Tag Archives | White

Color Choice: White Living Room Ideas and Designs

Up North

A good place to get inspiration when it comes to white living room ideas is from Scandinavian interior design just like in pictures (1) and (2). They make heavy use of white in their living rooms – mixed with shades of grey. But to bring some warmth and color to the space, plants and wooden furniture pieces are used.

Shades

To add in some depth and styling to your space you are going to want to add in a few other shades to the white canvas of a living room. One way to go would to be to use neutral shades (like cream, greys or black) – for a minimalist and Scandinavian look. Or how about adding one other color to the mix like blue or red. These can be added through little decorating ideas like a candle stand on the coffee table, or with the pillows on the couch. Try and keep the majority of the room in white.

Classic: Black and White Living Room Ideas and Designs

Textures and The Art of Pillows

A great way to add style to your living room is through textures. Imagine a white living room and then having wicker baskets on the floor being used as storage to hold pillows or blankets (5). The wicker’s texture really adds to the style of the room. With a white living room you really have a blank canvas and pieces, like a wicker basket, really stand out.

Other ways of adding texture to the living room:

White walls can have a texture to them. You have rough plaster or bricks painted in white. Or take a look at my post here for textured painting techniques.
Pillows can have simple colorless patterns on them, just like the ones in picture (6). So can throw blankets.
Area rugs with a simple pattern (like a white rug with a light grey chevron pattern)
Plants and planters
Wooden bowls or coffee table trays
Poufs (7)

The Coffee Table Area

The design of your coffee table will really set the style of the living room. If you use a chipped painted white coffee table just like in picture (8), or a white trunk you’ll be creating a shabby chic or vintage feel in the room. Or a raw wooden (9) or pallet coffee table will set a more rustic and distressed feel. While a simple design will give your space a modern look (10). A marble or glass coffee table would be other good options. If you go with a white living room furniture like a coffee table, it will blend in well with the rest of the room. While going with a black coffee table will make the coffee table stand out and create a focal point in the room.

Have a look at my post here for more coffee table ideas and designs: Creative Coffee Table Ideas. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

January 3, 2014 in Living Room

Black and White Bedroom Designs and Decor Ideas

Black or White: You will have two main color schemes when looking at black and white bedroom designs. You can opt to go black heavy or white heavy. Black heavy is when you decorate the walls in black and the feature pieces (bed frame, bedding) are black as seen in picture (1) and (2). This is less common as it can make the room feel smaller and darker, but on the other hand it makes the bedroom feel romantic and intimate. You can always paint one wall in black and have the other walls white to still keep a bright room – as seen in pictures (3) and (4).

White heavy bedroom designs will have only white walls and black decor pieces which makes the space feel larger and brighter (5) (6).

Feature Pieces: The main pieces in the bedroom that will determine the color scheme of the room are the walls, floors, the bed frame and the bed sheets. In picture (7) even though the walls are grey/green and there are some green throw pillows, since the bed, headboard, and bedding are black and white – that becomes the dominate color scheme in the room. This is because the bed is the biggest piece of furniture in the room and so the color of the bed and the color of the bedding you use will play a big role in the overall color scheme of the room.

Pops of Color: If you keep the entire room decorated white and black, any colored pieces will really pop out – adding to the color palette of the room. Whether that is a green pillow or a plant as seen in pictures (8) and (9) or even tanned colored furniture (10). Check out this post to see bedrooms with pops of red: A Color Guide for Red and Black Bedroom Designs.

Floor Color: Yup even the floor color will have a say in the overall color scheme of the room. In the photos above a lot of the rooms make use of neutral colors like white, grey, or dark hardwoods, and light brown carpeting. It is something to keep in mind if you are doing the flooring too.

Decor Accessories: Some decorating ideas include hanging up a black frame on a white wall – this creates great contrast. The same goes for a white frame on a black wall. Black and white photos are a classy decor touch. So is a black and white chandelier (11) or iron lighting fixtures. Other ideas include hanging an abstract painting above the headboard and using black or white area rugs. 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11