White On White Rooms

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If you’ve been around here for more than a hot minute, you’ve probably figured out that I love white.

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I’m not exactly sure where that comes from…

Maybe it’s because I lived in a forest town in Northern California for 38 years. Where things were kind of dark…

And now I live in a coastal town in Southern California. Where it’s sunny and bright!

Whatever the reason, I just find that I’m really drawn to the fresh, clean, easy look of lots of white.

See how to make pillow cases from a vintage tablecloth HERE

See how to make pillow cases from a vintage tablecloth HERE

But the thing is, white rooms can sometimes be plain and boring.

So you really have to bring your decorating A-game to make sure they’re always interesting.

With that in mind, here are my best decorating tips for successful white on white rooms:


TEXTURE TEXTURE TEXTURE

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Texture is your best friend when you’re doing a monochromatic room. It’s the thing that’ll give it interest and depth.

In this room there’s texture from Matelasse fabric, washed linen, ruffles, embroidered pillowcases, cutwork lace, a textured throw…

And that’s just on the bed!

Then there’s the wainscot, a distressed dresser, a grapevine wreath, a vintage No Vacancy sign, a stone urn, chippy vintage frames, and a vintage trunk that all add great texture too.

Nothing plain or boring here!



CONTRAST

Even in an all white room, you’re going to want a little contrast. Something a little darker to offset all that white.

See how to make a messy bed HERE

See how to make a messy bed HERE

The antique pewter finish on the bed, the wreath, the sign, the metal urn, the trunk and the floor all give a little contrast to all the lightness.

Yet the room still reads as all white.


DIFFERENT TONES OF WHITE

You’ll notice none of the whites in this bedroom match. The walls are creamy white. The lampshades are bright white. And there’s every tone in between in there too. Don’t try to match all your whites in a room (it’s impossible anyway).

Just like texture, varying tones of white add depth and interest.


POPS OF COLOR

This is our temporary living room - not remodeled yet…

This is our temporary living room - not remodeled yet…

It’s nice to add little pops of color in an all white space. You can do that with pillows, throws and accessories. And they’re easy and relatively inexpensive to change out whenever you want.

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Flowers are also a nice way to add pops of color to your all white room.


NATURAL WOOD

Natural wood looks great in an all white room. And I think the best way to ground all that white is to put it on top of a wood floor.

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Every white room in my home has at least one wood element. There’s the wood floors, tables, trays, signs and wreaths.

Wood adds so much warmth to white on white rooms.


PLANTS

Just like wood, plants add warmth and color to your white spaces.

See how to make an ivy topiary HERE

See how to make an ivy topiary HERE

Now I’m not the best at keeping plants alive so I’m really glad there’s so many great faux plants out there that I can’t kill off.

Be sure to add greenery — real or faux — to your all white rooms.

It’ll give them life!

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So if you love white rooms like I do, be sure to use these easy decorating tips…

And I promise they’ll never be boring!




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