The high contrast with the dark woods and neutral walls is striking, but the shapes and textures are so much warmer than modernist ones would be. Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you! I'm addicted to these kinds of blogs, but hadn't come across this one....

LOL at rmkitchen, ITA, while I like to look at simple, serene rooms, I can't live in them, I need color, pattern, texture, and, evidently, layering. I do love the roses in the silver vase, it's a look that, to me, compliments all styles.

forhgtv, interesting that you think those shapes and textures are warmer than modern, I was thinking it needed an infusion of modern to keep it from looking dry and lifeless, like my grandmother's guest room, circa 1965. Just shows you how different everyone's perspectives are.

Thanks for posting, ttodd.

sandyponder

rmkitchen - I have a middle mess child too! Gargantuan klutz on top of it. He thinks he's a 'hooper hero' and thud "I'M OKAY!" is a familiar refrain everywhere we go!

Fothgtv - yes, I absolutely agree. I haven't had opportunity to really read through it yet but I got the impression that a fair amount of pieces are from family members. Particulary interested in that since that is where we've gotten most of our pieces.

Bestyears - I just found it this morning and am so glad I did. While I like a 'cottagey' type feel I'd say that I'm more 'grown-up, rustic elegant' in the way that I end up decorating. A little bit of barn an little bit of manor!

Thanks for the link, ttodd. Pretty place, but no way can I have white everywhere like that. Even though we don't have kids running around any more, we do have two (and sometimes three) dirty dogs. I especially like her dining room and kitchen. I do like the pared down look. Looking around at my clutter, I had better quit perusing GW and get busy! ;)

I've actually found having white walls very liberating, but white furniture would probably make me crazy. On the other hand, who are those women in the shelter mags with delicate looking antique stuff and white furniture who say they decorated so that their children could be creative and express themselves freely in the space? :-) Geez, I can't even get my husband to stop putting his drippy toothbrush on the black granite vanity top. I don't think even white sunbrella could stand up to this crew.

I like the pared down look too, because whenever I put something on a table top or counter apparently it is an open invitation to drop a crusty tube of chapstick, a pair of ear buds, four wrinkled receipts and a penny on said flat surface.

Yeah, maybe I better get back to clearing off the flat surfaces....

I like that blog too, have been following it for awhile. It will be interesting to watch it now that the woman who writes it (and lives in white) just gave birth to twins :).

Yeah, their house is pretty but their attitude was kind of annoying. "when we do buy toys, we will buy only brands that are BPA, phlatate free, and made from sustainable hardwoords grown in organic forests blah blah blah" -- yeah, right. First-time parents crack me up.

I wanna see their house (and their toybox) in 4-5 years.

lkp - lmao!

I see that pic and think it would look better with a soft color on the wall. For instance - a pale yellow would make the whole look so much prettier. I like white, but in the right applications. I don't think white would beat a pretty light green or any other mellow tone. The lighter colors look so nice with dark wood and make it look richer.
I may be biased as our current house had white paint thrown on the walls in order to sell and I have been itching since I got here to add color. So glad to be at the point in our reno to be buying paint!

Ah, my mother's decor. She only has white walls, white carpeting, white marble, white tile, white cabinets in the baths and kitchen, white upholstery everywhere, white sheers, white trim, white lamps....and then traditional, medium toned wood furniture. All good stuff, much of it high end or custom.

She is an immaculate housekeeper, and rightfully proud of her home. But it is so mind-numbing to sit in there for any length of time. It just lacks personality, feels flat, not inviting. It doesn't say ' come on in and sit a spell', it says "come on in and perch and don't touch anything". Not that she wouldn't make people feel welcome, but her homes certainly don't.

So for me, it is pretty to see in a picture, but having been in and around it most of my life, I know I could never live that way given a choice.

I'm with Les and Sandy, I need color. (Sandy, I love your house!) Les, have you ever mentioned to your mom that a bit of color wouldn't hurt? lol

I especially like your comment, "Come and sit a spell." Well, I'm a natural born klutz and I'd spill a drink immediately on their white furniture!

All wood toys? GMAB. They're going to want to hang out at little Johnny and Susie's house. heh.

Yeah, can't wait to see the progress when the twins start spitting up big time after a large feeding. They'll be rethinking the white in about a month or so.

Coming from a grandma of a 5 month old who had to change her shirt the other day. :)

ttodd -- I LOVE your "thud, 'I'm okay!'"

Well, I do want to say as I came downstairs early this a.m. I definitely had a new appreciation for my all-white kitchen -- the *only* white in the whole house (okay, other than toilets!). I mean, I always enjoy our kitchen (I better -- it was my Grand Plan), but I saw it through new eyes after peeking at her blog.

I have to say I did not notice she had children, and twins at that. Wow, good luck! My children are 6 & 4 and for about a minute we jumped on that BPA-free bandwagon and then we decided to not take out a new mortgage replacing everything ... ha ha. We joke we grew up munching on asbestos and sipping gasoline and we turned out okay(-ish). That's of course not true because who knows if all the rubbish in our systems is what contributed to / caused our youngest's disabilities. I'm not into wearing hair shirts so I'm not blaming us.

oakleyok -- I'm so excited for your new grandchild! That is such a warm-fuzzy.

See now, I disagree. I think white walls are the right appliction for this look. I think that most people who like decorating would automatically want to throw a color on the walls and she was bold/brave enough not to and see how it went.

Honestly I think that it's a lot harder to decorate a white room than one that has color on the wall. I think it's a lot easier to elevate mediocre decorating w/ color on the walls to a really nice, pleasant room. When it's white - you'd better get it right (and all of it) and I think that's why we see many white rooms that are boring and lack personality because it ain't easy.

Just my .02 - don't villify me!

I'm not concerned w/ how her house will look in a few years - I'm interested in the pictures that she has shown of how it looks now. And really.......how many of us clear away the everyday clutter/junk/piles of paper in our rooms that 'don't go' before we take a pic of our room and post it? I don't have a problem taking a picture (and I would if my battery weren't dead) of my mantle that is currently littered w/ MAC lipstick, a BM fan deck, bottle of slime, empty bottle of beer, qt. of paint, camera, boy scout shirt, baggie w/ candy, silver trophy cup holding said boy scout shirt and camera, tuperware container, fabric samples, tic tac toe game, childs christmas stocking craft project, 2 rocks, pink purse from Purse Thread, box of note cards, 2 ceramic dove tea light holders and a deck playing cards and showing everyone BUT if I'm taking a picture of it for inspiration for others, well - I gaurantee it's gonna look a little more like this:

I looked through many pages of her blog and would move in tomorrow! It didn't lack color or ANYTHING to me. I loved the dark furniture against the white walls, dark floors, silver accessories, and colorful art and flower arrangements. I'm sure that everything looked "perfect" before photo taking, but that's how it goes, huh? I'm sure that things will change with the twins, but I appreciate the beauty (to my eyes anyway) of this house. But, then, I like things simple, simple, simple. I LOVED this house. Thanks for sharing the blog. Just my .02!

Tt thanks for posting the link. I too find the bps preaching thing annoying and know her thread will be about how to add color to your life soon given the new babies heh heh but I do agree it takes talent to use white well and she has it.

White is also not something that I would chose in my life for the main house but ive been toting with the idea of doing white in my cottage which will be animal and child free. I love the look and in that guest space it could be gorgeous. One thing I di want to do is add a very soft blue to the ceiling though but otherwise focus on the white elsewhere.

Sandyponder, I like a more eclectic style for my own decor, but I can appreciate this blogger's successful mix of neutrals, texture and contrast.

Ttodd, I love the photo-ready version of your mantel! I didn't read the blog; I just looked at the pictures. Based on some of the other posters' comments, I wonder if the blogger will not be allowing Fisher-Price contributions from family and friends. LOL!

I think of a silhouette when I see her home. The outline of each piece is defined so nicely against the white.

once Thomas enters their children's realm...they will never go back :oP muhahahaha I think I will send them some....

We went from all wood (I had a 20 second brain fart and thought it would work) to redoing his play room in a Asian theme....all the cheap crap from Asia resides in there...and sometimes crawls out into other spaces LOL

I LOVE THIS BLOG! I have always admired the simple traditional look. She does it so well! Love her kitchen too!

I thought, that while they were pretty, light filled rooms, they do seem to be photoshopped. It reminds me of the function on photoshop that allows you to remove dark shadows out of a picture (room), instantly making it light and brighter.
That being said, I do love interiors with white walls and dark furniture and there's something somewhat modern and fresh in how they do it.

Can I photoshop my daily house? LOL!

A lovely blog. I couldn't do white because I crave color, but hers is pretty. I don't find it warm or interesting though. I suppose it's just not my taste. And, as one who lived the first 15 years of married life on a real, working, plow the field, work the cattle FARM, I get amused by the word farmhouse and white decor all mixed together. Never in a million. lol

I did jump off from this blog and hunt up some others last night. A pleasant way to spend a quiet Saturday evening. Thanks for posting.

htnpz wrote: "I thought, that while they were pretty, light filled rooms, they do seem to be photoshopped. It reminds me of the function on photoshop that allows you to remove dark shadows out of a picture (room), instantly making it light and brighter. "

Or else the rooms were professionally photographed, which means a photographer placed lights around the room to brighten and emphasize aspects of the decor. You can't duplicate it in real life. And that's the problem with trying to make your home look like pictures in magazines or blogs: real life doesn't have the same subtle aura. Predominantly white decor looks flat & dull if you don't have great light, IMO.