Could You Live In An All-White Home?
Posted by: Nina Carbone
Filed in:
style
10:40AM, Wednesday October 7th 2009
I was shuffling through these photos of Scandinavian set designer and stylist Tina Törnquist’s work and it struck me: I love the way an all-white interior looks ... well, in photos anyways. Everything is completely uncluttered (a huge plus for me considering I live in a closet of an apartment), clean, shiny and serene-looking. But here’s the thing: How do people actually live in those bleached-out spaces?
Personally, I could never, ever live in a world of all white—no matter how gorgeous it appears to be. There would be nothing to do with serenity happenin’ my head, I’d be too busy freaking the eff out about where the next spill, smudge or dirty shoes would come from! This makes for a situation way beyond worrying. What about you—would you dare live in an all-white home? (Without the 24-hour-a-day assistance of a cleaning person, that is.) How far do you take your love of clean white spaces? White walls? Would you ever buy a white couch? What about white rugs? There’s just something about all that white, for me, that makes it impossible to relax in my own home. But, in theory, I adore this look! [Desire to Inspire]
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_jsw_
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 09:44 am: [report]
I prefer mixed-marriage homes.
That look is, to me, almost stressful. I don’t think I could relax in it, ever.
amandabear
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 09:46 am: [report]
I agree. I love the way they look, but it’s be impossible to keep clean.
whatshesays
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 09:46 am: [report]
Definitely not pet-friendly, unless your white Maltese is very potty-trained and can find his white litter box…
I don’t know, those rugs would go from white to off-white pretty quickly. I’d get too stressed trying to keep it perfectly clean.
xifeng882
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 10:00 am: [report]
Not a chance. Anything goes out of place and you will notice. It would require constant upkeep. Not a good idea
Perceptible
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 10:29 am: [report]
I could do it if I lived by myself and never had any visitors. But what fun would that be? You can have clean and uncluttered and still have some color.
joyy
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 10:46 am: [report]
My house is more white than most people’s, but that’s mostly out of laziness. Bamboon floors, a few rugs here and there, and white walls everywhere. The bf has said repeatedly that I can paint, but I just never get the motivation.
Perceptible is right though, you can be clean and uncluttered without going for the sterile look. Just throw out/donate/put away the majority of your things (easier said than done though, trust me). But seriously, going minimalist in your design (not your palatte!) will get you that clean uncluttered looks you’re going for.
Lilypie
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 11:21 am: [report]
Nope. Pretty, but the dirt would show too badly.
bethlynn00
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 11:28 am: [report]
Ugh, that would drive me crazy to just look at white all day everyday! I think a house like that could easily lead to a serious case of OCD.
writergirl
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 11:29 am: [report]
We just bought a house that has all white walls and white linoleum floors from the entry hall through to the kitchen and breakfast room. Never mind the keeping it clean, the sun light is literally blinding.
mayorbubbles
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 01:24 pm: [report]
my mom painted her bedroom and bedroom furniture white and the accent color was silver a few years ago and now she can’t stand to be in it. hahaha
calenia
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 07:14 pm: [report]
Nope, I’d have an uncontrollable urge to take crayons to the walls in a house like that.
cali_candy
wrote on October 7 2009 @ 09:11 pm: [report]
ugh, the last house I lived in (we rented) had white carpet and it was such a hassle trying to keep it clean…it was more grey than white actually…I hated it though and was glad to move so I could go back to being a careless slob
Meg
wrote on October 10 2009 @ 08:38 pm: [report]
When I saw the picture I thought it was from the new HGTV show, Blank Canvas. The show is interesting because they turn people’s homes completely white and then build color palettes. But it’s basically just a big ad for Glidden paint.
Back to completely white decor—I couldn’t do it. It would feel like an insane asylum.
Plus it’s a bitch to clean. My kitchen is completely white and it totally sucks keeping it bright. The other day I made a mixed berry pie and my boyfriend dropped the spoon. Red berry splatter went everywhere. EVERYWHERE! I cleaned for like 2 hours and I’m still finding red specks. It was like a bloody crime scene or something.
BlueVibe
wrote on October 13 2009 @ 09:11 am: [report]
No way, José. I’d feel like I was going blind. That is absolutely the most stressful décor I’ve ever seen.
Seriously, I don’t even like white walls in normal-house context (where everything else in the room probably has some color).
From a practical standpoint: I have pets. And I don’t have infinite cleaning time. Anything white in my home ends up being not-so-white in fairly short order. (Besides—and I’m kidding here—it might be bad for my dog’s self-esteem. Her breed standard calls for white or cream, but she’s the darkest cream color I’ve ever seen. Okay, more like tan.)
Aesthetically: I have 14 placesettings of Fiesta ware, each in a different color. None of them are white. I borrowed the colors to paint the rooms in my house. ‘Nuff said?
josey_l
wrote on October 13 2009 @ 09:09 pm: [report]
@calenia Yes I agree..i see pure white walls as places to make pretty and colorful with some drawings. Although i guess it would be cool to have a all white home then have the kids decorate it as they pleased. It could be interesting
soulshine
wrote on October 14 2009 @ 06:46 am: [report]
i lived in an all white house for 2 years, and finally went insane and painted every room a different but very bold color (orange, red, kelly green, royal blue, purple) it was so exciting for me at first, but now- im color struck whenever i walk into my house and am definitely rethinking the whole crazy color scheme.