Where Did All the Color Go?

Welcome back! I hope your new year is off to a great start!

My last few posts covered topics more serious in nature. This month’s post is much more lighthearted. Perhaps it’s just an amusing subject to consider. This particular thought is something that caught my attention. Maybe you’ve noticed it too.

Can I ask you a few questions before we go on? What color is your vehicle, if you have one? What color is the paint on your walls? If you strung Christmas lights this year, what color were they?

I’ll share my answers to these questions with you: a slate blue/gray SUV, mostly warm griege (gray-beige) walls, and white Christmas lights. Our other vehicles are white and gray.

As I look around our world, I wonder something.

Where did all the color go?

Just a few weeks ago, I walked the aisles of our local Home Goods store, and this is what I saw.

It was not only shocking (perhaps because it was so unshocking), but also disappointing to me.

I grew up in the 1980s. Things were big. Aqua Net hair spray molded big hair for men and women alike. But things were also bright. Neon clothes were ordinary. And it wasn’t unusual to see girls with two pairs of different colored scrunchy socks stacked on their feet just to match all the colors in their outfit.

Over the past several decades, living rooms were splashed with mauve, peach, teal, dark red, golds, and forest green. Anything was fair game – walls, wallpaper, curtains, and sometimes even the sofas and chairs matched. Dark wood, maybe even paneling, graced the home and carpeting came in all kinds of outrageous colors.

Automobiles were just as colorful. I remember my mom saying how their first few cars were salmon-colored and lavender. In the 1950s, the most popular color of vehicles were pastels including seafoam green, pink, and turquoise and a lot of times the cars were two-toned with white. Then in the 1970s, the color of cars shifted to a variety of earthy browns, oranges, greens, and yellows just like the home appliances and décor. The 1980s and 1990s saw the bright primary colors of red, yellow, and blue take over the automobile market. And then the shift came. Come the year 2000, the most popular color became silver, followed by white and black. Over twenty-five years later, it seems we are still afraid of color and in the same rut. White was the most popular car color in 2025 followed by black, gray, and silver. However, in 2025, I did see some of the car manufacturers branch out and bring back the bold blue. I wonder how they will sell.

Even restaurants were more colorful in years past. Recently, McDonald’s had yet another round of renovations done on their buildings. Even more color was drained from the once brightly colored establishment, home of the red and yellow clown and purple blob monster who loves milkshakes.

Of course, McDonald’s is not the only business whose marketing and décor has become a lot less colorful. Pizza Hut has lost its iconic red roof. And White House Black Market emerged in women’s fashion built on the foundation of two prevailing colors in apparel: white and black.

I’ve even noticed the change in dinnerware. Gone are the brightly colored, patterned plates and bowls. In their place are tons of white and neutral choices. It’s even known as plate color psychology.

And last but not least, we all know about the ongoing colored versus white Christmas light argument. I remember the large bulb, multicolored lights of my youth that adorned most homes and businesses. Now, white lights are the hottest seller. And I admit, I’m guilty of this offense. If someone in my house changes the Christmas tree lights to colored, I’m the second one to switch them back to white. (The first shall remain nameless.)

I could go on and on with examples of how color has been drained from our world. And it leaves me wondering why. The same explanation keeps coming to my mind, and that is this. We are so overstimulated in our fast-paced, digital, immediate-gratification lives that white, black, and neutrals are calming to our senses. In other words, maybe we are too overstimulated to not only take in a busy, colorful world, but also too overstimulated to make color choices. Whites and neutrals are easier on our brains, but also give us the easy way out in decision-making.

I would have to argue, though, that we were made to experience a colorful world.

Color adds immeasurably more to our existence. It’s amazing to see the landscape erupt with color as winter turns to spring. Flowers and flowering bushes and trees offer a beauty that isn’t easily replicated. A brilliant sunrise or sunset is the source of countless photographs and artwork and will forever remain a beautiful thing to enjoy at any age. All these things are refreshing and elevate our mood.

There is quite a bit of science behind the idea that certain colors evoke certain emotions. Reds stimulate energy and passion, whereas blues promote relaxation and focus. Yellows create happiness and greens have a calming effect. Color also affects appetite and social interaction in addition to mood. In looking at the aspect of appetite, warm colors tend to increase food consumption, whereas cool colors have a soothing effect and decrease hunger. This is why we tend to see a lot of the bright, warm colors associated with fast food chains.

The Lord designed the human eye to see an endless spectrum of color. Light waves hit cells in our retina called cones and rods, which send signals via the optic nerve to the brain’s visual cortex. He not only gives us beautiful colors to enjoy from His Creation here on Earth, but we have beautiful color awaiting us in Heaven!

In the book of Revelation, John describes the holy new Jerusalem that God revealed to him. It was brightly lit from the glory of God and had a great wall with twelve gates. 

Revelation 21:18-21

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

I can only imagine how, if I were John, this vision would make me feel.

Utterly, completely…breathless.

With awestruck wonder.

And to think – this vibrant new world can be our eternity with Him.

For fun, I asked ChatGPT to give me a rendering of the brilliant new Jerusalem based on the information given to us in Revelation 21:11-21. I wanted it to include the twelve beautiful precious stones that garnish the foundations of the wall of the city. I know this is not completely accurate, and doesn’t include all twelve pearl gates, but here is what it came up with:

I’m sure it will be even more exasperating when we get to experience it ourselves. I know there will be no words to describe it.

Years ago, my mother gifted me a ring and a necklace made with chalcedony stones. They are two of my favorite pieces of jewelry. The chalcedony stones are mesmerizingly beautiful. I can only imagine what all the stones put together will be like, let alone the addition of gold and pearls.   

Ponder this.

The Lord uses magnificent color throughout the Bible and His Creation. Joseph was given an attention-drawing coat of many colors by his father, Jacob. Blue, purple, and scarlet are prominent colors throughout the Bible, including their widespread use in the tabernacle and temple. A woman named Lydia was widely known and identified as a “seller of purple”. Even the color God places in the iris of our eyes is remarkable.   

Thank you for taking the journey with me back through our colorful decades (or lack thereof). I’m sure you have many more examples to add to this subject. I’d love to hear them in the comments!

Seriously though, I thought this may be an interesting topic to bring up in a month that is normally a pretty gray month in many parts of the world. We were meant to experience the blessing of color. I want to encourage you to add some color to your life during this dreary time of year and any time of the year for that matter! Maybe it will be your vehicle, your walls, or your Christmas lights.

What will you do with this day you’ve been given? How will you make it matter for His Kingdom?