--- title: Friends: The Real Reason Monica's Apartment Is Purple description: After 10 seasons of Friends, it was probably difficult for most fans to picture Monica's apartment painted any other color than purple. canonical: https://time.com/5209157/friends-monica-purple-apartment-reason/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-21T17:02:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:32.025Z og:title: The Real Reason Monica's Apartment Was Purple on Friends og:description: The color choice wasn't always set in stone og:url: https://time.com/5209157/friends-monica-purple-apartment-reason/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d1162918f8de109/69892b8aab6d7740a86b22b4/friends-apartment.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Friends - Season 1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Real Reason Monica's Apartment Was Purple on Friends twitter:description: The color choice wasn't always set in stone twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d1162918f8de109/69892b8aab6d7740a86b22b4/friends-apartment.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Real Reason Monica's Apartment Was Purple on _Friends_ > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=eab664f3-7617-45e6-b5d6-5bb7f62c81a0&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Daily | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Richard Hall, Editor | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The informed consumer. A scaled audience of readers who turn to TIME to stay informed and make sense of the world, with meaningful reach across education and research, nonprofits and civic life, media and communications, government and public institutions, and business and professional services. ### TIME The Brief: key statements * The Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * The Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=eab664f3-7617-45e6-b5d6-5bb7f62c81a0&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/subscribe?i=eab664f3-7617-45e6-b5d6-5bb7f62c81a0&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's daily news newsletter? The Brief is TIME's daily newsletter, edited by Richard Hall. It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=eab664f3-7617-45e6-b5d6-5bb7f62c81a0&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 21, 2018 5:02 PM UTC  Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing (front l-r) Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green in 'Friends' Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani, Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing (front l-r) Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green in 'Friends' Reisig & Taylor/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Mar 21, 2018 5:02 PM UTC After 10 seasons of [_Friends_](http://time.com/5192289/friends-fan-theories/), it was probably difficult for most fans to picture [Monica’s apartment](http://time.com/4476290/friends-fest-engagement-monica-chandler/) painted any other color than [purple](http://time.com/5195377/google-doodle-william-henry-perkins-purple/). But according to production designer John Shaffner, that unique lilac shade wasn’t always set in stone. While speaking to [_Great Big Story_](https://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/the-man-who-designed-the-set-of-friends), Shaffner revealed that he had to work to convince producers that purple was the right choice for the iconic New York City set—which would house every main character except Ross at some point in the series. “Everybody was really anxious about it,” he said. “Until I painted the little model purple.” Shaffner went on to explain that he was drawn to the attention-grabbing hue because he knew it would draw viewers into the sitcom. “Color is really important in terms of establishing the show identity,” he said. “When you switched to _Friends_, you saw that it was purple and you stayed tuned.” Watch the full video below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5209157/friends-monica-purple-apartment-reason/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5209157/friends-monica-purple-apartment-reason/"},"headline":"The Real Reason Monica's Apartment Was Purple on Friends","datePublished":"2018-03-21T17:02:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:51:32.025Z","description":"The color choice wasn't always set in stone","url":"https://time.com/5209157/friends-monica-purple-apartment-reason/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Friends","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d1162918f8de109/69892b8aab6d7740a86b22b4/friends-apartment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4d1162918f8de109/69892b8aab6d7740a86b22b4/friends-apartment.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Friends - Season 1","caption":"Friends - Season 1","creditText":"Reisig & Taylor/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5209157/friends-monica-purple-apartment-reason/","name":"The Real Reason Monica's Apartment Was Purple on Friends"}}]}] ```