Why Your Neutrals Aren’t Working (And How to Fix It This Sunday)

Interior Design: Rachel Cannon Limited Interiors | Photo: Kim Meadowlark

If English is my first language, color is my second.

I’ve spent over twenty years helping clients understand color in their homes. Paint colors, fabric selections, and the way a room’s lighting change the way a gray reads warm or cool. So when I started offering seasonal color analysis services, the most common question wasn’t about dramatic jewel tones or bold prints. It was about neutrals.

“Should I buy the cream sweater or the white one?”

“Why does this camel coat look amazing in the store and terrible at home?”

“I thought black was universal, but it makes me look exhausted.”

Here’s the thing about neutrals: they’re only neutral in name. In reality, every beige has an undertone. Every grey leans warm or cool. Every white has an intensity. And if those characteristics don’t align with YOUR natural coloring, they work against you instead of for you.

The Neutral Confusion

Let me give you an example. A True Spring and a True Winter can both build beautiful neutral wardrobes. But the Spring’s neutrals will be warm ivories, rich camels, and velvety browns. The Winter’s neutrals are cool whites, charcoal, blue-toned greys, and true black.

Put the Winter in the Spring’s warm camel? She looks drained and dull. Put the Spring in the Winter’s stark white? She looks washed out and harsh.

This is why so many women have closets full of “safe” neutrals that somehow don’t feel cohesive. They’re buying neutrals, but they’re not buying THEIR neutrals.

How Seasonal Color Analysis Solves This

Seasonal color analysis identifies your natural coloring’s undertone, depth, and saturation. Once you know your season (Spring, Summer, Autumn, or Winter, with variations within each), you know which neutrals flatter you.

Shopping will become exponentially easier. You’ll walk past the warm camel because you know you’re a cool-toned person. You’ll choose the cream silk blouse over the stark white because you understand your soft coloring needs a softer contrast. You build a capsule wardrobe where everything actually coordinates because it’s all in YOUR color temperature.

This transformation doesn’t mean you have to throw out your whole closet, but it will provide understanding as to why some pieces work and others don’t, helping you make smarter choices going forward.

Join Me This Sunday

This is exactly what I’ll be demonstrating this Sunday, December 14, at 1 PM at Edit by LBP.

I’m hosting an intimate workshop where I’ll talk about how we identify warm vs. cool undertones, and how this translates to building a neutral wardrobe.

We’ll also look at Edit’s beautiful neutral inventory and discuss how different seasonal types would shop their collection. Because Edit specializes in sophisticated neutrals, they’re the perfect partner for this conversation.

This workshop is educational, not transactional. You’ll leave understanding the principles of seasonal color analysis and knowing what questions to ask about your own coloring. If you decide you want your full personal color analysis done, we can discuss studio appointments afterward. But Sunday is about learning the framework.

You’ll walk away with insight into why certain neutrals flatter you, and others don’t, plus a little color theory! 

If you’re tired of buying neutrals that don’t work, or if you’ve ever stood in a dressing room unsure whether to choose the cream or the white, this workshop is for you.

See you Sunday at Edit by LBP. Let’s decode your neutrals!

Rachel