just in case anyone forgot how wildly colorful Georgian interiors could be, even among the working class to the wealthy:
and EVEN WHEN things were more muted/neutral, the neutrality was OFFSET by ACCENT COLORS and HIGH CONTRAST between the wood tones and everything ELSE
ALSO AMERICAN COLONIAL INTERIORS POPPED OFF, Y'ALL (IN TERMS OF COLOR/COZINESS)
PEOPLE USED WHITEWASH AND COLORFUL TRIM OR EVEN JUST COLORFUL FURNITURE IF THEY COULD AFFORD TO DO SO
AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON FRENCH AND BRITISH AND AMERICAN WALLPAPERS
"ELIZABETH" YOU CRY, "WHY ARE YOU BEING SO EXTRA THIS MORNING?! IT'S MONDAY"
Because, my friend, my war on GREIGE will NEVER end.
Historic interiors were filled with LIFE and LIGHT and COLOR. ALWAYS HAVE BEEN.
Part of the reason we don't see a lot of textile art is because, frankly, textiles tend to degrade over time - especially ones that had utility! And yes, pigments and weaving and dying all boosted the expense of things, when we were finally reliably block-printing fabrics and broad reams of paper, it was no longer just the wealthy who could afford pretty patterns!
In the Americas, a far wider variety of pigments also became available because of the abundance of... well, a shitton of flora and minerals, some of which weren't as common in Europe.
WHY THE HIGHLIGHTER COLORS? you ask.
CANDLES.
Those colors reflect candlelight and natural sunlight REALLY WELL.
Humans LOVE bright colors, it's NOT just a thing for kids. We live in a brilliant, vibrant, multifaceted world. We ALWAYS have.
(STOP MAKING YOUR HISTORIC SIMS 4 BUILDS BE BLAND. STOP IT.)
On the subject of Colonial America: don't forget, even if you couldn't afford wallpaper, wall stenciling might still be in reach!
(If ever you have the opportunity to visit the Stencil House at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont (pictured above at 3, 4, and 5), I highly recommend.)
And that's before you get into American painted murals:
Embrace the decorative arts, folks!
Why is modern interior design so GODDAM BORING? We live in a society with access to more colors than any in human history, and our entire world is made of taupe, beige, and off-white.
(I love the passion of the people who reblogged above. Y'all are the best.)
Since people keep complaining about "nOnE oF tHeSe ArE wOrKiNg ClAsS" without actually seeing the full version of the post, or bothering to add any of their own, please see above, but also, below.
Note: Textiles depicted below are either reproduction or illustrations of, because textiles are notoriously degradable, as mentioned above.
I'm salty about this because the bad faith take is that in a clearly casually thrown-together post-and-follow-up-reblog, I'm not accurately representing everything. Am I? Honestly, no, and that's why I made an addendum reblog. I also work full time and mandatory overtime during work's busy season so I end up working ~200+ hours a month instead of 160. So no, I don't have time and energy to comb through non-academic sources and shit-tier search engines to scrape together something that I trust YOU, THE READER, to find your g-damn self.
The kind person who reblogged with the stencils did the GOOD FAITH take and added on glorious images of stencilry. Lovely!
Other folks have decided to send snippy and passive aggressive DMs and complaints in the tags.
I bring this up because this kind of attitude is a reason why the historical ~community~ on this hellsite is so unbearably difficult to deal with sometimes.
We should be willing to not immediately accuse people of not posting flawless and peer-reviewed academic OPINIONS on what used to be the Furry-And-P0rn-Sexyman-Website.
Should people be clear when discussing historical things? Yes.
Should audiences take responsibility over their own consumption of social media to not have everything spelled out for them on a tangential topic addressed in what was clearly a goofy, late-night emotional post? Also yes.
Did my posts get my point across? Yes! Then I guess it was a success. And I'm not getting money or clout from this, so the assumption that Being Incorrect/Unclear/Unintentionally Misleading is worth getting sniped is wholly unwarranted. Please note that I am FINE with being wrong, or having someone request that I edit the original post. That isn't the problem.
If you think I'm misrepresenting something or if you think the "we live in a colorful world" post is spreading misinformation about the state of color in the lives of people in every strata of society during the Georgian period throughout the Anglosphere, then message me about it. Politely.
If you don't have something to contribute other than bad faith takes and accusations of classism, keep your passive aggressive--and frankly PERFORMATIVE--gatekeeping to yourself.
