Nothing says comfy and calm like a white and neutral styled space.
I know many of you are thinking "there's no way I can have white furnishings in my home, I have "........" (insert kids, dogs, cats, husbands) 😉
Don't despair - you can still pull off this look without having a complete "white-out".
Think of a few key elements and pieces of furniture that you can transform with white, whilst keeping more practical shades for others.
The other benefit is that our mineral Furniture Paint is washable, and can be easily cleaned with warm, soapy water. If you use a top coat (which we recommend in busy areas of the home), you will find it even easier to keep your white furniture looking fresh and clean.
Painted in crisp & bright “Chalk White” Vintage Bird Furniture Paint.
Here are my top tips:- Paint legs, chair backs, and the the main "carcass" of your furniture pieces and keep the table tops, chair seats etc... in a stained or natural timber finish. If you use a grey/taupe tone, it won't look too harsh against the white.
- Choose your white pieces based on their purpose. For example, busy kitchen islands, or often used coffee tables painted in all white will be harder to maintain than a buffet, t.v unit, or bedroom and hall furniture.
- Use an easy care finish solution. My top choices are hemp finishing oil or a good quality water based clear coat. Waxed finishes look beautiful, but can be trickier to maintain on often used furniture.
- Keep soft furnishings that you use often such as sofas in a more practical colour, and use the white tones in table lamps, shelving, throw rugs and cushions that are machine washable.
- White looks great with other neutrals, so if you can't do light/white flooring, a big sisal rug, or muted shades of silver grey, blue, light sage etc...can lighten up dark carpet or timber floors. Places like Miss Amara in Australia have 'pet and kid friendly' ranges, with perfect shades to match crisp and powdery whites.
- Tie your white pieces and accents together with your other furnishings by breaking up spaces with greenery. Depending on your aptitude with houseplants, you may want to consider faux greenery. There are some good rip-offs available. I've supplemented my real paints with fakes from Adiars and Ikea. They look like the real thing! Mix in the fakes with the real ones and no one will guess!
Green foliage breaks up and unifies a white themed interior.
Picture credit: Whitetail Farmhouse.
Finding Inspiration...
There are so many styles that have white as a predominant colour. Hamptons, Boho Coastal, Modern Farmhouse, Mediterranean, or Vintage Country style to name a few.
If you want to find some inspiration and get a better idea of how much white you need to unify your look, head to Pinterest. There is a huge amount of accounts that have some gorgeous pics and plenty of ideas. I have a "White & Simple Decor"Board on Pinterest. You will see my style is a collision of vintage, shabby and country styles. A few of my favourite "white inspired" accounts where I head for ideas are Liz Marie Blog and Whitetail Farmhouse
Liz Marie Galvan also a gorgeous book called the Cosy White Cottage that you can find at any good bookstore. It's choc full of 100 tips and lots of gorgeous pictures showing how to pull it all together. Australian readers can find it online at Booktopia.
Liz Marie Galvan does white interiors beautifully with pets and toddler! Note the natural sisal rug to add texture and comfort.
Picture credit: Liz Marie Blog.
Which White Is Right?
There are so many shades of white, right?
When choosing a shade of white, or other neutral tone, have a look around at the other elements in your home, and think about the style you want to choose. For example, a Boho Coastal look would work well with a crisp, bright white, whereas a vintage style farmhouse look could be well suited to a more muted, or "antique" white. Also take your current wall and floor colours into consideration when choosing your shades - a creamy white may look at odds against a silver-grey wall for example.
We have just about every shade of white you could need for all the styles mentioned above, from our crisp Chalk White, through to our warmer whites like White Magnolia and Farmhouse White, and the deeper, antique whites like Sea Shell and Bone China. Then of course, there is the perennial favourite, Just Cream, which as the name suggests, is white with a buttery, creamy base.
So, are you game?
I'm giving our family room area a 'soft' make over in the next month, and will definitely be implementing a few of these style hacks. I'll keep you posted! 🤞🏼😉
Meanwhile, you can see our full range of whites in our Vintage Bird Furniture Paint Collection here...
Just getting started and haven't painted any furniture before?
Stop by our other blogs -full of handy hints & tips, and you can also check out our "Everything You Will Need" Beginners Kit - on sale now!
Happy styling and happy painting!
Corrina xx