1. USE BOLD WALL ART TO ELEVATE YOUR WALLS
White walls in the living room provide the best background to showcase your collection of wall art, where a patterned wallpaper or bolder color on the walls might distract from the art itself. In this project, by State Studio, designer Laura Arledge added interest to the space with pieces of art that spoke to her tastes, and found that white walls allowed for her to display art in varying heights throughout the room.
2. CREATE A FOUNDATION FOR NEUTRALS
One drawback of an all-white scheme is that it can often look stark and cold, with cooler lighting casting blue tints that need warming up. Look to the color wheel for inspiration. 'To balance coldness, and to add warmth to an all-white room, I like to feature neutral earth tones for a neutral color scheme,' says Nina Magon, who used a spectrum of beautiful rich brown tones in this scheme.
3. CREATE A COLOR CONTRAST BY PAINTING THE CEILING
By its very nature, white goes with everything and everything, so it's a great foundation from which to build a pop-colored palette - and the good news is any color can work on top of white.
4. LET THE FURNITURE DO THE TALKING
Crisp, white walls offer up a great opportunity to let your living room furniture shine, so decorate your white-walled living room by accessorizing with key investment pieces. 'White walls become a lovely blank canvas to add a dose of drama via furniture,' says Nina. 'Color is a great way to liven up an all-white interior by featuring an exciting pop of color in a lovely sectional.'
5. DECORATE WITH BOLD HOUSEPLANTS
Bring a touch of the botanical to your white-walled living room with some bold houseplants. This will bring bold green color and give your home a lived-in feel, undoing any starkness from the white walls. The good thing about white-walled rooms is that light will bounce off the walls, which means plants stay happy and healthy too.
6. ADD TEXTURE
To counteract the coldness emanating from the lack of color, texture is essential in a white living room. Color is often the first thing we turn to when our living room needs a helping hand, but texture is an equally powerful tool, adding interest and helping the space feel cozy.
Textural elements range from accessories like cushions to curtains. 'I like to add textural elements through textiles, rugs, and accents,' says Nina. 'It creates an inviting and cozy aesthetic that is also light and airy.'
7. PAINT THE WALL TRIM
If you have white walls but are looking to refresh and decorate with a touch-up of color, look to the trim on your walls for inspiration. Wall trim is typically painted white, but painting your trim, from crown molding to crown roses, from dado rails to baseboards, is a simple addition that doesn't require much work and can create a really neat border around your living room. If you’re fortunate to have these kinds of architectural details in a living room, then celebrate them with a bold color pop.
8. DON'T FORGET LIGHTING
Last but by no means least, good quality, layered lighting is your best friend in a white living room. To counteract the starkness of the white walls, lights from varying sources help bounce light around the room and create a cozy feel that a white-walled room might be lacking.