Decorating with White

I recently wrote about the color greige, but today’s post is all about using white in your home.

To me, white always feels fresh, pure, and clean.

The writer and philosopher G. K. Chesterson said it this way: “White…is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black…God paints in many colours; but He never paints so gorgeously, I had almost said so gaudily, as when He paints in white.” 

Artist Jonathan Milne put it like this: “Working in white makes people look into it. White is ethereal. There’s a purity to it, it makes things look elevated in a way.”

I remember being completely taken with designer Rosy Strazzeri-Fridman’s San Francisco Victorian – decorated mostly in whites – when I saw it in Country Living magazine.

Rosy says this about decorating with white: “For me, people are color, flowers are color, food is color… And all of this is my canvas.”

While I love the look, I’m not brave enough to embrace an all-white home, especially when it comes to furniture. But I do love the one piece I have: the antique chair I had reupholstered in a white windowpane plaid fabric.

Designer Suzanne Kasler suggests using white drapes if you like the look but are afraid of white upholstery.

I accidentally followed that advice when I hung white curtains in my living room and master bedroom.

But the main way that white shows up in my home is through flowers.

And dishes.

And candles.

And occasionally all three at once.

Color expert Kate Smith says that the color white affects us in these ways:

• Aids mental clarity
• Encourages us to clear clutter or obstacles
• Evokes purification of thoughts or actions
• Enables fresh beginnings

Those sound like good things to have in a home.

P.S. If you like quotes, like the ones in this post, look in the right sidebar of Creating This Life, where there is a set of rotating quotes under the heading Quotable. You should see a new quote almost every time you visit the blog.

I also have a Pinterest board devoted to quotes.