The Allure of White
Hi there! My name is Brigitte, and I blog over at Covet Chicago. I’m here to chat with you a bit about white spaces, while Holly is off writing her best seller. I hope it's ok to confess that I'm unbearably nervous, because Holly is like a rockstar to me. But, luckily, I am uniquely qualified to share some tips on designing dazzling white interiors, because I cannot have white walls in my own home. And, of course, we tend to obsess about what we can’t have, don’t we?
I’ve always known that those gorgeous white walls (and glossy floors!) that I lust over in design mags and on my favorite blogs won’t work in my home. And, I always had a hunch that it had something to do with the very minimal natural light that I get.
But my resolve wavers. Until a few weeks back, when one of my favorite bloggers, Penelope Trunk (who does not write about design at all, coincidentally) tipped me off to the blog Colour Me Happy. I heart the interwebs. A few reads in, I hit gold with the post White is a Snob. Finally, truth acknowledged. In the post, Maria laid out advice from the book All About Colour.
According to the book (and Maria), good white rooms always meet three demanding criteria. They must have: 1. Good light, 2. Harmonized proportions, and 3. A few attractive objects artfully arranged. Sadly, my home is lacking the first condition, which I find to be the most important.
See what I mean? I want to pack up my cats and move in! Not only is this image, found in BOLIG magazine, flooded with dazzling white light, but the hot pink accents are killer .
The next rule is one I actively avoid. Mainly because I'm a perfectionist who could all too easily become overly adherent to the rule. But!
Or...
Perfect proportions by i l'aria.
Which brings me at last to #3. The biggest challenge. The styling trick that slays me, even though I purport to write a design blog myself. Ha!
And!
There is one rule that I would add, and it's evident in all of these images save two. It's a taste thing. I like my home to feel eminently livable.
1.Veranda. 2. BOLIG 3. Country Living 4. Domino
Now that I've teased you with these images, I'd like to know...how many of you are in my boat?
And, what would you add to these criteria?
- Brigitte