The Great White Way

Make white shine with these simple, clean and vibrant ideas for your vanilla home

By Timothy R. Schulte
CTW Features

There’s one interior-design issue that confronts millions of apartment-dwellers and renters – even homeowners – on every move-in day: white walls.

That vexing vanilla box can drive many amateur designers crazy; and in an institution-like white room, that feeling can come on pretty easily. But a lack of color is no cause for alarm. With the right techniques and arrangements, those white walls can go from worrisome to working wonders in your pay-by-the-month home. Bridget Bodoano, author of the upcoming book “Thrift: How to Have a Stylish Home without Breaking the Bank” (Key Porter, 2007), offers these tips for making the most of a white wash.

Use White to Your Advantage

One of the easiest ways to make white go a long way is to use it as a starting point for a room, says Bodoano. White curtains, window treatments and accessories, paired with white walls, will give a room a simple, clean and calm feeling. For color, instead of sprinkling tiny bits of color throughout the room in fabrics and prints, make a big, bold statement, such as a red rug. A larger-but-contained use of color will really make room pop, says Bodoano.

Add Color to the Walls … Sort of

Many renters are unable to paint the walls in their home; hence, they’re stuck with the white. That doesn’t mean walls have to stay white. “There’s all sorts of opportunities with fabric,” says Bodoano. If a blue wall is desired, a blue rug or piece of fabric can transform a wall from plain to extravagant – with no change in paint. Colorful window treatments can create the same change.

Make White a Backdrop

Plain walls are perfect canvas for art prints, pictures and whatever else might get hung up. The thing to keep is mind, though, is order, says Bodoano. It’s much better to hang lots of items in one area than spread them all around, she says. Items can go high or low but should stop at furniture height.

Displays work great, too, she says. A collection of like items creates a strong focal point for a wall. Bookshelves are a great option for this, as they keep everything contained. White is a very clean color, so it’s best to keep that theme with the hanging arrangements.

Create a Dynamic Wall

Often, one colored wall within a room will really boost its wow factor. This same feeling can be created with white. A furniture piece in a bold print or a unique shape against the clean wall will really make that area come alive. The same goes with frames; arranging a group of frames that have been painted the same color adds a visual punch that is both strong and contained. Bodoano’s rule is simple: Treat it like a colored wall.

Another rule: Don’t be afraid to take risks. “I’m a great believer in putting your own personality into a room,” says Bodoano. “Lots of people are afraid of putting their own mark on something.” That means bypassing the page-in-a-magazine look and designing one that exudes your personal style. That approach will make any room work – even a white one.

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