That room is stunning, I can see why you like it. I'm not a color pro in the least, but I can imagine that the white would definitely be high maintenance no? Or maybe it just depends on your life style. Some people do really well with it, how I don't know it's just me and my DH and I know it wouldn't last a year in our house.

That doesn't mean you can't mimic this though. Even if you went with a toned sofa you can still achieve a similar look with your paint color, furniture style and dark floors. I think the ceiling makes a huge statement, do you have high ceilings? Maybe your space is too small to build out the ceiling like that but you could use some beaming and put your own twist on it.

hi lukkiirish, i was wondering if anybody has something similar and lived with it. i have two babies, so i definitely cannot go with white sofas. but i am trying to decide if i want to order our windows in that blackish color and have our contractor paint the walls white. would it still look ok since i will not be putting in the all white furniture? our ceilings are not super high, 9 feet, but will have a vaulted ceiling in the family room, about 18x20, so i think we could do the beams in that room, though i am not sure if the dark color would be too heavy?

I'm not a designer but I think that if you like that room, you should take from it what you can as inspiration for your own space. It can still have a similar feel or appeal without looking exactly like that. I wouldn't worry about the white paint with children, any color is going to get dirty. It's nothing that a little cleaner or even paint touch up now and then can't fix. 18x20 is a decent sized room, as long as your furniture and beaming are to scale, I think it will look great. Will you have a similar fireplace?

yes, we will also be putting in a fireplace. it will be a gas one because of environmental laws here. but we will try to do a similar mantle out of precast stone, but will need to make it less deep. i was trying to decide if we should do a fireplace mantle more similar to the inspiration room, or if i should do this one below, which is raised off the floor and doesn't go all the way to the ceiling
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Oh, my goodness. I absolutely love that room. THAT is the style of my uncle, an architect, who will be doing the addition to our house next year. It's a style you see in high-end homes in Asia, too.

We'd never be able to pull off that style in our house but that would be my absolute dream!

We had white walls in our much smaller house in San Diego:

{{!gwi}}

We also had the same dark beams.

White walls are only as high maintenance as it occupants, imho, having lived with them. It wasn't a problem for us when we were a CF couple but now, with 2 small children - forget it.

Yes - darker floors will show more dirt/dust faster. Again, I think living with them depends on your lifestyle and how often you're willing to dust mop the floors.

Honestly, if I could pull this look off, I would - even in a smaller space.

This is my uncle's house in FL - a small place that he renovated when he retired there (now up for sale as he's bought a condo in NJ with a view of NYC):

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While I know that's not the exact style you're looking to copy, it is modern with a lot of starkness - but I personally like it. Hmmm...after looking at my uncle's place again, I feel like an idiot for not asking HIM about the "best" whites and creams to use.

What does the room you're wanting to redo currently look like?

Thank you for sharing that eye-candy...it made me very happy!

Oops. I was putting my 2 to sleep when I started this post so I missed your convo with lukkirish.

The beamed ceilings at our house in San Diego were only 8' and the beams did not make the room seem small. The color I believe they were trying to mimic is basically tarred wood. I read that somewhere but now I can't remember the details. Ours were a very dark, almost black brown but you could definitely see the brown. The same with all the windows throughout the house.

Hi binsd, We are building a new home, so currently only have plans, so it is a blank slate right now. I am about to order the windows and doors and have to decide on the colors, plus floors soon. Thanks for sharing the pics of your home in SD and your uncle's place. I am glad to know that I can probably do the beams despite my smaller scale home. The fireplace you have actually makes your room look taller than 8', so maybe I should opt to have the fireplace mantle go up to the ceiling. Please do share any info on the whites or creams your uncle used. The walls of his place look a lot like the one in my inspiration pic. They are warm, yet bright, which is very hard to get right!

Using that room as a literal inspiration would be a disaster with children and pets. So, use the ideas here, even if the palette is different.

The look uses dark woods against a white stucco background. It's about high contrast and at the same time a monochromatic look. Start with the wood elements first. A medium brown can still provide contrast and be less maintainence than the ebony look shown. The key detail is that all of the wood in the room needs to be the same tone. No Brazillian cherry floors and chocolate window trim and driftwood beams. Pick a single tone and that's it.

If you don't want to do white upholstry, then white is out as a wall color too. You could still get a high contrast stuccoey look from a dark cream, or a light yellow tone, or even a peachey color. Whatever color you pick needs to go on the walls and ceiling and your upholstery pieces. It's easier to match paint to upholstery, so you might look for those pieces first and then have the paint store tint your paint to match. Be sure to go with simple lines in a quality furniture brand with a scotchguard coating. The rest is accesories in the wood tone color contrasted against the walls and upholstery.

When you're done, you should have the same dramatic serenity that this room projects, even if it's in a different color pallette that suits your life better. Two colors. That's it. SSimple and clean. If it's not the right wood tone or the same color as the furniture, it doesn't come near that room.

GreenDesigns, wow, thanks for that detailed analysis! I will try to use your formula, though i don't think i can decide on my fabric just yet and I am not sure if i can successfully choose the right wood tone and wall color to go well with each other. In general, decorating is challenging for me, so i tend to be VERY literal, like try to copy a pic I like as much as possible. i am thinking maybe i need to find a new inspiration pic in a more livable color scheme.

from everyone's comments, I realize that the look I want is indeed very high maintenance, so maybe not a good option for me right now.

I hope Lynninnewmexico sees this post. She has a stunning white walled home and I'm sure can give you good pointers!

BM Wenge gives a nice dark black/brown color.

Regardless of color, do not let ANYONE talk you into flat paint with kids. Kids touch EVERYTHING, I have three of them, now older but they still can't keep their hands off of walls. Unless you have truly angelic children, and I do not, be prepared to wash just about everything you can imagine off of your walls. Flat paint does NOT wash well, no matter what anyone tells you. Yes it can touch up well, but if you go with it, plan on touching up weekly or ignoring stuff on the walls, trust me, been there, done that, repainted after a year of 'easy touchups' that drove me crazy.

Stunning room, but white sofas make me cringe inside. My kids would have spots on them before the rest of us sat down on them.

I think you should also take a look at palimpsest's conversations on contents-based rooms vs. color-based rooms. This seems apropos.

I agreee that the room is gorgeous and definitely makes a statement. I think that you could get a similar feel if you substituted dark brown leather sofas in a similar streamlined style and use throw pillows with a white background. And don't make the mistake of using ultra white paint. The walls in the picture look to me like they could be a Navajo White, not a pure white.

Agree with sandra on the flat paint. I just moved into a new house in July and had builder chalk white everywhere. Now I am a person who loves color but even if I were to keep the white walls, I'd have to put at least eggshell finish on them. I can't stand the texture of flat. I used eggshell in my great room and a satin finish everywhere else,... kitchen, baths and even the bedrooms. I was told by the guys in the paint store that I was making a mistake, that it would be too glossy. And I just don't agree. I have 3 kids and a big dog. I love the way my walls just wipe down and they don't look or feel dusty.

I'm a pretty left-brained decor-challenged person, too. So I know what you mean when you say you have to pretty much copy the picture from the magazine. I've learned that that real life with my family means my house isn't going to look like the magazine and that I'm going to make some mistakes when I try to modify the plan. But my house is going to be comfortable and unique. And I wouldn't trade my 3 kids and big dog for a designer 'look.'

What is it you like about the picture? Is it the color scheme, the simple lines of the modern furniture, the architecture, the glass? You may be able to have a room that you love without the white sofa. But if you really want white furniture, I have found that slipcovers are very helpful. I've had the fitted kind that cover the whole sofa. They did a great job of protecting the sofa but they were kind of a pain to retuck all the time. Now I have the kind that just lays over the the top, like this one. I have a cream-colored sofa from PB and I don't have to worry if the dog is shedding and the kids want to eat cheese curls while they watch TV.

Here is a link that might be useful: slipcover

I have two white sofas and two dogs. It depends on what kind of dogs you have but we had white slip covers that I just took off and threw in the washer pretty often because they were big dogs that loved to lean against them. In a way it seems cleaner because it is dirt that can be washed. Imagine how much dirt we just live with that we can't see!! Ditto for the darker floors, at least you are getting rid of the dirt you can see instead of living with dirt you can't. I love white, it is a little more work but I love it so much I am willing to live with that. The darker floors will show more dog hair etc. I dustmop at least three times a week. No biggie...my friend that has dark floors also has one of those robot little vacuums but that would drive my dogs insane trying to chase it, they also make noise that I wouldn't like.

Hi all, thanks very much for all the feedback. I definitely would need to be cleaning 3 times a week with this setup, so I think the dark floors and white furnishings are just not going to happen for me. I think what I like about the room are the architectural elements. They are kind of old-world and very substantial yet they also look modern, clean and bright. The furniture is nice, but I think I am drawn to the room more because the room feels really nice and bright and roomy (which of course, because it is roomy-- I read that the house is 11,000 square feet!).

The room is gorgeous because of the architecture and the great furniture, house help, bank account, and accessories so you are wise to head in another direction.
Keeping looking for that inspirational photo!

Totally agree, Bumblebeez.

Also, unless your house is a Mediterranean style home, I wouldn't be trying to make it what it isn't. I firmly believe that you should listen to the architecture and what it's telling you.

@bumblebeez, lol! totally true!
@htnspz, my house will be a mediterranean style but house help consists of me and DH, and bank account will be empty for a while after we are done building, haha. I guess I need to look for a new inspiration photo for more practical finishes.

Well, in that case, I definitely think you should sneak in some Med style architectural features.