An interior designer and romance novelist with experience in upscale Montecito living recommends a surprising color for bedrooms aiming for an ‘old money’ aesthetic on a budget. This timeless style, inspired by shows like Bridgerton and Downton Abbey, evokes generations of inherited wealth.
The Ideal Choice: Neutral Pink
Kiki Astor, known for her expertise in old money design, insists pink is the only suitable bedroom color. “There’s only one appropriate colour to paint your bedroom in the old money aesthetic,” she states in a recent TikTok video. She specifies a neutral pink that can pass as beige to skeptics.
“Not bubblegum pink, not hot pink. No, you paint it the sort of neutral pink that you can tell your husband is beige. He’ll believe you. I promise he believes everything you say,” Astor adds with humor.
Why Avoid Popular Options?
Astor dismisses common choices. Psychologists favor blue for sleep, but she counters: “What do they know about style?” Blue risks a nursery feel without balancing elements like artwork, Persian rugs, and brown furniture.
Green suits other rooms but not bedrooms, as it casts unflattering tones on skin. White turns spaces into art galleries, red stirs passions, and grey lacks modern mastery. “Not red, that awakens passions. Do not paint it grey, people used to know how to use grey appropriately, that knowledge has been lost,” she explains.
Viewer Reactions
Many agree. One commenter shares: “As a lady with a pink bedroom who told her husband it’s beige… yes.” Another calls it “the cosiest possible colour.” A third, reconsidering green, notes: “My primary room was going to be green. I am yellow toned. Thank you for saving me from myself.”
Skeptics differ. “Old money here! We actually wallpaper our walls,” one says. Another jokes: “I’m no money and my bedroom is the landlord special.”
