Crisp, Clean White Interiors to Start the New Year Right
Beginning with a blank-slate backdrop gives you infinite design freedom with accent colors, furniture styles and finishes
Jennifer Ott
December 31, 2012
San Francisco-based architectural color specialist and design writer. Jennifer's work has been featured in many print and online publications. Her recently-published book, "1000 Ideas for Color Schemes," is a beautifully illustrated and easy-to-navigate guide that takes the guesswork out of selecting the perfect color palette for your home or special event. For more information on Jennifer Ott Design, visit http://jenottdesign.com/.
San Francisco-based architectural color specialist and design writer. Jennifer's... More
If your New Year's resolution involves getting any rooms in your home cleared out, cleaned up or otherwise rejuvenated, consider how you can use white to give you that fresh start. Check out this selection of predominantly white spaces to inspire you to lighten things, along with paint color suggestions you can try for yourself.
Cool White Spaces
Layer shades of white and off-white with light gray for a serene bedroom space. Corral your stuff with clever built-ins to maintain the clean and tidy vibe.
Layer shades of white and off-white with light gray for a serene bedroom space. Corral your stuff with clever built-ins to maintain the clean and tidy vibe.
No matter how stressful your day has been, I imagine you would leave all your troubles behind upon entering this soothing sanctuary of a bathroom with its cool white and blue-gray palette.
It can be tricky coming up with a harmonious color palette for an open floor plan. This space, decked out in white, gray and soft greens and blues, hits the mark.
Colors that work with cool white. Benjamin Moore's Baby's Breath is a excellent cool white to use as a color palette base. Add any of these other hues to keep your space fresh, crisp and clean.
From left to right (all from Benjamin Moore): Spring Bud, Healing Aloe, Silver Mist, Glacier Blue and Baby's Breath.
From left to right (all from Benjamin Moore): Spring Bud, Healing Aloe, Silver Mist, Glacier Blue and Baby's Breath.
Warm White Spaces
Creamy hues mixed with wood tones and soft greens make for a very pleasing palette here. This soothing bedroom has everything you need for enjoying a lazy weekend day: TV, fireplace and bucolic view.
Creamy hues mixed with wood tones and soft greens make for a very pleasing palette here. This soothing bedroom has everything you need for enjoying a lazy weekend day: TV, fireplace and bucolic view.
Another charming warm white bedroom. Take a tip from this tidy space and try curating your own decorative accessories — limit the number of items on display at any given time and rotate the pieces in and out of view as you desire.
I tend to favor modern spa-like bathrooms, but I absolutely adore this pretty, traditional bath. By keeping the elements simple and integrating the wall covering and classic claw-foot tub with the interesting architecture of the space, the designer made a cozy place for taking a bath.
Ultrawhite Spaces With Dashes of Bold Color
If you desire a little more drama in your predominantly white space, select one or two bolder hues that you love and use them in small amounts. You can pair any other color with white, but I like the contrast between this leafy green and the white ceiling, floor and wainscoting. The small touches of amber warm everything up.
If you desire a little more drama in your predominantly white space, select one or two bolder hues that you love and use them in small amounts. You can pair any other color with white, but I like the contrast between this leafy green and the white ceiling, floor and wainscoting. The small touches of amber warm everything up.
White walls serve as an excellent backdrop for showcasing artwork, accessories and interesting fixtures. Selectively inject some dashes of bright color for added drama.
Balance any bold color in your mostly white space by using it in more than one place.
Here is another fetching clean and modern minimalist bedroom. The gray and white walls allow the artwork to take center stage.
Colors to try with ultrawhite. If your space if mostly pure white, lucky you! You can inject any color you like, including one of these fun hues.
From left to right (all from Valspar): Mild Evergreen, Fiddlehead Fern, Island Orange, Delightful Moon and Ultra White.
More: How to Work With Bright White
From left to right (all from Valspar): Mild Evergreen, Fiddlehead Fern, Island Orange, Delightful Moon and Ultra White.
More: How to Work With Bright White
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Designers never seem to show what paint colors work best in an older home with oak stained woodwork. They all show homes with white painted woodwork that look gorgeous. However, many people live in simple homes that all the woodwork is stained and the ceiling height is only 8 feet. Can someone give advice?
trgolfs, sometimes if you paint all that oak-stained woodwork white, the whole place seems bigger and more open -- and the ceiling seems higher too. (Written from my 1918 cottage -- the one with cream walls and white woodwork.)