No, Ann - don't be smug - it wouldn't look good on you ;-)

It's just a matter of common sense not decorating sense and sometimes the two are mutually exclusive in the 'white blogs'! The idea of being able to wash away grime makes perfect sense until real life gets in the way. Who on earth has the time to be stripping the slips off, pretreating where a little diaper leaked, washing, partially drying, wrangling the dampish slips back on the sofa or chairs..... then repeating the process in a week. Or less. And with twins? Yikes.

I have white slips on 2 chairs in my LR - not the family room - and didn't get them until my boys were in their late teens. Not that they were sitting in the living room anyway - no TV in there! I wash them probably 3 x/yr just because I can and on occasion my little sneaky dog decides that's a great place for a nap.

For years, one of my decorating mantras is Decorate in the Color of Dirt. I don't follow it religiously, of course, but there have been plenty of choices driven by this idea.

The car I use to haul plants and gardening supplies around is a beige-y tan, inside and out. When I had a built-in desk made for my daughter when she was 8, the counters were a speckle-y beigey-tan. I am a big fan of engineered quartz for kitchens. All my counters have always had those nice little flecks that look like....you guessed it....dirt! I always try to use flooring materials the color of dirt - mid-tone hardwoods, gray swirly marmoleum and natural slate. Even my siding is Whitall Brown.

Yeaaa! Dirt!!

I occasionally read that blog. She has a beautiful home. Such a nice story she has. I gather they waited some time for a child and then to be blessed with twins!

tina

Pretty, pretty pictures taken in an idyllic setting. I enjoyed seeing it, and yes, she must be a very fastidious, hard-working housekeeper to keep all that white so spotless! Now that she has twins, I hope she has helpers!

Mmmmm. I love you all and I have to throw my two cents in.

But...to side w/ the white slipcover thing....

This is what I've read in regards to white slipcovered furniture: have an extra slipcover for the piece to put on when you throw the other one in the laundry. Luckily I don't care about wrinkles. This is what I've always done w/ all of my white bedding and it works well. When one quilt or set of sheets is in the wash another set gets pulled out from the closet. The dog sleeps on a white towel on the bed between us.

I thought I recalled that her sofa wasn't slipcovered. I can't ever imagine having furniture that was white permanent upholstery. I'd throw a throw down too in that case.

And I always tidy up a bit before taking a 'final' picture to post for you guys even w/ my brown sofa and chairs. If it's too 'tidied up' I go to the toy box and throw a toy on the floor.

What I know I would never do (based on my family experience) are the following:

1. Have light colored rugs unless they were indoor/ outdoor rugs. In fact at this stage of the game the ONLY rugs that I will buy next are indoor/ outdoor. The dog can only lick up so much spaghetti sauce. If a kid throws up I've been known to call the dog and turn my back if I think she (the dog) can clean the puke up off of the rug before I can get to a rag. Sorry.

2. Have white trim around an interior/ exterior door. Have a white interior/ exterior door for that matter. My family hasn't figured out how to use a doorknob yet w/o manhandling the door in the process. The thought of white kitchen cabinets scares me but I'm going to at least try. Shaking my head in disbelief that I'm actually considering it.

I have followed their blog for quite some time and love,love,love their house!!!! Not that it really matters since people are always looking for ways to talk trash on white rooms but their sofa is NOT white....it is beige!

"If it's too 'tidied up' I go to the toy box and throw a toy on the floor." Ttodd - you crack me up. Love your honesty!!

I can't remember her sofa right off, but most people would put something down on an upholstered piece of furniture before putting two (possibly leaking) babies on it. Remember Oakley's pics the other day - due to animals and mud, she had blankets on her sofa - and it's not even white! There are ways to live with the look you love.

tina (off to look at the sofa now)

Deserae, we're not trashing anything, we're just jealous because it's so clean, lol! There is an aspect of labor intensiveness at work here. That's all I think we're acknowledging. Even with one dh, one cat, no kids, and no white sofa (though I do have 4 upholstered creamy white chairs) I feel I have my work cut out for me. More power to her! I love what she's done with the place!

I determined my decor/dirt philosophy ages ago when I read what the old Yankee author of this book wrote about that cherished quality called patina, which has to be preserved in order for antiques to retain their value, and which has the power to make us feel we have a real treasure: it's just dirt.

Stinky-gardener- Although not all the replys were trash talking white rooms the original poster was.

I enjoy that blog also, every time it's mentioned here; keep in mind that the twins are small babies still, they stay in one place and don't touch anything,
YET.......

My house was the cleanest and I did a lot of DIY projects when my first born was not mobile, I cooked all the food for his christening myself, etc..
then he started to walk and run and it was over as far as having a perfect home, DD came 2 years later. I find that from 12 months to 5 years old,
it's hard to maintain a home pristine.

The white blogger may be able to maintain it all even when the twins are mobile, we just have to wait and see. Her photography is beautiful and inspiring and I personally love white everything.

amysrq - LOL! That's exactly why I just ordered a brown sofa.

Jamies, LOVE the old George Grotz books!! I think he had a technique to "age" furniture by applying a layer of paste wax and rubbing a good handful of dirt into the cracks and crevaces, then wiping off some of it. Brilliant! His books are a fun read, too.

As for the white...I have no opinion. I think it's just like anything else in decorating. Red works for some, other prefer white, some like pastels or something in the middle.

I kind of do what amysrq does...try to find hard-use surfaces in the color of the dirt that will be on them. I read that someone painted the inside of their garage based on the predominant color of the scuffs that showed on the white walls. I thought that was genius!

I love her blog, and I imagine she'll be very open if the white no longer works. I *had* a white sipcovered couch - oh how I miss her! Just the other day we were laughing about it since my Mom gave me the "if you're going to have kids, you don't want white speech". I, of course, believed this rule would not apply to me - my Mother would have no idea what she was talking about. My kids would never be dirty :-) Ha! And now I have a paisley slipcovered one that hides little handprints and the white one is in the closet :-). I won't even go into how (pre-kids and dog) I also thought a Christmas tree with *all* glass ornaments would be a great idea too ;-) I am constant fuel for jokes in my family

(quote)Jamies, LOVE the old George Grotz books!! I think he had a technique to "age" furniture by applying a layer of paste wax and rubbing a good handful of dirt into the cracks and crevices, then wiping off some of it. Brilliant!

Who would've guessed my kids are genius designers in disguise?

I've always like bold colors so my inability to maintain a white house works out well.

Voice of experience: If you're in the market for new sofa that you plan to slipcover, don't go with a chenille or other non-slick upholstered surface. My 100% cotton slips are not fun going over the chenille upholstered sofa. They'd be far easier over a rayon or other silkier type fabric. My slipcover is red, but I still have a folded quilt over the back to put down when the gkids are watching t.v. and "dining". Heck, I sometimes put it down when dh and I are doing a pizza movie night. Slipcovers on a big sofa, with big pillows, are just not a breeze to take off, wash and put on.

Des, go back and read Ann's post. In no way was she trash talking decorating in white. In fact she called the blog "beautiful." She was just pointing out all white and twin babies aren't really a good combination. And I agree.

In fact a lot of posters here have white slip-covered furniture.

Tina, it would have been nice if the blogger had taken pictures of the blankets, etc., she puts on the sofa. If I'm having company over other than family, mine comes off. :)

The dog sleeps on a white towel on the bed between us

OK, that caught my attention! My beagle dog sleeps with us when it rains or he feels like it's been too long up in the big bed and he definitely moves around! Sleeping on my neck and top of my pillow (yes, in my hair) is a favored spot. A little towel? hahahaha....
I do cover most of the bedding with old sheets, make him a spot with a pillow (he likes pillow top mattresses evidently!) and make him a nice nest while protecting our bedding. Sometimes it works.

Back to topic, all that white? hmmm, young, naive, optimistic and idealistic. She'll come around.

This is very timely for me, as I've been having a love affair with white and the pale pastels in my head lately. Like Amysrq, I've long decorated in colors that don't show dirt -- and have longed for at least a white bed for a long time. White is SO versatile, you can add any color accessories if white is your baseline.

I decided I could safely do the master bedroom w lots of white as long as it's washable. So a few days ago I put on my brand new white Battenburg duvet. It's gorgeous! Well, it was for about 3 days until doggy Bonnie tracked her muddy feet across it. Fun for her, but for me it's a struggle getting the duvet in and out of the cover to launder it, not something I want to do every three days. I could cover it with a blanket, but that kind of spoils the whole reason I got the white -- to enjoy looking at it. I'm trying to get into the habit of keeping that door shut, but the hallway needs the light from the bedroom window.

If you have to keep beauty covered w a blanket all the time, what's the point of having it be beautiful if you never see it?

So, at this point I'm mulling it over. Ideas on how to train a dog to never jump up on the bed are most welcome!

I'll stick with the color of dirt, thank you. I hate cleaning way too much.

As a matter of fact, my latest stroke of genius was matching our dirt. As we were needing to paint our front porch floor, I put a bunch of dry dust/dirt in a baggie and took it to the paint store with me. Perfect match. It really is a nice shade of khaki...

Oceana, I think magnaverde's thoughts can be applied to your bedroom and I am only quoting from memory so it's probably off: decorate for the life you have and not the one you want.

You have a dog, whom I presume you love, who wants to sleep on the bed- which you have previously allowed. But you now have a new and beautiful cover he is getting dirty.

This is not really an easy question, as I have two older dogs whom I love dearly and do things differently with them now then when they were young pups.
If it's been his routine to get on the bed for years, then I would put the cover away for now and cherish your time with your dog.

If it's not, then I have no good ideas on how to keep them off other than watching him every moment and saying "No" really loudly, putting him on the floor, and avoiding him for a little while. That works for my dogs as they want to please me.
Some people use aluminum foil, sticky tape, shock mats or water squirt guns.

You could also get a beautiful coordinating washable throw/sheet/blanket-whatever- BUT PRETTY- and put that on the bed for him to sleep on. Take off when company comes over.
That's probably what I would do if I had something new I wanted to keep nice.

Gracie sleeps with us and I put a large towel under the space she sleeps.

Oceanna, did you put a duvet with cover on the bed or just the duvet cover?

Ann wasn't trash talking Des - the closest to trash talk may have been my comments about common sense and decorating sense being mutually exclusive on some of the 'white blogs'. But only if taken out of context and only if you don't know that my tongue is generally planted firmly in my cheek! White decorating has become as ubiquitous as Tuscan decorating was a few years ago, although white will always have staying power beyond any 'theme' decor. I do hope you weren't personally offended and am sorry if my words were harsh. I think most of the 'trash talk' if you want to call it that, is coming from those of us who have experienced more of life, and kids and dirt and dogs than the blogger in question and know that white will take a beating. It's much like telling a frustrated mom of toddler in the terrible twos to wait till the teen years - this is nothing!

Oceanna: The only duvet I use now is one that's folded at the bottom of the bed and pulled up only if I get chilly. I will only use machine washable quilts (usually only white) so that I don't have to wrestle w/ King sized Duvets. I also use my own homemade laundry detergent that makes my whites come out soooooo much brighter than regular detergent. I live by Magnaverdes advice and have been so much happier for the past few years.

The towel that Dear Della sleeps on is a big giant beach towel that's white (okay - doggiedirty by laundry day!) on the back w/ the name of the hospital I worked at on the other side. I use it white side up. Dear Dell is Corgi sized. When one of us gets out of bed she scoots her way to a pillow.

Dear Dell also has her place in the LR on a leather chair. I didn't want her on the sofa since I couldn't wash the covers but she wanted up and the kids let her. My life compromise was to teach the kids to put a throw on the sofa if they have her up on the sofa and she is allowed on the leather anytime she wants. The cream throw pillows are also machine washable and Dear Dell delights in making like the Princess and the Pea on them when they are piled on her chair.

A few compromises = a much more comfortable and welcoming house for 2 legged and 4 legged friends alike. Even when I am decorating and/ or using white.

ttodd - your corgie size dog gets up on the bed? That totally blows my whole idea which I have preached for the past seven years - "next dog will have short legs and be unable to get up on the furniture!". Dang. We have a 70lb English Pointer, by the way. Also - what is your secret laundry detergent? You can't tease us with that and not share!

You could always get a white dog...

The bet advice I ever got was "buy your couch to match your dog."

Not as close on this one, but my other couch is yellow/white Belgian damask....

Chris, my Grace is an English Pointer too! In fact she's back here on the office bed snoozing with her head on a pillow. lol

Chris - 1 cup Borax to 1 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (some places carry it otherwise I use Arm and Hammer Baking Soda) and 1 bar of grated/ shaved Ivory Soap. The Borax and the Arm and Hammer are usually on a bottom shelf in the laundry aisle of the grocery store. Use 1 Tbsp to a load of laundry. It does not suds up very much so don't worry .

The cost savings have been great (Maybe a total of $7-9 for everything) and I'm going 3 months using the same batch I made of 1+1+1 bar soap. I anticipate getting almost 1 year out of my $7-9 investment.

My mom adds natural lavendar oil to her mix and my sister adds something else.

I still use Shout on stains like before.

Great advice Vivian (and what a cutie!). I wonder what the chances are of the next cat that 'homes' us being white are?

Ttodd. I've been very happy with my homemade floor cleaner and all-purpose cleaner, so I'm going to have to try that. I do love my Tide, but if I could use something with less "stuff" in it that works as well, I'd be thrilled. And I already have the borax and Ivory. Just one tablespoon for a load??

What color couch would you buy if you had multiple colored pets?

1 tablespoon and plaid!

When I was making a white slipcover for my sofa, my husband said "Why don't you just buy a white sofa?" I was all like "Are you crazy? You can throw the slipcover in the washer--you can't do that with a white sofa." It has held up for about ten years, so far. I made it out of a king-size, machine-washable bedspread.

These dog stories are really cute. I like the dog on the couch. That dog has a good approach to life.

Thank you for the laundry tip! Does it work in an HE machine? You said something about low sud so I'm guessing yes.

Multi colored pets lemme see... crazy colored plaid,stripes or kind of a calico.... Does anyone do horse hair anymore?
J/K gotta love the fur babies.

Oakley, I was just guessing that she (anyone) would put something under babies on a sofa. I don't know for sure that she does.

Bumble, if you look at the blog, you'll see she is not that young (waited a long time for a baby)and from what I've read on her blog I wouldn't call her naive either. I think she is truly living/decorating in the style that makes her/husband happy. Honestly, I hope she finds a way to make it all work out. I'm sure if she doesn't though whatever she does to decorate will be beautiful.

tina

Wow. Interesting coinky-dink.
I just saw the recent Oprah where Celine Dion was the guest. She talked about her twins --- and she even invited the cameras into her (apparently never seen before) Florida home. How surprised and delighted I was to see her white decor (b/c I love white). In fact, when I first read Ann's originial post (very quickly), I thought maybe she was talking about Celine's white house, because of the reference to the new twins.

Of course all the discussion about cleaning/slipcovers/dirt colored/etc is out the window when it comes to someone like Celine who has people to handle that kind of stuff for her.

Miss Mary

Here is a link that might be useful: Visit Celine's White Decor

Ttodd, I'm all over that detergent recipe! Thanks so much! I'll bet I can find washing soda at the Ace hardware a few towns over. They're also the only place I've found that still sells Fels Naptha. When I lived in a bigger city, I would see Fels Naptha at every grocery store, Walmart, dollar stores, etc. Now that i live in the country, no one around here sells it, but, they don't sell a lot of other things, either.

Ttodd, I'm all over that detergent recipe! Thanks so much! I'll bet I can find washing soda at the Ace hardware a few towns over. They're also the only place I've found that still sells Fels Naptha. When I lived in a bigger city, I would see Fels Naptha at every grocery store, Walmart, dollar stores, etc. Now that i live in the country, no one around here sells it, but, they don't sell a lot of other things, either.

I LOVE the white decor. I would love to have that myself but having a dog and a husband that is part grease monkey it would never do. We did install an almost white carpet in our house almost 10 years ago and it's held up really well. Thanks to our no shoes policy. But even then it gets dirty, I can't imagine all the upkeep with all white everything.

I admire and envy those that can pull it off.

"If you have to keep beauty covered w a blanket all the time, what's the point of having it be beautiful if you never see it?"

This, exactly.

I also agree with the person who said you should buy a sofa the color of your dog. When I bought my first sofa, I brought several fabric samples home from the furniture store and rubbed them on her back, LOL. My sofa is tan with speckles in it (that my husband thinks looks "dirty", though it hides all the food and drink that he has spilled on it)

Bumblebeez, Bonnie (the dog) is not allowed on the bed and doesn't sleep there. But her attitude toward life is it's SO exciting and it's all about play, so every once in a while she jumps up and does two or three high-speed roughshod circles on the bed and jumps back down. That's her idea of a good time. The problem is when she did it the other day she'd just come in from outside.

Oakley, it's a silk-filled duvet (a huge splurge for me) inside a new white cotton Battenberg duvet cover. It (and flannel sheets) is the only cover my bed needs in the winter. The new duvet cover takes my breath away, it's so pretty -- but not so neat with dirty dog footprints on it.

Ttodd, I do the same soap recipe as you, except I used Fels Naptha instead of Ivory. I still feel the need to use Tide every few wash loads, as it does the best job. Still, as you point out, the homemade saves a ton of money. I got the recipe off the web.

Bonnie is a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. I used to breed and show SCWTs, but my line was calm. Bonnie is a high-speed wackadoodle who charges through life without thinking. I love her, but I often wish she had a turn down switch. She is young, but I have the feeling she won't change until arthritis forces change on her. OTOH, it does my heart good to see how good she feels and how much she loves life.

Vivian, great picture! So cute. It's not her hair, and she doesn't shed. It's her muddy little feet that did in the duvet. We live where it rains 9 months of the year.

I guess I could wash and dry her feet at the door every time she comes back in from outside. But seriously, that sounds too much like work.

I've lived by -- and have given -- Magnaverde's advice forever. My living room is dog proof. But I've also wanted a white bed. I thought I'd give it a try. I think my decorating mistake may be that the white should be in the walls, not on the bed. The cover is washable, but it's a hassle to get the duvet in and out of it.

Franksmom, what's your floor cleaner recipe, please?

Alisonn, what fabric is your slip cover? Ten years is a lot of washes! I'm with you I would not buy a white sofa.

The more I think about it the more I think a hall runner might be the answer, as it would take a lot of the dirt off the feet of all three of my dogs. Ya think?

Oceanna I bought a huge pack of bright yellow microfiber towels in the automotive department of Costco. They are fabulous for doggy paws! I keep one by my back door at all times. Of course if the paws are REALLY muddy I'd have to get a small bucket of water and wash that off first, but the normal dirty/wet feet clean up nicely. Right now we are dog sitting for my brother - a wonderful Golden Retriever but she can be quite blonde, IYKWIM!!! First thing I do when Spirit comes to stay with us is trim the fur on her hoofs, er feet - between her toes, underneath and along the sides. It really does cut down on how much mess she can drag in.