafan9460]

infact, if you look up tradicional japanese childrens room right now youll find that they have some pops of color. they also have many different colors, even if they're all light/pastel, which is important! ive seen blue, green, orange, some pink, etc. seeing many different colors is important for children

[@Stettafire]

There is no " nuance" to antivaxers. Jesus Christ

[@violetcolouredglasses]

Honey wake up, the Knit Knots from Imagination Movers aesthetic just dropped

[@supaspydamn]

So glad somebody finally made a video about this lol

[@itskaybe6348]

I totally understand the rabbithole you are talking about because I live surrounded by it. I am a semi crunchy home school mom. I did follow Montessori methods while my spawn was little and I loved it. I still love the idea of supporting child independence and encouraging child led learning. But I am always hesitant around new homeschoolers especially now that it is so popular because people don't want to vaccinate or the imaginary CRT nonsense or sex Ed arguments. It's a lot to watch out for lol.

[@FaeQueenCory]

The notion of Montessori being made meaningless is hilarious... As the idea of Montessori was always to not have standardized, merit-based meaning.

[@justjulijack]

EXACTLY

[@seana806]

The sad beige aesthetic is truly pitiful. No aesthetic or style from the 21st century can hold a candle to the beautiful and elegant mid century modern aesthetic from the 1950’s and 1960’s.

[@technopink01]

I love sad beige and gray ! Lol I don't think it's sad, it's calming to me.

[@technopink01]

And I don't have kids haha

[@baileymadison9019]

It reduces my anxiety

[@hirograveyard8236]

Anyone else just wanna call Robert sometimes and just check in? Like, “what’s goin on Rob, you doing alright? Everything cool?” Just for no reason?

[@Mdb0514]

I have 20 month old twins and refuse to buy beige for them! It’s so weird to dress a child in trends.

[@bloodrainicorn6193]

I love the maximalism trend in response to this. Funky shapes and colors everywhere

[@arnold17]

I associate this aesthetic with Ye West formerly know as Kanye West

[@melbapeach162]

So.. Nazism.

[@pembrokelove]

I would disagree that the “sad, beige” childrens’ rooms aren’t harmful, particularly if we’re talking about neurological development. Brains develop through experience and stimulation - and that stimulation is greatly decreased in those environments. The studies are still ongoing at this point, but the fact is that that Walmart plaything hosts so many colors and textures is that the knowledge we currently have says that variety of color, shape, sound, and texture is what best help a growing brain seek engagement.

[@SkeletinaScreama]

98% of my homes decoration is made by my kids, my husband, and/or myself. The other 2% doesn't match. lol

[@keelantriplett7137]

Your videos are so topical n I love ur point of view n the way u articulate ur point it’s like exactly what I was thinking but somehow I can’t describe it

[@DendyJungle]

Idk if the toys need to be plastic tbh. Colorful yes. But plastic??

[@amandaharvey8102]

And on the Montessori note I work at a few Montessori style preschools and they honetsky a lot of the time are not beige and the kids are very independent. I dotb get why beige is so tied to them

[@melbapeach162]

Maybe its now tied to Montessorism *because* of videos like this..

[@senacho4568]

great content as usual, really like your style of commentary!

[@beandrag9019]

This is genuinely such an interesting video

[@lesaubergines]

Robert you never miss! I was cackling at my TV the whole time

[@K._Red]

What a delightful person with such great takes

[@flybalbu]

They can make the walls, cribs, furniture and floor white/beige but they need to give kids colorful toys. Color actually looks good on beige and colorful toys will help with kids while beige base furniture can help if kids color tastes change as they grow up

[@ZerryBerrytheSpaceRaccoon]

I can certainty understand tons of bright colors being "overstimulating", but I think there is a good balanced of neutral and bright colors that can be struck and still look amazing.

[@starsINSPACE]

I wear glasses and I tend to get a light gray tint added on because I am very sensitive to light and plain, bright colors like all white rooms give me migraines. But the gray tinting helps. I went into a doctor office that was so drab, my migraine made the whole room turned greenish?!, major migraine aura, and I got tunnel vision. Also anyone with eye floaters? Lots of blank, minimalist visual space with drab/white colors is a good way to feel like all you can see is floaters...

[@2okaycola]

Omg same on the last bit!! I’ll try the gray next time I get 👓, that’s cool

[@disneybunny45]

I like the Scandinavian aesthetic for the same reasons I would hate to live with it: it's clean and simple and orderly. My ADHD loves the clean look but it would get so BORING so fast and I would never keep it clean.

[@cuandotumedasunagalleta7169]

I live in scandinavia and our living room definitely has that aesthetic, but my room has loads of saturated colours to make up for it lol. Also have adhd!

[@Levittchen4G]

I would clatter it instantly just to make it look fuller

[@ekesa07632]

Tbh I think it’s completely fine to have that aesthetic. I loved visiting Denmark and seeing the cleanliness of apartments be simple and clean. Enjoyed less clutter. But I can definitely see parents in posting their aesthetic on their kids, when what kids need is colour and activity. 😅

[@dianamerchant1026]

I like your style a lot! Just discovered you. I loved our blue carpets growing up. They were the sea for my Barbie’s and he-man’s . Color is natural people and so is arsenic. Just another part of life!❤

[@kite-flying_potato]

Fascinating. Subscribed.

[@Volundur9567]

I've noticed the beigeflation with hype sneakers. Black, white snd "sand" (beige-y) go for much more than other colors in most cases.

[@Tinymoezzy]

Nothing stops me from loving jewel tones.

[@internetcultured]

Oh I love this!

[@definitelynotyourmom42]

Just found your channel and subscribing based solely on how you speak and deliver your lines. You are genuinely an incredible and engaging speaker and I'd pay good money to listen to you teach a university course. Well done.

[@kellylynn88]

This is perfect timing, currently 7 months pregnant and I think the beige aesthetic is nice for pictures it’s so depressing and I swear it’s also way more expensive lol

[@sarahn7068]

Love the comparison at the beginning, especially the dining rooms then vs now. Really shows how the aesthetics have "flipped" over time. Great vid.

[@properantagonist]

For all fellow haters of the sad beige aesthetic and going overboard with "natural" products, i really recommend the KZbin channel Really Very Crunchy. The lady does brilliant parody sketches of these kinds of parents!

[@makemosaics]

Amen! Color is everything.

[@milanimorales2645]

I only like neutral colors because it makes it easier to see dirt and clean when the time is near. But my kids room and bathroom is like superhero central. Everything is Spiderman, Sonic, Batman and Super Mario.

[@elena_eleen]

7:46 the phrase "gently used toilet paper" almost made me spit out my drink from laughing, i was not expecting that

[@nightlyterror]

There's a book that would be an interesting read for you -- Chromophobia by David Batchelor

[@down_by_the_bay]

When I have kids, I will ensure that they have fun and are well educated

[@lauracgc]

I’m so thankful my house is exploding with colour for my son growing up

[@lauracgc]

Montessori is interesting but it really has nothing to do with expensive beige stuff. I’m building a Montessori inspired play structure for $30 instead of buying one for $300-500

[@lizb7271]

Just a minor thing, but I'm pretty sure the medieval lower classes did still have brightly coloured clothing using vegetable dyes.

[@AJSSPACEPLACE]

1:04 Actually, in medieval times, even peasents often enjoyed wearing bright colors. It’s just that their color pallet was limited to reds, browns and greens. Because in nature, pigments of those colors aren’t hard to find. Unless you’re going for a VERY vibrant shade. even in the painting you yourself use at my timestamp, you can see that the people are wearing shades of green and red.

[@vickyoli]

Personally I love colors. The more neon, the best. However, I think for a babies room, I think it is a good idea have a gray/beige can calm them. The toys are ok though to be colorful, and expose them to a lot of color.

[@maxgucciardi4507]

The most calming colors are natural greens and blues. That's why nurses always have scrubs those colors. They did studies to find the most calming colors. Beige was not a calming color its more like a filler color.

[@Stettafire]

Grey and beige isn't calming it's depressing

[@taniwha5441]

Ngl I hate colours, but if kids' development requires colours, you gotta make that sacrifice if you're gonna have a kid

[@msjkramey]

I got an ad for a gray dog-bed-looking baby toy for "sensory time." Definitely not visual sensory time lol

[@1pugglelover]

Your AWSOME! Great video.👍🏻

[@Jadaistyping]

I love color. My entire house is full of color. The beige trend is a nightmare to me.

[@Loonlings]

You don’t even need to get rid of the beige nursery aesthetic to be good, just add colorful wall decor that *compliments* the beige

[@redsprites5216]

TOLPPIIIII!!!!

[@catinthechat01]

We can thank Restoration Hardware, along with it's lower-priced cousin Pottery Barn, for the start of this trend.

[@colourmequaint9690]

Thank goodness I have no kids and can surround myself with as much of that warm, comforting color as I want 😍

[@samiyaferguson9177]

I will admit that I fell for this all wood toy movement and my kids were not freakin playing with anything it was so frustrating! So I did a ton of research and found plastic toy options that are non toxic. B toys by batat are great and wonder wheels and fisher price, little tikes. My children are playing so much now and having FUN! I never did the wood look for looks it was more for health but you can have safe plastic toys. Children can be overstimulated by very bright colors and sounds and lights so I would steer clear of things like that ❤️

[@marieo305]

"Rainbows don't look like gently used toiletpaper"😂🤣☠️