I JUST VISITED a friend's freshly painted apartment, and she was slightly in despair. Beige is so often the neutral tone chosen by landlords hoping to satisfy all aesthetics, and my friend's tasteful but bland cream walls were made even blander by wall-to-wall carpet in a matching Band-Aid-ish tone. Beige seems like the play-it-safe bet, but it is not necessarily your friend. A neutral room needs quite a lot of texture and natural finishes or it can end up looking about as lively as a bowl of porridge.

Beige...