How to successfully decorate your home with white
Think white interiors are plain, bland and boring? Then you’re doing it wrong. Here’s what you need to know when creating a neutral, white-based decorating scheme.
Image: Sofa.com
Airy, calming and light – it’s no surprise so many of us love to use white in our home’s interiors. However, in the Instagram-obsessed interiors world of today, simple white schemes get a bit of flack for being, well, boring.
However, if you love the look and feel of white-decorated rooms, you don’t have to give in to peer pressure and change to a colourful scheme – there are plenty of ways to create a stylish, subtle and sophisticated scheme using an all-white base that still have the wow-factor.
Choose an off white
Image: Farrow & Ball
When choosing a wall paint, always opt for an off-white hue, rather than Brilliant White. The latter can make a space feel stark, and won’t give your space any character.
Whether you opt for a warm tint or a cold hue is up to you, but you can let your room decide. North-facing rooms get a colder, greyer light, so opt for a warmer off-white in these spaces, while south-facing rooms can handle colder shades to balance the natural warmth of the light this room receives.
Go all out with white
Image: Next
If you’re looking to make an impact with your white scheme, lean into the light side and create a design that’s all white. There’s strength in this conviction that creates a much more dynamic scheme than throwing in one pop of colour in, and it allows your focus to move to texture and pattern without it having to compete with a statement contrast.
Layer textures and finishes
Image: deVOL
Without texture, a white room can feel cold, clinincal and, sometimes, like you’re living in an art gallery. Take this deVOL kitchen as a great example of layering textures – the cabinetry may be a flat, matt white, but a honed, veined marble adds a different dimension and subtly variegated wall tiles offer so much nore depth than a plain white metro tile.
Style with rustic elements
Image: Annie Sloan
One way to bring warmth and homeliness to a white room is in accessorising it. Rough, tactile elements help to ground a white scheme, where sleek, glossy textures would make a space feel too ultra-modern. Linen, jute and wood are perfect for helping add a rustic edge.
Add a subtle contrast
Image: Loom & Last
When introducing a new colour into a majority white decorating scheme, going overboard on contrast can make a room feel a little unsophisticated and crude. Build up a tonal palette to soften colour changes for a stylish way to bridge out from pure white.
Swear by an all white decorating scheme? Let us know on social! Tweet us @goodhomesmag or post a comment on our Facebook page, or post a picture of your white interiors on Instagram using the hashtag #ThisGoodHome for your chance to be featured on our feed.