White interiors endure because they can be infinitely tuned in to style, texture and surface treatment.
Beach house white. Stark white. Cottage white. Winter white. Snow, milk or chalk. No matter what the style of a room or how it’s described to evoke the almighty absence of color, white rooms are the greatest shape-shifters of all. Some call them stark. Others find them soft. True, they’re not for everyone and yet they’re found everywhere.
Elemental interiors often depend on atmospherics as master Belgian designer and antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt demonstrates in a sophisticated farm house renovated with, and for, his son Dick. Furniture upholstered in linen is of Vervoordt’s design and the backdrop of walls coated white with artisinal chalk-paint, and floors bleached with old-fashioned lime, add timeless texture to key surfaces.
A painted black stripe in the corner of this room almost gives the illusion of a hallway. The lovely clock is a pictorial representation, too. The polished stone floor sets off all the white surfaces and touches of black seem natural. Restraint is the key.
A bedroom by Vancouver design icon Alda Pereira has the requisite understated and unembellished purity of look that provides a sense of permanence during a time of sinister economic, cultural and social shifts. White feels safe and the dark floor is grounding.
Is white girly? You betcha, especially with a crocheted, fringed throw on a bed. The granny-gold headboard and fringe on the chandy add to the vintage-y feel in this room. The one gold post bed post shows a sense of humor, too. Not everything needs to match. While the accessories are romantic at heart that white tile floor is strictly business. Or perhaps it’s just a truly boring, modern apartment floor like one I remember in a boyfriend’s flat in Belgium.
If you are brave and handy and don’t mind handling serious wood-working stains and potions such as lye and tinted wood oils, then properly whitewashed floorboards are attainable (consult thesolidwoodflooringcompany.com and click on finishes). Or, there’s always paint. We’ve seen the clawfoot tub and pedestal sink a lot so there’s not much to say about those. But wow, those shaped mirrors treated like pictures sure do deliver the bling.
Cappuccino. I cannot help myself. Kitchens such as this one, with with java-hued acacia flooring and snowy Corian counters always make me think of strong morning coffee topped with frothy, steamed milk. With the white walls (Farrow & Ball’s Strong White), it’s bracingly super-clean as well. In this space, the orange leather seats on the Jasper Morrison stools are like sugar cubes. I’ll take two, please!
Italian minimalist architect Claudio Silvestrin creates nearly monochrome interiors. Natural light is maximized and furnishings reduced to slabs and planes often made of stone or pear wood. With the functions of daily life concealed, everything, yet nothing, shows. His idea? Pared down simplicity as the distillation of beauty, clarity and luxury. Like white.
