With winter in full swing around us, no one wants their home to feel cold and uninviting. Yet many of us love a white palette for our home interiors, which can easily be labelled as cold and clinical.
We’ve also heard people lament that white interiors are only good for extremely hot climates. One only has to look far north to the beautiful interiors of our Scandinavian friends to know this isn’t true. So what is the key to creating a cosy and warm and welcoming home, that is decorated mostly in white?
Layers. It is all about the layers.
It’s not only colour that works towards defining the feeling of a room or a home. It’s about layering your spaces. Bringing in texture and warmth and dimension through layers.
You hear about layers a lot in fashion, to elevate the look of an outfit. The same principle applies in interiors. To pull a room together, to make it feel natural, welcoming and warm – you need layers. These layers are essentially all the elements that you are going to bring into the room, working from the floors right through to the ceiling.
Think about floors as your first layer (wood, tile, vinyl, carpet), and then the walls (paint, wallpaper, brick, wood) and ceiling. Then you bring in your furniture and you need to consider those finishes. Next let’s talk soft furnishings (rugs, scatters, throws, bedding), then lighting and finally decor. Each of these elements is a separate layer and each layer needs to be considered individually, as well as together, since they all contribute to the overall dynamic of the space.
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You can also layer with colour, and this most definitely applies to an all white space. You only need to go out and try buy white paint to realise that the white comes in many different shades. Cool, white, warm white, off white, ivory, oyster….
Bringing in different shades of white into the same space creates layers, and these layers add dimension to the room. This prevents the space from feel flat, lifeless and cold.
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Just remember that bringing in layers is not the same as brining more stuff into a space. A minimally designed room still has plenty of layers, and can still feel comfortable and warm. Ever hear the quote from William Morris “Having nothing in your house that you do not know to be functional or believe to be beautiful”.
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When layering with a single colour palette, the key lies in bringing in differing textures and materials. Many people think that textures are limited to soft furnishings, such as scatters and and rugs, but natural materials (like wood) add so much texture to any room.
White and wood is a classic combination, working together beautifully for the ultimate layered approach. Today we’ve created a warm wood and white space, that is full of layers and texture.
1. Trinity Floor Lamp from Weylandts | 2. Distrikt Chaise from La Grange Interiors | 3. Flair Chair from The Sofa Company | 4. Knotted Jute Rug from MRP Home | 5. Aster Candle Holders from Superbalist | 6. Tulip Coffee Table from MRP Home | 7. Two Tone Utility Basket from MRP Home | 8. Linen Blend Cushion Cover from Superbalist | 9. Baze Cushion from Country Road | 10. Marbelous Olive Faux Fur Throw from Haus
