TikTok users criticize 'Sad Beige' apartment
Is “sad beige” finally over?
Soon after Emma Ganzarain moved into her boyfriend's apartment in Oslo, the couple got to work on a redesign. They added light-colored herringbone floors, radiant heating to combat the Norwegian cold, and taupe kitchen cabinets. In the living room, the duo swapped a purple light fixture for a white one and replaced a brown armchair with a similar-sized chair in off-white.
When work was on the nearing completion, Ms Ganzarain, 26, posted some before and after photos on TikTok. "Every man needs a woman in his life," she wrote in the caption.
The reaction was not what she expected.
Her message has been viewed nearly 8 million times since its publication at the beginning of the month. It also generated more than 55,000 comments, most of them negative. Many people have accused Ms. Ganzarain, who had around 3,000 followers on TikTok at the time of publication, of ruining her boyfriend's space, replacing his warmth and character with a more sterile look.
“The front is better,” one commenter wrote. “The aftermath is very clinical and cold.” The person then noted the "Patrick Bateman vibe" of the renovated apartment, a reference to the serial killer protagonist of "American Psycho."
In an interview , Ms. Ganzarain, who works in resource management, explained her aesthetic: “I love the basic neutral palette. Beige, white, brown. Colors of the Earth. She said her boyfriend lived alone before moving in, adding that the apartment was old and needed some improvements.
Some commenters went beyond criticism of the recast for accusing Ms. Ganzarain of controlling her partner (who was very involved in the process, she pointed out). Others sent her death and rape threats, she said.
Several of Ms. Ganzarain's detractors used the phrase "beige sad" , an internet term used to describe minimalist style. with an emphasis on neutral tones. Hayley DeRoche, a librarian in Petersburg, Virginia who goes by @sadbeige on TikTok, helped popularize the term through numerous posts satirizing the trend.
"It's a very specific phenomenon. an aesthetic that incorporates neutrals to an almost absurd, monochromatic degree," said Ms. DeRoche, 37. A typical "sad beige" room, she added, contains " a lot of eggshells, a lot of cream, a lot of oatmeal, cardboard, biscotti, sand." Referring to the Kardashians, who are known fans, Ms. DeRoche added that their clean, almost colorless look , can be an effective indicator of wealth.
Ms. DeRoche added that she does not approve of those who use the term "sad beige" as a weapon to attack an individual poster. She also speculated that the strong reaction to Ms. Ganzarain's post might signal a larger shift in interior design, from sleek minimalism to something more comfortable and less refined.
Emily Rayna, an interior designer from New Hampshire, agreed that the era of neutral tones may be on the way out. “People are turning to maximalism, which makes me happy,” she said, “but it will probably also make us react, at some point in the future.”
Mrs. Ganzarain said she believes TikTok's backlash came in part because she posted the before and after photos before the redesign was complete. “We didn’t even have a light in the kitchen! " she says. “The sink has not been installed.” Still, she said, she enjoyed some of the conversations she had with people online, touching on everything from lighting temperature to cushions.
As for her boyfriend, who declined to be named for this article, he weighed in just over a week after her apartment became famous on TikTok.
"Did you really like the way we changed the apartment?" Ms. Ganzarain asks in a
Is “sad beige” finally over?
Soon after Emma Ganzarain moved into her boyfriend's apartment in Oslo, the couple got to work on a redesign. They added light-colored herringbone floors, radiant heating to combat the Norwegian cold, and taupe kitchen cabinets. In the living room, the duo swapped a purple light fixture for a white one and replaced a brown armchair with a similar-sized chair in off-white.
When work was on the nearing completion, Ms Ganzarain, 26, posted some before and after photos on TikTok. "Every man needs a woman in his life," she wrote in the caption.
The reaction was not what she expected.
Her message has been viewed nearly 8 million times since its publication at the beginning of the month. It also generated more than 55,000 comments, most of them negative. Many people have accused Ms. Ganzarain, who had around 3,000 followers on TikTok at the time of publication, of ruining her boyfriend's space, replacing his warmth and character with a more sterile look.
“The front is better,” one commenter wrote. “The aftermath is very clinical and cold.” The person then noted the "Patrick Bateman vibe" of the renovated apartment, a reference to the serial killer protagonist of "American Psycho."
In an interview , Ms. Ganzarain, who works in resource management, explained her aesthetic: “I love the basic neutral palette. Beige, white, brown. Colors of the Earth. She said her boyfriend lived alone before moving in, adding that the apartment was old and needed some improvements.
Some commenters went beyond criticism of the recast for accusing Ms. Ganzarain of controlling her partner (who was very involved in the process, she pointed out). Others sent her death and rape threats, she said.
Several of Ms. Ganzarain's detractors used the phrase "beige sad" , an internet term used to describe minimalist style. with an emphasis on neutral tones. Hayley DeRoche, a librarian in Petersburg, Virginia who goes by @sadbeige on TikTok, helped popularize the term through numerous posts satirizing the trend.
"It's a very specific phenomenon. an aesthetic that incorporates neutrals to an almost absurd, monochromatic degree," said Ms. DeRoche, 37. A typical "sad beige" room, she added, contains " a lot of eggshells, a lot of cream, a lot of oatmeal, cardboard, biscotti, sand." Referring to the Kardashians, who are known fans, Ms. DeRoche added that their clean, almost colorless look , can be an effective indicator of wealth.
Ms. DeRoche added that she does not approve of those who use the term "sad beige" as a weapon to attack an individual poster. She also speculated that the strong reaction to Ms. Ganzarain's post might signal a larger shift in interior design, from sleek minimalism to something more comfortable and less refined.
Emily Rayna, an interior designer from New Hampshire, agreed that the era of neutral tones may be on the way out. “People are turning to maximalism, which makes me happy,” she said, “but it will probably also make us react, at some point in the future.”
Mrs. Ganzarain said she believes TikTok's backlash came in part because she posted the before and after photos before the redesign was complete. “We didn’t even have a light in the kitchen! " she says. “The sink has not been installed.” Still, she said, she enjoyed some of the conversations she had with people online, touching on everything from lighting temperature to cushions.
As for her boyfriend, who declined to be named for this article, he weighed in just over a week after her apartment became famous on TikTok.
"Did you really like the way we changed the apartment?" Ms. Ganzarain asks in a
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